Every band has its biggest fans. ’90s slacker/alternative rock band Pavement may be the greatest and most dynamic music group alive today someonebut from the beginning, Alex Ross Perry’s sidewalk Diminishing the grandeur of the idea, the orchestra’s status is ironically exaggerated in the opening text. In an era of musical biopics, this semi-ironic postmodern style runs through Perry’s part-drama, part-documentary, part- laugh atMental – might be just what the doctor ordered.
New York Film Festival Preview: 10 Movies You Should Know
For those interested in the Stockton, Calif. rock band – Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, Scott Kamber, Steve West and Mark Ybor To the casually aware, this approach to the band’s concert footage might seem counterproductive, but it also perfectly captures their laid-back, experimental nature. The unique format of Perry’s film has its strengths and weaknesses. Yet, like Sidewalk itself, what sets this film apart is its complete refusal to conform to convention. For better or worse, it’s unique.
what is sidewalk about?
Through split-screen comparison of the band’s disbandment in the late 1990s and their reunion in 2022, sidewalk A sense of duality between visual and narrative was established early on. While the film ultimately chronicles the lives of its members (and the band’s life overall) in a slightly more linear fashion, this contrast establishes the film’s dramatic parameters: an early success story later given new life. However, the strange nature of the band’s revival soon begins to fade into perspective, revealing just how unique this film really is.
Much of the film unfolds in side-by-side split-screen fashion, which has become a common technique in music documentaries and was inspired by the Rothko style of Todd Haynes Velvet Underground Self-generating, new every time Ino. However, sidewalk This visual cue is used early on for tongue-in-cheek purposes. On the one hand, frontman Stephen Malkmus promotes his youthful, perhaps naive, philosophy in a video from decades ago. On the other hand, actor Joe Keery (played by Steve Harrington) stranger things) started reciting the exact same words, with very similar intonations. It’s a funny and poignant reveal of the film’s real themes coexisting with fictional versions, with a group of young actors (including the likes of Nat Wolff and Griffin Newman) starring in a film called ” Service life rangea prestige biopic that was actually designed to win awards.
42 movies you want to see this fall
The director moves between showing the making of this satirical project and presenting it as a movie within a movie, with footage scattered sporadically throughout the film sidewalk (Replete with its own “For Your Consideration” watermark, as if it were a filter for award voting). Perry did direct and present the feature film, bohemian rhapsody– New York style irony last year — starring veteran performers like Jason Schwartzman and Tim Heidecker, who have regular roles in the biopic as band managers and record executives — aims to bring This premiere clip was included in the documentary.
soon, sidewalk set out to document not only the band itself, but also the development of three parallel artistic projects that went hand in hand with the band’s recent reunion: the aforementioned film, a museum installation dedicated to the band, and Tilt! Obsessed!is a Broadway-style jukebox musical starring Michael Esper and Zoe Lister-Jones, based on the band’s recordings.
sidewalk Take a multi-faceted approach to the topic.
The film switches between the four aforementioned trajectories—the band and its performance, the biopic and its making, the museum and the show, each with its own dedicated, roughly equal screen time—with reckless abandon. . However, these themes can be paired along two interesting axes. On the one hand, old footage of the orchestra versus the museum’s commemorative events allows to contrast the past and present and ultimately create a chronology, albeit not in chronological order. The biopic project, on the other hand, is tongue-in-cheek, as if it’s more about the biopic genre than the pavement itself, and as such, embodies the group’s ironic musings. But it feels completely different from a musical theater project, which draws on the band’s lyrics and melodies to create a heartfelt story (the show did premiere, too) 2022).
although sidewalk With the first half of the two hours seemingly meandering, switching quickly between these four tracks helps to weave a complete fabric – a story about the band then and now, as well as the ideas behind their approach and work. conflict between meanings. You may not feel like you’re learning anything about the band or its members while watching the movie, but what that really means is that you’re not learning things in the linear, simple language that most music docs and biopics are built on.
However, the most interesting sequences in the film are undoubtedly the ones starring Geary, which meticulously document his fictional preparations. more important than anything or anyone sidewalkthe actor seems to embody the spirit of the group through his performance Borat-Like a prank, he sat down with an accent coach to prepare for his role as Malkmus and met with various people he thought might be able to help him stay in character. Appropriately, the only musical movie sidewalk Similar to any fashion is Pop singer: never stop never stop.
what is sidewalk Do we actually have to talk about the band Pavement?
The film takes its film-within-a-movie to ridiculous proportions with its dizzying montage approach, almost making it complete in its entirety during its runtime. However, this extended lark isn’t really about the band itself, any more than the other segments are – none of which alone is enough to turn any viewer into a sidewalk expert. You’re unlikely to leave except for a few dates and events sidewalk Knowing more about its members and their days as college disc jockeys than you did when you first walked in understandably prompts the question: “What’s the point?”
The focus, it seems, is on the making of the film itself, as an anti-biopic that goes against everything about the standard Hollywood biopic – or rather, against what it represents. If Pavement is an anti-establishment band, then sidewalk It was an anti-establishment film that they participated in making. In presenting a hilarious yet sentimental vision of what a simple biopic might be like, Perry helps them avoid overly serious canonization.
Play It Loud: The 25 Best Music Documentaries on Netflix
In a way, he helps them stay young. bands, when they reach a certain age or threshold, become their own nostalgic cover band, and sidewalk Determined to prevent this from happening at all costs, even if it means making an edgy film that might alienate half of the audience.
Nonetheless, even if the various narrative threads sidewalk Meandering as it begins, the film remains a mesmerizing sensory experience, considering how much screen time is devoted to acting footage, whether real or recreated. At the end of the day, for all his shenanigans and pranks, Perry is very clear that the reason people appear in music biopics in the first place—and the reason they are made in the first place—is that music connects with people’s lives. He does this while maintaining respect for the pavement through irreverence.
sidewalk There is currently no theatrical or digital release date.
Updated: September 25, 2024 at 4:51 pm ET Sidewalk received reviews following its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2024. This article has been updated to celebrate its New York Film Festival premiere.
