Thursday, July 08, 2004
some kind of monster
dear diary,
last night i went to advance screening of the metallica documentary movie 'some kind of monster' at the main art. lacking buzz of my own, i borrowed some from the grizz, who hooked me up w/ a ticket. i had read alot of good things about it the past few months from artsy film-fest types. i also think i remember reading k+1 raving about it too.
there was certianly alot of buzz pre-show waiting in line in the lobby & waiting in the theatre. so many long-hair 'talli fans. there was some pre-show promo trivia give-away, where they were asking questions to audience members--winners got free 'some kind of monster' tees or hats. bovs on those ephing tees! mmmmBEST! unfortunately, neither the grizz nor i were called on--still it was pretty cool seeing people win free stuff. the questions were pretty easy--like 'name a member of metallica', or 'who's sold more albums---metallica, madonna, or n'synch?'. n'synch! duhvs. the winner of that question, upon picking up his free tee said 'nsynch sucks!' as he walked back to his seat.
metallica fans...so loyal, so surly, so raging against the machine.
i think the movie starts out w/ a metallica photo history, going through the early days, etc. it picks up in 2001 where bassist jason newsted is sacked by the band, & the 3 horsemen are setting-out to record their next album, w/ the legendary producer, bob rock (who plays bass w/ them too). breaking new ground, they decide to go into the studio as equals where each has equal creative control, & where they write everything exclusively in the 'studio' as a band. they opt to record at a non-posh former army barracks called the presidio in cali.
tension really begins to mount in the band & their management company q-prime brings in some coaches to help sort out their issues. these guys are the biggest rock stars, maybe only second to led zep, & they're paying phil $40k/mo to be their coach. they were very apprehensive about doing therapy.
hetfield then checks himself into rehab, & the future of the band is totally up in the air. he's gone for ~6 months.
so many parts were the funniest things ever. a) as a part of therapy while hetfield is away, lars meets w/ former guitarist dave mustaine & they cover their parting 20 years prior. dave says he's really glad to see this happen to metallica. he's obviously still extremely bitter about how he got kicked out for alc/drug abuse. he says something like 'do you know what i go through everyday because of you? people hate me because of you. they see me & say 'hey mustaine: metallica rules!'. dave says, 'i just wish the other one (hetfield) was here too'. he closes by saying that he wished that they gave him the 2nd chance & support that they were giving to james. mustaine's scene pretty much made the movie best evs.
b) lars' dad, torben ulrich, was another awesome feature. old & danish, w/ long white hair & a beard, he's pretty much an honest heavy metal expert. listening to the presidio demos w/ lars, lars says 'the label loves this track & want to make it the album opener'. torben's like, 'i'm not a music critic & all, but that's the worst thing i've ever heard you guys play--definitely shouldn't be on any metallica album'.
c) after james is out of rehab, the band gets back together to complete the album. he sets limits on work time, & can only work w/ the band from 12pm-4pm. he gets totally pissed-off when bob rock & lars listen to recordings & talk after 4pm. lars gets fed up & one day is like, 'you know what i've been thinking all morning? f*ck. 'f*ck. 'f*ck. 'f*ck. f*******ck! i'm sick of you controlling when the rest of us work. i respect the 4pm thing for you, but don't tell me when the f*ck i can & can't work on my own...f*ck!'. lars, so best.
d) john norris on mtv news wearing a red & black shirt w/ leather & zippers--i laughed for 2min easy. 3 out my top 7 getsures i wrote about yesterday were in the film too, numerous times. the finger was given >10 times, the devil's horns >100 times, the devil's horns w/ the thumb>10 times, an over-the-top eyes-roll (lars to phil), even the thumb's-up.
e) they hold auditions for a bassist to finally join them--twiggy from marilyn manson tries out, & his boney frame tries to keep up w/ them. he struggles & really has to stretch to keep up.
i love wilco's i am trying to break your heart, but this is better. the story is much more throat grabbing, the characters have more on-screen appeal, it's hilarious, & it's ephing metallica in therapy. at 2.25 hours, it's a bit long, but still possibly the greatest movie of all time.
