Pearl Jam – twenty years later.

Last night, I had the immense pleasure of watching PJ 20 – the retrospective documentary directed by (my golden god), Cameron Crowe. I was hooked from the first 10 seconds (completely biased because I love them so much) but also because I knew this was going to be a look, not just into Pearl Jam’s history, but into the entire Seattle music scene of the late 80′s, early 90′s. I knew it was going to be good from the first mention of “Green River”. And of course, practically half an hour was devoted to Mother Love Bone – the band that kicked it all off for me. The footage of Andrew Wood was amazing to watch – he had such stage presence and I can’t even imagine the band they would have become had he not died.

The best scene of the entire movie was when the MLB and Pearl Jam world collided with footage of them covering Crown of Thorns. It brought goosebumps. “And this is my kinda love, is the kind that moves on, is the kind that leaves me alone”. Gorgeous. Second best scene was all the Vedder climbing footage put together.

Mad props to Cameron Crowe for narrating it beautifully and following a fantastic sequence that let the story unfold beautifully, as though we were all hearing it for the first time. Chris Cornell’s perspective added another great voice to the mix (and also some major eye candy) and greater depth to the Temple of Doom album. I found the Alice in Chains voice missing though, they were another one of my favorite bands at the time and I’m surprised Jerry Cantrell didn’t feature, considering he even cameo-ed in Crowe’s “Jerry Maguire”. Also, thanks to Crowe for not focussing too much on “Jeremy” – which is my least favorite song from the band. One of my favorites would have to be “Black”.

They also finally addressed the issue of their Spinal Tap drummer situation! While I love Matt Cameron (the man is tank for timing and solid beats), I was always more a fan of the Dave Abbruzzese era – I found his drumming very fluid and enjoyed it more.

It was a very real, honest and raw documentary of one of the most hardworking bands that survived a fad (I always hated that word “grunge” and it was great to see that they all hated it too!), survived pop music and most importantly, survived themselves. I felt like a complete teenager in the cinema, and I think everyone else did, because we clapped like it was Sundance or something at the end of the screening.

So, here’s a picture of I got from the Ten Club (has it been 20 years already?) together with part of my cd collection. Now, where’s my Citizen Dick tshirt?

Movies I did not expect to love.

This is a follow-up to the earlier entry “Movies I will not watch again” – I decided to post 5 movies that many people would not traditionally watch more than once, or movies that, based on my personal taste, I did not expect to enjoy and watch repeatedly.

Brokeback Mountain

Lordy, how I love this movie. I have no idea how many times I’ve watched it – definitely more than 10 (I’m giving a really low number so people don’t start giving me shit about how much tv I watch). This story is one of the most tender love stories I’ve ever seen – it’s handled so delicately and carefully. Everything about this was just perfect and probably the role Heath Ledger should have won the Oscar for (not that crap Joker performance. There can only be one Joker! Jack!). Even after all the the times I’ve watched this movie, there are so many questions that I have about their relationship (who loved who first? were they really gay or just in love with each other?). Maybe I should get the book.

 

 

Inglorious Basterds

Let me prefix this by saying I am neither a Brad Pitt nor Quentin Tarantino fan. I don’t get the big whoop about either but hey, I never said I had great taste. This story, however, was genius. I loved the Seinfeld-esque storytelling – multiple story lines seemingly running in different directions, all ending up in the same plot. Christoph Waltz was note-perfect as Hans Landa and Michael Fassbender caught my eye in this film. The boy is too fine. And credit given where credit is due, Brad Pitt was really great as Aldo the Apache – accent, attitude and all. Every time this movie in on, I have to watch it. Love it.

 

 

Conspiracy

Do I have a thing for Nazi movies? I don’t think so but I really loved this movie from the first time I saw it. I’ve watched this at least 15 times now – the performances are stellar and its amazing how a movie, primarily filmed in one room, over a couple of hours can be so gripping. Kenneth Branagh is so unbelievably cold that you try to seek warmth from Stanley Tucci’s character only to be let down by how cold he is as well. This HBO produced movie of the Wannsee Conference truly reveals the brainwashed psychology of the Nazis. I recommend watching this first, then, Inglorious Basterds – just for a little revenge.

 

Remains of the Day

I normally like my movies/tv shows full of violence, action, sex etc (Sons of Anarchy!) so it’s a miracle that I passionately adore this movie. I know I’m not the only one. I’m surprised that I’ve watched this many times over. It’s another classic, careful story that plays out like a lush, red carpet unfurling. Absolutely gorgeous to watch Anthony Hopkins in such a restrained role – in fact all of the characters play such restrained personalities that every time I watch it, I keep hoping for someone to just jump out of character and start screaming around the house. (I just realized this story is also Nazi themed! What the hell is wrong with me?)

 

And the Band Played On

I believe I first watched this movie – either in 1994 or 1995. It was a most eye-opening movie to me at the time (I must have been about 16 or 17) and AIDS was still all quite new in Singapore. I loved the combination of medical details together with the personal stories of the people trying to help bring this disease to light. It’s a sad story (obviously), extremely poignant and a must-watch for anyone.