July DVD Reviews
Issue 211 / July 2006 More from this Issue
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Anarchism in America
Steve Fischler and Joe Sucher
AK Press
Street: 05.10
What do you think of when you hear the word anarchist? For most people, this word stirs visions of men in black masks with spiked hair and chains throwing bombs, trying to cause mass chaos. Any true anarchist will tell you that's a load of garbage, and this DVD does exactly that over and over again. Anarchism in America actually contains two documentaries that were both filmed in the 80s. The first documents Fischler & Suchers cross-country adventure to find anarchist communities throughout the US. During their journey, you learn what anarchism is really about; it's non-violent, self reliant and all about a desire to control your own life. The only semi-stereotypical anarchists found in the film are the Dead Kennedys, but just like the elderly anarchists featured in the film, they don't want chaos, they just want people to think for themselves. The second documentary; The Free Voice of America: The Jewish Anarchists documents the history of a Yiddish anarchist newspaper that was published for 87 years, which eventually went under due to lack of funds. This documentary begins with one of the last secretaries of the paper saying "You have to be idealistic, or else you might as well blow your brains out," after being asked if he was still as idealistic about anarchism as he was while working on the staff or the paper. The rest of the film goes on to interview elderly Jews who wrote for the paper about what initially drew them to anarchism. Both documentaries serve to educate the general public that the majority of anarchists aren't terrorists, a lesson that should be easy to learn. After all, the majority of Muslims aren't terrorists... but Americans seem to have trouble figuring that one out too. Jeanette Moses Flogging Molly: Whiskey On A Sunday
Jim Dziura
Side One Dummy Records
Street: 07.25
Flogging Molly is a band that is as diverse as their fan base. With members ranging from their anal retentive drummer, ex-pro-skateboarding accordion player, ex-lead singer of an 80s metal band songwriter, female fiddle player who can't read music and bass player with a punk rock past, it's no wonder this band attracts such a wide array of fans. Flogging Molly makes music that everyone can enjoy: the punk rockers, the college jocks, ten-year-old kids and even the geriatric. I must agree with lead singer Dave King when he says "Flogging Molly could go on after ACDC." If Flogging Molly doesn't move you, then you must not have a pulse. This documentary is beautifully crafted and tells the story of how the band became what they are today. Starting off with their early days of playing the dive bar Molly Malone's and all the trouble they had getting signed because "bar bands don't make money," Whiskey On A Sunday tells the story behind the band, something that most music DVDs fail to do. It takes you to their live shows, into the studio and even into their homes. This documentary also comes with a CD that includes the previously unreleased "Laura," acoustic versions of "Drunken Lullabies" and "Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon" and a live version of "What's Left of the Flag." There is something truly amazing about Flogging Molly's music; it gives me chills and something unexplainable that hits you as soon as you hear the first ten seconds of any of their songs. Flogging Molly will go down in rock history; there is no way that they can't. Jeanette Moses
Kate Bush
Under Review
Sexy Intellectual
Street: 12.13.05
There was a time in Bush's career when she wasn't a reclusive enigma locked away in a home studio pounding away chord combinations that might never receive a public performance; I am too young to know these days. In fact, beyond Bush's music there is very little that I've ever known about any facet of her life. This critical analysis does a decent job of telling the plot of Bush's quick rise to stardom in the mid-70s to the later half of the 80s and then suddenly runs out of information. Granted it was in the late 80s that Bush began her climb from pop star to hermit. The inclusion of early interviews with Bush are the DVD's finest moments The ramblings of the press and industry folk are't nearly as inspired and surprisingly a lot of information, like her work with Peter Gabriel, doesn't even make an appearance, suggesting we're not really getting the whole story. ryan michael painter
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
Les Films/Seville Pictures
Street: 05.23
For metalheads the information given in this documentary is pretty much common knowledge. For those unfamiliar the film gives decisive information grouped into categories and easy to absorb. That doesn't mean if you are a metal fan you can't enjoy this documentary from self-proclaimed "banger" Sam Dunn. The interviews are many from Bruce Dickinson, Dio, Alice Cooper, Dees Snider and Tom Araya to Mayhem, Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse and Gorogoth's Gaahl. Most genres are covered. Topics range from sexuality, religion, death, fans and much more. Dunn journeys the globe to answer his burning question, in short why is metal dismissed as a serious musical genre. He visits England, Los Angeles, New York, Germany's notorious four-day metal festival the Wacken Open Air and Bergen, Norway. Regardless of one's musical taste the film is a sure conversation starter about all things metal. Bryer Wharton
