Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross’s Gasoline Rainbow is an unusually poetic road film, as it has less in common with cut-and-paste teen party flicks than it does with the existentially freighted sensibilities of The Endless Summer, Two-Lane Blacktop, and even The Outwaters. Blending documentary and fictional elements together as they have in films like Western and Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, the Ross brothers fashion an aesthetic that’s something like the best of both worlds. Gasoline Rainbow’s teenagers are rendered with unusual realism, while the imagery has the resonance and intensity that speaks of the resources and planning that’s typically associated with fictional films. It feels simultaneously “of the moment” and retrospective—a subtle yet formally extravagant teenage daydream.
For viewers who’re removed from their high school years, the realism of Gasoline Rainbow may require acclimation. The film’s teens—Tony (Tony Abuerto), Micah (Micah Bunch...
For viewers who’re removed from their high school years, the realism of Gasoline Rainbow may require acclimation. The film’s teens—Tony (Tony Abuerto), Micah (Micah Bunch...
- 5/5/2024
- by Chuck Bowen
- Slant Magazine
In 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Millions of people tuned in to watch his performance, and Elvis would go on to appear on the show several more times. Despite the success of his appearance, Sullivan initially did not want Elvis on his show. When asked if he would allow the young musician on, Sullivan responded with a resounding no.
Ed Sullivan did not initially want Elvis on his show
In 1956, Elvis was on an atmospheric rise to success. He had begun recording with RCA Victor, a deal that brought him new wealth and opportunities. Songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” were massive hits and he began making television appearances. Still, his career was not without controversy.
Many felt that his hip-shaking dance moves were lewd and should be censored. After his dancing on The Milton Berle Show shocked audiences, critics rushed to condemn him. Sullivan was among them,...
Ed Sullivan did not initially want Elvis on his show
In 1956, Elvis was on an atmospheric rise to success. He had begun recording with RCA Victor, a deal that brought him new wealth and opportunities. Songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” were massive hits and he began making television appearances. Still, his career was not without controversy.
Many felt that his hip-shaking dance moves were lewd and should be censored. After his dancing on The Milton Berle Show shocked audiences, critics rushed to condemn him. Sullivan was among them,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
“The Greatest Night in Pop” is a documentary for anyone who loves “We Are the World” (that would include me), or even for those who look at that legendary charity single with some serious questions but are fascinated by the phenomenon of it (that’s me as well). In a sense, “We Are the World” always was a documentary — the famous music video that captures the song as it was being recorded, in an into-the-night session that took place at A&m Recording Studios in Los Angeles immediately after the American Music Awards on January 28, 1985. (The organizers of USA for Africa realized that only by pinning the recording session to that night could they be sure all the stars they needed for the song would be in one place at the same time.)
That music video has always been more than just a video. It’s a pop-stars-reveal-themselves psychodrama in miniature.
That music video has always been more than just a video. It’s a pop-stars-reveal-themselves psychodrama in miniature.
- 1/29/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
America is facing its greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. I know, journalists exaggerate sometimes. But as rock critic Greil Marcus said of punk rock half a century ago, this is actually happening. And if sanity doesn’t prevail, this crisis will affect all of our lives, whether we are paying attention to it or not.
Is this really “unprecedented,” as journalists like to say? Here’s the evidence. There has never been a major presidential candidate on trial, let alone charged with 91 criminal counts in four cases, as...
Is this really “unprecedented,” as journalists like to say? Here’s the evidence. There has never been a major presidential candidate on trial, let alone charged with 91 criminal counts in four cases, as...
- 1/4/2024
- by Jay Michaelson
- Rollingstone.com
When The Beatles broke up, John Lennon was most worried about Ringo Starr. The other three members of The Beatles enjoyed a steady stream of royalties from their songwriting. Starr, who had far fewer solo songwriting credits, was in a different position. While he had made plenty of money with the band and would continue to in his solo career, Lennon worried about his bandmate’s career.
Ringo Starr and John Lennon | Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images The Beatles’ drummer felt lost when the band broke up
Starr dedicated nearly a decade of his life to The Beatles. When they broke up, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He felt both angry and profoundly lost.
Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles partnership #OnThisDay in 1970. ?
You can learn more about @thebeatles – from their early days through to their break up – in our award-winning exhibition. ?#ThursdayThoughts pic.
Ringo Starr and John Lennon | Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images The Beatles’ drummer felt lost when the band broke up
Starr dedicated nearly a decade of his life to The Beatles. When they broke up, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He felt both angry and profoundly lost.
Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles partnership #OnThisDay in 1970. ?
You can learn more about @thebeatles – from their early days through to their break up – in our award-winning exhibition. ?#ThursdayThoughts pic.
- 3/26/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSStanley Kubrick in Filmworker.Stanley Kubrick’s long-lost passion project, a biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, may soon be realized. This week at the Berlinale, Steven Spielberg expanded on plans to executive-produce a seven-part series for HBO based on Kubrick’s original script.In June, Terence Davies will begin filming an adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s The Post-Office Girl. According to a production announcement, the cast includes Sophie Cookson, Richard E. Grant, and Verena Altenberger.Recommended VIEWINGWe’ve been enjoying the “redefining the food film” video-essay series on Vittles, a food and culture newsletter. Below is Andrew Key’s discussion of A Woman Under the Influence, and the ways that food can tear us apart:Shellac has shared a first trailer for Angela Schanelec’s Music,...
