Shine A Light

Before I review this film I thought it would be appropriate explain my introduction and consequential relationship with the Rolling Stones. What may make this story more interesting is the notable absence of the Rolling Stones from my childhood. I grew up with The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beach Boys and The Eagles. In high school I went a little further with The Doors, Creedence, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. I may be leaving out some obvious names here, but in retrospect for me it's the Rolling Stones who should of been there. Had I heard any of their stuff? Sure, but it had never made a big enough impact to encourage me to explore any further. It wasn't until I was in my early to mid twenties that my boss bought the double CD "Forty Licks" and played it at work. Of course as is true with all "Greatest Hits" compilations this set doesn't capture the Stones completely, but it does show a side and a range I hadn't heard before. On top of that, my boss is a big Rolling Stones fan. I think he likes the Stones in the way I like The Beatles, and that's saying quite a bit. When you talk about and listen to music with someone who really loves it, it makes you see it in a different way. So later in life I came to appreciate and more than that, really like much of the Rolling Stones music. Sure I love some of their better known stuff; 'Paint it Black', 'Sympathy for the Devil', 'Brown Sugar' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. But I really like some of the more obscure stuff; 'Shattered', 'A Fool To Cry', and 'Emotional Rescue'. What sucks is that I kind of feel like after discovering the Rolling Stones, it's all over. I've heard everything good ever made now and I'm never going to have that experience again. Rock and Roll isn't dead yet because Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, and Bob Dylan are still alive, but it'll be dead soon.

"Shine A Light" is every rock band's dream; Martin Scorsese directing a film about a concert starring a great band. I'm not sure how much of the film was staged (no pun intended), personally if Scorsese offered to film my life, I would give him full access and control, leaving nothing to chance. Scorsese suggests that the Stones wouldn't give him a song list of their concert until moments before they walked on stage. All that doesn't really matter, the final product is probably the greatest concert film ever. Sure Mick Jagger can't really sing his songs very well any more, and the songs in the movie aren't even the best they have to offer. But none of that matters either. The film is about capturing something for history. We get to see the last remaining Rock band together on stage, pouring out their hearts through their performances. It's not about Mick Jagger, it's not about the music, it's about the band and what they represent. Don't get me wrong, I haven't fallen blindly for what is mostly attractively packaged trash. The Rolling Stones have and always will stand for personal gratification and I admit that's bad. But they also embody freedom and charisma that are qualities to be admired. Scorsese likes the Stones for all that they represent, and it is clear in how he portrays them here. If you want to see one of the last real Rock-n-Roll movies ever made, "Shine A Light" is for you. If you're saying to yourself, "But isn't Creed rock too? then you might as well just stay home and watch some television.

Gone Baby Gone

First off I've got to give Matt credit for turning me on to this movie. I think that back when it was in the theaters I had opted to see "The Assassination of Jesse James by..." instead. My thought then probably was that seeing Casey Affleck in a movie would be alright, but Casey in a movie directed by his brother might be Affleck overload. I went to the wrong movie.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I saw "Jesse James" but just thinking about that movie almost puts me to sleep. Quite the opposite with "Gone Baby Gone". Over the course of the film there isn't a moment when we aren't wondering what just happened, what is going to happen next, or more importantly; what would we do in the same situation? I got to watch it with my friend Rob, and I would highly recommend that it should be viewed with someone who you can talk with afterwards. For me there were two stand-out questions raised, one of which was answered as I would have, and the other was a little bit tougher. Now there were a lot more than two questions raised, and what is interesting is how each answer or decision forced the film to take the next step. I liked that. Unfortunately for me to go into much detail about the questions would ruin the movie for those who have not seen it, so I'm going to finish up this review and in the next paragraph discuss those details. To close, the direction by Ben Affleck was right on, he captured the feel and emotion of the scenes very effectively. Casey Affleck got way more time here than in "Jesse James", and proves that he deserves to have leading roles where appropriate. My one problem was that towards the end the intracacy of the plot seemed a little too contrived, although I understood that it was neccesary to deal with the questions raised. The thing is that when I start understanding that something is a plot device it kind of takes away from the otherwise great storytelling. Of course for different people at different times this can work for or against a movie. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" knows its a movie but I can get lost in it anyways. And I can't even think of "Gladiator" without intense irritation, so go figure.

