From: Russ Van Rooy <russvr@pop.nwnexus.com>
Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
To: "tv@obbard.com" <tv@obbard.com>
Subject: (TV) OT: Capsule review: END OF THE CENTURY: THE STORY OF THE
RAMONES
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 14:10:14 -0800
Hey. I saw the Ramones "rockumentary" last night: 'End of the Century: The
Story of the Ramones' and I have to say it's one of the best band
documentaries I've seen, maybe the best of a generation. Up there with The
Kids are Alright, Dont Look Back, Rust Never Sleeps - all of which can only
loosely fit the categorization. I knew very little about The Ramones when I
went into this movie; I have a greatest hits compilation in my CD
collection and I would never have called myself a huge fan. Well, these
guys were way more than the cartoon image I had of them - thanks mostly to
Rock n Roll High School. I had no idea that drummer, Tommy, had had such
power in the band as a guiding force (and as producer of several of their
albums). I had no idea that Joey was a wallflower/geek who had come into
his own power and confidence once he had become the Ramones lead vocalist.
Dee Dee came across as way more intelligent than I'd ever given him credit
for - though evidentially not intelligent enough. And I had not known that
Johnny was the disciplinarian of the band and the main direction-giver -
essentially not-so-benevolent dictator. The movie is filled with funny and
poignant moments. One of the funnier moments was when Dee Dee was trying to
explain why the band played so loudly - it reminded me strongly of the
moment in This Is Spinal Tap when Nigel Tufnel was trying to explain why
their amplifiers went to eleven. Television of course was discussed and
film of Television playing Venus was included. More on how Television
created that CBGBs scene and how Malcolm McLaren got many of his ideas from
Television would have been a better nod to accuracy. Over all a great flick
- go so it with someone you love.
- Russ
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