- 2/22/2023
- MUBI
Jerry Lee Lewis was rock & roll’s original prodigal son. When he burned brightly, in the mid-to-late 1950s, he was untouchable. Then, when he fell from grace, he was untouchable in a different way, but he was dogged. He kept recording music — much of it unheard — and he drove across America, playing for those who would have him, living hard and living mean. Those who would have him saw somebody matchless.
Those who wouldn’t had good reasons not to. Lewis — who died Oct. 28 at his home in DeSoto County,...
Those who wouldn’t had good reasons not to. Lewis — who died Oct. 28 at his home in DeSoto County,...
- 10/31/2022
- by Mikal Gilmore
- Rollingstone.com
To hear the first few seconds of the video above may catch you by surprise: It’s Lou Reed announcing the title of a song while declaring he wrote the words and music. Only it’s a song we know very well — “I’m Waiting for the Man” — and it’s from 1965.
The earliest known recording of the New York classic pre-dates the Velvet Underground, with whom Reed would release it two years later on The Velvet Underground & Nico. The demo is off Words & Music, May 1965, the first installment...
The earliest known recording of the New York classic pre-dates the Velvet Underground, with whom Reed would release it two years later on The Velvet Underground & Nico. The demo is off Words & Music, May 1965, the first installment...
- 6/6/2022
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Ed Ward — a respected music critic and scholar, former Rolling Stone editor, and author of several authoritative histories of the history of rock & roll — has died at the age of 72.
According to fellow writer and friend Joe Nick Patoski, Ward passed away at his home in Austin on Monday and had been suffering from health issues, including diabetes. An exact cause of death was not given. His agent also confirmed his death to Rolling Stone.
Born Edmund Ward on November 2, 1948, Ward was raised in Eastchester, New York, and attended Antioch College.
According to fellow writer and friend Joe Nick Patoski, Ward passed away at his home in Austin on Monday and had been suffering from health issues, including diabetes. An exact cause of death was not given. His agent also confirmed his death to Rolling Stone.
Born Edmund Ward on November 2, 1948, Ward was raised in Eastchester, New York, and attended Antioch College.
- 5/4/2021
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
When you think of the most enduring songs of the 20th century, which ones come to mind? How about Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue”? Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies”? The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset”? Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”?
Acid-folk guru Peter Stampfel concurs with all those choices, and as his new album demonstrates, he would also add the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”
For his latest project, Peter Stampfel’s 20th Century in 100 Songs, Stampfel decided to pay tribute to the past century by covering one song from each year.
Acid-folk guru Peter Stampfel concurs with all those choices, and as his new album demonstrates, he would also add the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”
For his latest project, Peter Stampfel’s 20th Century in 100 Songs, Stampfel decided to pay tribute to the past century by covering one song from each year.
- 2/2/2021
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
In the early Sixties, Phil Spector was already on his way to immortality, having produced girl-group classics like the Crystals’ “He’s a Rebel” and the Ronettes “Be My Baby.” Then he had a radical thought: He wanted to make the first rock & roll Christmas album.
In this special holiday episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, our new podcast on Amazon Music, we delve into 1963’s A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, an album that changed the way we look at holiday music. In 2019, Rolling Stone named...
In this special holiday episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, our new podcast on Amazon Music, we delve into 1963’s A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, an album that changed the way we look at holiday music. In 2019, Rolling Stone named...
- 12/8/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Rosanne Cash has won the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal, though the prize ceremony in her honor won’t take place until August 8th, 2021 due to the coronavirus.
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
- 5/18/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael screens at Webster University ‘s Moor Auditorium (470 E Lockwood Ave) screens Friday February 21st, Saturday February 22nd, and Sunday February 23rd. The film begins each evening at at 7:00pm. A Facebook event can be found Here
Regarded by Roger Ebert as having “a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades,” film critic Pauline Kael reigned, from the late 60s to the early 90s, as one of the most well-known, clever, and controversial figures in the industry. Having been one of the few female critics in a sea of men, unapologetic about her (often scathing) opinions, and underpaid for the influential work she did, Kael fought endlessly to preserve her title.
Pauline Kael, the New Yorker film critic for 25 years until the early 1990s, was a lightning rod of American culture.
Regarded by Roger Ebert as having “a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades,” film critic Pauline Kael reigned, from the late 60s to the early 90s, as one of the most well-known, clever, and controversial figures in the industry. Having been one of the few female critics in a sea of men, unapologetic about her (often scathing) opinions, and underpaid for the influential work she did, Kael fought endlessly to preserve her title.
Pauline Kael, the New Yorker film critic for 25 years until the early 1990s, was a lightning rod of American culture.
