Shine a Light (2008)

Wonderful character development!

Brilliant and touching

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I've been a stones fan for about 25-30 years now A Relative Newcomer and I've collected over 300 bootleg recordings of live stones concerts during the previous 3 decades. Gimme Shelter is one of the best music documentaries ever. Martin Scorsese is probably the best director America has given us in last 50 years. The Last Waltz was superb, the Scorsese Dylan documentary No Direction Home was a wonderful look at the roots of Americana and folk music and I'm NOT a Dylan fan. So why oh why was this so dull. Reason 1: Special guest audience only, ex-presidents, TV stars, Movie Stars in fact just about anybody who wasn't a true Stones fan was there resulting in a lack of atmosphere for a Rock 'n' Roll concert Reason 2: Mediocre performance by the guys themselves. Reason 3: Vintage footage of their days in the 60s and 70s which I've seen MANY times before. Reason 4: Not exactly "Martys" best work. This post is not a flame, I truly wanted to love this film but it just isn't very good

Yes - I was stupid and missed seeing this on the big screen. But even at home on DVD you get the feeling that you're witnessing something very special. I saw the Stones live 2 years ago now, but we were quite a way back and my wife couldn't really see anything. This film is the next best thing to being in the front row of a Stones show - i'm sure of it! I'm a huge fan of 'The Last Waltz' and whilst I found the archival footage that's scattered through 'Shine a Light' to be not as essential to the films experience as the interviews in 'The Last Waltz', it still contributes to making 'Shine' an even more rewarding Stones film than it already is.What is there to say about the Stones that hasn't already been said? Yes they are old - dinosaurs, even. But if there's anyone that's stayed as close to the top of the performance game in the way that Jagger and co. have, than I've yet to see them. Jagger is the real deal - one of the last greats of rock n roll showmanship. Whether he's spitting some nasty harmonica on a Muddy Waters tune, or racing toward the front of the stage to deliver the first line of 'Tumbling Dice' he OWNS the room and the stage for the entire 2 hours that they play. Keith is looking old and yes, he's not as good on the guitar as he perhaps once was. But he too has a level of 'too cool for any ol' school' onstage presence that is completely untouchable. Sometimes, it manifests itself in the form of him dropping his hands down by his sides during a guitar solo and shooting the audience a charming, rougish smile. Mostly, he just stalks around the stage and looks f%*king cool.I think his voice is really good and the 2 numbers he does with the band were real highlights - esp. 'Connection'. I think my favourite bit in the whole film was during 'Champagne and Reefer' when Buddy Guy plays a solo and Keith starts circling him. Magic. Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts are the real engine-room of the Stones - there's no doubt that Ronnie is the better guitar player but he knows his place is back behind Mick and Keith, and Charlie still cracks the snare and crashes those cymbals with all the verve of a man half his age.The film looks great, and the set list is a grab-bag of real gems - I think that the cover of 'Just My Imagination' was almost my favourite song of the whole set. The cameos from Jack White and Christina are OK - Jack does a cool version of 'Loving Cup' and the song suits his high, keening vocals. Christina sure can sing up a storm but the vocal acrobatics do turn me off, sorry. Buddy Guy is without a doubt the best of the guest appearances. When he steps up to the mic to deliver his first line during 'Champagne and Reefer' BANG! - you'll be knocked over on your ass. And then some. It's the only time during the whole set when Jaggers dominance of the stage is legitimately challenged.All in all, highly recommended.

