Shine a Light
from Paramount
Martin Scorsese leaps into the madness of the Rolling Stones' organization in Shine a Light, barely controlling (in a most entertaining way) a documentary that culminates in the Stones' best concert on film. The movie's highly entertaining, pre-performance prologue finds a frazzled Scorsese trying to get a clue about the band's plans for a very special New York City date in 2006, a benefit hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton. While Mick Jagger quibbles over concepts for the stage's set and peruses lists of possible songs to include in the show, Scorsese tries to figure out how to shoot something for which he has few production details. Everything falls into place eventually, and after an extraordinary meet-and-greet scene in which Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts catch up with the Clintons and sweetly introduce themselves to Hillary's mom, the Stones launch into a set that leans less heavily than usual on their greatest hits canon. Longtime fans are sure to appreciate the wealth of generally-untapped material from Let It Bleed ("You Got the Silver," "Live With Me"), Exile On Main Street ("All Down the Line," "Loving Cup"), and Some Girls ("Faraway Eyes," "Just My Imagination"). Jack White, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy are on hand for memorable collaborations, but the Stones all alone are truly on fire in the relatively intimate setting of a small theater. Among the highlights is a sexy and even thrilling call-and-response between Jagger and ace backup singer Lisa Fischer on "She Was Hot," Richards' gracious and expansive solo on "Connection," and Jagger's witty take on "Some Girls" (which manages to skip over the controversial verse about "black girls"). Throughout the show, Scorsese and an army of camera operators cover the action from every conceivable angle, which results not so much in another hyperkinetic concert film but rather in the kind of graceful, flattering portrayal of a great band that the director mastered with The Last Waltz. --Tom Keogh
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter - Criterion Collection
by Albert Maysles
from Criterion
To cite Gimme Shelter as the greatest rock documentary ever filmed is to damn it with faint praise. This 1970 release benefits from a horrifying serendipity in the timing of the shoot, which brought filmmakers Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin aboard as the Rolling Stones' tumultuous 1969 American tour neared its end. By following the band to the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco for a fatally mismanaged free concert, the Maysles and Zwerin wound up shooting what's been accurately dubbed rock's equivalent to the Zapruder film. The cameras caught the ominous undercurrents of violence palpable even before the first chords were strummed, and were still rolling when a concertgoer was stabbed to death by the Hell's Angels that served as the festival's pool cue-wielding security force.
By the time Gimme Shelter reached theater screens, Altamont was a fixed symbol for the death of the 1960s' spirit of optimism. The Maysles and Zwerin used that knowledge to shape their film: their chronicle begins in the editing room as they cut footage of the Stones' Madison Square Garden performance of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and from there moves toward Altamont with a kind of dreadful grace. The songs become prophecies and laments for broken faith ("Wild Horses"), misplaced devotion ("Love in Vain"), and social collapse ("Street Fighting Man" and, of course, "Sympathy for the Devil"). Along the way, we glimpse the folly of the machinations behind the festival, the insularity of life on the concert trail, and the superstars' own shell-shocked loss of innocence.
Gimme Shelter looks into an abyss, partly self-created, from which the Rolling Stones would retreat--but unlike its subject, the filmmakers don't blink. --Sam Sutherland
Called "the greatest rock film ever made," this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When 300,000 members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hell's Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, direct cinema pioneers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin immortalized on film the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment.
Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who
from Universal Studios
Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who and Amazing Journey: Six Quick Ones are two exhilarating feature films about one of the greatest rock bands in the world!Spanning four decades this authorized and definitive anthology of The Who relives their journey from humble beginnings to their meteoric rise to rock legend status in a 2-film DVD set. Filled with all-new interviews with band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend and music icons Sting The Edge of U2 Eddie Vedder and more this must-have collection also features electrifying rare and unreleased concert footage in mind-blowing 5.1 surround sound. David Wild a contributing editor of Rolling Stone says it's "brilliant an exceptionally smart and intimate portrait." For music that spoke to generations of fans and refused to be classified the answer is - and always will be - The Who.System Requirements:Running Time: 88 Mins.Format: DVD AUDIO Genre: MUSIC DVD/DOCUMENTARY Rating: NR UPC: 025195019347 Manufacturer No: 61102505
Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who is a very satisfying, two-disc set anchored by an excellent documentary directed by Murray Lerner (The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival), whose 1970 footage of the band in concert appears in Lerner's Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival. Lerner's new film includes recent and extensive interviews with surviving Who members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, who candidly recall every chapter of the group's career, from childhood to the premature deaths of drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, and beyond to Daltrey and Townshend's continuing, now-autumnal collaboration. Much of what is said and captured in Amazing Journey has been noted before in myriad ways (including the Who's 1979 autobiographical feature The Kids Are Alright), but the older Daltrey and Townshend get, the richer their insights into Who history. Lerner's organization of sub-topics and material also makes Amazing Journey powerful and resonant, including the Who's earliest period as an emerging club band (called the High Numbers) emphasizing rhythm and blues, and Townshend's gradual transformation into a songwriter trying to break traditional pop forms. Key relationships are examined and explored, but of special note is Daltrey's and Townshend's separate, fascinating assessments of the former's evolution as a vocalist and frontman. (Each maintains that it was Daltrey's personal connection to the central character in Tommy that turned him into an expansive, charismatic singer.)