- 2/18/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Makers, the Verizon Media brand revolving around women, unveiled its latest PBS title Not Done, a documentary that expands on the pubcaster’s documentary series Makers: Women Who Make America. The news came Tuesday during the sixth annual Makers Conference, now underway at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
Not Done will air June 30 at 8 Pm on PBS timed to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Sara Wolitzky directed the hourlong doc, produced by Alexandra Moss and executive produced by Makers founder Dyllan McGee.
The film surveys the landscape of the multifaceted women’s movement and includes archival and new interviews with activists, writers, celebrities, athletes, and politicians to bring these stories to life and connect the dots between the past and the present moment of transformation. Gloria Steinem, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, Black Lives Matter Global Network co-founders Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza,...
Not Done will air June 30 at 8 Pm on PBS timed to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Sara Wolitzky directed the hourlong doc, produced by Alexandra Moss and executive produced by Makers founder Dyllan McGee.
The film surveys the landscape of the multifaceted women’s movement and includes archival and new interviews with activists, writers, celebrities, athletes, and politicians to bring these stories to life and connect the dots between the past and the present moment of transformation. Gloria Steinem, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, Black Lives Matter Global Network co-founders Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza,...
- 2/11/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Kinks were on the verge of collapse when they began 1969’s Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). They’d just parted ways with original bassist Pete Quaife and their previous album, 1968’s The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, failed even to chart in their native England despite excellent reviews. Making matters worse, an ongoing feud with the American Federation of Musicians made it impossible for them to tour in the States, a devastating blow at a time when groups like Led Zeppelin and...
- 10/3/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
The legacy of the Woodstock Festival — which took place in Bethel, New York, from Friday, August 15th, 1969, through the morning of Monday, August 18th — rests on the fact that a half-million hippies turned a muddy, gridlocked area into a site that symbolized peace and love. The event also confirmed that rock & roll had entered the mainstream.
The event has shaped culture to this day. Rolling Stone caught up with Woodstock ’69 vets Country Joe McDonald, David Fricke, and Greil Marcus to ask why the inadvertently free music event continues to resonate in popular culture.
The event has shaped culture to this day. Rolling Stone caught up with Woodstock ’69 vets Country Joe McDonald, David Fricke, and Greil Marcus to ask why the inadvertently free music event continues to resonate in popular culture.
- 8/1/2019
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. Overheard at “The World of Bob Dylan” symposium, University of Tulsa (May 30-June 2): “I’m 71 years old. When will excruciatingly boring fat men cease trying to hit on me?”
2 Erin Durant, Islands (Keeled Scales). I’ve played this album a dozen times over the last two months. Sometimes Durant’s piano seems to be drifting in from a neighbor’s window; then it might all but fade out as she plays.
1. Overheard at “The World of Bob Dylan” symposium, University of Tulsa (May 30-June 2): “I’m 71 years old. When will excruciatingly boring fat men cease trying to hit on me?”
2 Erin Durant, Islands (Keeled Scales). I’ve played this album a dozen times over the last two months. Sometimes Durant’s piano seems to be drifting in from a neighbor’s window; then it might all but fade out as she plays.
- 6/24/2019
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. “Lana Del Rey and Jack Antonoff Debuting New Country Song at the Ally Coalition Talent Show” (YouTube): From December — and can this performance really have had less than 9,000 views? There’s no title: With Antonoff strumming an acoustic guitar, then hinting at a figure, the song refers to Hank Williams in its first verse, but that’s as close to what’s sold as country as it gets. In the melody as it slowly takes shape,...
1. “Lana Del Rey and Jack Antonoff Debuting New Country Song at the Ally Coalition Talent Show” (YouTube): From December — and can this performance really have had less than 9,000 views? There’s no title: With Antonoff strumming an acoustic guitar, then hinting at a figure, the song refers to Hank Williams in its first verse, but that’s as close to what’s sold as country as it gets. In the melody as it slowly takes shape,...
- 4/25/2019
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
On March 31st, 1969, 50 years ago this weekend, Americans got their first chance to hear Dusty in Memphis, the new album by British singer Dusty Springfield and her first after signing with the powerful R&B-centric Atlantic Records. Although the early Sixties afforded her hits “I Only Want to Be With You,” “Wishin’ and Hopin’” and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” significant airplay stateside, her albums didn’t sell or chart well in the U.S. And, even though its title held the promise of the beautiful...
- 3/31/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1 Amy Rigby, “The President Can’t Read” (amyrigby.com/bandcamp). With a jangly sound that places it right where all the half-Beatles/half-Byrds La bands were in 1966—the Leaves, say, or Jackie DeShannon with the Byrds—the same year he managed his way out of Fordham and into the Ivy League.
2 Chelsea Minnis, Baby, I Don’t Care (Wave Books). 240 pages of one-page poems, mostly double quintets, of film noir dialogue, fractured...
1 Amy Rigby, “The President Can’t Read” (amyrigby.com/bandcamp). With a jangly sound that places it right where all the half-Beatles/half-Byrds La bands were in 1966—the Leaves, say, or Jackie DeShannon with the Byrds—the same year he managed his way out of Fordham and into the Ivy League.
