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July
4th , 2010
Last month saw the release of a documentary called "Bananas!"
that was notable because it was produced by a former Victoria native,
Bart Simpson, who also did "The Corporation" in 2002.
This month we get a doc about the seminal Canadian rock band Rush called,
"Beyond
The Lighted Stage" which was shot by another local boy named
Sam Dunn.
Sam's reputation as a world-class documentary filmmaker is constantly
growing as he continues to release movies dedicated to his passion for
Heavy Metal music. His first film, "Metal:
A Headbanger's Journey", a comprehensive look at the the history
of the Heavy Metal movement, met wide acclaim and had an impressively
broad appeal given it's subject matter.
His second, "Global
Metal", was about the cultural impact of this much maligned musical
genre as fans from places as disparate as Norway, Japan, Iraq (when playing
metal is a prisonable offense) and Thailand strive to make music that
is bigger than the oppressions they feel in everyday life. It's a brilliant
piece of anthropological study.
The Rush documentary is supposed to be more of the same--putting a friendly,
approachable face on something many of you have probably never considered
checking out before.
To continue the musical theme I must recommend the biographical/drama
film, "The Runaways".
It tells the story of a real band--a group of teenage girls--who were
thrown together in the mid 70s to try and exploit the interest in glam
rock and ended up basically being proto-punk rockers.
The film's story is one we've heard a million times but the performances
by Dakota
Fanning and, in particular, Kirsten
Stewart who does an incredible job of singing and capturing the essence
of Joan Jett, are top notch.
I knew a fair amount about the band before the movie and still learned
something about their insane yet brilliant (and brilliantly filthy) manager/guru
Kim Fowley (Portrayed brilliantly by Michael
Shannon).
I kept thinking about the movie
for days afterward and that is about as high a compliment I can pay a
film since most go in one eye and out the other.
Thanks for reading,
Rob
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