CRIMSON FEST - FINALE PART ONE
I’m back for more, and back to finish this off!! Since December ended with a week and a half, I’m splitting the finale into two parts. Five movies each. Starting with…
Kurt Cobain - Montage Of Heck: To start this ending off, I watched Brett Morgen’s documentary on Kurt Cobain, “Montage Of Heck.” A few years before he directed my favorite music doc, “Moonage Daydream,” Morgen gave Kurt Cobain the same justice he would give to Bowie. I should say before getting into it, this doc is Kurt Cobain’s story. Yeah, I know, “no shit.” What I mean by that is that while it shows a large chunk of Nirvana’s iconic moments, It’s not a Nirvana documentary. While it’s not for the entirety of the runtime, “MoH” feels like a video collage, using editing of not just archival interviews, but also involving footage from cartoons and movies that fits the vibe. There’s even animated versions of Cobain’s journals and quite a bit of home movie footage throughout his life included.
It all feels very, very personal and revealing, but if you’re going into a documentary about someone like this and not expecting some extremely dark moments, I don’t know what to tell you. Morgen nails everything very well, capturing Cobain’s story in a way that not just one form of media could by itself. He’s able to tell the story not just with the tragedy, but also using dark humor with the mixed media. It feels even more authentic with interviews from Kurt’s parents, as well as Courtney Love and Krist Novoselic. While I can’t say I’d rewatched it as much as something like “Moonage Daydream,” I say it’s still definitely a must watch.
Concert Films(The White Stripes/David Bowie/Queen): Continuing the final week and a half, I watched a few concert films in a row. So, let’s do a little lightning round. The first one was David Bowie’s “A Reality Tour.” A pretty solid DVD during Bowie’s tour for his album,”Reality.” You get a really good setlist, which makes it a great way to listen to his hits from every era. Plus, Bowie as a performer is always a joy to watch, doesn’t matter the era.
Up next is “The White Stripes: Under Blackpool Lights.” Unlike a few of the other DVDs, the scuffed video quality honestly adds to the performance. The scrappy nature of the Stripes’ mixed with the lower quality visuals just feels right. Also, what I really like is how smooth their setlist is. The way they move through each song makes the show feel like an hour-long medley. I can easily recommend it, especially if you miss Jack White and Meg White playing together.
The final one of this lightning round is “Queen Live At Wembley.” It’s Queen. It’s fucking Queen, and it’s one of their most infamous shows. All the stadium anthems are here, and they’re great. They also work in some classic rock covers, as well as some acoustic numbers which shine as much as the anthems. This DVD also has an extra disc with interviews, cut concert footage, and focused cams of each of the band members. Definitely worth it if you can track a copy of this down.
Gimme Shelter: Completing this week’s music doc and concert movie sandwich, I watched The Rolling Stones controversial film directed by the Maysles Brothers and Charlette Zwerin, “Gimmie Shelter.” If you don’t know, in the late 60s, The Rolling Stones did a free show in a raceway. Not only was that a bad idea that didn’t go well, they hired the famed biker gang, The Hells Angels, to be security. That made things worse. But, “Gimme Shelter,” is probably the most honest concert documentary I’ve seen.
They really don’t shy away from anything. Anyone was just showing up to this free show. People were just losing their mind. The Stones and their openers(The Flying Burrito Brothers and Jefferson Airplane) had to stop multiple times due to the endless crowd just causing chaos. Some were streaking, others were high as hell(some mentally, others physically), and most importantly, people were fighting. Probably the most well-known moment happened when the Stones were trying to get the music going again, but someone got murdered in a fight with one of the Hell’s Angels. It’s absolute lunacy. Outside of all the chaos, they also cut between a Madison Square Garden show and the planning of the raceway show. All of that historic event rounding out to a tight hour and thirty-one minutes. I recommend picking up the Criterion Collection version of the movie.
This week’s playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Kb9jfHGpcGVjxk6PU8K9Z?si=8E3w_nPXRNKmznLFK-mo1w
Part Two Coming Real Soon