2 Chelsea Minnis, Baby, I Don’t Care (Wave Books). 240 pages of one-page poems, mostly double quintets, of film noir dialogue, fractured...
- 3/15/2019
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. Nobody’s Baby, “Life of a Thousand Girls” (Bandcamp). “All the ingredients to an American classic, the Teenage Death Song,” says this San Francisco foursome of itself. “Noboby’s Baby formed around the idea of capturing the raw honesty buried in early 60’s cheese schlock.” Fair enough, but that doesn’t touch the dramatic hesitations or the pathos that Katie Rose, also of Dirty Denim, puts into the music. It’s as...
1. Nobody’s Baby, “Life of a Thousand Girls” (Bandcamp). “All the ingredients to an American classic, the Teenage Death Song,” says this San Francisco foursome of itself. “Noboby’s Baby formed around the idea of capturing the raw honesty buried in early 60’s cheese schlock.” Fair enough, but that doesn’t touch the dramatic hesitations or the pathos that Katie Rose, also of Dirty Denim, puts into the music. It’s as...
- 2/27/2019
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
If I could demolish any one idea in the history of film criticism, I think it would be the often stated canard that Pauline Kael wrote flashy exuberant prose, spilling her gut reactions to a movie all over the page — but that she wasn’t an “analytical” writer. That opinion is miles-out-of-the-ballpark wrong, and it’s almost certainly sexist. Yet what’s most annoying about it is that it’s based on the whole second-rate, boring-college-seminar idea of what “analysis” is: a quality that somehow exists apart from emotional excitement. When Pauline Kael reviewed a movie, any movie at all, her writing pulsated with life, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t parsing everything with supreme braininess and reasoning and inquiry. The analysis was seared into every word, woven into the expressive power of her free-style flow. Her thoughts — incisive, incantatory, indelible — occupied the other side of the coin from her feelings.
- 2/10/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Van Morrison will release a deluxe edition of The Healing Game, his acclaimed 1997 LP, generously expanded with outtakes, rare tracks and a complete live concert recording. Out March 22nd via Legacy and Morrison’s Exile Productions, Ltd., The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition) will be available in three-cd and digital formats, with a single-lp reissue of the original album coming out simultaneously.
As a preview of the set’s deluxe version, you can now hear one of the bonus tracks: a live version of the album’s title song, recorded at...
As a preview of the set’s deluxe version, you can now hear one of the bonus tracks: a live version of the album’s title song, recorded at...
- 2/5/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. Dirty Denim, “Meant to Be,” from Dirty Denim Demo Tape (7″ Ep). This is the most arresting thing I’ve heard come out of the radio — in this case, Kalx, the University of California station in Berkeley — since Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Train’s “Hey Soul Sister.” A four-woman band from San Francisco starts up, as if Sleater-Kinney, or more accurately the Corin Tucker-Sarah Dougher-sts spin-off Cadallaca, had...
1. Dirty Denim, “Meant to Be,” from Dirty Denim Demo Tape (7″ Ep). This is the most arresting thing I’ve heard come out of the radio — in this case, Kalx, the University of California station in Berkeley — since Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Train’s “Hey Soul Sister.” A four-woman band from San Francisco starts up, as if Sleater-Kinney, or more accurately the Corin Tucker-Sarah Dougher-sts spin-off Cadallaca, had...
- 1/18/2019
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. Rich Kreuger, “Kenny’s (It’s Always Christmas in this Bar,” from NOWThen (RockkinK Music). Years ago in Chicago, in the middle of winter, my friend Bill Wyman was taking me to a bar: “Chicago’s a really friendly town,” he said. “You’ll like it here.” As we approached the place, two burly guys came out and one fixed me, as if trying to figure out what I was doing there.
1. Rich Kreuger, “Kenny’s (It’s Always Christmas in this Bar,” from NOWThen (RockkinK Music). Years ago in Chicago, in the middle of winter, my friend Bill Wyman was taking me to a bar: “Chicago’s a really friendly town,” he said. “You’ll like it here.” As we approached the place, two burly guys came out and one fixed me, as if trying to figure out what I was doing there.
- 12/26/2018
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
Bob Dylan and T Bone Burnett are collaborating with Americana group Bear and a Banjo on their new eight-song project, Variety reports. Dylan contributed lyrics to the project’s “Gone But Not Forgotten.” The project is due in early 2019.
Bear and a Banjo is a two-man band of Jared Gutstadt, the cofounder of production company Jingle Punks and hitmaker Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd. The duo are also planning a podcast that complements the songs. The eight songs were co-written and recorded by Poo Bear and produced by Burnett. The music...
Bear and a Banjo is a two-man band of Jared Gutstadt, the cofounder of production company Jingle Punks and hitmaker Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd. The duo are also planning a podcast that complements the songs. The eight songs were co-written and recorded by Poo Bear and produced by Burnett. The music...
- 12/18/2018
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. Fernando A. Flores, Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas (Host Publications). After reading the 10 singular tales in this book, Flores’ first, I have no idea who the bullshit artists of South Texas are. The characters in these stories about people in the punk scenes of the Rio Grande Valley, or people on their margins, or people who pass through on their way to somewhere else, are drawn with affection and wonder,...
