This was a tough category as I watched so many music films. I could probably have made a list just about the music documentaries from 2013 but I decided to keep it brief. These were not all made this year by discovered by myself in the last twelve months.
10 Diggers
I was not a Ken Marino fan until I saw him on Eastbound and Down this year. He was absolutely perfect as the former athlete turned talk show host and foil to Kenny Powers. That led me to his 2009 independent film release, Diggers. Diggers is ostensibly the story of a community of Long Island clam diggers who are losing their livelihood to the corporate operations moving into their water. The film also serves as an homage to the music of Big Star which can be found sprinkled through every scene of consequence in the movie. In addition to being an entertaining and understated slice of life, this movie will make your ears perk scene after scene.
http://www.diggersmovie.com
9 Fat Kid Rules the World
I was unconvinced when this coming of age movie was recommended to me. Ultimately it became a favorite of the year. The story of an overweight outcast and a drug addled train wreck high school drop out, this film makes being in a band cool again. And I don't mean the kind of "cool" that people associate with the rapid rise of made for tv musicians. I mean, cool in the same way that the Ramones walked into CBGB looking like they escaped from a psych ward and took the stage. I mean cool in the way that Richard Hell confused and confounded in Television. I mean cool in the way that kids used to cram into non air conditioned garages and make as much goddamn noise as they could every chance that they got. It is a heart warming story and it captures the musical ambition of youth in the Northwest perfectly. Gus Van Zant should take note. Not all rock and roll stories end the same.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499648032/fat-kid-rules-the-world-0
8 Not Fade Away
Another story about a kid who finds his place in front of the mic. Starring James Gandolfini as the working class rather who doesn't understand what the hell happened to his son, the tale follows its lead from reluctantly taking over his garage band to the fulfillment of his aspirations arriving in Los Angeles, his dream of making it big still alive. The choice of timing allows for great discussions about classic rock albums by Bowie, The Stones and others as the guys try to figure out where their sound is. The moral is that rock and roll, not rock stars, save your soul. And every believer owes it to themselves to watch it more than once.
http://www.notfadeawaymovie.com
7 Artifact
I don't really know who Jared Leto is. I have never heard a note of 30 Seconds to Mars but this documentary about a band battling their record company in court and fighting for the rights that one would assume we all enjoy as musicians. Leto and his band have sold millions of records and yet they have seen no revenue at all. When they contest this arrangement, EMI responds in kind by suing the band for 30 Million Dollars ( making you think that Dr. Evil might be acting as lead counsel for EMI). Leto's rage and the story of the brother that his band saved make the movie worth watching and the unflinching footage makes Sam Jone's documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart look like the manipulative love letter to Wilco that it always has been.
http://www.artifactthefilm.com
6 Ain't In It For My Health
God forgive me for not ranking this higher. I am obsessed with Levon Helm and I waited for years to finally see the film. It is possible that the rank is the result of over bloated expectations but I really wanted to see more footage of Levon performing and more intimate conversation about his history and influences. Regardless, it is a great story about a great man and it is worth it alone to view Levon give driving directions off the top of his head for a four state journey. Rest in Peace to one of the greatest that there ever was.
http://www.levonhelmfilm.com
5 I Am Not A Hipster
It is hard to forgive this movie for its title. Those willing to settle in for a viewing will reluctantly do so. It is the story of a young midwestern musician who, upon the death of his mother, relocates to San Diego and has an underground hit record. Of course, he becomes a cult figure while remaining fractured over his loss and broke thanks to file sharing. His family arrives and the film takes a turn for the endearing. His sisters are among the most entertaining and odd ball characters on film this year and his war with electronic "artist" Space Face is worth the price of admission alone.
http://www.iamnotahipster.com
4 This is 40
This film is a must for fans of Graham Parker. It is also a must for those of us who have the four decade mark and still harbor dreams of living a life about rock and roll in any fashion. Rudd's character name drops classic records while his wife and daughters dance to Lady Gaga. It is too long and Albert Brooks and John Lithgow are classic as in laws. Graham steals the show with his performances and one liners. The outtakes from this are also belly ache funny.
http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/this-is-40
3 Who is Harry Nillson
The title is a fair question. Most people don't know the man that perhaps influenced The Beatles as much as any other single songwriter. In the film he is portrayed as reckless, self-indulgent and brilliant. He finally gets his rightful place among the greats of his era and the stories told by his children portray a man who was far more interested in being a dad than he was in being John Lennon. The documentary is a love letter as nearly every living contemporary takes great care to render a warm and loving picture of a man who's voice was one of a kind.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756727
2 A Band Called Death
Music history doesn't get re-written too often. And, when it does with regard to black artists, it is all too often limited to the Stax/Soul and Rap genre. Here we find the story of a young Detroit group that was decades ahead of their time. The brothers have their share of tragedy along the way but what comes across from the living members is the absolute love and devotion that brothers in arms share. It was the biggest surprise of the year for me.
http://abandcalleddeath.com
1 Muscle Shoals v Nothing Can Hurt Me
Couldn't do it. I could not choose. One is a carefully researched and beautifully shot retelling of the mythological origins of the Muscle Shoals sound. Its influence on so much music that I love is impossible to separate from the film itself. The Aretha Franklin story is worth the purchase price alone. Too little time is devoted to The Swampers themselves and after awhile the shock that it was ' white boys playing those songs" gets old. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful artifact of an indispensable part of Americana tucked away in the deep south.
Big Star is my favorite band of all time. I doubt that any movie limited to two hours would have left me satisfied but the film makers did what they could with a band with nearly no living members. Chilton is perhaps under- represented in the stories and I didn't feel like I garnered much in the way of new information. Regardless, not that many fans get to see a film made about their favorite band and I won't bite the hand that feeds me.
http://www.bigstarstory.com
http://www.magpictures.com/muscleshoals
No comments:
Post a Comment