Last Days Here

I went into Last Days Here with minimum exposure to Pentagram's music but was aware of lead singer, Bobby Liebling's drug addiction.
At the start of the movie the audience sees Bobby living in his parent's basement where he has based himself for a number of decades. Exactly why his parents haven't kicked him out years ago is baffling. Liebling is the sad rock cliche of the drug addicted musician still living on past glories.

Fan boy Sean Pelletier attempts to get Bobby off drugs and resurrect his musical career. It is revealed that Pentagram have always been their own worst enemies. In the early days Kiss turned up to watch the band and waited around for the band to turn up because two of the band members hitch hiked to their job as cleaners and when they did get home, the band jammed in front of two of the Kiss members only to have their landlord come and complain about the noise and end the session after about ten minutes. Years later Bobby is offered a contract by Phil Anselmo but opts to blow it by smoking crack.

The real change in Bobby is brought on by a relationship with a much younger fan. Eventually a restraining order leading to prison time is placed on Bobby because he has swapped his drug addiction to being obssessed by the young woman.

One of the most likeable characters in the movie is the original drummer, Greg O'keefe, who confesses that he hasn't spoken to Bobby in twenty years. Bobby's parents come across as being nice people who have been taken advantage of by their son to the tune of 1 million dollars. Sean Pellet is the heroic figure who not only manages to get Pentagram's recorded output released and the band back together but also makes a deal to take Bobby's record collection if he doesn't stop smoking crack. The documentary is bound to appeal to fans of Pentagram but for those wanting to know more about their music it will be a dissapointment as the main focus is the ugliness of a drug addict and his lengthy battle with his own demons.

3/5




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Shihad - Beautiful Machine movie review

Shihad – Beautiful Machine

Rock documentaries are a dime a dozen these days but bands that last close to a quarter of a century certainly aren’t and that length of time ensures that there are stories to be told. Shihad’s finest moment was their second album Killjoy and soon after The General Electric the band became New Zealand’s answer to Nickelback musically. Though from the band’s strength has always been their live show.

The animation in the trailer may make you think that you’re in for an Antipodean version of the Metallica documentary “Some Kind of Monster” and in some ways it does parallel that movie but there is no life coach for the band but similarly there is alcoholism and inter-personal relationship breakdowns as well as a similar part with the drummer's child sitting on his knee while surrounded by drums.

The film is more about relationships than about music and how time overseas affected them as a band and as people. There is a lot of John Toogood’s partner who rightly priotizes that her child is the more important than her partner following his desire for band fame overseas and felt the biggest strain due to partner absense. Other band member’s partners do get talked to although Phil Knight’s wife really only gets a wave in.

Parents of all the band members are talked to about their sons. Drummer, Tom Larkin’s parents talk about not knowing that the boys were doing pub gigs when Shihad is underage unsurprising but worth a smile. The parents and band members are all candid in all of their answers. The appearance of Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman is a surprise given the band's previous grievance's with him over finances.

The interview with Germany’s Noise record label people is interesting. Shihad basing themselves in Melbourne due to the signing with Warners is covered, as is the tour and recording in the States and how the band blew it in front of a lot of record label representatives. The band changing their name to Pacifier gets a lot of coverage. It was telling when Americans looked at the Shihad name and a few said it was close to holy war but a couple of young woman guess much more correctly. Shihad in front of label people who wanted to manipulate the band down to picking their set list is covered is paralleled with Larkin telling Knight to puff his hair up to look like a big rock star.

There are a lot of fond memories and Phil Knight’s animated first phone call between Ton Larkin, Jon Toogood and himself is a highlight. The band’s manager Gerald Dwyer is shown in a number of clips and remembered very fondly by band members and others associated with him. Dwyer’s drug habit, death and tangi are all talked about. Toogood talks about writing quieter songs because Dwyer wasn’t around to point out that the band’s grunty rock strength is what should be concentrated on. The missteps the band have made aren’t overlooked.

I loved that the band's early days were covered because I was following the band back in their demo days so would have liked to heard from the former bass players and also from other band’s that were around at the time. In fact, I may well be in the Mountain Rock audience footage. I also know people who were at the 91 AC/DC gig, which was bass player, Karl Kippenberger’s second Shihad. The first being a show the night before in Palmerston North(I suspect the then thrash metal band played with a goth band). Head Like A Hole’s experimentation with heroin in Berlin is only covered from the Shihad viewpoint. From a music point of view, the band’s surge into the mainstream when “Home Again” started being played at rugby games total lack of mention disappoints. There are also a number of personal incidents that go unmentioned. This documentary also sadly fails at showing how the band changed from working jobs to becoming full-time musicians. During the movie there is a change in quality of band filming over time as VHS and VCR recorders become digital and professionals can be afforded by the band. This documentary is aimed more than just the band's fans since it is really more about a group of friends from New Zealand chasing their dream of success overseas and the problems that come with it rather than just about music.


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X - The Unheard Music (re-release)

Originally released in 1985 The Unheard Music covers the LA band X, who on the reissue’s back cover are credited with changing the face of punk music with their original and vibrant style. The film is more than just a product of its time due to the music and the style of filmmaking.