Red Sox vs. Yankees
The Ultimate Rivalry
Shout! Factory
Street: 05.02
With the Yankees in a dry spell and the Red Sox crowned as champs two years ago, rendering the mythical Bambino curse kaput, this rivalry is apparently in its post-modern phase. With such a sporting document, the likes of Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan are obviously on hand with strings of technical similes to teach us that this particular rivalry (a word mentioned no less than 300 times in this film) is a teeming lake of regional politics served by the rivers of hope, loss and renewal. However, the Ginsbergian adage on my Starbucks cup tells me that "baseball is like baseball," and I believe it. Though neither provocative or necessarily informative, one can never get enough of Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez saying things like, "We took our game to another level," or "Who's your Big Papi now?" in their adorable Dominican accents. Justin Thomas Burch
The Smiths
Under Review
Sexy Intellectual
Street: 06.27
While much has been said about the break up and subsequent court battles, the actual story of The Smiths has been rather obscured by time. This "independent critical analysis" pulls together a series of journalists and conspirators who watched the band as they rose from the middle of nowhere to one of the most influential bands of the 80s. While not so much a biography, it is chronological and is essentially a free-formed conversation with a heavy dose of personal opinion and recollection. Through interviews with a range of differentiating points of view this analysis is surprisingly effective in mapping the influence and the phenomenon of The Smiths. It suffers mostly from not having input from any of the prominent members of the band (Graig Gannon who had a brief stint in the band as an extra guitarist does make an appearance). While Stephen Street and John Porter do add their two bits and are insightful considering their direct involvement with the band, the missing voices of Morrissey and Marr render the content superficial. In this case, even going skin deep awaits a wealth of information to explore. ryan michael painter
Steve Fischler and Joe Sucher
AK Press
Street: 05.10
What do you think of when you hear the word anarchist? For most people, this word stirs visions of men in black masks with spiked hair and chains throwing bombs, trying to cause mass chaos. Any true anarchist will tell you that's a load of garbage, and this DVD does exactly that over and over again. Anarchism in America actually contains two documentaries that were both filmed in the 80s. The first documents Fischler & Suchers cross-country adventure to find anarchist communities throughout the US. During their journey, you learn what anarchism is really about; it's non-violent, self reliant and all about a desire to control your own life. The only semi-stereotypical anarchists found in the film are the Dead Kennedys, but just like the elderly anarchists featured in the film, they don't want chaos, they just want people to think for themselves. The second documentary; The Free Voice of America: The Jewish Anarchists documents the history of a Yiddish anarchist newspaper that was published for 87 years, which eventually went under due to lack of funds. This documentary begins with one of the last secretaries of the paper saying "You have to be idealistic, or else you might as well blow your brains out," after being asked if he was still as idealistic about anarchism as he was while working on the staff or the paper. The rest of the film goes on to interview elderly Jews who wrote for the paper about what initially drew them to anarchism. Both documentaries serve to educate the general public that the majority of anarchists aren't terrorists, a lesson that should be easy to learn. After all, the majority of Muslims aren't terrorists... but Americans seem to have trouble figuring that one out too. Jeanette Moses Flogging Molly: Whiskey On A Sunday
Jim Dziura
Side One Dummy Records
Street: 07.25
