San Francisco - 1968 - UK

San Francisco - 1968 - 6/10

 
Experimental film by Anthony Stern dashes through every nuance of the Bay city.
Police, hippies, military, office workers, day time, night time, everyday activities, orgiastic happenings.
Flits through neighborhoods like a dragonfly on amphetamines.
The pace is frantic, fueled by an early version of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive”.
Cuts are so dizzying and blurry, you might wish you had dropped Owsley’s acid.

Allelujah! - 2018 - UK

Allelujah! - 2018 - 7/10 

 
Old and in the way.
Oldsters in the geriatric wing of the Bethlehem Hospital, the Beth.
They are, excuse me, taking up space.
Oh yes, the Beth is profitable, but the bed turnover is too low for Whitehall.
Births, injuries, and surgeries come and go, but old folks only go once – at their end.
Alan Bennett play is funny, biting, sad, and, for anyone who follows the NHS, uncomfortably accurate.

Sinatra: All Of Nothing At All - 2015 - USA

Sinatra: All Of Nothing At All - 2015 - 7/10 

 
Two-part, four (4) hour biography of “the Voice” will be plenty for the genuinely curious.
For legions of fans, possibly not enough.
With permission from the Sinatra estate, this has a trove of photos personal items. 
Most everything is here: early chronology, crooner, Hollywood, Vegas.
As well as more unsavory avenues: philandering, the Mob, politics.
Cringe at the 4 hr length if you will.  After Sinatra’s death in 1998, a local station broadcast a ten hour documentary.
Oh, had I only I taped it. 

California Schemin’ - 2025 - UK

California Schemin’ - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Rap duo Silibil N’ Brains can’t catch a break in 2003.
Not because Billy and Gavin lack talent, because they are Scots.
Solution, adopt American accents and declare they are Californians.
Whereupon, kissy-kissy-kissy, welcome to the label, say disdainful Londoners.
Film flashes an edge of persona overruling true self.
Lies and self-deceit, one individual a world class dick.
Based on the real duo.  Suggest watch Kneecap first.

Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster - 2004 - USA

Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster - 2004 - 7/10

 
Penetrating documentary of a band in crisis.
Fighting file-sharing, they have alienated fans.
Bassist Newsted quits because he wants to do his own thing.
The remaining trio hire a motivational guy, trying to get them to “open up”.
Uncomfortable and engrossing at the same time.
Whereas other bands might have collapsed, Metallica’s dedication and work ethic was unbreakable.

The Beatles: Made On Merseyside - 2018 - UK

The Beatles: Made On Merseyside - 2018 - 6/10

 
Pretty good documentary for Beatles fanatics.
This sticks with the formative years.
Skiffle, Johnny and the Moondogs, the Quarrymen.
Many of the heads interviewed are ex-members or friends from art school.
Pete Best gets a fair amount of time.  Brother Roag gives a tour of the Casbah, now a museum.
Doc concludes as “Please, Please Me” breaks and the band ignites.

Bride & Prejudice - 2004 - UK

Bride & Prejudice - 2004 - 6/10

 
Another Austen adaptation, Bollywood style (expect musical numbers).
The unmarried Bakshi sisters are in a dither over the arrival of rich American Will Darcy.
Eldest daughter Lalita immediately takes a dislike to the snobbish newcomer.
Rather than a clash of class, this is more a clash of cultures.
Purists should back off, for the rest, fairly entertaining.
I found “Darcy” miscast, although I appear to be in a minority.

First A Girl - 1935 - UK

First A Girl - 1935 - 6/10

 
Aspiring performer Elizabeth is befriended by female impersonator Victor.
When misfortune strikes, she steps in and pretends to be a man, pretending to be a woman.
Continental acclaim ensues.
Music, romance, comedy in breezy remake of 1933’s Victor And Victoria.
Several gaudy musical numbers, over-the-top and weirdly irresistible.
Songs are not so catchy to me, but I was fascinated by the triple rhyming structure of many.
Jessie Matthews is adorably cute.
Like Joan Morgan before her, Hollywood made Matthews an offer (Damsel In Distress with Fred Astaire).
Her studio refused to let her go.  The indifferent hand of Fortune.

