Hey is Dee Dee there: Born Losers #2
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Program: C+
In one of
the last records of his short life, the late Dee Dee Ramone became the focus of
Lech Kowalski’s interview session with The Ramones co-founder, issued in
2003. Dee Dee passed away in 2002 and
was looking a bit out of it in the mostly new footage featured in the just-over
hour-long talk about his life, with a focus on his early exploits.
As he
sadly overdosed, the constant talk of getting drunk and high becomes ironic as he tries to be
personable and on some levels does not need to try so hard. It is ultimately a shame that he was so far
into that lifestyle that it crushed him and one of music’s favorite sons is
gone. Dee Dee shows enough of his better
sides that it is hard to look away. Yes,
Dee Dee was home, if only for one of the last times.
The full
screen image is rough video, some of which employs some very old and even faded
color videotape footage, offering an average at best presentation. The sound has actually been remixed for Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound, which at least benefits the music sometimes, but the limited
budget of the new materials and the obvious age of the older material cannot be
disguised. The Dolby 2.0 Stereo surround
version is not much poorer, lacking the .1 and having a different character in
depth and fullness, so you’ll have to choose between the two based on personal preferences.
The DVD
case has temporary tattoo duplicates of Dee Dee’s tattoos and a poster, while
the DVD offers a section of stills you can chose to enlarge from one frame page
and there is an outtake from the 1992 program Born To Loose. Though I do
not think I learned enough about Dee Dee or The Ramones, it was a peak into an
interesting, musically important and too short a life. This DVD does justice to him.
- Nicholas Sheffo