Flogging Molly is a band that is as diverse as their fan base. With members ranging from their anal retentive drummer, ex-pro-skateboarding accordion player, ex-lead singer of an 80s metal band songwriter, female fiddle player who can't read music and bass player with a punk rock past, it's no wonder this band attracts such a wide array of fans. Flogging Molly makes music that everyone can enjoy: the punk rockers, the college jocks, ten-year-old kids and even the geriatric. I must agree with lead singer Dave King when he says "Flogging Molly could go on after ACDC." If Flogging Molly doesn't move you, then you must not have a pulse. This documentary is beautifully crafted and tells the story of how the band became what they are today. Starting off with their early days of playing the dive bar Molly Malone's and all the trouble they had getting signed because "bar bands don't make money," Whiskey On A Sunday tells the story behind the band, something that most music DVDs fail to do. It takes you to their live shows, into the studio and even into their homes. This documentary also comes with a CD that includes the previously unreleased "Laura," acoustic versions of "Drunken Lullabies" and "Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon" and a live version of "What's Left of the Flag." There is something truly amazing about Flogging Molly's music; it gives me chills and something unexplainable that hits you as soon as you hear the first ten seconds of any of their songs. Flogging Molly will go down in rock history; there is no way that they can't. Jeanette Moses
Kate Bush
Under Review
Sexy Intellectual
Street: 12.13.05
There was a time in Bush's career when she wasn't a reclusive enigma locked away in a home studio pounding away chord combinations that might never receive a public performance; I am too young to know these days. In fact, beyond Bush's music there is very little that I've ever known about any facet of her life. This critical analysis does a decent job of telling the plot of Bush's quick rise to stardom in the mid-70s to the later half of the 80s and then suddenly runs out of information. Granted it was in the late 80s that Bush began her climb from pop star to hermit. The inclusion of early interviews with Bush are the DVD's finest moments The ramblings of the press and industry folk are't nearly as inspired and surprisingly a lot of information, like her work with Peter Gabriel, doesn't even make an appearance, suggesting we're not really getting the whole story. ryan michael painter
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
Les Films/Seville Pictures
Street: 05.23
For metalheads the information given in this documentary is pretty much common knowledge. For those unfamiliar the film gives decisive information grouped into categories and easy to absorb. That doesn't mean if you are a metal fan you can't enjoy this documentary from self-proclaimed "banger" Sam Dunn. The interviews are many from Bruce Dickinson, Dio, Alice Cooper, Dees Snider and Tom Araya to Mayhem, Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse and Gorogoth's Gaahl. Most genres are covered. Topics range from sexuality, religion, death, fans and much more. Dunn journeys the globe to answer his burning question, in short why is metal dismissed as a serious musical genre. He visits England, Los Angeles, New York, Germany's notorious four-day metal festival the Wacken Open Air and Bergen, Norway. Regardless of one's musical taste the film is a sure conversation starter about all things metal. Bryer Wharton
Red Sox vs. Yankees
The Ultimate Rivalry
Shout! Factory
Street: 05.02
With the Yankees in a dry spell and the Red Sox crowned as champs two years ago, rendering the mythical Bambino curse kaput, this rivalry is apparently in its post-modern phase. With such a sporting document, the likes of Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan are obviously on hand with strings of technical similes to teach us that this particular rivalry (a word mentioned no less than 300 times in this film) is a teeming lake of regional politics served by the rivers of hope, loss and renewal. However, the Ginsbergian adage on my Starbucks cup tells me that "baseball is like baseball," and I believe it. Though neither provocative or necessarily informative, one can never get enough of Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez saying things like, "We took our game to another level," or "Who's your Big Papi now?" in their adorable Dominican accents. Justin Thomas Burch
The Smiths
Under Review
Sexy Intellectual
Street: 06.27
While much has been said about the break up and subsequent court battles, the actual story of The Smiths has been rather obscured by time. This "independent critical analysis" pulls together a series of journalists and conspirators who watched the band as they rose from the middle of nowhere to one of the most influential bands of the 80s. While not so much a biography, it is chronological and is essentially a free-formed conversation with a heavy dose of personal opinion and recollection. Through interviews with a range of differentiating points of view this analysis is surprisingly effective in mapping the influence and the phenomenon of The Smiths. It suffers mostly from not having input from any of the prominent members of the band (Graig Gannon who had a brief stint in the band as an extra guitarist does make an appearance). While Stephen Street and John Porter do add their two bits and are insightful considering their direct involvement with the band, the missing voices of Morrissey and Marr render the content superficial. In this case, even going skin deep awaits a wealth of information to explore. ryan michael painter
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