Mona Best And The Beatles - 2026 - UK

Mona Best And The Beatles - 2026 - 6/10

 
Pete was attending college, until his mother bought a building and installed a music club in the basement.
The Casbah Club.
Pete then decided he wanted to be a musician.  And began drumming.  
Eventually joining an up and coming trio who had trouble retaining drummers: John, Paul and George.
The Beatles are the backbeat of this docudrama, yet the focus is on Pete, mother Mona, and driver, manager Neil Aspinal and his swirling relationship with all concerned.
Sound mix varies.  Otherwise, this may intrigue fans of the Fab Four.

Man On The Run - 2025 - UK

Man On The Run - 2025 - 6/10

 
Docu-mercial from Paul giving his slant on his later group, “and Wings”.
Voiceovers and archived interviews, carefully curated.
Idyllic scenes from his rustic retreat, studio time, tours both small and mammoth.
By the end, perhaps he tired of the whole being in a band thing.
Crafted by his own production company, released in conjunction with a Wings box set.
Wings was massively popular during their run, and McCartney still has legions of fans.
Disappointed?  View McCartney 3, 2, 1.

Yellow Submarine - 1968 - UK

Yellow Submarine - 1968 - 7/10

 
Pepperland had been overrun and enslaved by the Blue Meanies.
Are you bluish?  You don’t look bluish?
Young Fred barely escapes in the above vessel, then implores the Fab Four to rescue the inhabitants.
Enroute, they navigate various, ofttimes perilous, seas.
Eye-popping animation, memorable songs, imaginative story.
Surprise hit with kids, acidheads, critics, Beatles fans.
This generated much good will toward the band, and remains a great watch.

My Dinner With Jimi - 2003 - USA

My Dinner With Jimi - 2003 - 6/10

 
Nighttime in Swinging London, Turtles frontman Howard Kaylan encounters two obscure musicians.
Iffy docu-drama of the group’s momentous 1967 year is endless fun.
Depending on how steeped one is with the whole 60’s vibe and the sunshiny nightmare it was.
Plenty of songs, plenty of names and faces (such as Jimi and Brian above).
How much is accurate?  With all the substances, who remembers?
Nor is that the point.  The joie de vivre of this is infectious.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3368643

The Diplomaniacs - 1933 - USA

The Diplomaniacs - 1933 - 6/10

 
Wheeler & Woolsey are barbers on the Adoop Reservation in Oklahoma.
The tribe has reaped millions from oil, so they pay the duo to go to Zurich and establish world peace.
Before their departure, half-dressed Indian dance around them.
On the good ship Periwinkle, munitions manufacturers enlist hotties to seduce the men.
In France, a half-clad villainess and her crew are recruited.
Should I mention the singing, swinging hotel chambermaids?
Or a cringing scene in the Peace Conference after a bomb explodes?
Zany comedy roars pellmell, silly, embarrassing, and sadly prescient
In 1933, the world was drifting to fascism, to totalitarianism, leading to the deaths of millions.

What The Hell Happened To Blood Sweat Tears? - 2023 - USA

What The Hell Happened To Blood Sweat Tears? - 2023 - 7/10
 

It didn’t matter where they performed or why.  The critics piled on the hate.
Documentary on the well-intentioned, yet naïve concert tour of Eastern Europe.
Exposure to authoritarian regimes, followed by blowback from counterculture elites.
BST had been riding high beforehand, their second release Grammy Album Of The Year.
The premise is that the tour, brought on by pressure by the US State Dept., damaged their credibility.
I don’t necessarily buy that.  Critics lambasted Zeppelin, Mahler, Grand Funk, Bruckner, Rush, Chet …  
BST faded because the hits dried up.  Trends run their course.
Counterculture ended with the 70’s, while critics / influencers continue to survive and fester.
Nonetheless, this is a highly absorbing film – primarily for fans who recall this version of the group.
And the footage that survives, my God, the band was incandescent for those audiences.

