More Rock N Roll Films To Watch

As winter rages on, it is time for another round of what to watch, rock n roll related on your flat screen TV, laptop, tablet or phone, whatever works for you! Rock n roll films, shows, documentaries, concerts, etc. 

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake: 12 Short Films by Seamus Murphy (2011). PJ Harvey asked filmmaker photographer Seamus Murphy to create 12 short films to accompany her record Let England Shake. These are not flashy rock videos but beautiful films about England, the countryside, the people, the colors, visually beautiful. PJ is not a flashy rockstar and only appears briefly in these films. Art students, it’s a must watch. 

Almost Famous (2000). If you haven’t seen this film yet, add it to your bucket list. Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film about a teenage journalist given the opportunity to write for Rolling Stone magazine by following a band, called Stillwater, on tour in the 70’s. This is a well written, funny, engaging film featuring a wonderful cast and great performances. I need to see it again! 

Not Fade Away (2012). Soprano’s creator David Chase directs this wonderful film about a suburban New Jersey rock band from the 1960’s trying to make it. James Gandolfini plays Douglas father and shakes his head at his son’s Cuban heels and shaggy long hair. Steven Van Zandt is the films musical director and picks a great soundtrack for this film about music, love, finding your identity in the 60’s. A true gem of a film. 

Pearl Jam Twenty (2011). Pearl Jam fans will love this documentary about the band Pearl Jam from their early days to becoming one of the most successful rock bands in the world. All band members are interviewed and there is great film footage of band onstage, travelling, being young kids to playing with their own hero’s like Neil Young on stage. Even if you are not a so so Pearl Jam fan, you will be become a true fan watching this film.  

Madonna MDNA Tour (2013). It will normally cost you about 150.00 to 350.00 dollars to purchase a ticket to see Madonna live. This MDNA tour is filmed in Miami and it is a top notch production, she does not skimp on her live shows, great visuals, dancers, every song is a big performance. Most of the songs are from her MDNA record though it’s not her best album, but she takes every song and makes a spectacle out of it. You get to see her run around the stage with a gun shooting her dancers, she likes to curse a lot, she lip syncs several songs but does sing live on others. The black and white shots are pretty impressive, if you never got to see her live, this is a fun show but strictly for adults only.  

Once (2007). This low budget film stars Glen Hansard of The Frames and Marketa Irglova (of the Czech Republic). The movie is set in Dublin about a musician Glen Hansard who meets Marketa thru writing songs and they fall in love. However, it is a difficult love as she is married and has a child and he wants to go off and tour with his band. The songs are beautifully written and performed in the film. You ache for these 2 characters that in real life fell in love as well. Wonderful film, wonderful music, a must see. 

Patti Smith – Dream Of Life (2008). Patti Smith is a punk rock icon and this documentary gives you insight into her rock n roll life. She talks openly about her relationships with her band, her men, her family, you really get to know her in this film. On a trip back home, she refers sweetly to her mother as ‘mommy’. She is tough as nails performer but she is so honest and raw about who is as a person. Very insightful, any music fan would appreciate this film.  

Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me (2006). The band Luna formed in 1991 and broke up in 2005. This film follows the band on their final tour. They are such a low key band, no big personalities here, no flashy rock star attitudes, just musician who created very special simple melodic songs. The band it interviewed as well as fans who get all teary eyed talking about their favorite band. You see the band on tour, in the van, not behaving badly, you even get to see Dean Wareham sitting reading a book after sound check.  

The Henry Rollins Show (2006-2007). The Henry Rollins show only ran on the IFC channel for 2 seasons before it was cancelled. Henry took a somewhat serious approach to interviewing his guests on this show, jokes aside, he asked questions about the guests work, not what about what they had to promote, he wanted to know about how projects were created and completed. Guests included Oliver Stone, Ozzy Osbourne, Patton Oswalt, Peaches, Johnny Knoxville, and Matt Dillon. The show also featured live performances from Dinosaur Jr, Ben Folds, Ben Harper, John Doe, Perry Farrell, etc.  

The Work Of Director Mark Romanek (2005). Rock videos used to be all the rage especially when musicians hired top notch directors to create amazing videos for their songs. Mark Romanek collection includes Sonic Youth, NIN, Eels, Jay Z, Madonna, REM, Beck, to name a few. Each artist is interviewed on the collection (available on DVD) and they tell the story of how the videos were created. Mark chimes in as well with his comments. Great behind the scenes look at the videos and insightful comments.  

The Work Of Director Anton Corbijn (2005). Filmmaker Anton Corbijn worked on many early videos for U2 and Depeche Mode. On this collection, 6 Depeche Mode videos are included; most of them filmed beautifully in black and white, interviews with band members as well. Other videos on this collection by Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division, Nick Cave, Henry Rollins, Mercury Rev, Travis, and Metallica. Great insight as to how these highly visual videos were created and filmed.  

Don’t forget to tune into WXAV (88.3fm or @ www.wxav.com) every Wednesday night from 7pm to 9pm for Alternative Sounds For Your Head with host radioruta. Alternative, indie, new wave, punk, electronic music and more!!  Also, Music While U Work Thursday mornings 9am to 11am.