1. Fernando A. Flores, Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas (Host Publications). After reading the 10 singular tales in this book, Flores’ first, I have no idea who the bullshit artists of South Texas are. The characters in these stories about people in the punk scenes of the Rio Grande Valley, or people on their margins, or people who pass through on their way to somewhere else, are drawn with affection and wonder,...
- 11/27/2018
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
“Me, I was born in 1941,” Bob Dylan said onstage on November 4th, 2008, a few minutes before Barack Obama was officially declared the 44th President of the United States. “That’s the year they bombed Pearl Harbor. I’ve been living in a world of darkness ever since. But it looks like things are going to change now.”
It was a powerful, even shocking moment, coming from a singer who was known for rarely uttering a word onstage. But less than four years later, Dylan — perhaps embarrassed by his momentary lapse...
It was a powerful, even shocking moment, coming from a singer who was known for rarely uttering a word onstage. But less than four years later, Dylan — perhaps embarrassed by his momentary lapse...
- 11/6/2018
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
“Real Life Rock Top Ten” is a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1. “Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan plays River Spirit Casino Resort,” Tulsa World (October 13th). Though it does carry an echo of the Cheek to Cheek Lounge of Winter Park, Florida, where in 1986, after a show by a reconstituted version of the Band, pianist Richard Manuel went back to his motel and hanged himself, better this than the White House. I hope he wore his medal.
2. Bob Dylan, More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol.
1. “Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan plays River Spirit Casino Resort,” Tulsa World (October 13th). Though it does carry an echo of the Cheek to Cheek Lounge of Winter Park, Florida, where in 1986, after a show by a reconstituted version of the Band, pianist Richard Manuel went back to his motel and hanged himself, better this than the White House. I hope he wore his medal.
2. Bob Dylan, More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol.
- 10/25/2018
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
Rolling Stone is happy to be the new home of “Real Life Rock Top Ten,” a monthly column by cultural critic and Rs contributing editor Greil Marcus.
1 & 2. Lana Del Rey, “Mariners Apartment Complex” and “Venice Bitch” (Interscope). As a song from her announced 2019 set Norman Fucking Rockwell (the Rockwell estate not yet heard from), “Mariners Apartment Complex” can be heard as part of the 100-track album Del Rey seems to be working on. But at more than nine-and-a-half-minutes, “Venice Bitch” is something else. This might be the most expansive California beach record ever made,...
1 & 2. Lana Del Rey, “Mariners Apartment Complex” and “Venice Bitch” (Interscope). As a song from her announced 2019 set Norman Fucking Rockwell (the Rockwell estate not yet heard from), “Mariners Apartment Complex” can be heard as part of the 100-track album Del Rey seems to be working on. But at more than nine-and-a-half-minutes, “Venice Bitch” is something else. This might be the most expansive California beach record ever made,...
- 9/21/2018
- by Greil Marcus
- Rollingstone.com
Some albums become life companions. The Band’s “Music From Big Pink,” which celebrated the 50th anniversary of its release on July 1 and gets a deluxe-reissue next Friday, is such a record.
I haven’t been without a copy of “Big Pink” since the day I purchased it — good lord — a half a century ago. From the first, it was a work that demanded deep listening, and more than one copy got severely gored from repeated plays over the years. In 2017, I got reacquainted the album as I wrote the script for the Wild Honey Foundation’s benefit concert performance of “Big Pink” and its self-titled 1969 successor, a show that featured The Band’s brilliant keyboardist Garth Hudson as its special guest.
The lavish golden-anniversary reissue of “Big Pink,” which comes from Universal Music Group’s catalog division, features a new remix created by Bob Clearmountain, along with a CD version of the remix,...
I haven’t been without a copy of “Big Pink” since the day I purchased it — good lord — a half a century ago. From the first, it was a work that demanded deep listening, and more than one copy got severely gored from repeated plays over the years. In 2017, I got reacquainted the album as I wrote the script for the Wild Honey Foundation’s benefit concert performance of “Big Pink” and its self-titled 1969 successor, a show that featured The Band’s brilliant keyboardist Garth Hudson as its special guest.
The lavish golden-anniversary reissue of “Big Pink,” which comes from Universal Music Group’s catalog division, features a new remix created by Bob Clearmountain, along with a CD version of the remix,...
- 8/24/2018
- by Chris Morris
- Variety Film + TV
The most beautiful words ever spoken about Aretha Franklin came from her friend and producer Luther Vandross, back in 1982: “This woman ain’t entertainment. She’s done opened the books to my life and told everybody. Like Roberta Flack used to say in ‘Killing Me Softly,’ ‘I thought he found my letters and read them all out loud.’ She was the spokesperson for a lot of people and how they feel.” Aretha made countless listeners people feel that way, which is why she reigned as the greatest rock, pop or soul singer ever.
