Recently took in the well-conceived All Tomorrow’s Parties documentary – a film incorporating Super8, camcorder and mobile phone footage contributed by filmmakers, fans and musicians from the cult festival’s history with major contributions from Jonathan Caouette and Vincent Moon. Featured in the film are performances from Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle And Sebastian, Patti Smith, Animal Collective, Grinderman, Iggy and the Stooges, Portishead, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Gossip, Daniel Johnston and The Boredoms. The ATP festival is unique for its band and fan curated lineups, lack of corporate sponsorships, and country club / summer camp living conditions. Capturing the spirit of these festivals, All Tomorrow’s Parties travels from sporadic outdoor jams, staged performances, drunken late night antics, camp beach walks, and other colored images of what once upon a time could have only been imagined in some parallel universe.
The Boredoms take the prize for best performance in the film as their impromptu spiritual, encapsulating sound, and vision are well imagined on film. The Grinderman footage shows the legendary Nick Cave in fine form, though it is even better to see David Cross being told to “fuck off” as he attempts a disparaging Jesus routine. Also of note, Daniel Johnston can be seen in environments including the lawn, the chalet, and official stage.
It may appear a trifle detail, but what is also of particular interest is the film’s lack of guys wearing backwards baseball caps; perhaps a notice that the real charm of the ATP is that the agent provocateurs who often ruin shows are not in attendance. The ATP philosophy is summed up by Thurston Moore and his talk of returning the music back to the people while defying the corporatization of youth culture. The hope is there and realized within the confines of the ATP as there is no doubt from this striking film; however, outside in the real world the commodification of “indie” seems to be a fait accompli. The All Tomorrow’s Parties documentary is slated for release on November 24, 2009.
trailer:
http://www.ourtrueintentisallforyourdelight.com/
http://www.myspace.com/atpfilm
http://www.warpx.co.uk/
R.E.M., Warner Bros. Records, and Cinema Purgatorio present “This Is Not A Theatrical Release,” limited sneak preview screenings of the upcoming R.E.M. documentary This Is Not A Show: Live at the Olympia in Dublin.
Hurley and Warner Bros. Records will release The Drifter, surfer Rob Machado’s much-anticipated autobiographical movie, this fall. The film will have limited theatrical screenings across the country and will also be released on DVD. Directed by Poor Specimen’s Taylor Steele this is a personal journey as much as it is a showcase of some of the world’s most perfect waves. The Drifter starts in Bali, where Machado is looking for life’s deeper meaning. That surf trip ends up taking him on a soul-searching journey where he eventually finds himself in Indonesia ’s outermost reaches with nothing but a surfboard, his journal and a tent. Much of the dialogue in The Drifter is taken from Rob’s own personal journals.
The film about Australia’s cult surfing hero, Searching For Michael Peterson has announced its United States screening tour during September and October 2009. Michael Peterson ruled the surf scene throughout the early to mid-1970s with his groundbreaking surfing. An undiagnosed schizophrenic, Michael couldn’t handle the fame his surfing powers attracted, and he retreated into a world of hard drugs, fast cars and shadows. He eventually hit rock bottom after a car chase, which took 35 police cars to stop him. It’s an intoxicating and addictive tale for anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water. “The story of Michael Peterson makes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas look like Alice In Wonderland.” Describes Peterson biographer, Sean Doherty. The film is available to purchase from the website.
Where the Wild Things Are is a screenplay co-written by Spike Jonze and author Dave Eggers, with music by Karen O and a host of friends. Karen O and The Kids include Tristan Bechet (Services), Tom Biller (co-producer with Karen O and member of Afternoons), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Brian Chase (YYY), Dean Fertita (The Dead Weather), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion), Nick Zinner, (YYY) and an untrained children’s choir.
Sleeping Dogs Films and MVD Visual are proud to announce the DVD release of Flyin’ Cut Sleeves on October 20th in North America. This 60-minute documentary was produced and directed by Henry Chalfant (of Style Wars fame) and Rita Fecher.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of This Is Spinal Tap, one of rock’s most famous and most re-watchable films has been released for the first time on Blu-ray. The package not only includes all of the extra features that were on the DVD version, but also a second disc of new bonus material, including Spinal Tap’s “Stonehenge” performance at the 2007 Live Earth Festival, and a National Geographic Stonehenge interview with Nigel Tufnel. While the film offers up all the hilarious commentary on the band and rock culture, the bonus scenes are sure to sit well with longtime fans. Did aliens really build Stonehenge or was it a large mass of people? Find out more within the confines of the new Blu-ray edition.
While there have been lackluster attempts to imitate the event, the original Woodstock Festival was far more than fires, hordes of dudes in backwards hats, and other idiocy. In honor of the 40th Anniversary, Woodstock Diary 1969: Friday Saturday Sunday will see a DVD Release on September 22nd via MVD Visual and Wienerworld. Directed and filmed by D.A. Pennebaker, and produced by Alan Douglas (who actually shot Woodstock), this is a 180-minutes that can never be repeated. August 15th 1969 was a day that went down in popular music culture when nearly 500,000 people descended on the infamous site of Woodstock to listen to 26 now-legendary artists over a 3 day period. It recaptures the days of the hippie movement when young people really believed that they could change the world.
A short film for Bob Dylan’s “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” has been filmed by AFI and Sundance Film Festival award winning director Nash Edgerton, and can be seen exclusively on the IFC Channel and on IFC.com, beginning today, Tuesday, May 12 until Thursday, May 12. The video will make its broadcast premiere at 10:15pm this evening on the IFC Channel.