Many musicians are constantly trying to "reinvent" him/herself. They might try any new angle or new idea in their music career. Well, I don't see anything wrong about that at all. David Bowie changes his style more than chameleon changes color in its lifetime, and he's still a legend. But in the case of history of The Rolling Stone, it's the other way around. Because what we saw in 2008, every bit of energy in Mick, Keith, Ronny and Charlie are exactly the same as 1960's. And that's also made them a legend (To tell you the truth, I'm literally feared for his life when Mick Jagger began to dance like a complete madness on stage. I mean, he's 62 -friggin'-years old for crying out loud).Who are Rolling Stone? Well, if you really have to ask, then you've got yourself a long history lesson to do. And this concert/documentary might be a good start to experience their legacy. Shooting for two nights at concerts in New York's intimate Beacon Theatre, "Shine a Light" will make your typical night event look like concert in downtown pub. Martin Scorsese and his nine or so cinematographer (all of them are Oscar nominated) create such an energetic camera movement (in fact, dollies are so close to the audience that I thought it would hit them eventually). And between songs, Scorsese decided to put rare footages. Some of them link to the present time in a spooky kind of way (in 1960's one reporter asked Mick whether he can imagine himself doing what he does in the next 30 years, and then Mick said "definitely"). Some of them is just classic (When interviewer asked Keith that between him and Ronny, who's better guitarist? Keith reply "Neither one of us is any good, but together we're better than ten others.") Even all those Scorsese have done is already masterfully handled. But the real deal is the concert itself. They have mandatory stuffs like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (what a way to start concert), "I'm Free ", "Start Me Up" (a must for live performance). Unexpectedly good stuffs like "As Tears Go By", "Brown Sugar" (this one got me cheer with joy). And collaboration from the best with Buddy Guy in "Champagne and Reefer", the decent with Christina Aguilera in "Live With Me" (even though it's a little bit creepy to see Mick gets behind her and doing what he does best) and the mediocre with White Stripe's Jack White in "Loving Cup" (They seem to be annoyed by each other). There a bunch of songs that I haven't mentioned, but let me tell you, there's not a single song that will fail by your expectation.I'm not sure that whether we (Thai people) will have an opportunity to experience in IMAX like we supposed to or not (you wish!). And I would love to see it again on that gigantic screen, because what I've experience so far in my lame ass bedroom television is already made my skin crawl.

During passing black-and-white footage beginning the film, we see Scorsese as he sketches out shot charts to map out the sequence of the songs, right down to the solos, and who would be where on the stage. His hopeful intention is to be able to direct his cameramen through earpieces. However, Mick Jagger fiddles with the list in continuous wavering. We observe over his shoulder at songs scratched out and written back in, as he brings up nonchalantly that naturally the whole set might be altered on the spot. It sounds as if after playing together for half a century, the Stones agree on their song order through mind- reading.What I love about this opening is that it speaks volumes about the role of a film director. Scorsese has been working as a director for over 30 years now, and he has for almost as long been one of the most beloved and respected filmmakers at least in this hemisphere. However, no matter how many A-list stars he has directed, no matter how many millions of dollars have gone into his projects, and no matter how long he struggled with depression and anger and anxiety during the 1980s trying to make The Last Temptation of Christ, he just cannot seem to wrangle the Rolling Stones! When one deems someone fit to be a director, or anyone in a position of charge for that matter, one primarily discerns based on how they perceive that person's ability to control a hundred or so people. This criteria is not so skewed, as many of these large masses of people to wrangle towards your concrete vision of the end result are big celebrities, superstars, megastars, who are so spoiled and pampered by their status that they work noncondusively, treat the director and others with utter contempt, cause selfish problems, and other such things. However, there is the argument that if one is willing to do absolutely anything to tell a story, to make a statement, to realize their vision, they will put up with as much as they have to in order to do so. (Really, the argument can be made that one could never truly know if they could handle a director's job till they actually do it.) Scorsese proves in these first ten minutes or so that no matter who you are, there are simply some people who are not compatible with you in hands-on creative situations. He also proves that in spit of this, a project can still come to seamless fruition.The problem is that Shine a Light is not a story, not a statement, and really nobody's vision. Actually, it disregards cinema. It is a filmed concert. At a concert, the audience enjoys a succession of performances. When an audience sees a movie, they enjoy a progression of events. That includes documentaries. Not every documentary has a narrative structure, but every sequence changes something. A documentary could be a story told in reality, or it could be an argument formed from bullet point to bullet point. Simply filming a concert gives the audience none of that. The audience languishes through impressive coverage of a rock concert.Take it from a fan of the Rolling Stones! Gimme Shelter, Street Fightin' Man, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Sympathy For the Devil, Monkey Man, Let It Loose, You Can't Always Get What You Want, so many quintessential rock songs. Mick Jagger's lazy, drawling vocal style is timeless. I even like to sing like that when I'm in my car, whether Let it Loose ("Leddeh Looh!") has been stuck in my head or if I'm belting Fly Me To the Moon ("Flah Me Tooh d'Mooh"). I enjoy the performances of Champagne & Reefer with Buddy Guy, and their beautiful rendition of As Tears Go By.Jagger is a dancer and a confidently sloppy one, too, and if I were at that concert, I would enjoy that. He employs his wiry body to command the attention of the audience. Keith Richards and Ron Wood are lazily lithe, Richards especially looking as if to disregard physics as his body leans at impossibly obtuse angles. Surely it has the most excellent coverage of the onstage performance. Directing cinematographer Robert Richardson, Scorsese set up a group of nine cinematographers, all either Oscar winners or nominees, to cover a concert, when if it was possible to round up such a dream team he could have made the most incredible movie imaginable.