Last Days Here (2011/Sundance/MPI DVD)/Marley
(2012/Magnolia Blu-ray)/Slipknot
{sic}nesses Live At Download 2009 (Eagle Blu-ray)
Picture: C/B-/B- Sound: C+/B-/B Extras: C/B-/C+ Main Programs: C/B+/C+
The
various movements to find music that was against the mainstream or what was
standard exploded in the 1960s after a brief period in the 1950s when Rock
first arrived. Some thought it was just
a fad, but they were wrong. The
following releases show the results 60 years later and counting…
The Don
Arcott/Damien Fenton documentary Last
Days Here (2011) tells the story of what happened to a band from the early
half of the 1970s called Pentagram that failed to catch on, why, how they
became a cult item and is there can there be a comeback?
In 1974,
they signed a contract with Columbia Records and were recording what would have
likely been a major debut, but their ever unpredictable lead singer Bobby
Liebling. The band still continued, but
recorded little and never found widespread fame or fortune, while Liebling
continued to drive away band members creating a major overturn to rival any
band around. We join him in his later
years, a survivor of drinking, drugs and other excesses, living at home with
his parents, possibly never to cut a record again.
However,
some fans (including some who are able to get a record cut) are interested in
seeing if they can get him back in the studio and that is the story we learn
about here. Even I had heard of the band
(their name a favorite by default of the Far Religious Right and their need to
attack the Rock genre, which they would have had a greater victory over if it
had not started imploding in the late 1980s) but could not name (let alone
understand) one of their songs if it was a big jackpot game show question.
Though we
learn about the band, we learn more than we need to about Liebling and this
work spends too much time on him, wallowing in his misery and not making him
look good. No, he has issues and is not
going to come across very well to more than his diehard fans, but this does a
bit of a disservice to him and makes this a sometimes trying piece to sit
through. So it is slightly exploitive
and for serious fans of music and this part of the Rock genre only.
Extras
include a trailer and deleted scenes.
While
Heavy Metal and Hard Rock were rising in the U.S., Reggae was becoming a
worldwide phenomenon everywhere but in the 1970s, but its top star (even over
Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and Johnny Nash) was Bob Marley and
Kevin MacDonald’s documentary Marley
(2012) is a stunning look at the much-beloved and much-documented legend that
is as epic, thorough and the equal to Scorsese’s look at George Harrison, Living In A Material World (reviewed on
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) that brings new light to a great music artist
who moved beyond just commercial and critical music success.
Running a
too-short 2.5 hours, this documentary starts with his music, then at the
beginning with his usually absent father and mother. Though a long series of interviews, rare film
and video clips, rare stills and much more, we find out about his life, what
motivated him and how he moved from being a brief solo artist, to forming The
Wailers to becoming his own groundbreaking music force to worldwide success before
illness cut his life very short.
They have
managed to license a ton of key songs, given us a secret history of the rise of
the music business in Jamaica, how the genre rose up, the politics that joined
it and how popular Marley himself became in the Third World and beyond. More relevant than ever, his music and legacy
are still underrated, influential and this is a very important work in
understanding all of that. Even if you
are not a fan of his or his music, this is a stunning work that will impress
you.
Hard to
believe this is only the second big Reggae release on Blu-ray (Rockers, reviewed elsewhere on this
site, is the other as we wait for The
Harder They Come to get the same treatment), but it is terrific, better
than even the positive reviews had me believe and is a must-see for any serious
music fan.
Extras
include a Theatrical Trailer, Photo Gallery, feature length audio commentary
with MacDonald and Marley’s son Ziggy, Listening to “I’m Loose”, Around The
World featurette and two interview segments: Extended Interview with Bunny
Wailer and Children’s Memories: Additional Interviews with Ziggy, Stephen
Marley and Cedella Marley.
There are
also a nice number of concert clips in the above releases, but our final title
is an all-out concert. Slipknot {sic}nesses Live At Download 2009
has an 18-song show that is loud, consistent and true to the band, I am no fan, but they can out on a show, a
very LOUD show and this has to be as loud as any of them.
Unfortunately,
they take their time at times going form one song to the next and if you are
not a fan, this will not help you sit through this one, but fans will like it
and they have a big fan base. However,
they only offer so much new versus their many forerunners in Rock and even the
most interesting songs and performance moments are only so memorable
throughout, so this is definitely a fans-only affair.
Extras
include four music video, a making of their clip of “Snuff” and a full-length documentary entitled Audible Visions of
{sic}nesses, plus a very illustrated booklet with a little bit of text is also
included in side the case.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Days
has more soft footage overall than expected, including older stock footage that
we expected to be soft due to their age and the nature of the band, but much of
the newer HD (or semi-HD?) footage also tends to be soft, so only expect so
much in playback. The 1080p 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image transfer on Marley
has some analog video, more than its share of decent vintage 16mm film and new
HD footage (mostly interviews) that are a little uneven as expected, but well
edited together and plays back as well as can be expected overall. The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Slipknot is styled down at
times, has some motion blur and has purposely mixed editing that makes it a
good but not great shoot overall. Of
course, some of the video noise is intended, but that eventually wears thin
too.
The lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on Days is
really pushing mostly simple stereo sound including vintage monophonic sound
and location audio issues that expanded do not make the best soundfield, while
some sound is stuck in the center channel.
The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on the Blu-rays fare better,
but some of the Marley audio is
older stereo or monophonic, but it is best with the music and interviews are
usually well recorded. The Slipknot DTS-MA is joined by a PCM 2.0
Stereo track that is good, but no match for the 5.1 mix, which is loud, consistent
and is likely the best sonic representation of the band anywhere (outside of
the highest-quality vinyl) so audiophiles who like them will want this Blu-ray
for the sound alone.
- Nicholas Sheffo