Alright so here's what I think for Matt and anyone else who's seen the movie. I hope that without a moment of hesitation I would have taken that guy out upstairs like Casey Affleck did. The only difference is that I suspect I would have unloaded as opposed to the single shot. Now if that's wrong then I'm afraid in that moment I would just be doing something wrong, but I have a hard time seeing how I could live with any other reaction. That's the first question I refered to, the second is once Casey shows up at Morgan Freeman's doorstep, do I make the call or not? I don't think I could have, not after seeing the connection there and the contrast to her previous life. Perhaps there would be an appropriate course of action, but I just don't think I could have done what Casey did. At the same time, I loved how he stuck to his beliefs, and as the film closed he even took responsibility for his decision. Thanks Matt for the good film.

Nothing to see

It's been a while since I've gone to the theater, there's nothing worth seeing. The next movie I'm really looking forward to seeing is "Shine A Light", the Scorsese documentary about the Rolling Stones. Unfortunately that's still two weeks away, so I don't have anything new to write about. This has led me to watch more stuff at home over the the past two weeks, revisiting some old stand-bys and catching some stuff I've never seen before. Our public library is pretty good out here, so I have a good selection to choose from to fill in the gaps of my movie watching past-time. Here's some of what I have seen recently; "The Departed", I think this term is over-used, but this film really is an "instant classic". Twenty/fourty years from now when you want to watch a great film, "The Departed" will be an acceptable choice. "A Knights Tale", this film is fun, it's got charisma, and I just enjoy watching it. Of course it's different now that Heath Ledger is dead, maybe I'm feeling what eailier generations have felt when their young actors have died tragically. "Wimbledon", this was the first time I saw this movie, and it was also fun to watch. It's pretty much your typical, sweet, romantic comedy. What makes it stand out is that even though it deals with two professional tennis stars, overall it is down to earth in how they handle their lives. "Ratatouille", can I say "instant classic" again so soon? If you haven't seen this film yet then I don't know if we can be friends, there's really no excuse. Seriously, if yo have the electricity to be running your computer, then most likely you could figure out a way to see this great film. Each time I watch it I am further amazed by the depth, not just visually, but all aspects, from character developement, acting, sound, story, music, well you get the point. This film deserved to be noted in the Best Film category at the Oscars, that's how good it is. And finally this afternoon, on VHS I watched "The Age of Innocence". On one hand be sure to avoid viewing this film on a Sunday afternoon while lying on a couch, it is very challenging. On the other hand, it was very successful at completely capturing its subject. Daniel Day Lewis doesn't need to talk, and Scorsese knows how to make use of that fact. I was reminded of "Casablanca" where Rick has these feelings, emotions that are overwhelming. We as an audience see his point of view, even if we know morally that he would be wrong to follow through. Great films ask questions, and very rarely give us a clean answer. I was goin to say that they never give us an answer, but then I thought of "Braveheart" and had to change it up a little. "The Age Of Innocence" is kind of a nod to when movies like "Casablanca" were made. Things are left unsaid and undone. Sometimes this was because the standards of the time would not allow things to be said or done, but in the great films it was because the writers and directors understood the power of this technique. Scorsese has proven that he can work in the vernacular at hand. Sure his best has probably been the language and customs of gangsters, but with films like "The Age Of Innocence", "Gangs Of New York", ... what am I doing, this list could go on for a while, so goodnight.

Semi-Pro

Last week I talked about "Vantage Point's" trailer being better than the movie itself. This week I found that the funniest parts of "Semi-Pro" had been compacted into it's theatrical trailer. Actually the Bud Light commercial and the Old Spice spot were probably funnier per-capita than this movie, and that's too bad. When Jess and I went to se "Juno" a few weeks ago, we both were laughing out loud throughout the whole film. I hardly remember laughing at all last night, and the one time I remember was when Tim Meadows realized he had been shot. (As a side note; whenever Tim Meadows says something I laugh). Now I must admit that I didn't go into this movie as a big Will Ferrel, but even when I haven't liked the overall movie (like "Old School" "Anchorman" and "The Wedding Crashers") there's always been a hilarious, memorable sequence in each of his movies. This time it just wasn't the case.