Stallion Alert at the Movies: Sign "☮" the Times (1987)

The only thing that could have made Prince's best record any awesomer would have been if he released a movie to accompany it. So, because Prince is awesome - and because he probably wanted to wash the taste of Under the Cherry Moon out of society's mouth - he went ahead and dropped this bad boy.

I've been trying to think of theatrically-released concert movies that top this one, and all I can come up with is Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. And while I'll probably always give that one the nod, Sign "☮" the Times is a very close second. Like I said: Prince was untouchable at this point.

Though there's a few tidbits of a storyline sprinkled throughout this thing (kind of hard to explain), it's really just a straight-up concert video. And though it's not simply footage of a one-off show (much like Stop Making Sense isn't), it's made to feel like one, and that's just as good. Prince is in rare form in this movie, and it's fun as shit to watch. He even gets behind the drum kit, for cryin' out loud.

Prince and his band barrel through 12 tracks from Sign "☮" the Times, and also throw in a short version of "Little Red Corvette" and a Charlie Parker cover. The album cuts are almost all different from their recorded versions, which makes this thing even more interesting. Lots of weird intros, outros, extended jams, and even a few songs mixed together ("Forever in My Life" and "It"). This was during the short-lived Sheila E era, and she's featured prominently in this thing, banging the shit out of her drums. The lady's an ass-kicker. The whole band is full of ass-kickers. And Prince plays plenty of guitar throughout, which is always a good time.

The fact that this movie has yet to see a U.S. DVD release is a real crime. Apparently it's available in Canada, but it's a bare-bones release, so I'm not too intrigued. The word is that a bunch of other songs were filmed and not used, so I'm holding out for the deluxe edition that will probably never arrive. Until then, I'm still the proud owner of a VHS copy. And I watch it every once in a while. And it never disappoints.

Trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Under the Cherry Moon (1986)

Proof positive that Prince could do whatever the fuck he wanted at this point.

How about a noir-style cutesy-drama, shot in black and white, directed by and starring Prince, that features only half of one song as a musical performance? Clearly, no one was going to say no to him around this time, but they had to have known this wasn't going to work out.

Aside from the frustrating lack of musical numbers, watching this movie now is actually fairly entertaining. It's certainly an ego-driven mess, but viewed as a document of where Prince was at in 1986, it's so strange that - at times - it's infatuating. Still, do I want to sit through this thing again anytime soon? Nah.

Prince and Jerome Benton (from The Time) star as two money-swindling playboys who apparently play music for a living (though you don't see much of that). They fall for a girl (Kristen Scott Thomas) who's due to inherit a large sum of money, and all sorts of tomfoolery ensues. The film keeps getting pulled between Fellini-esque abstractness and madcap comedy, but they never lean hard enough to either side. There's a loose plot, but the whole thing is based in this weird fantasyland where it's 1940 and 1985 at the same time, and you never feel grounded enough to believe a bit of it.

Still, like I said, watching Prince do his thing is entertaining enough, but you quickly find out that it's way more entertaining when there's the promise of a musical performance ahead. As it stands, a lot of the songs from Parade make their way into the movie, but they're almost all relegated to background status.

If you've got the patience, this thing is worth watching. If nothing else, you can just marvel at the fact that it exists. It really does seem like some strange, Prince-led dream.

Trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Purple Rain (1984)

Prince's film debut should be way shittier than it is. I'm sure there were plenty of critics who enjoyed panning this flick, but I'll tell you what: I've seen this movie probably five times in my life, and I never have any trouble sitting through the entire thing, front to back.

Part of that, of course, is the music. A good portion of the film is dedicated to live performances from Prince and The Revolution, and given the quality of the soundtrack and the flimsiness of the script, that was a good move. (Although the live performances are usually just lip-synced versions of the album tracks, but whatever.) Prince isn't a terrible actor in this movie - he ain't great, either - but when the dude's on stage, he's never more at home. So the fact that every song from the soundtrack gets played in its entirety during the course of this movie is not surprising. ("When Doves Cry" and "Take Me With U" are played during montages, but not performed live, however.)

