Sunday, November 09, 2008
Gathering some moss
By Edward Copeland
If you love rock 'n' roll and are of a certain age or older, you really need to have seen the Rolling Stones live because film can't do them justice, even if it's a film directed by Martin Scorsese.
My sole experience with seeing the Stones live was in 1997 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando during their Bridges to Babylon tour. Later, I told a music writer friend of mine that the electric nature of the event made me want to have sex to which he replied that there was no greater endorsement of a rock concert.
The same cannot be said about Shine a Light. The movie starts with a handicap, given the glut of Stones concert films over the years and the fact that Scorsese has made the great rock documentary The Last Waltz as well as the Dylan exploration No Direction Home.
While the performances in Shine a Light are fine, I couldn't help but wonder what the point was. The best parts of the film end up being the archival footage of old interviews with the band.
Shine a Light isn't a bad film, just an unnecessary one.
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Labels: 00s, Documentary, Music, Scorsese