- 8/17/2018
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
Director Eugene Jarecki’s “The King,” an audacious travelogue that views America through the windows of Elvis Presley’s Rolls Royce as well as the prism of his career, challenges viewers to embrace the Elvis-as-America metaphor. Some may resist the ride, but those who climb in will be rewarded with a sharp, provocative and surprisingly emotional work of cultural and political criticism.
Jarecki’s big, bold and overreaching film — a trimmed and re-edited version of the documentary that screened at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival under the title “Promised Land” — is in love with but also skeptical of its own central metaphor of Elvis’ career as a version of America’s own history. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Rosanne Cash and Errol Morris, this is a film about the poor boy who loses himself in a rich man’s life and ends up stuffed into a spangled jumpsuit, and about a...
Jarecki’s big, bold and overreaching film — a trimmed and re-edited version of the documentary that screened at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival under the title “Promised Land” — is in love with but also skeptical of its own central metaphor of Elvis’ career as a version of America’s own history. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Rosanne Cash and Errol Morris, this is a film about the poor boy who loses himself in a rich man’s life and ends up stuffed into a spangled jumpsuit, and about a...
- 6/26/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
There aren't many documentaries that see Elvis Presley as the bruised soul of America through fun times and bum times. In fact, there’s only one. Formerly called Promised Land, the doc – a spellbinder – is now known as The King, and filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (The House I Live In, Why We Fight) had the risky but totally riveting idea of taking Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce Phantom V and outfitting it with cameras. The purpose being to drive the customized car cross-country to the places the King traveled, from New York to L.
- 6/20/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki road trips across the United States in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce, examining the musician's complicated legacy for the new documentary, The King.
In the film, Jarecki traces Elvis' rise and fall, using the rock pioneer's career as a metaphor for America. The new trailer teases the rosy-eyed view of Elvis with fans lining up to admire his Rolls and singing his classic songs. But it also uses the most problematic aspects of Elvis' music and career – including his drug use and thorny relationship with race and cultural...
In the film, Jarecki traces Elvis' rise and fall, using the rock pioneer's career as a metaphor for America. The new trailer teases the rosy-eyed view of Elvis with fans lining up to admire his Rolls and singing his classic songs. But it also uses the most problematic aspects of Elvis' music and career – including his drug use and thorny relationship with race and cultural...
- 5/22/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Late summer is all about reflection over at The Criterion Collection, as the library is spending August offering up a handful of unsung classics and new look at some longtime favorites.
Michael Curitz’s “The Breaking Point,” a mostly overlooked Hemingway adaptation, starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time, while Sacha Guitry’s “La poison” arrives on home video for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Mike Leigh’s revelatory “Meantime” is getting a 2K restoration, all the better to enjoy the early work of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. That’s not all for Oldman fans, however, as Alex Cox’s “Sid & Nancy” hits the collection with a brand new 4K digital restoration. Finally, Walter Matthau stars in the charming comedy “Hopscotch,” also available on Blu-ray in a 2K digital restoration.
Below is the complete list of August additions, with descriptions provided by Criterion.
Michael Curitz’s “The Breaking Point,” a mostly overlooked Hemingway adaptation, starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time, while Sacha Guitry’s “La poison” arrives on home video for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Mike Leigh’s revelatory “Meantime” is getting a 2K restoration, all the better to enjoy the early work of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. That’s not all for Oldman fans, however, as Alex Cox’s “Sid & Nancy” hits the collection with a brand new 4K digital restoration. Finally, Walter Matthau stars in the charming comedy “Hopscotch,” also available on Blu-ray in a 2K digital restoration.
Below is the complete list of August additions, with descriptions provided by Criterion.
- 5/16/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question:
Recently, there has been a lot of chatter regarding projects like “O.J.: Made in America” (an eight-hour documentary that was produced by Espn but premiered at Sundance) and “Lemonade” (which needs no prior introduction, and debuted on HBO), and whether they should be classified as films or television shows.
The conversation has only grown more heated and urgent in the shadow of awards season, which demands that things be lumped into a small number of binary categories: Actor / Actress, Comedy / Drama, Fiction / Documentary, Film / Television. In a world where feature films are premiering on Netflix and miniseries-length documentaries are eligible for Oscars, should...
This week’s question:
Recently, there has been a lot of chatter regarding projects like “O.J.: Made in America” (an eight-hour documentary that was produced by Espn but premiered at Sundance) and “Lemonade” (which needs no prior introduction, and debuted on HBO), and whether they should be classified as films or television shows.
The conversation has only grown more heated and urgent in the shadow of awards season, which demands that things be lumped into a small number of binary categories: Actor / Actress, Comedy / Drama, Fiction / Documentary, Film / Television. In a world where feature films are premiering on Netflix and miniseries-length documentaries are eligible for Oscars, should...
