THE ONLY THING MORE EXTRAORDINARY THAN THEIR MUSIC IS HIS STORY. This biopic of the legendary rock band Queen and its singer Freddie Mercury was long in the making and suffered from a troubled production. The final results aren’t exactly bad, but certainly unremarkable. Engagingly told, the film ends with a carefully recreated 1985 Live … Continue reading Bohemian Rhapsody
Hard-drinking rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) ends up in a bar one night where he sees a waitress (Lady Gaga) sing an Edith Piaf song; bowled over, he talks to her and soon persuades her to go after a career in music. The fourth version of a story first conceived in the 1930s was … Continue reading A Star Is Born
In the past, director Kevin Macdonald has chronicled major artists like Mick Jagger and Bob Marley. His documentary about the life of Whitney Houston gained attention at the Cannes festival this year, and no wonder. It’s a powerful film and it did present some news – Whitney’s brother Gary and her longtime assistant Mary Jones … Continue reading Whitney: Family = Enemy
IF YOU WERE THROWN INTO A LIFE OF SUCCESS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WHEN IT ALL COMES CRASHING DOWN? Released one year before the tragic death of 28-year-old Tim ”Avicii” Bergling, the Swedish DJ who had become a global phenomenon, this documentary feels prophetic now, to say the least. Telling the story of how Avicii … Continue reading Avicii: True Stories
GET READY TO ROCK. GET READY TO LOVE. GET READY FOR RICKI. Ricki Rendazzo (Meryl Streep), singer and guitarist in a local rock band, flies to Indianapolis to help her daughter (Mamie Gummer) pull through after a rough break-up… but she isn’t exactly a welcome presence. Jonathan Demme’s last fictional movie was inspired by writer … Continue reading Ricki and the Flash
The A Man Called Ove (2015) director delivers a biopic in the vein of Waltz for Monica (2013) – this is a story about a Swedish artist, Ted Gärdestad, who became a phenomenon but whose career declined as his struggle with mental illness became increasingly frequent. Immensely talented, the young Ted initially had a tennis … Continue reading Ted – Show Me Love
Prince, talented frontman of the Minneapolis band The Revolution, has a troubled relationship with his dad… and a rival is trying to lure his girlfriend (Apollonia Kotero) away by forming a girl group. A great success for Prince, a largely biographical drama set in his native Minneapolis that becomes a smart showcase for his music. … Continue reading Purple Rain
… CATCH IT! In the mid-1970s, British rock journalist Nik Cohn arrived in New York City. He gained attention by writing an article for New York Magazine called ”Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”, vividly depicting the local disco scene. The article ended up inspiring the movie Saturday Night Fever… but it turned out … Continue reading Saturday Night Fever: Disco Inferno
During my vacation, I read Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”, the best-selling biography he released last year. At about the same time, there was also an accompanying documentary, Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words, and an album, “Chapter and Verse”. The Boss may have grown up in New Jersey more or less poor, but he sure … Continue reading Springsteen’s Career in 11 Rock Clips
BEHIND EVERY GREAT FILM IS A GREAT COMPOSER. Matt Schrader left his job at CBS to make his directing debut, a documentary about film music. With help from historian Leonard Maltin, we get a quick look at the history of movie scores and how they have changed, especially when jazz gained a foothold. We get … Continue reading Score: A Film Music Documentary
THE LIFE, LOVE AND GENIUS OF BRIAN WILSON. The kind of biography where the writers found something interesting in their subject’s life and focuse on that rather than just try to cover everything from beginning to end. We follow Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame during two critical periods – the 1960s when he had … Continue reading Love & Mercy
I’m back from watching the legendary, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer in concert tonight in Stockholm and my head is full of the themes from movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight and Inception. And the sight of long-time Zimmer collaborator Nick Glennie-Smith dancing around to the theme of Pirates of the Caribbean with a fake parrot attached … Continue reading A Glorious Evening with Hans Zimmer
We’re one week away from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ignore the dreary semifinals leading up to it) and I feel as conflicted as ever. The shows are simultaneously ridiculous and glorious. The quality is often shoddy, production-wise and musically, and the shows always go on too long. The obvious answer would be to cap … Continue reading Eurovision’s Silliest Acts