The story isn't great, but when it's constantly being interspersed with sweet-ass songs, it makes it a lot more interesting. It's like music porn, basically. You sit through the piddly story to get to the good stuff. And really, while the story isn't mind-blowing, it's fun as shit to see Prince still living with his parents, writing songs in his lonely bedroom while snacking on Doritos. Seeing him backhand Apollonia across the chops is a little awkward, but I think it's meant to mirror how similar he is to his wife-beating father. Still: a bit much.

You also get a funky-fly Morris Day and his hilarious lackey-boy Jerome, Wendy & Lisa, and Appolonia getting her skank on. These are all good things. I need to pick up the two-disc deluxe edition of this thing, stat. My full-screen one-discer just ain't cutting the mustard anymore.

Trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pixies - Acoustic: Live in Newport (2006)

The post-reunion Pixies DVDs just keep coming. Thankfully, they're all different enough to be worth watching. Think this is the last one in my collection, and it's possibly my favorite.

Early footage of the Pixies reunion shows confirmed that their start was a little shaky, but by the time a couple years had passed they felt confident enough to do a one-off acoustic show at the Newport Folk Festival. They're out of their comfort zone for this set, and it shows, but that's half the fun of it. The songs here translate extremely well for the most part, and the ones that don't end up being really interesting. As far as the setlist goes there's nothing too surprising, and most of these songs are the ones that Black Francis uses an acoustic guitar for when they play them in their normal set. Well, maybe not most. A lot of them.

But seeing Kim Deal playing with a huge acoustic bass and watching Lovering trying to restrain himself are both slightly hilarious exercises to witness. Overall, the set is a little shaky, but it's clear they rehearsed and planned to give it a good go. And the whole thing is bizarre to witness: they're on the beach, it's light outside, and they're more subdued than they've ever been. It's worth it just to see that.

"River Euphrates/Velouria"

Stallion Alert at the Movies: loudQUIETloud - A Film About the Pixies (2006)

I've watched this movie three or four times since I've owned it, and though it's not the most exciting documentary in the world, I still love it. And I think maybe it's the fact that it reveals the members of the Pixies to be so quiet, incompatible, and mostly normal that makes this movie so interesting. The way they carry themselves and the music they make could not be more different. And yeah, they're playing songs that were written 20 years previous, but I think that was the deal even then.

Anyway, this is a documentary about the band's first reunion tour, and it's done by a couple of dudes who really are fans of the band, and you can tell. Each member gets equal time, the group is shown both onstage and off (mostly off), and you really get a feel for why they're doing what they're doing. Sure, they probably hoped for more action (a minor incident involving David Lovering missing a cue onstage is played up for dramatic effect), but with the whole band being settled and mostly sober, there was never much chance of that. Still, Kim Deal is nuts even without the drugs and booze, so she makes for some fun interviews.

The real thing you get from this movie, and the thing makes me happiest about this band getting back together, is that they finally get the praise they were due. You get the vibe from the band members - and I don't think they're being modest - that they really didn't think the Pixies getting back together was going to be that big of a deal. Meanwhile it's six years later (!) and they're still touring. So to see the look on Lovering's face while he's back behind the kit in front of all those people - after being basically homeless a few months earlier - is really cool.

There's about a half-hour of bonus footage in the extras that are great, too, though it would have been cool to have more rehearsal/live footage available to watch as full songs. But that's a mild complaint.

Another cool movie for Pixies fans. Not a ton of backstory, so if you're looking for old stuff, it's not really here (why won't someone make the definitive Pixies documentary?), but this does a great job of capturing moments that we never thought would happen.

Trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pixies - Live at the Paradise in Boston (2006)

I picked this up for a budget price from Amazon, and didn't really have high hopes for it. A live Pixies show, post-reunion: cool, but how cool can it be? As usual, my presupposition made me eat my words. Or it would have, if I had verbally expressed my low hopes for this thing.

