This coming weekend--April 19-25--the West Theater here in Duluth is hosting a mini film fest featuring films showcasing music. Here's the schedule, with film summaries below. Which ones will you go to see?
 |
| Click to enlarge |
It Might Get Loud
Davis Guggenheim USA 2008 Documentary -- 98 mins
“It Might Get Loud” is a 2008 American documentary film by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. The film explores the careers and musical styles of three prominent rock guitarists: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, The Edge of U2, and Jack White of The White Stripes. It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. The film revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach, and play.
Best viewed in the theater.
Velvet Goldmine
Todd Haynes USA 1998 Drama -- 118 Mins
"Velvet Goldmine" is a 1998 musical drama film directed by Todd Haynes. Set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, it tells the story of a fictional bisexual pop star named Brian Slade, who faked his own death. The film uses non-linear storytelling to achieve exposition while interweaving the vignettes of its various characters.
Best viewed in the theater.
Stop Making Sense
Jonathan Demme USA Documentary 1984 -- 88 mins
Considered by critics as the greatest concert film of all time, the live performance was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and features Talking Heads' most memorable songs. Newly restored in 4K to coincide with its 40th anniversary, the 1984 film was directed by renowned filmmaker Jonathan Demme.
Best viewed in the theater.
Joan Baez: I Am A Noise
Directors Miri Navasky | Maeve O'Boyle | Karen O'Connor, USA 2023 -- 113 mins
At the end of a 60-year career, legendary singer and activist Joan Baez takes an honest look back and a deep look inward as she tries to make sense of her large, history-making life, and the personal struggles she's kept private.
Neither a conventional biopic nor a traditional concert film, JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE is a raw and intimate portrait of the legendary folk singer and activist that shifts back and forth through time as it follows Joan on her final tour and delves into her extraordinary archive, including newly discovered home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio recordings. Baez is remarkably revealing about her life on and off stage - from her lifelong emotional struggles to her civil rights work with MLK and a heartbreaking romance with a young Bob Dylan. A searingly honest look at a living legend, this film is a compelling and deeply personal exploration of an iconic artist who has never told the full truth of her life, as she experienced it, until now.
Finding Her Beat
Directors: Dawn Mikkelson | Keri Pickett USA 2022 -- 89 minutes
For thousands of years women have been locked out of Taiko drumming. Not anymore. In the dead of a Minnesota winter, Asian drumming divas smash gender roles and redefine power on their own terms. FINDING HER BEAT dives into the rhythms and struggles that lead to an electrifying historic performance that changes everything.
Jay’s Longhorn
Director: Mark Engebretson USA 2019 -- 93 minutes
Before First Avenue there was Jay's Longhorn - the epicenter of the Minneapolis punk rock and indie rock scene in the late 1970s. At a time when the music scene was dominated by Top 40 cover bands, a group of punk rock visionaries - led by Andy Schwartz, former publisher of the New York Rocker -- scoured the city in search of a place that would welcome the New Wave. The Suicide Commandos, Flamingo, Curtiss A, the Suburbs, and NNB found a home at Jay's Longhorn -- which also served as the launching pad for Hüsker Dü and the Replacements and the preferred venue for touring acts like Elvis Costello, The B-52s, and The Police.
Meeting Charlie Parr
Directors: Francois Xavier Dubois & Charles Dubois, France 2013 -- 70 Mins
Meeting Charlie Parr is a musical journey through the Midwest that meets one its most emblematic folk singers. In the Great Lakes forests, through the Minnesota plains, on stage or at home, we get to know Charlie Parr, an endearing and unique artist. Meeting after meeting, Charlie talks about his authentic blues music and what it says about America.
Big "Shout Out" to Bob Boone at The Reader and Richard Hansen of the DuSu Film Festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment