Comments on: Shine A Light (2008), Martin Scorsese, B+ http://jordanhoffman.com/2008/04/02/shine-a-light-2008-martin-scorsese-b/ Sympathy For Lots-o-Huggin' Bear Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:46:49 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Bill R http://jordanhoffman.com/2008/04/02/shine-a-light-2008-martin-scorsese-b/comment-page-1/#comment-422190 Bill R Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:10:48 +0000 http://jordanhoffman.com/2008/04/02/shine-a-light-2008-martin-scorsese-b/#comment-422190 I gave up on Stones concert movies circa early 80s: Let's Spend the Night Together. Realized at that point that sitting in a movie theater watching a concert movie was a woeful experience as compared to seeing a band play live. It felt like a dead experience. The audience didn't know how to act. The few people who were wooping it up like they were at a concert seemed very out of place; the people who were doing what normal movie goers do - sitting and watching a movie - didn't know how to act in this context. "Awkward" is the right word. I remember a kid blasting a Deep Purple tape from a boombox before the movie started. On one hand, I thought, "Man, that's rude." On the other, I thought, well, this is sort of a concert, isn't it? Re: the deleted lines from Some Girls. Not sure if it was in the movie, but apparently he also axed the line about "who killed Kennedy" from "Sympathy for the Devil," too. Mick has no problems accamodating the audience with appropriate editing, going all the way back to his infamous "Let's Spend Some TIME Together" Ed Sullivan experience. And where's the bass player? They've had this black guy -- is it Darrel Jones? -- playing bass for them now for years, and he's never in any of these group photos. That's pretty creepy, never mind the racial factor. I could see not having sidemen like Ian MacLagan on keyboards, or Bobby Keys on sax, or any of the background singers being part of a group photo, but a bass player is essential in the Stones sound. The omission of that guy from every photo I've ever seen of the band is a pretty telling factor to me. And one last bon mot: these guys are in their 60s. When my dad was in his 60s, and he was very youthful for his age, always was, he had a full head of gray hair. Not to single these guys out -- been seeing many other 50+ rockers with jet-black hair and faces like prunes -- but it's just one of those morbid "can't age properly" things that goes along with the ancient rock star persona. I'm noticing this pathetic shit in my 40s; I can only imagine how lame it is to an 18-year-old! I gave up on Stones concert movies circa early 80s: Let’s Spend the Night Together. Realized at that point that sitting in a movie theater watching a concert movie was a woeful experience as compared to seeing a band play live. It felt like a dead experience. The audience didn’t know how to act. The few people who were wooping it up like they were at a concert seemed very out of place; the people who were doing what normal movie goers do – sitting and watching a movie – didn’t know how to act in this context. “Awkward” is the right word. I remember a kid blasting a Deep Purple tape from a boombox before the movie started. On one hand, I thought, “Man, that’s rude.” On the other, I thought, well, this is sort of a concert, isn’t it?

Re: the deleted lines from Some Girls. Not sure if it was in the movie, but apparently he also axed the line about “who killed Kennedy” from “Sympathy for the Devil,” too. Mick has no problems accamodating the audience with appropriate editing, going all the way back to his infamous “Let’s Spend Some TIME Together” Ed Sullivan experience.

And where’s the bass player? They’ve had this black guy — is it Darrel Jones? — playing bass for them now for years, and he’s never in any of these group photos. That’s pretty creepy, never mind the racial factor. I could see not having sidemen like Ian MacLagan on keyboards, or Bobby Keys on sax, or any of the background singers being part of a group photo, but a bass player is essential in the Stones sound.

The omission of that guy from every photo I’ve ever seen of the band is a pretty telling factor to me. And one last bon mot: these guys are in their 60s. When my dad was in his 60s, and he was very youthful for his age, always was, he had a full head of gray hair. Not to single these guys out — been seeing many other 50+ rockers with jet-black hair and faces like prunes — but it’s just one of those morbid “can’t age properly” things that goes along with the ancient rock star persona. I’m noticing this pathetic shit in my 40s; I can only imagine how lame it is to an 18-year-old!

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