'talli-best.
remember, june 17 is st. anger's day.
last night i went to advance screening of the metallica documentary movie 'some kind of monster' at the main art. lacking buzz of my own, i borrowed some from the grizz, who hooked me up w/ a ticket. i had read alot of good things about it the past few months from artsy film-fest types. i also think i remember reading k+1 raving about it too.
there was certianly alot of buzz pre-show waiting in line in the lobby & waiting in the theatre. so many long-hair 'talli fans. there was some pre-show promo trivia give-away, where they were asking questions to audience members--winners got free 'some kind of monster' tees or hats. bovs on those ephing tees! mmmmBEST! unfortunately, neither the grizz nor i were called on--still it was pretty cool seeing people win free stuff. the questions were pretty easy--like 'name a member of metallica', or 'who's sold more albums---metallica, madonna, or n'synch?'. n'synch! duhvs. the winner of that question, upon picking up his free tee said 'nsynch sucks!' as he walked back to his seat.
metallica fans...so loyal, so surly, so raging against the machine.
i think the movie starts out w/ a metallica photo history, going through the early days, etc. it picks up in 2001 where bassist jason newsted is sacked by the band, & the 3 horsemen are setting-out to record their next album, w/ the legendary producer, bob rock (who plays bass w/ them too). breaking new ground, they decide to go into the studio as equals where each has equal creative control, & where they write everything exclusively in the 'studio' as a band. they opt to record at a non-posh former army barracks called the presidio in cali.
tension really begins to mount in the band & their management company q-prime brings in some coaches to help sort out their issues. these guys are the biggest rock stars, maybe only second to led zep, & they're paying phil $40k/mo to be their coach. they were very apprehensive about doing therapy.
hetfield then checks himself into rehab, & the future of the band is totally up in the air. he's gone for ~6 months.
so many parts were the funniest things ever. a) as a part of therapy while hetfield is away, lars meets w/ former guitarist dave mustaine & they cover their parting 20 years prior. dave says he's really glad to see this happen to metallica. he's obviously still extremely bitter about how he got kicked out for alc/drug abuse. he says something like 'do you know what i go through everyday because of you? people hate me because of you. they see me & say 'hey mustaine: metallica rules!'. dave says, 'i just wish the other one (hetfield) was here too'. he closes by saying that he wished that they gave him the 2nd chance & support that they were giving to james. mustaine's scene pretty much made the movie best evs.
b) lars' dad, torben ulrich, was another awesome feature. old & danish, w/ long white hair & a beard, he's pretty much an honest heavy metal expert. listening to the presidio demos w/ lars, lars says 'the label loves this track & want to make it the album opener'. torben's like, 'i'm not a music critic & all, but that's the worst thing i've ever heard you guys play--definitely shouldn't be on any metallica album'.
c) after james is out of rehab, the band gets back together to complete the album. he sets limits on work time, & can only work w/ the band from 12pm-4pm. he gets totally pissed-off when bob rock & lars listen to recordings & talk after 4pm. lars gets fed up & one day is like, 'you know what i've been thinking all morning? f*ck. 'f*ck. 'f*ck. 'f*ck. f*******ck! i'm sick of you controlling when the rest of us work. i respect the 4pm thing for you, but don't tell me when the f*ck i can & can't work on my own...f*ck!'. lars, so best.
d) john norris on mtv news wearing a red & black shirt w/ leather & zippers--i laughed for 2min easy. 3 out my top 7 getsures i wrote about yesterday were in the film too, numerous times. the finger was given >10 times, the devil's horns >100 times, the devil's horns w/ the thumb>10 times, an over-the-top eyes-roll (lars to phil), even the thumb's-up.
e) they hold auditions for a bassist to finally join them--twiggy from marilyn manson tries out, & his boney frame tries to keep up w/ them. he struggles & really has to stretch to keep up.
i love wilco's i am trying to break your heart, but this is better. the story is much more throat grabbing, the characters have more on-screen appeal, it's hilarious, & it's ephing metallica in therapy. at 2.25 hours, it's a bit long, but still possibly the greatest movie of all time.
'talli-best.
remember, june 17 is st. anger's day.