The background and formation of the band are covered with Billy Zoom and John Doe both speaking about an advertisement for band members that both put in LA’s paper, The Recycler and how they called each other due to the similarity of the wording of their advertisements. Billy Zoom, John Doe and D.J. Bonebrake all speak about their musical experiences before the formation of the band and how they all had musical knowledge. Billy Zoom speaks also speaks reading a review of a Ramones record where the critic trashed it due to their only being three chords, dumb lyrics and short songs that were over too fast. All the other members musical experience Exene Cervena’s lack of music background although her background in poetry helped to provide song lyrics.

The film uses a lot of short clips from fifties TV and utilizes both programs and commercials. There’s a montage which uses shots of news-clippings whilst one of the band’s songs plays over. Sure, now this homemade music video is now commonplace on YouTube but this was made many years before the internet. There’s a clip made from a guy from a huge record corporation talking about signing a band and then the head of Slash records contrasting the two very different points of view using some quick editing. The head of Arista is then spoken to after X have signed with them and the first head of the huge record company talks about regretting missing out on the signing.

A Young DJ called Rodney Bingemheimer who had a show without a playlist on FM station KROQ is contrasted with the more commercial radio stations. A young Jello Biafra also in the studio, shows how this movie is a product of its time as does the covering of the closure of LA’s Whisky A-go-go venue which broke a number of bands from the particular time period and a lot of the graffiti helps when Exene points to it. The first venue X played, The Masque, is also closed and the owner gives the viewer a tour.

Not only is this an excellent piece of counter-culture from the Reagan era but X may well win new fans with this re-release as the collage technique in the film puts it above many other band biopics. The extras are enjoyable and worthwhile with recent interviews with John Doe and Exene Cervena and revealing old footage of interviews with film-makers.

5/5

Originally written by yours truly for Cinemania

Iggy and The Stooges- In The Hands of the Fans DVD

Through an online competition six fans were sent to film and interview Iggy and The Stooges play the “Raw Power” album at Montocelli New York’s “ All Tomorrow’s Parties” Festival.  The competitors had to submit a HD video clip of themselves with probing questions and reasons for wanting to film that show a passion for the Stooges.

Fans filming a band could have led to dubious quality videoing with the camera operator getting carried with the music as on the average amatuer youtube clip.   However many of these fans come from a background in media and there has been some great editing work using all six cameras done by a non-contestant.

While the video opens with clips from the contestants are first up, of course the meat and potatoes material is the actual concert footage, which is uninterrupted.   Iggy Pop is all over the stage more like a toddler that discovered energy drinks whilst already on a sugar rush rather than a man old enough to be many of the camera operator/interviewer’s grandfather. It absolutely shows that he loves working the stage as Iggy manically twirls this way, that way and almost absolutely any other way that is humanly possible.  Even if he didn’t have his shirt off, it would still be apparent that the guy keeps himself in great shape.  Guitarist, James Williamson and bass player, Mike Watt are much more subdued and don’t move around very much.  Despite being the youngest band member and not displaying much movement Mike Watt smiles like he is having the time of his life and really why shouldn’t he be?

For the song Shake Appeal, Iggy asks for for dancers, spazzers and freaks to come on stage and The Stooges are swamped by a couple of dozen people but the band play on despite the stage resembling an overcrammed bus.  During the shows the frontman dives into the audience a number of times and the real reason security are on the stage is not to contend with overeager audience but to pick Iggy up and get him upright on the stage.  The ever-present primal rawness of The Stooges shows without raw camera work.  There’s more here than just the “Raw Power” material as there are eight other songs taken mainly from The Stooges early works.   It’s impossible to pick a best-performed song but there is a very short moment where Iggy is unhappy about the bass sound and lets everyone know it.

The interview questions in the bonus feature are asked to Iggy, James and Scott.  The fan’s questions provide some interesting answers and Iggy does most of the talking and comes across as a different character with articulate and revealing answers which contrast with onstage unpredictable wildman persona.  Amongst other things the band talk about their average audience in their early days, how they got a bunch of London schoolgirls to listen to their recordings of Raw Power before they released them and how timeless really isn’t a good word to describe their music. It would have been good if Mike Watt had been in on the interview. The other bonus features  are full submitted fan videos,  the original advertisement for the contest and the great touch of physical liner notes by Mike Watt.

The band’s live performance translates well to DVD and it may well have been because the people filming were already passionate about the band or just because the Stooges sizzle because  they are a crack band in a class of their own as Iggy is quoted as saying on the back cover.

5/5

The above review was originally written for dvdholocaust where you can find a few more of my dvd reviews and don't forget to check out the other reviews.

Godmoney is asoundtrack that nearly sums up the nineties for me. I say nearly as there is no grunge. Stanford Prison System are for me the most interesting musically(although they do sound like 2 cents period Beowulf) because let's face it most of those Epitaph 90's bands wanted to be The Descendents and even they, as listening to their track on this comp proves, weren't that good then. Some of this stuff like Blink182 I could do without and so can you but, in the name of impurity, that shit's there.
I learnt not to judge a movie by its soundtrack when The Crow was continued. A movie theatre is an OK place to sleep. I have no desire to see Godmoney but this soundtrack is very good.

Can you dig it?