‘Marley’: A stand up documentary

bob marley, reggae star

The documentary "Marley" opens not in Jamaica, but in Ghana, West Africa. Viewers are confronted with "the door of no return," the infamous portal through which passed generations of slaves, torn from their mother country. For Bob Marley, who sang passionately about slavery, "Africa was always the destination," his wife recalls. In 1980, Marley began his final concert tour in Gabon and Zimbabwe, not knowing what to expect from Africans. He'd struggled to find a black audience outside … [Read more...]

‘X: The Unheard Music,’ ‘Sid and Nancy’

exene-x-band

"Being under the radar is a good thing," says Exene Cervenka, the singer-poet of the L.A. rock band X. "Celebrity-hood is not a good thing. … Being able to live your life as an artist and matter is a good thing. … I'm happy with the way things turned out. She pauses. "Other people in the band, maybe not so much …" X holds the title of quintessential L.A. rock band, brushing past such contenders as the Doors (too psychedelic) and Love (too ephemeral). Yet the quartet's profile … [Read more...]

‘Something Wild’ crashes into Blu-ray

melanie griffith in wild thing

Time hasn't tamed "Something Wild." Jonathan Demme's red-hot-mama road movie returns on Blu-ray and DVD, all dolled up by the Criterion Collection. Unlike most hipster movies of the 1980s, "Something Wild" still hits on all of its cylinders: sex, violence and screwball madness. Very little feels dated, really: Credit Demme's forward-looking soundtrack, stuffed with reggae and world beat music. And the casual yet stunning performance by Melanie Griffith, in what has to be her best role … [Read more...]

‘The Last Waltz’: Playing with the Band

levon helm of the band

Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz" -- the "Raging Bull" of concert movies -- opens with a knockout punch: Members of the Band, exhausted after six hours of nonstop performing, power into their final song, "Don't Do It." Although the performance was recorded live nearly 30 years ago, the Blu-ray audio startles with its punch and immediacy. Bass and drums rattle and roll. The 5.1 mix creates a roomy in-the-round effect. The 1.85:1 images -- shot in beautiful 35mm by a who's-who of top … [Read more...]

Warner Music artists dance back to YouTube

Warner Music videos are headed back to YouTube, but it's going to cost Google. Executives at the third-biggest music company said they would receive "a vast majority" of any ad revenues generated by videos from Warner artists. That includes Coldplay, Madonna, Green Day and a zillion catalog artists such as the Monkees, Joni Mitchell and the B-52s. The Warner-Google money dispute over YouTube led to a rude and sudden cutoff of Warner videos last December. (Google owns YouTube.) The online … [Read more...]

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