Given that little holiday that just happened and the other around the corner, studios aren’t too worried about hustling new product onto shelves this week. Aside from Brian DePalma’s The Black Dahlia and the women-in-a-cave-with-slimy-beasties flick The Descent, there’s not much new of note. So instead of hot-off-the-press titles, here’s a roundup of recent music-oriented discs:
PICK OF THE WEEK: Four music movies stand out this month. Two, Joy Division Under Review and David Bowie Under Review, continue the brainy series of in-depth docs from Sexy Intellectual; loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies (MVD) is self explanatory; and Border Radio (Criterion), which launched the career of indie filmmaker Allison Anders, takes a partly improvised stroll through the Southern California postpunk landscape.
IN CONCERT: Marvin Gaye: Live in Belgium 1981 (Universal); Neko Case: Live from Austin TX (New West’s Austin City Limits series); Johnny Cash in Ireland (Mercury); The Cars: Unlocked (Docurama; also includes live CD); The Harry Smith Project Live (Shout Factory — chronicles an all star tribute to the folk-music pioneer, with performances from Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Beck, et cetera); The Best of Hootenanny (Shout Factory — three discs of the ‘60s TV series, with guests ranging from the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to Miriam Makeba and Trini Lopez)
IN-DEPTH: Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (Lionsgate); Roy Orbison: In Dreams (Legacy); Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (Hip-O Select — a memoir film by Police-man Stewart Copeland); Chet Atkins: A Life in Music (MPI); Kissology (VH1 Classics — a monster collection with everything from Budokan concert footage to appearances on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special)
CHIN-SCRATCHERS: Before the Music Dies, a muckraker about the sad state of commercial radio, featuring the two-cents’ worth of Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu, and others (BSide Entertainment); High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno, an all-star techno doc which will disabuse newbies of the idea that all Detroit gave to pop music was Motown and the White Stripes (Plexifilm)
OUTTA LEFT FIELD: Flavor of Love 2: Somebody gave Flavor Flav a reality show? And renewed it?! (Paramount); Hard Rock Treasures: For all those who heard about the Indian tribe buying the burger chain and said, "hey, where does all that stuff on the walls come from?" (MPI)
FICTIONALIZED FACT: The Doors, a remaster of the Oliver Stone biopic, decked out with new docs (Lionsgate); Tous les Matins du Monde, where Gérard Depardieu stars in the story of 17th century French composer Sainte Colombe and his protégé Marin Marias (Koch Lorber)
