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Capone on Scorsese's Stones doc SHINE A LIGHT!
Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here.
You can make as many jokes as you'd like about their age, their history, their substance abuse, their wrinkles, but after seeing The Rolling Stones IMAX concert documentary Shine A Light, you cannot make fun of the way they put on a show. Sure, when they stand next to each other to take their final bow, they resemble Mt. Rushmore carved in leather. Who cares? The fogies prowl and shimmy across the stage with more energy and personality than any other musicians of any age. And while you might think that the only thing seeing the band members' faces projected on an IMAX screen could accomplish is magnifying their deep and long wrinkles, what you really notice is how happy they are to be alive and entertaining the audience (which included the Clintons) at New York's fairly intimate Beacon Theatre. Having Martin Scorsese (director of the finest concert film of all time, The Last Waltz) behind the camera and a series of fine guest appearances from the likes of Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Christiana Aguilera is just icing.
Scorsese does pull a few tried and true tricks out of his directing bag. Much as he did with his classic film about The Band's final show, he allows the camera to linger when other directors might be tempted to edit more furiously. He also isn't afraid to let his cameras wander the stage even when the temptation to spend 90 percent of the time on Mick Jagger's live-wire performance. Scorsese captures priceless private moments, especially knowing glances between guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood. They'll catch each other's eye, smile, sometimes crack up; sometimes they bump into each other with brotherly affection. And when the pair go it alone with Richards on vocals for "You Got the Silver," they are almost giddy. Watching Richards can be a full-time job. He's like an oversized tarantula with black eyes and eight arms, each played an undeniable riff. And when he smiles, he becomes 30 years younger. At one point early in the show, we even catch drummer Charlie Watts sigh with quiet exhaustion after a particularly satisfying romp through "Shattered."
But let's face it people come to a Stones show to see if Jagger has lost his natural energy and athleticism. Not only hasn't he, but even his voice seems relatively unaffected by the decades. Jack White (from The White Stripes) is so clearly impressed with Jagger's singing that he lowers he usually high voice to sound like him as the two perform "Loving Cup." While Aguilera's voice is flawless and she and Mick bump and grind through "Live With Me," the band clearly has the most in common and the most respect for Buddy Guy remarkably strong and borderline evil version of the blues standard "Champagne and Reefer."
After opening the show with a few expected classics ("Jumpin' Jack Flash", "She Was Hot", "Some Girls"), it was nice to see the band try a few less road-tested number, including the lovely stripped down version of "As Tears Go By," as well as "Faraway Eyes" and the Temptations cover "Just My Imagination." Scorsese also inserts some archival interview footage of the band (although strangely enough neither Brian Jones, Mick Taylor, or Bill Wyman show up to any extent throughout the film, and while the material isn't really necessary or relevant, it does provide a few laughs, especially when a staggeringly young Jagger tells one reporter two years into the Stones' career that he believes the band has one more year's worth of life as a band. The version of "Sympathy for the Devil" in Shine A Light is definitive. During the song, Jagger twists and contorts himself like a man possessed (appropriately enough). He dances so fast, in fact, he becomes an ageless blur on the massive screen. He doesn't just sing, he turns his performances into an acting exercise, part go-go dance, part catwalk strut. He finds ways of connecting with each audience member with a point or a knowing glare or a pelvic thrust; and his timing is never off. Shine A Light is glorious song after glorious song performed by the greatest rock band the world has ever seen on the only size screen that deserves their brute force. Casual fans and die-hards alike are going to eat this baby up.
Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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Has some cool interview sounbytes from Captn Jacks dad... Hes a londoner!!!!
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Not since Dean DeBlois's Sigur Ros film 'Heima' - just about every review seem to mention how it had finally usurped 'TLW', it really is a fantastic piece of work whether you like SR or not.
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Scorcese + The Stones = Fuckin Orgasm.
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what were you thinking stones.
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Apr 03, 2008 5:41:34 AM CDT
WHHAAATTTT??? No fuckin Gimmie Shelter
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
What the Fuck?????
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Andrew Lesnie!!! Emmanuel Lubezski!!! Robert Elswit!!! Robert Richardson!!!
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Mt. Rushmore carved in leather. then you lost me with Jack White and Christina Aguilera. Then I came back when I realized that jack white wasn;t jack Black and remembered that out of that whole Britney X-Tina Jessica Mandy teen pop diva craze from the late '90s, Aguilera was the one who could actually sing. To bad about thw way she slutted up her image, but talent is talent.
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Damn you Michael Bay
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Apr 03, 2008 7:05:05 AM CDT
great movie from start to finish looks great in digital too :)
by pjvader
saw it at the premiere in the Uk last night even if ur not a religous fan like me the performances are so great it will suck you in worth it for the sound and visuals alone i saw it projected digitally and it was jaw dropping (not the post show doc bits tho as they wee shot in SD by the looks of it) oh and do we have a set list yet? ;)
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He's gotta be in there somewhere. Maybe he's Christina Aguilera.
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the one time i expected it more than any other too! bet its on the blu-ray, or they purposely didnt play it so it wasnt in a scorsese movie
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I think this is the first Scorsese movie not to have "Gimme Shelter" in it. I love the part in "The Last Temptation of Christ" when Jesus bursts into "Rape, murder, it's just a shot away."
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. . . in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And here's a "fuck you, they rock" in advance.
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THIS SHOULD GET FUCKING OSCARS
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I can handle that. Plus, Buddy "The Fucking Man" Guy is in it too. I can't fucking wait to see this.
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do they not sing that line anymore or was it just cause it was shot a clinton benefit concert?
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I am interested in seeing this mostly because it's Scorcese... I'm just so sick to death of people saying the Stones are the "Greatest Rock Band" the world has ever seen. Brute force? Capone come on! Are you kidding? First of all watch the "Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus" When the Stones were young and still energetic... The WHO owned the night! So much so that Mick and the boys shelved the project for 30 years!
Don't get me wrong, the Stones in my estimation are a really good band from a great era. But they have tarnished everything they did in the 60's and 70's by continuing to make the same boring records for the last 30 years.
PS. I personally don't think it's possible to name a Greatest Rock Band of even the 60's Let's see... Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, Small Faces, Jimi Hendrix etc. etc. -
Thank God Keith is still around to reign Mick in from trying to be too hip. You know Mick wanted Jay Z in this. (I can deal with Christina because she is hot and can actually sing).
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Apr 03, 2008 10:40:58 AM CDT
"Scorsese does pull a few tried and true tricks out of his direc
by kid idioteque
Like using Rolling Stones songs? Man, he does that in every movie! Not again...
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Keef and Mick as a duet with two acoustic guitars belting out the blues in a smoky club? Good. The band running around and grinding against women 1/3 their ages? Not so much.
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He is horrible and this film really showcases that. He just shouts out the lyrics and often doesn't even follow the melody. Sometimes it seems as if he doesn't even try. But I suppose that, at a concert, everyone is so hyped up they don't care.
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Sirius has been running an all-Stones channel to promote this and has played a few of its songs. The band still sounds pretty good, but Jagger's voice has lost a lot of range and expressiveness. And Christina A. is pretty bad. She oversings her part on "Live With Me" as if she doesn't get the song's humor. Jack White and Buddy Guy sound good, though.
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i've read it wasn't actually shot for imax, so is it even worth the extra money to watch it on an imax screen? as for the "best concert documentary" argument, what about the talking heads/jonathan demme's "stop making sense"?
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Apr 03, 2008 9:20:58 PM CDT
Stones are still the Greatest Rock + Roll Band in the world
by darth voodoo
Keep on Rolling!!!
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