- 12/12/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Phil Strongman uses archive interview footage to place McLaren and punk in the tradition of anarchism, situationalism and pop art
There’s something appropriately anarchic about Phil Strongman’s scrappy but nonetheless watchable documentary tribute to Malcolm McLaren, the uncategorisable flaneur, entrepreneur, poseur, artist-manqué and mischief-maker who died in 2010, having invented the Sex Pistols. This film looks a bit patchy, occasionally the audio quality isn’t of the highest and, despite the title, there is hardly anything about Vivienne Westwood. (Strongman uses what appears to be archive interview footage of McLaren.) Yet like Julien Temple and Greil Marcus, Strongman places McLaren and punk in the tradition of anarchism, situationism and pop art, with interesting supporting material and claims that McLaren always wanted to be the “British Andy Warhol”. A shrewd guess, and it could be true. Unfortunately, McLaren didn’t have Warhol’s stamina and his gift for flattering celebrities,...
There’s something appropriately anarchic about Phil Strongman’s scrappy but nonetheless watchable documentary tribute to Malcolm McLaren, the uncategorisable flaneur, entrepreneur, poseur, artist-manqué and mischief-maker who died in 2010, having invented the Sex Pistols. This film looks a bit patchy, occasionally the audio quality isn’t of the highest and, despite the title, there is hardly anything about Vivienne Westwood. (Strongman uses what appears to be archive interview footage of McLaren.) Yet like Julien Temple and Greil Marcus, Strongman places McLaren and punk in the tradition of anarchism, situationism and pop art, with interesting supporting material and claims that McLaren always wanted to be the “British Andy Warhol”. A shrewd guess, and it could be true. Unfortunately, McLaren didn’t have Warhol’s stamina and his gift for flattering celebrities,...
- 9/15/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
It's the classic paranoid conspiracy that won't go away... and that seems less impossible with every passing year. Laurence Harvey is a remote-controlled assassin, and Frank Sinatra seems to be under a little hypnotic influence himself... or are we just imagining it? John Frankenheimer and George Axelrod concoct a masterpiece from the novel by Richard Condon, a movie about conspiracies, that may be hiding more secrets in plain sight. The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 803 1962 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 126 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 15, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish, John McGiver, Khigh Dhiegh Cinematography Lionel Lindon Production Designer Richard Sylbert Film Editor Ferris Webster Original Music David Amram Written by George Axelrod from the novel by Richard Condon Produced by George Axelrod, John Frankenheimer, Howard W. Koch Directed by John Frankenheimer
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 3/22/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
An animated documentary about Jr Brinkley, a snakeoil – or rather, goat testicle – salesman who helped birth rock’n’roll, has premiered at the Sundance festival
When Greil Marcus wrote about Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music in his book Invisible Republic, he coined the phrase “the old, weird America”. The 1930s dustbowl contained rich soil for nurturing strange characters. An entire strata of Americana exists, miles from the top-hat-and-tails stories peddled by Hollywood. Nuts! is a ridiculously enjoyable gem of a documentary about a great historical footnote, John Romulus Brinkley, a rags-to-riches-and-back-again huckster who peddled an impotence cure involving goat testicles and became one of the most ubiquitous broadcasters in the early days of radio. Mixing droll animation, stock footage and a restrained number of talking head interviews, the director Penny Lane’s biography has all the whimsy of a tall tale, until a late change in tone surprises with genuine emotion.
When Greil Marcus wrote about Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music in his book Invisible Republic, he coined the phrase “the old, weird America”. The 1930s dustbowl contained rich soil for nurturing strange characters. An entire strata of Americana exists, miles from the top-hat-and-tails stories peddled by Hollywood. Nuts! is a ridiculously enjoyable gem of a documentary about a great historical footnote, John Romulus Brinkley, a rags-to-riches-and-back-again huckster who peddled an impotence cure involving goat testicles and became one of the most ubiquitous broadcasters in the early days of radio. Mixing droll animation, stock footage and a restrained number of talking head interviews, the director Penny Lane’s biography has all the whimsy of a tall tale, until a late change in tone surprises with genuine emotion.
- 1/23/2016
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
Considered amongst the very greatest documentaries ever made and selected by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” D.A. Pennebaker‘s veritable direct cinema portrait of Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of England is an undisputed masterpiece. Yet, after Pennebaker completed the film, he almost gave up hope of finding a distributor. In the end, the film opened at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco, then known mostly for showing porn, to rave reviews and flocks of crowds hungry to meet Bob Dylan, or a version of Dylan, riding a wave of creative energy so quick that he’s bored and already reaching for the next thing. Its no wonder why Pennebaker named the film Dont Look Back, after a quote by Satchel Paige – “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
Still rocking the solo song man, guitar, harmonica and a pair of...
Still rocking the solo song man, guitar, harmonica and a pair of...
- 12/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
D.A. Pennbaker still remembers the man with the wiry gray hair and the sunglasses, sitting across from him in his office and posing an innocent enough question. "He asked, 'Would you like to come along on a tour with my client? His name is Bob Dylan.' It sort of rang a bell." The 90-year-old filmmaker lets out a raspy chuckle before continuing to speak at his customary rapid clip. "He had one song, 'The Times They Are A-Changin',' that had been playing on the radio...