 
 

The Jangling Man: Martin Newell Story - 2022 - UK

The Jangling Man: Martin Newell Story - 2022 - 6/10

 
Meandering documentary (fitting actually) of the iconoclast musician and poet who shuns the music biz.
Youth barely mentioned, read “This Little Ziggy”.  Bands are checked, with tune snips.
Mostly, this is Newell in his home studio, accent on home.
Plenty of talking heads, primarily musicians, certainly not the London critics.
Giles Smith seems a big omission.
While this rambles, by the end you have a good feel for Martin as an individual.
Fans of Newell ought to bump my score a couple points.
Never heard of him, but like vintage pop and psychedelia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heKeeC_ADcA

Highest 2 Lowest - 2025 - USA

Highest 2 Lowest - 2025 - 6/10

 
Glossy remake of the Kurosawa classic from 1963.
Music mogul, King, regrets selling part of his empire, now seeks to retake control.
His son is kidnapped, an exorbitant ransom demanded, only it was not HIS son, but his chauffeur’s.
Pay the ransom and lose the company?  Or refuse and face the wrath of social media?
The moral dilemma.  Bear in mind, Hollywood is not Japan.
Slick, beautiful shots of New York.  The film is overlong, however, and great stretches stagnate.
Moreover, the logic of the demands (Swiss francs) and the fund transfers defy belief.

Madame Sousatzka - 1988 - UK

Madame Sousatzka - 1988 - 6/10

 
Russian pianist, who never quite made the professional ranks, trains gifted pupils.
Her latest is from India, and his mother works slavishly to move his career.
Sousatzka is a fire-breather … with a heart of gold.
Sounds like a cliché?  Well, not quite.
She finds the talent, grooms them, hones them, only to watch them vanish up the ladder.
To the wealthy agent, the famous instructor.  Sousatzka is forever a minor league manager.
MacLaine excels in this, and I am not normally a fan of her work.

The Mambo Kings - 1992 - USA

The Mambo Kings - 1992 - 6/10

 
Cesar and Nestor hit New York in the 1950’s, determined to swagger into the music scene.
Cesar is ambitious, Nestor wants a quieter life, perhaps a small club.
If the film was mostly Cesar, it would rock harder.
Nestor (Antonio Banderas) is a bit of a wet noodle, pining over his love left behind in Cuba.
Music is hot throughout, propelling  the film and compensating for the soapy bits.
Assante steals the film as driven, yet honor bound, older brother.

Hello, Dolly! - 1969 - USA

Hello, Dolly! - 1969 - 5/10

 
The widowed matchmaker attempts to find a match for an “almost millionaire”.
Then there’s the rich man’s niece and her impoverished boyfriend.
Which the rich man properly says “No’ to.  (Except in films, artists rarely make money.)
All sorts of stratagems and subterfuges follow.
With way too many characters and an over-complicated plot
Add a batch of songs, most highly unmemorable, and you have a musical turkey.
This is one of those films that killed musicals back when.
I was, and remain a Streisand fan which is why I watched this back in the day.
Recent rewatch – just as bad.  And the vinyl ST, it ain’t “Funny Girl”.

A Night With Janis Joplin - 2025 - UK

A Night With Janis Joplin - 2025 - 7/10

 
Not quite a revue, nor a straight biography.
Exhilarating musical numbers mixed with Joplin talking of childhood and her early years in San Francisco.
Also her influences: her mother’s taste in Broadway, along with Bessie Smith, Nina Simone, Odetta, Aretha, Etta James.
Mary Bridget Davies, as Joplin, is a powerhouse.  Not just belting the blues, but the drawl, the cackle, the humor.
Nor is she alone.  Four others slip into The Chantels, Etta, Bessie, etc …
Everyone has the chops.  Save for an elderly audience who seem listless.  A younger audience might have been livelier, except they might not have know the singer, let alone her songs.
The estate is still highly protective, so nor mention of her troubles.
Again, akin to a musical, and a rowdy, exhilarating one at that.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3361066