A second disc contains superb outtakes from Amazing Journey, with an emphasis on the wisdom of Daltrey and Townshend, both in their 60s, examining their individual artistries. Who fans and musicians alike will certainly enjoy an exciting analysis, from the likes of the Edge, Simon Townshend (Pete's brother and member of the Who's backing band) and Eddie Vedder, of Townshend's gifts as a guitarist. A wonderful mini-documentary co-directed by D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back) captures a recording session from 2003, and footage of the High Numbers in a 1964 performance (from an aborted film by the Who's late co-manager, Kit Lambert) is a remarkable artifact. --Tom Keogh
The Rolling Stones - Rock and Roll Circus
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Abkco Films
Originally done as a BBC TV special but never shown, the Rolling Stones headline this rock concert featuring circus performers between musical acts.
Media Type: DVD
Artist: ROLLING STONES
Title: ROCK & ROLL CIRCUS
Street Release Date: 10/12/2004
Genre: ROCK/POP
Unavailable at all for nearly three decades, then issued in a VHS edition in 1996, the Rolling Stones' legendary Rock and Roll Circus finally gets the full treatment with this DVD release documenting the 1968 event. The Stones were reportedly unhappy with their performance (hence the long delay), and it isn't their finest moment; performing "Jumping Jack Flash" and a variety of songs from their then-new Beggars Banquet album, Keith Richards is game, but Jagger's preening (especially on "Sympathy for the Devil") is over the top, and guitarist Brian Jones looks dissolute and well on his way to his death the following year. A certain weirdness permeates some of the other musical acts as well: Jethro Tull lip-syncs unconvincingly, Taj Mahal and band were obliged to perform before the circus set was completed and the audience had arrived, and John Lennon's outing with impromptu supergroup the Dirty Mac (with Richards, Eric Clapton, and drummer Mitch Mitchell) is hampered by Yoko Ono's caterwauling, although their version of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" is cool. Still, the Who are brilliant, Marianne Faithfull is beautiful, the various circus acts are fun, and the crowd clearly loves it.
The DVD comes with some fascinating bonus features, including three extra songs by Mahal, some lovely classical piano by Julius Katchen, and a "quad split-screen" version of "Yer Blues." Best of all are a new interview with the Who's Pete Townshend and the various commentary tracks added for the DVD--especially those by Tull's Ian Anderson, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Stones Jagger, Richards, and Bill Wyman (who dryly attributes Jagger's reluctance to issue the show to his dissatisfaction with his own performance, not the band's). Flaws notwithstanding, this is a treat. --Sam Graham
The Biggest Bang Rolling Stones
from RST Concerts
Disc 1: Zilker Park, Austin, Texas Opening (intro) 1.You Got Me Rocking 2. Let's Spend The Night Together 3. She's So Cold 4.Oh No, Not You Again 5. Sway 6. Bob Wills Is Still The King 7. Streets Of Love 8.Ain't Too Proud To Beg 9. Tumbling Dice 10. Learning The Game 11. Little T&A 12. Under My Thumb 13. Get Off My Cloud 14. Honky Tonk Women 15. Sympathy For The Devil 16. Jumpin' Jack Flash17. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 18. Brown Sugar Bonus Features:Austin Mini-Documentary Disc 2: Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Opening (intro) 1. Jumpin' Jack Flash 2. It's Only Rock 'n Roll 3. You Got Me Rocking 4. Wild Horses 5. Rain Fall Down 6. Midnight Rambler 7. Night Time Is The Right Time 8. Happy 9. Miss You 10. Rough Justice 11. Get Off My Cloud 12. Honky Tonk Women 13. Start Me Up 14. Brown Sugar 15. You Can't Always Get What You Want 16. