July 2007
Beatmag’s woman in New York, ‘Shooting People’ director and film festival stalwart Ingrid Kopp, gives us the rundown on some music cinema treats coming our way…
I can happily declare that SXSW in Austin, Texas is my favourite film festival in the world. Held every March, and known better in the UK as an industry-heavy music festival, it actually brings together film, music and interactive elements in a way that always generates a great atmosphere of creativity and excitement. There is always some healthy cross-fertilisation between the different elements and the film fest pays tribute to its music sibling with the 24 Beats Per Second strand which spotlights music documentaries. Here are a few of the best I saw this year.
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April 2007
Anna Wood tackles the challenging sounds of freeform jazzer Albert Ayler, then bathes in the immense quiet of ‘Into Great Silence’
My Name is Albert Ayler
Dir: Kasper Collin
Cert tbc
Into Great Silence
Dir: Philip Groning
Cert U
Is it true that sometimes a man (it’s usually a man) suffers a more elegant, lonely pain than most of us will ever suffer and the music they make is part and parcel of that suffering? And is it true that there will, inevitably, eventually, be a documentary about it? They suffer, and we reap the musical benefits – but the film isn’t always such a pleasure. (more…)
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December 2006
Beatmag Film Editor Anna Wood chooses her flicks of 2006, in no particular order (can also be used as guide to what DVDs to spend your Christmas HMV tokens on)
Grizzly Man
“I am a warrior. I will be one of them. I will be the master.” Timothy Treadwell made friends with the bears he lived with for 13 summers in Alaska, but they did not make friends with him. This is another great film from Werner Herzog, and the most brilliant in a year of brilliant documentaries. (more…)
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November 2006
Anna Wood investigates the very different worlds of Leonard Cohen and British government public information films.
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
Dir: Lian Lunson
Cert PG
Somewhere between Johnny Cash and Neil Young sits Leonard Cohen, nudging his way up the league of maudlin, troubled 1970s greats who we forgot about for a while in the ‘80s. It’s a shame that this film won’t do much to bring anyone new to Cohen; if you’re not already a fan, listening to Nick Cave sing ‘I’m Your Man’ in a big-band, leg-kicking style that’s more Puppini Sisters that Zen brother will not make you want to buy Cohen’s Greatest Hits. (more…)
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August 2006
Anna Wood comes face to face with two of life’s crux occasions – death and Beastie Boys concerts
Awesome: I Fuckin Shot That!
Dir: Nathanial Hörnblowér
Cert 15
(Cinema and DVD)
In October 2004, the Beastie Boys handed out 50 digital and hi-8 cameras to fans who’d bought tickets for their hometown gig at New York’s Madison Square Gardens, plus another 11 to friends and crew. They were told to keep shooting through the entire show, and their footage has been deftly cut and pasted together by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (directing under his favoured pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér) and a team of four editors. The result is a film that is a little bit more than post-pub background noise for men of a certain age, with a hoard of Fat Lace magazines and a skateboard in the loft – although it would serve that purpose very well. (more…)
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June 2006
This month, Anna Wood assesses ‘United 93’, Paul Greengrass’s take on 9/11, while a DVD reissue of Escape to Victory provides a rather less demanding history lesson
United 93
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cert: 15
United 93 shows events, as best we can imagine them or piece them back together, on the morning of September 11 2001 on the fourth plane, the one that was hijacked but didn’t hit its target in Washington, in which the passengers realised what was happening and attacked their hijackers. We see it almost in real time, over 111 minutes, with no context, no characterisation, no hindsight, almost like a crime reconstruction. (more…)
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