Movie Night

It’s movie night. Do you have any music related films or videos to recommend?

Thank you for asking, yes I do! I’ll break them down into a few categories for you.

Documentaries and Series

It Might Get Loud – (Rated PG) – I read a New York Times review of this documentary a few years ago and finally watched it yesterday. I’d definitely recommend it if you like electric guitar and/or rock and roll. The film weaves together the personal and playing histories of three guitar players: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (one of my personal favorites), The Edge of U2, and Jack White of The White Stripes. The personal and musical history of these three guitar players is interestingly woven together with scenes from a single jam session and discussion between them. The film shows that while their approaches to both music and technology are different, they still search for the same thing – true and creative self expression.

This movie could have turned out quite boring and bland, but it’s well-edited and the cinematography is very good. In some ways it’s similar to No Direction Home, but about half as long, and about three different artists instead of just one. I found the press question and answer session in the extras, from the Toronto Film Festival, very interesting too.

The Last Waltz (Rated PG) – Legendary director Martin Scorsese’s 1976 documentary about The Band’s last concert in San Francisco. It includes many interviews with interesting insights, as well as many great performances. And, since it’s Martin Scorsese, the cinematography is fantastic. The musical stars who share the stage are many and too numerous to list here. If you like classic rock and roll, and haven’t seen it already, you’ll enjoy it.

No Direction Home (Unrated but I’d say PG-13) – Another Scorsese film that focuses on Bob Dylan’s journey from acoustic folk music to playing the electric guitar and rock and roll, during the early to mid 1960s. The film is very well done and Dylan’s difficult journey is closely followed and applies to artists of all forms (as Scorsese has said in interviews).

I think it’s well worth watching if you’re at all into the arts and how artists develop and change over time. However, if you’re not a fan of long documentaries (3-4 hours) or Bob Dylan, you might want to watch something else.

Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound (Unrated, but I guess PG-13) – A PBS, American Masters documentary that looks at the life, career and activism of Joan Baez, including both her playing, as well as her personal and professional relationships with other famous musicians of the time. Very interesting and well worth watching, especially today, when popular music has become much more of a large, corporate business that it used to be.

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (Rated PG-13) – An insightful documentary about the genius and personality of one of the most original jazz composers of the 20^th century. It includes a lot of great, live concert footage. Like oysters, or the New York Yankees, you probably already know if you like the music of Thelonious Monk. If you do, and you haven’t seen this film, you should.

Jazz (Unrated, I’d guess PG) – Ken Burn’s look at jazz in his well known and thorough PBS style. I’ve watched this entire series. I might be a little too close to the subject in some of my criticisms, so they might not bother you. The series focuses mainly on three musicians – Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. These are all great jazz musicians, but the extensive amount of time and focus they receive, while leaving out other deserving and worthy musicians who could have been covered, is a bit too much, in my opinion. Also, the attention given to jazz after about 1950 is rather short and brief, compared to the time spent on the eras and styles preceding it (Burns’ defense of this is that he’s a historian and tries to only include material outside of the last 50 years or so).  However, the multiple CD set that goes along with the series is a great introduction to jazz (up until about 1965) for new listeners.

Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon series, I’d say rated R) – I’ve watched the first two seasons. It’s a well acted (with Malcolm McDowell, Gael García Bernal, and others) and an interesting series about the behind the scenes happenings of classical music and large orchestras. While it’s fictional, if you know anyone close to a major symphony, the issues covered are all too real. It’s pure entertainment (not a lot of educational value here) but I’d recommend it if you like classical music, or if want to watch something in shorter episodes.

Feature Films

The Blues Brothers (Original movie – Rated R) – It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, and I’m not sure if it’s aged well, but this is one of my all time favorite comedies. My old high school band mate and friend Ryan Burns and I, both found our way into more original and authentic versions of the blues by listening to, and then learning the songs of the composers and artists The Blues Brothers covered in the movie soundtrack. Musical cameo appearances include – Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway and several others. A must see if you’ve never seen it and enjoy R rated, SNL style humor.

Spinal Tap (Rated R) – This is another legendary comedy among musicians. It’s Rob Reiner’s exaggerated and hilarious look at where rock and roll appeared to be headed in the mid-1980s. Memorable lines, often quoted by musicians, are too numerous to list.

Amadeus (Rated R) – Milos Forman’s excellent and well constructed look at the genius and brilliance of Mozart through the eyes of a jealous and envious rival composer. While not (completely) historically accurate, I think this film captures Mozart’s personality well (we’d have to be able to jump in a time machine to know for certain). It’s also a great look at how people’s personalities find their way into their art and music. In my opinion, the more recently released director’s cut, which is about half an hour longer and darker in tone, is even better.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown (Rated PG) – A documentary about the excellent musicians who played on many of Motown’s greatest hit records, but who are relatively unknown compared to the singers they backed.

What about recommendations for kids? 

Most of the above will only be of interest to, and appropriate for, late teenagers and adults. Here are a few ideas for younger students –

Leonard Berstein’s Young People’s Concerts from the 1950s

If you’re looking for something more recent, or if you’re just not into classical music, how about some of the work Wynton Marsalis does with middle and high school level jazz students in New York City through Lincoln Center (which is often attended, and placed highly in, by talented, local, high school, jazz bands from the greater Seattle area including Garfield, Roosevelt and others):

For even younger kids, you can check out the shorter segments done by many great musicians, including Wynton Marsalis’ brother Branford, on PBS shows like Sesame Street:

Or, some of the following wonderful artists too:

Patti LaBelle sings the alphabet:

B.B. King and the letter B:

Norah Jones and the letter Y:

Also, in the last 20 years or so, children’s films have been give much more interesting soundtracks than they used to have. The music for more recent Disney and Pixar films have been composed by artists like Dr. John, Randy Newman and Elton John. So, you might start with the soundtracks of films your children already like, and then find more music from those artists, or others artists with similar styles that your kids will probably also enjoy.

Don’t forget the popcorn!

Matt