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Bonus Feature: Rio de Janeiro Documentary Disc 3: Rest Of The World Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan Opening (intro) 1. Let's Spend The Night Together Sapporo (segue) 2. Rain Fall Down Tokyo Dome (segue) 3. Rough Justice Cherry Blossoms (segue) Shanghai Grand Stage, Shanghai, China Opening (intro) 1. Bitch 2. Midnight Rambler 3. Gimme Shelter 4. This Place Is Empty That's What I Do (segue) 5. It's Only Rock 'n Roll China, A Slow Process (segue) River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina Opening (intro) 1. Worried About You Football Chant (segue) 2. Happy 3. Miss You Ronnie & Audience (segue) 4. Paint It Black 5. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Featurettes: 1. Bonnie Raitt featurette Shine A Light 2. Eddie Vedder featurette Wild Horses 3. Dave Matthews featurette Let It Bleed Duets: 1. Shine A Light featuring Bonnie Raitt 2. Wild Horses featuring Eddie Vedder 3. Let It Bleed featuring Dave Matthews 4. Wild Horses featuring Cui Jian Jukebox Feature Disc 4 Salt Of The Earth A Bigger Bang Tour Documentary
Director's Series, Vol. 3 - The Work of Director Michel Gondry
by Lance Bangs
from Palm Pictures / Umvd
The Work of Director Michel Gondry invites the lucky viewer into a wonderland of childlike imagination. Before the Versailles-born Gondry turned his creative ingenuity to feature films (beginning with the underrated Human Nature and the 2004 Jim Carrey comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), these 27 music videos and assorted "stories and things" formed a legacy of supreme cleverness, suggesting a creative lineage from the pioneering film magic of Georges Méliès to the groundbreaking experimental films of Norman McLaren. It's perfectly fitting that the accompanying 75-minute documentary is titled "I've Been 12 Forever," because Gondry (b. 1964) never lost the sense of wonder and inventiveness that children display when their minds are allowed to flourish in a creative environment. No wonder he's best known for his dazzling collaborations with Icelandic pop star Björk, resulting in music videos (seven included here) that redefined the magical potential of the medium. Each, in its own way, is a masterpiece of the fantastic.
What's also remarkable about Gondry's work is its technical progression, from the homemade crudeness of his earliest videos for the French band Oui Oui, to the technical wizardry of Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World," in which the Australian pop star is seamlessly multiplied as she strolls around a busy Parisian intersection; like many of Gondry's videos, it's a stunning "how-did-they-do-that?" work of art, reminiscent of Zbigniew Rybcynski's prize-winning 1982 short "Tango." From the hilarious dreamworld of the Foo Fighters' most popular video "Everlong" to the painstaking pixilation of Gondry's videos for the White Stripes (one made entirely of animated Lego blocks), this DVD is packed with Gondry's tireless pursuit of perfection; he'll do whatever's necessary, no matter how simple or complex, to achieve perfect harmony between song, artist, and visual concept. All the while, he's drawing from a seemingly endless well of inspiration, as evident in the delightful 52-page booklet of stories, drawings, photos, and interviews that chronicle the eternal sunshine of a brilliant mind. --Jeff Shannon
The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon
by Bruce Gowers
from Warner Home Video
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: ROLLING STONES
Title: BRIDGES TO BABYLON
Street Release Date: 06/28/2005
Genre: ROCK/POP
Like any good brand, the Rolling Stones know to preserve the formula even when updating the package, and this long-form concert video underscores that market strategy. As with each of their tours since the early '80s, the quartet, augmented by a discreet auxiliary of backup musicians, gives the fans new eye candy while dishing up a familiar set list spiked with Mick Jagger's lip-smacking vocals and Keith Richards's signature guitar riffs. The visual twists are at once spectacular and conservative: a cyclopean main stage design with massive pillars (presumably the Babylonian connection), a vast oval video screen (shades of Big Brother), and a hydraulic bridge enabling a midconcert sortie into the audience, with the Stones playing a more stripped-down, intimate set on a small satellite stage.
