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Untitled Document
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| Filmoteca Hard Blast |
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| By: Helvécio Parente |
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| Translation: Maila-Kaarina |
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Rock Star
As soon as I was invited to write for Hard Blast as a columnist I remembered the movie Rock Star. I can´t think of any better movie than this one to be here...
The story: in the 80´s, Steel Dragon, one of the best rock bands of the moment, substitutes the original vocalist by a young guy who sings in a cover band.
Cool idea, right? The fact is that this film has inspired a truth story: Judas Priest chose Tim “Ripper” Owens, a cover band singer until that moment, to substitute Rob Halford when he left the band.
This film is very good but why do I think so? Because they worried about a very special and important detail for those who like this movie type: many of the actors are musicians. Mark Wahlberg himself used to be a rapper before becoming an actor (Do you remember Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch?). Dominic West, who plays Kirk Cuddy, is the only member of Steel Dragon who is a “real actor”. The others are Jason Bonham (John Bonham´s son) on the drums, Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy) on the guitar and Jeff Pilson (Dokken) on the bass… And there are more musicians from “hair metal” bands as part of the cover bands of the film; Blood Polution and Black Babylon. |
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This is how the movie gains necessary credibility in spite of the fact the director Stephen Herek doesn´t actually “belong” to this field – his most famous film is the version for The 3 Musketeers, stared by Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Oliver Platt.
Mark Wahlberg used to be a rapper, but it´s not his voice you´re gonna listen to. He was dubbed by Jeff Scott Soto and Mike Matijevic (of Steelheart). For those who are patient enough to read the credits, you will see a joke they made with him: Steel Dragon is on stage and on the live P.A. they start playing a playback of the song Good Vibrations - a Marky Mark hit...
Some cliches are explored in the film such as the famous “sex, drugs and rock’n'roll” and there are several situations in each one of the 3 vertexes. Some things get a little forced – I didn´t like very much the way Bobby Beers left the band in front of a fan and neither the manager´s reaction when Izzy leaves the stage. But none of these things spoil the good result of this movie. It´s very good to have fun for all those who like rock! |
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Rolling Stones – Shine a Light
What about one of the biggest bands in history being filmed by one of the greatest directors of history? Does it sound interesting?
In Shine a Light, director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Gangs of New York and a zillion of other good films) filmed concerts on the 29th of October and November the 1st of 2006, at Beacon Theatre, New York and shows it to us in one of the best rock history documentaries.
Why is this movie considered one the best documentaries in history? Because before being a Stones film it´s a Scorsese´s. So, instead of all “glamour” people might expect what we actually see is the band in it´s real shape from very, very close.
The idea of mega concerts is associated to all Rolling Stones´ concerts. I´ve already seen several concerts in Maracanã (Rio de Janeiro) but the only one I can say the band didn´t get “small” in that huge area was the Stones itself in the 90´s.
But in this film we can see everything in the first row. We can really see the wrinkles of each one of the four Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (guitar), Charlie Watts (drums) and Ronnie Wood (guitar). |
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We see all poses and faces Keith Richards does- it doesn´t matter what one might say about him, it´s a fact that the guy created most of the concepts we have in mind about what a “rock guitarist” is. We can also see a 65-year-old Mick Jagger shaking on stage like a little girl - and, once more, say what you want but the guy is a perfect frontman, there are only few like him in the world and never, his shaking is NEVER fake or forced.
Important to know: Ronnie Wood is the only Stones member from the original line-up in the 60´s. Brian Jones, the first line-up guitarist together with Keith Richards, died in 69 and was substituted by Mick Taylor, who got in the band until 74, when finally Wood joined them. The bass player Bill Wyman got retired in 93. From then on Daryl Jones plays the bass but he has never been really a member but a hired musician.
We see so close what´s going on that something really rare happens: the real sound of the concert without any mixing. When the camera goes near the musicians we can listen to the sound of the instruments louder as if we were close to the return speakers. Sometimes the audio gets messy and sometimes we cannot see the other instruments very well. But it´s very interesting...
In between songs there are interview stretches from other times and this is one of the few mistakes the film shows: there are no dates when the interviews are shown. It is cool to see a young Mick Jagger in the 60´s saying that “maybe they would still have enough energy to play for a couple of years more”. I think they should have shown the year together with the images at least!
But anyway it´s a great movie and it deserves to be watched, bought, downloaded or whatever!
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ON SCENE
The Atrangers
A young couple is trapped in a house by strange and violent neighbors wearing masks. The idea might seem interesting, specially because the main actress is Liv Tyler, which makes us think this is not a crappy movie.
Well, I wish I hadn´t known all actors...It would have made us at least a little suspicious…
The story´s development is nos actually bad. The director knows how to create an interesting atmosphere of tension along the short film (a little less than 120 minutes). After a frustrating episode, a couple must spend the night in an isolated house. In the middle of the night those “strangers in masks” start to terrify them.
SPOILERS DOWN!!!
SPOILERS DOWN!!! |
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The big problem in this film is that we spend our time creating the expectation that something interesting will happen at any time. Who are those mascaraed guys? Why are they wearing masks? What´s the reason that makes them do it? What is the answer for the “big why” of the film?
The movie is over and there is no explanation for anything. We spend at least half an hour believing in a surprising descent end, some explanation for everything … but nothing happens.
After that we start thinking on the amount of problems there are inside the story, the “guys in masks” that move in light speed, people who open a house´s door in an isolated area in the middle of the night, friends who, arriving in the house and seeing a big mess at 4 am. don´t scream their friend´s names, so on and so forth...
Unnecessary... |
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Helvécio Parente
helvecio@hardblast.com |
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