movie review
The best music movies throughout history.
Documentary Review: 'Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche'
If you aren’t a fan of the British punk rock wave of the late 70s and early 1980s then you may not be aware of the trailblazer known as Poly Styrene. Poly Styrene was the rebellious and distinctive voice of the punk band X-Ray Spex. The band is arguably best known for being banned by the BBC over their song “Oh Bondage, Up Yours,” an anti-authority, anti-patriarchy punk anthem that became a big hit in spite of and because of the BBC ban.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
Documentary Review: 'Charli XCX: Alone Together' Chronicles the Bond of Artist and Fan
I love fandoms. I love dedicated groups of people who take to an artist and their art and become a community. It’s an online phenomenon that did not exist when I was young and part of various fandoms. I am still a fan of many different artists and their work but I’ve never been part of a fandom and I envy those who have that connection and are able to share their love of pop ephemera with other like-minded people. I’m happy when I see a group of people who get along and are able to find a space to share their dedication to something.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
Tick, Tick, Boom!
By Tomás G Robinson, January 13, 2022 (SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN TICK TICK BOOM, AND DON’T WANT TO BE TOLD OF SCENES OR OUTCOMES TO THIS FILM, I SUGGEST YOU STOP HERE AND MOZY ON OVER TO NETFLIX AND CORRECT THAT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)
By Thomas G Robinson4 years ago in Beat
Review of 'Les Bicyclettes de Belsize'
As I mentioned on Twitter, Facebook, and all the usual places, I just added Engelbert Humperdinck's "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize," his 1968 hit record which I always loved -- and thought I loved more than I should have -- to my Science Fiction and Fantasy Songs playlist on Spotify, as you can see below. It's the 16th song on the list, but they're not in any kind of ranking. "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" just seemed to go well with "Over the Rainbow," at #15. Both after all are fantasy songs, both come from motion pictures with fantasy narratives, and both motion pictures are musicals.
By Paul Levinson4 years ago in Beat
Documentary Review: 'Jagged' is a Nostalgic Remembrance of Alanis Morrissette
On November 25th, 1995, I was 19 years old and I was in the audience at the Adler Theater in Davenport, Iowa to see Alanis Morrissette on one of the dates from her Jagged Little Pill tour. This isn’t clout chasing on my part, Alanis was, by this point in her career, even being only 21 years old herself, already one of the biggest stars in the world. By November of 1995, You Oughtta Know had already rocketed Alanis to superstar status by the time she brought the Jagged Little Pill tour to Davenport, Iowa.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
Top 11 Songs From ‘The Many Saints of Newark’
“I listen to a lot of music all the time… A lot of these things are dredged up from memory. I’ll go, ‘Oh, that was a really good song.’ Or I’ve kept this catalog in my head of so-and-so I’ve always wanted to use. And then a movie situation will come up in which they fit very well.” – David Chase, writer and producer of The Sopranos
By Frank Mastropolo4 years ago in Beat
Documentary Review: 'Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong Torres'
Many fans have created their vision of who Ben Fong Torres is based on what they saw in Cameron Crowe’s brilliant 2000 film, Almost Famous. Played by actor Terry Chen, the Ben Fong Torres of Almost Famous is a supremely laid back individual who unwittingly hires a teen aged Cameron Crowe, known as William Miller in the movie, to become a reporter for Rolling Stone. The main thing people remember about the character is that he had a catchphrase, ‘Crazy.’ Everything was ‘Crazy’ in a cool, melodic tone that was anything but crazy.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
Documentary Review: 'The United States of Insanity'
My favorite writer is a man named Nathan Rabin. Nathan’s writing is funny, weird, sophisticated and distinctly his own. I admire his voice and envy the clever turns of phrase. It is because I admire Nathan so much that I was able to enter the new documentary, The United States of Insanity, a documentary about the Insane Clown Posse, with less skepticism than I am sure most critics entered with. You see, several years ago, in his brilliant book, You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me, Nathan announced that he was a Juggalo. The fact that someone who I truly hold up as a peer and inspiration is a Juggalo opened my eyes to the phenomenon, not as one that I could identify with but one I could understand and respect.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
Documentary Review: 'The Velvet Underground' from Director Todd Haynes
The Velvet Underground was unlike any other band in rock history. Presented like an art show, under the guidance of legendary pop art provocateur Andy Warhol, the band was living art in New York City in the late 1960s. The Velvet Underground with cantankerous and charismatic lead singer Lou Reed, sonic scientist John Cale on piano and viola, glass ceiling busting drummer Moe Tucker, and guitarist Sterling Morrison, were the combustible elements of a genre busting, new kind of rock stardom.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Beat
"Love, Death & Robots" second series "The Drowned Giant": Who is stranded on the beach?
On May 14th, the second series of (Love, Death & Robots) produced by Netflix was launched. The series caused a sensation when the first series came out in the past. The short length and distinctive visual style are about technological utopia, sex and variety. A short story with a heterogeneous temperament. Looking at the two series released so far, I actually don’t think it deals with too much about technological governance, dystopian thinking, and philosophical themes that have always existed in (good) sci-fi works (maybe the only close one is the first series ( Zima Blue), mostly just some kind of thriller stories set in the future technology. However, in the second series, (The Drowned Giant) stands out, with a narrative approach that is almost like essay film, plus just right The fantasy setting of the novel reveals the problems of a special dialogue between postmodernism and existentialism.
By Anton Bolduc4 years ago in Beat
"Okay Madam": Funny, enjoyable, and very romantic! Didn't I tell you that the market lady is not offended?
Although I grew up watching Stephen Chow's movies, I am now spitting out: "The movies you introduce will be dead." For me, I really rarely go to watch advertised funny movies. Obviously I should watch comedies to decompress. At the moment, I chose horror movies to relieve the pressure, and I don’t know what is wrong... I digress! In short, thank God, although I will not take the initiative to find comedies, but I still have the opportunity to let them find me!
By Aleron Vertefeuille4 years ago in Beat
