TheClash Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Indies on DVD: 'Chop Shop,' 'Tracey Fragments,' 'Joe Strummer'
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Horror », Independent », New on DVD », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
Hmm, I don't remember any of this week's noteworthy indie DVD releases playing at theaters in my area, so why don't we catch up together and decide what to rent? Listed (roughly) in order of critical favor:
Chop Shop (pictured). Second feature by Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart) is a coming of age story set in a New York junkyard. Cinematical review (entirely positive): Kim Voynar. DVD features: audio commentary with director and actors, rehearsal footage, and trailer.
The Tracey Fragments. Ellen Page stars in Bruce McDonald's harrowing drama. Cinematical reviews (both positive): Erik Davis; James Rocchi. DVD features: behind the scenes footage and interviews with McDonald and Page, entries from the "Tracey: Re-fragmented" contest, a selection of images by photographer Matt Sullivan, and trailer.
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. Julien Temple's doc on the influential Clash musician. Cinematical reviews (both frustrated): Kevin Kelly; Jeffrey M. Anderson. DVD features: audio commentary with Temple, 100 minutes of additional interview footage, and trailer.
American Zombie. Grace Lee's horror comedy depicts the ordinary, day to day challenges of life as one of the undead. Cinematical review (disappointed): Jette Kernion. DVD features: audio commentaries, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, and trailers.
Sleepwalking. Family drama about a young girl dealing with life after her mother abandons her; with Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, and Dennis Hopper. Cinematical reviews (both negative): James Rocchi; Jeffrey M. Anderson. DVD features: "making of," and trailer.
Review: Young At Heart
Filed under: Documentary », Music & Musicals », Theatrical Reviews », Fox Searchlight »
Young @ Heart begins with a vast crowd on their feet, cheering a performance we haven't seen. The crowd is exultant, young, excited; the performers are a group of senior citizens called the Young at Heart Chorus. Their repertoire is varied; their average age is 80. Over the past several years they've toured internationally, acclaimed for their renditions of modern pop and rock songs, all under the guidance of their musical director Bob Cillman.
Directed by Stephen Walker, Young @ Heart follows the chorus through the rehearsals and gigs leading up to the chorus's new big show -- which they have just seven weeks to prepare for. And at once, Young@Heart takes all the standard-issue concerns of the touring band documentary -- creative differences, struggles with the material, preparation and publicity -- and reframes them all in a very different context. The members of Young at Heart aren't looking to become stars or even make a living with their music -- so why exactly are they doing it? And, more bluntly, are the crowds that come out to their shows and tours -- as they cover material from The Clash and Coldplay and Outkast and more -- laughing with the chorus, or at them?
Check Out the Trailer for Julien Temple's Joe Strummer Documentary
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Music & Musicals », Trailer Trash », Cinematical Indie »
A documentary on John Graham Mellor, more widely known as Joe Strummer -- lead singer of The Clash, has been creating buzz for a while. Way back in January of 2006, Cinematical brought word that director Julaien Temple would be putting together a doc about his long-time friend -- a complete labor of love as Temple was getting the full support of Strummer's family and former bandmates, which meant tons of archival material and interviews. Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten is now complete, and has been taking the festival circuit by storm. In January of this year, our Kevin Kelly reviewed it at Sundance and called it "a more than adequate" film that filled "in the gaps about Joe Strummer," although it left off a lot of his pre-Strummer, Mellor days.The documentary is now headed for a November 2 limited release, and the website has a bunch of information about the feature, including a trailer, which you can see in everything from 56k to HD. Unsurprisingly, coming from a pro of music videos, the film and trailer are looking pretty slick. It does a good job of showing enough to amp you up without revealing much more than a ton of images and short tidbits. However, while it is completely suitable within the realm of the film, you should be prepared for some loud bursts of song intermingled between softer voice-overs and interviews -- not exactly office material unless you work in a Clash-friendly environment.
[via The Documentary Blog]
Sundance Review: Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
If you can imagine what it would be like to try to document the life of one of your closest friends after their death, and to assemble everything into feature film length, you can probably see how difficult the process might be. This is what director Julien Temple had to do while he directed Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, about the lead singer for one of the world's best known bands, The Clash. Temple's documentary utilizes an enormous amount of archival footage, personal interviews, news interviews, vintage photos, audio recordings and footage that he himself had been filming since 1976. Temple also had access to Strummer's personal notebooks, writings and recordings, so they feature heavily in the doc. He uses Strummer's doodles and writings in animations that serve as transitions between scenes, or to underscore different pieces of the film. Of course, the main element that keeps everything sticking together is Joe Strummer and his music.
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