- 11/27/2015
- Rollingstone.com
D.A. Pennebaker puts cinema verité on the map with his terrific up-close docu portrait of Bob Dylan as he runs from concert appearances to hotels, cutting up with his friends, practicing with Joan Baez and giving reporters grief. Criterion's extras give us the best look yet at Pennebaker's innovative approach: don't direct, observe. Dont Look Back Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 786 1967 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 24, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Bob Dylan, Donovan, Joan Baez, Alan Price, Albert Grossman Cinematography Howard Alk, Jones Alk, D.A. Pennebaker Production Designer James D. Bissell Music performed by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Donovan, Alan Price Produced by John Court and Albert Grossman Written, Edited and Directed by D.A. Pennebaker
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
"I am not a folk singer. Do not call me a folk singer." The man who turned pop music on to socially conscious poetry is...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
"I am not a folk singer. Do not call me a folk singer." The man who turned pop music on to socially conscious poetry is...
- 11/24/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We’re huge fans of the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself, but now we could be getting a movie based on the life of a critic who inspired even him. What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is a documentary based on the life of New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, and you can help the documentary get made by donating to a Kickstarter for the film.
Director Rob Garver has made a number of shorts and TV projects, and for the purpose of this documentary he’s gathered together an A-list assortment of directors, actors, and film critics, all of whom were either inspired or scorned her work. The list of names is long, but here’s a short list via their Kickstarter: Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Greil Marcus, Francis Ford Coppola, David Edelstein, Molly Haskell, and Alec Baldwin.
Kael wrote for the...
Director Rob Garver has made a number of shorts and TV projects, and for the purpose of this documentary he’s gathered together an A-list assortment of directors, actors, and film critics, all of whom were either inspired or scorned her work. The list of names is long, but here’s a short list via their Kickstarter: Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Greil Marcus, Francis Ford Coppola, David Edelstein, Molly Haskell, and Alec Baldwin.
Kael wrote for the...
- 7/10/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Renowned critic Greil Marcus once cited Sleater-Kinney as the most important group in Rock history, a declaration more bold than any for a band. This not so diffident writer has to agree with that notion.For twenty years, the women of Alt-Punk outfit Sleater-Kinney have been kicking ass and taking names. Their genesis came from the tail end of the infamous Riot-Grrrl movement, noted for it’s feminist driven iteration of punk rock of the early 90’s along with the residual impact of the semi-sentient corpse known as grunge, which was epochal of their Pacific Northwest origins. They exploded onto the music […]...
- 1/20/2015
- by Kieran MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Editors Adrian Martin and Girish Shambu have begun rolling out the fifth issue of Lola, wherein you'll find essays on European directors in Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s (Michael Curtiz, Anatole Litvak, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Curtis Bernhardt, William Dieterle, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Robert Siodmak and Fred Zinnemann) and more. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Greil Marcus and Don DeLillo on Bob Dylan, an interview with Manoel de Oliveira, a 1963 essay by Gregory J. Markopoulos, an oral history of Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff, David Lynch's lessons on filmmaking and more. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Editors Adrian Martin and Girish Shambu have begun rolling out the fifth issue of Lola, wherein you'll find essays on European directors in Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s (Michael Curtiz, Anatole Litvak, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Curtis Bernhardt, William Dieterle, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Robert Siodmak and Fred Zinnemann) and more. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Greil Marcus and Don DeLillo on Bob Dylan, an interview with Manoel de Oliveira, a 1963 essay by Gregory J. Markopoulos, an oral history of Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff, David Lynch's lessons on filmmaking and more. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2014
- Keyframe
Being known for being unknown is a bit of a booby prize, but over the course of 35 years, the British multi-genre-punk band the Mekons has managed to make underachieving a heroic ideal. After recording more than 20 albums, what began as a bit of an art-school lark evolved into something stirring, earning the band a star turn in Joe Angio’s documentary, Revenge of the Mekons, which is screening at Film Forum for two more days.A few of the esteemed devotees they’ve picked up over the years gathered last Thursday night in a Columbia University auditorium for an Ivy League symposium: Novelist Jonathan Franzen, critic Greil Marcus, American Psycho director Mary Harron, nonfiction writer Luc Sante, and artist and architect Vito Acconci gave readings on the band after a screening of excerpts of the film, while band guitarist and singer Jon Langford sat among them, offering a song about...
- 11/3/2014
- by Alex Yablon
- Vulture
Reverse Shot, one of the best film criticism publications online or off for over a decade now, has not only relaunched with a new design, it's now also the official publication of the Museum of the Moving Image. With the relaunch comes a new symposium—on Martin Scorsese, no less. Also in today's roundup: John Sayles and Greil Marcus on Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's This Ain’t No Mouse Music, the Quietus on Akira Kurosawa and Jim Jarmusch, Farran Nehme on Lauren Bacall and more. » - David Hudson...
- 9/19/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Reverse Shot, one of the best film criticism publications online or off for over a decade now, has not only relaunched with a new design, it's now also the official publication of the Museum of the Moving Image. With the relaunch comes a new symposium—on Martin Scorsese, no less. Also in today's roundup: John Sayles and Greil Marcus on Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's This Ain’t No Mouse Music, the Quietus on Akira Kurosawa and Jim Jarmusch, Farran Nehme on Lauren Bacall and more. » - David Hudson...
- 9/19/2014
- Keyframe
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