// Category Archive for: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School 30th Anniversary Special Edition

By Less Lee Moore

Although for many, The Ramones represent the birth of the US punk scene in the ’70s, I was only about three years old when the band first formed in 1974. For me, The Ramones were the four weird-looking, tall dudes who kept popping up in promos for MTV in 1981. Most of the videos in the early days of MTV were fairly bizarre; at that point the channel would show any videos they could and the shift to glamorous, new wave pretty boys had not yet occurred. However, even amongst Loverboy, Meatloaf, Split Enz, and The Tubes, The Ramones looked pretty damn strange.

I didn’t see Rock ‘n’ Roll High School until a few years later, when I’d officially hit my own teenage years. I remember feeling confused and vaguely uncomfortable, not totally grasping why it was supposed to be so great. The news of the upcoming release of a 30th Anniversary Special Edition made me curious to see how the film as aged. Would it be funny? Would it be relevant?

Thankfully, the answer to both questions is, “YES.”
(more…)

Review: Peacock

By Lisa Anderson

Not much happens in the small, quiet town of Peacock, Nebraska, until one day, a train caboose jumps the rail and lands in the backyard of bank clerk John Skillpa. Everyone thinks the young Skillpa is a bachelor, and has lived alone in the house since the death of his mother the previous year; when the neighbors rush to the scene however, they find an woman—thankfully uninjured—who they’ve never met before.

She introduces herself as Emma and says that she lives there. Soon, this woman, who all assume to be John’s wife, is drawn not only into the web of state and local politics focused on the runaway caboose, but also into the dark secrets of John’s life, which he had been keeping even from her.
(more…)

Quantizing Your Pulse: The Heart Is A Drum Machine

By Adam McIntyre

“Why music?”

The Heart Is A Drum Machine attempts to answer that question in several ways with testimonials from musicians, actors, scientists, and doctors. Bookending the film are two little pieces with Ann Druyan, producer of the Cosmos television series (starring her husband, the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan) and the human responsible for choosing the music on the Golden Record included during the deep space probe of Voyager. Even if you don’t believe in life on other planets, including this record on Voyager is a gesture of poignant optimism; it’s entirely likely that the record would be damaged or misunderstood in purpose when discovered.
(more…)

The T.A.M.I. Show, Collector’s Edition DVD

By Noreen Sobczyk

Perhaps you’ve seen some incarnation of this historic program via bootlegs, but this is the first time The T.A.M.I. Show (Teenage Awards Music International) has seen an official release. Little Steven has been quoted as saying “It’s the greatest rock movie you’ve never seen.” That may be debatable, but The T.A.M.I. Show sure is a treasure.
(more…)

Blank Generation On DVD

By Less Lee Moore

Richard Hell got me my first paying job in the music industry. Sort of.
(more…)

Muse: Under Review DVD

By Christian Lipski

Muse: Under Review is a retrospective of the British rock band’s career since its start in Teignmouth, UK (and thank you for showing me how that is pronounced).

It’s an unauthorized biography, meaning the members of Muse did not contribute or endorse the material. Immediately, I’m assuming this means no music, no photos, and no new information, which was the main problem with earlier documentaries like Muse: Manic Depression.

Happily, I was well mistaken here. The DVD is filled to the brim with clips from videos and live performances, behind-the-scenes photos, and interviews with music journalists and key participants in the band’s rise. It’s two hours of in-depth study which should make the band’s fans glow with satisfaction.
(more…)

Duran Duran, Hammersmith ’82!

By Less Lee Moore

As a longtime Duranie, I remember all too well the anti-Duran Duran sentiments of the 1980s. Duran Duran’s career has now lasted about thirty years and due to the band’s impressive longevity, unique sound, undeniable influence, and general affability, I thought that phase was long past.

After seeing one incredibly nasty comment made about the band recently, I felt almost personally offended, shocked that anyone still clung to such negative thoughts after all this time. Haven’t Duran Duran more than proven themselves by now?

I invite such haters to watch the newly-released Hammersmith ’82! DVD and defy them to feel anything but joy after seeing it.
(more…)

High School Record DVD

By Noreen Sobczyk

File under “seemed like a really good idea.” This film, which played Sundance in 2005, was essentially promoted as a tale of awkward high school students and their escapades of embarrassment. But it came off more like indie hipsters trying hard to act like awkward geeks in situations the director/writer (Ben Wolfinsohn) thought were terribly clever. As it happens, the film features members of No Age, Mika Miko, and Lavender Diamond. There was also a short cameo by Mike Watt (Minutemen).

It’s a bare bones budget film inspired by a short which is included in the DVD bonus features. Unfortunately one of the most clever moments of the film was extremely similar. Also unfortunate: the film is cast with actors who seemingly never bothered to learn to act. And the viewer is therefore never drawn in enough to forget they are watching a film. Perhaps the director is a fan of the punk rock film Suburbia (cast with local punks), and was emulating the same vibe achieved there by Penelope Spheeris. Or he might have been aiming for the kitschiness of Dave Markey’s Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. Odds are it was a riff on Napoleon Dynamite and Freaks and Geeks. High School Record falls short on all accounts.

This mockumentary opens with a performance by a male/female guitar/drums duo who made me curse the existence of The White Stripes. This band decides to film their art school classmates for a documentary which focuses chiefly on four high school seniors and their clumsy attempts at popularity and sex. The strongest component of the film is the short lived relationship between Sabrina and Caleb. Their dynamic is unique, engaging, and simultaneously painful to watch. Sabrina isn’t interested in Caleb’s attempts to make a space age cooking show for kids, and is embarrassed when he sports tinfoil shorts to school. That moment might have been brilliant if its intended effect weren’t already perfectly achieved by the donning of an infamously ridiculous polyester jumpsuit by Sam on an episode of Freaks and Geeks.

Overall, the film had several eclectic and funny moments. The trouble is that they were stretched out over 89 minutes chock full of unsuccessful gags and slow periods. Had the film been limited to 60 minutes, and the participants been a bit less precious, it may have been more successful.

You may order High School Record directly from the Factory Twenty Five website. You can also check out images and a clip from the film there or watch a trailer on YouTube.

NYC Foetus DVD

By Less Lee Moore

For a discussion of the music on Limb, please read my review here.

For a discussion of the design elements of the 48-page Limb booklet, please read Ann Clarke’s review here.

JG Thirlwell has been making music since 1978. . .
He is a singer, a producer, a musician, a composer and a graphic artist.
From the intro to NYC Foetus, directed by Clément Tuffreau
(more…)

B.B. King, Live In Africa ’74 DVD

By Adam McIntyre

If pressed about my blues preferences, influences, or interests, I’ll stammer for a moment, name some greats, and whatever single, obscure guitarist I can vaguely pluck from my past to show that maybe we have common interests, and that I’ve educated myself a little deeper than your average blues wanker.

It’s much simpler, actually, than naming a few names once I think about it; I’m mostly a blues racist and an elitist. Oops, yeah, did I just call myself a blues racist? That’s weird, definitely, but here’s the deal: I stopped playing blues because I became increasingly self-conscious about coming across as some angsty white kid in a tie, absentmindedly regurgitating legitimately black licks.
(more…)