That huge physical setting doubtless made the live shows eye-filling rock spectacles, but the video crew necessarily accepts the limitations of the small screen, focusing more on close-ups of the band, rapid cuts, and racing, hand-held tracking shots to convey excitement while keeping the viewer close to the action. The evening's repertoire sticks to the band's most familiar hits, and if the Glimmer Twins occasionally slip their masks to let the routine show, the real wonder is how effectively they keep the playing focused. During the first half of the program, the band's newest songs (especially "Saint of Me" and "Out of Control") elicit conspicuously higher energy from the band, if not the audience. But just as the show seems doomed to a certain anomie, the escape onto the smaller, no-frills stage pumps up players and crowd alike, particularly when they launch into "Like a Rolling Stone," a cover that winds up sounding like a great idea too long deferred. --Sam Sutherland
John Lee Hooker - Come and See About Me: The Definitive DVD
from Eagle Rock Ent
The back cover promises "complete archival performances of [John Lee Hooker's] most popular songs," all courtesy of the Hooker estate. That's good news for anyone used to music programs containing only frustratingly brief clips of their subjects at work, and it's exactly what Come and See About Me delivers--in spades--in this superb, two-hour compilation featuring the late bluesman in live performance by himself, with various bands, and in collaborations with a host of famous partners. Hooker's blues was a dark, menacing, sexy sound, and some of the best moments here come when he is playing solo, with only his guitar, his stomping foot, and what guitarist Ry Cooder (who joins him for "Hobo Blues") calls his "deep, well-like" voice accompanying songs like "It Serves Me Right to Suffer" (from 1969) and "Bad Like Jesse James" (1986). But the collaborations are swell too, including those with Van Morrison, Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, John Hammond, and the Rolling Stones ("Boogie Chillen'" comes from the Stones' Steel Wheels tour, with Eric Clapton on hand as well); there's even an appearance with Brit blues rockers Foghat from 1978, with the great Paul Butterfield adding harmonica. The bonus features (a couple of interviews, discography, another "Boogie Chillen'" take) aren't much, but little matter--for blues fans, this is the motherlode. --Sam Graham
The journey began in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1917. When it finally ended in 2001, a 6 decade long boogie tornado had left a path of one of the most influential marks on the music world. The deep voice, the distorted guitar, and that foot that tapped away like an out of control metronome brought him out of Mississippi to the far reaches of this country. Included among the vintage footage are performances of Hooker jamming with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, and Bonnie Raitt. Also included are archive performances throughout his storied career from many of the various television appearances he made as well as vintage interview clips with Hooker. Bonus features include a discography, a bonus interview clip with John Lee, an interview with Zakiya Hooker (his daughter), and a bonus clip of John Lee Hooker and Roy Rogers performing "Boogie Chillin'". This film is presented by the John Lee Hooker Estate.
Rolling Stones- Under Review: 1967-1969
from Video Music, Inc.
The Rolling Stones Under Review 1967 - 1969 is a 90 minute documentary film reviewing the music and career of the band during, arguably, their most creative period. In the second half of the 1960s the sound of the Stones changed dramatically, while concu
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Region Free Import)
In December of 1969, four months after Woodstock, the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane gave a free concert in Northern California, east of Oakland at Altamont Speedway. About 300,000 people came, and the organizers put Hell's Angels in charge of security around the stage. Armed with pool cues and knifes, Angels spent the concert beating up spectators, killing at least one. The film intercuts performances, violence, Grace Slick and Mick Jagger's attempts to cool things down, close-ups of young listeners (dancing, drugged, or suffering Angel shock), and a look at the Stones later as they watch concert footage and reflect on what happened. ++++ DVD FEATURES: This officially licensed release from South Korea is All-Region NTSC Code 0 (playable worldwide) with Full Screen display and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound in ENGLISH with optional (removeable) English or Korean subtitles. EXTRA FEATURES: Interative Menu; Audio Commentary: Albert Maysles - Director, Charlotte Zwerin - Director, Stanley Goldstein - Collaborator; Additional Footage: Censored Footage; Additional Audio Material: Excerpts from KSAN radio's post-Altamont broadcast with introduction by DJ Stefan Ponek; Outtakes: Backstage Outtakes; Deleted Scenes(Songs): "Little Queenie," "Oh Carol," and "Prodigal Son"; Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer Bonus Original Theatrical Trailer - GREY GARDENS; Bonus Original Theatrical Trailer - SALESMAN; Bonus Original Theatrical Trailer - GIMME SHELTER (re-release); Documentary: Restoration Demonstration; Text/Photo Galleries; Stills/Photos: Altamont Stills (featuring photographs by Bill Owens and Beth Sunflower); Filmographies: Albert Maysles - Director, David Maysles - Director, Charlotte Zwerin - Director
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