Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

I was thumbing through the Sundance Program Guide and I was struck by how many films there were about music and/or musicians this year!! As Emanuel Levy correctly stated during his podcast this summer, the alternative sexuality cinema is dead. The new wave is moving in!

MUSICIANS & PERSONALITIES

Though I’ve enjoyed his music for several years, much of the current generation knows him from his Hallelujah contribution to SHREK. From 1994 until 1999, Cohen was secluded in a Buddhist monastery. No doubt that period will be elucidated in the film, LEONARD COHEN, I’M YOUR MAN.

I’m also looking forward to EVERYONE STARES: THE POLICE INSIDE OUT because the bulk of the film is the personal Super 8 footage of drummer Stewart Copeland. The footage is from the early years before the masses knew of STING and THE POLICE.

NEIL YOUNG HEART OF GOLD was shot by Jonathan Demme. The releases indicate it was recorded over two nights in Nashville. Difficult to tell how it’s going to be.

The degree to which Neil Young is known by the contemporary audience is about the degree to which jazz vocalist Jackie Paris is NOT known. ‘TIS AUTUMN — THE SEARCH FOR JACKIE PARIS delves into the mysteries that obscure this once famous performer.

MUSICAL MOVEMENTS & EVENTS

Films about performers reveal the individual genius and demons of creative artists. Films about movements and events, on the other hand, tend to contextualize musical experiences of a specific locale into the larger cultural era. GLASTONBURY documents the music and the social changes over 30 years at England’s annual Glastonbury Festival.

Narrowing to a specific social movement, BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES: A HIP-HOP HEAD WEIGHS IN ON MANHOOD IN HIP-HOP CULTURE tackles issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in hip-hop culture. AWESOME, I FUCKIN’ SHOT THAT! turns a laser-beam focus to October 9, 2004, when the Beastie Boys handed out 50 high-8 cameras so audience members could capture the moment.

The hardcore underground punk movement from 1979 to 1986 is the subject of AMERICAN HARDCORE, a film inspired by Steven Blush’s book by the same title.

MORE MUSIC THEMES

Shockingly, there are still a few musical films and they defy easy categorization. When I read about SONGBIRDS, I couldn’t believe the description. The film is a musical set in a women’s prison. The songs were written for characters based on the inmates of Downview Prison in England.

Since we’ve got murder on the mind, Nick Cave (of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fame) has written the screenplay for THE PROPOSITION. Set at the end of the bushranger era, this atmospheric Australian epic tale concerns family, loyalty and betrayal. It’s an interesting twist because the band released MURDER BALLADS in 2004. It’s a CD of songs inspired by murders. As far as I know, the film isn’t about music.

Finally, there are even two short films about music. ONE SUNG HERO is about a 34 year-old copy machine salesperson (by day) who has found her true calling as a Karaoke Missionary. LOT 63, GRAVE C is a documentary short about a death at the Altamont California Rolling Stones Concert in 1969.