As it turns out, this is a DVD not only worth seeing, but worth owning. This is the Pixies two years (ish) after their initial reunion, and they sound much tighter than they did on their initial tour. So that's good. Also good: this show takes place in a tiny club, and the intimate setting not only allows for great camera angles and sweet sound setup, but it also works to make the band a lot more gabby. The interaction with the small audience is quite welcome when you consider that this is a group that is known for saying very little during their live sets. (Well, Black Francis is, I guess. He talks quite a bit in this thing. More than Kim, even. That's the point I'm trying to make.)

But the best part here is the song selection, and the running order of the set. To give you an idea of how much they were trying to mix things up for this gig, check the first three songs: "La La Love You," "Winterlong," and "Into the White." Awesome move opening with the deep cuts/b-sides. They even fuck up "La La Love You" the first time around and start it over. All in good fun. They follow those three with "Vamos," which is usually reserved for the end of the set, and then proceed to play a great mix of the usual suspects and tracks that, to this point, had rarely seen resurrection. I was very happy to see them do "Planet of Sound," "The Sad Punk," and "Allison."

A fun show all around, and an interesting environment to see them in. Much cooler than I thought it would be. And the small crowd is full of ass-outs, so that's fairly entertaining as well.

This disc also includes, in its bonus features, footage from a Pixies show in Boston in October of 1986. The quality is grainy and a lot of the songs aren't full versions, but the fact that this even exists is miraculous. Plus, they do "Boom Chickaboom," "Rock A My Soul," and early version of "Build High" and "Down to the Well," which are all sweet.

A solid DVD, for sure.

"Allison"

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pixies Sell Out: 2004 Reunion Tour (2005)

Clocking in at almost two and a half hours, this is one long-ass DVD of live Pixies, reunion style.

The majority of the footage is from one show in France, a 28-song set that occurred (from what I can tell) fairly early in the round of reunion shows. The group's a little rusty, with FB flubbing lines here and there, and Joey Santiago not really sounding quite up to snuff with his lead parts. And really, that ends up being the fun of it. The band seems nervous, and watching them trying to remember all of the old songs is actually fun.

And the songs are certainly old. Of the 28, there's only two from their post-Doolittle catalog ("Velouria" and "Subbacultcha"), which is, for me, a letdown. I felt the same when I saw them on the tour, but considering we never thought we'd see the band again, you can't really complain.

Thankfully, the bonus features make up for it a bit. Pulling performances from seven other shows, there's 15 more songs total, including sweet versions of "Planet of Sound," "Is She Weird," "U-Mass," and the relatively random "Into the White." These bits are interspersed with interviews with a couple of dudes who worked with/for the band in the early days and then joined them again for the reunion. Some cool info there.

The audio and video quality of the whole thing is top-notch, and it does a fine job of documenting the early stages of the band's reunion. Couple it with loudQUIETloud (which we'll get to), and you've got yourself the whole damn package.

"I Bleed"

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pixies (2004)

Released in conjunction with Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies, this DVD features four distinct sections, all worth watching if you're a Pixies fan.

The first is a 15-song live set from May of 1988 that captures the band in a Surfer Rosa-era, semi-pro-shot set from London. The footage is of a very watchable quality, and seeing the band do a full show at this point in their career is fantastic. It's about a half-hour long, features "Hey" before it was released, and finds the band seeming completely invigorated and genuinely excited about playing. Incredible piece of history.

The second is a collection of the band's six videos that they released when they were together, as well as the promotional clip for "Debaser" that was pulled together from archive footage for the best-of release. That video is mostly pointless and often corny, but the other clips are great. The Pixies clearly hated doing videos, so the resulting output is, depending on how you see it, either frustrating or completely indicative of the way the band thought and acted. (The "Velouria" video, nothing more than the band running down a pile of rocks in slow-motion, is perhaps the most notorious of these here's-your-fucking-video spots.)

My favorite is probably the clip that combines "Dig for Fire" and "Allison," which starts with them donning motorcycle gear, moves to them riding in sidecars with grizzled bikers, and ends with them playing "Allison" live to an empty stadium. Though I also enjoy the "Alec Eiffel" video quite a bit, as well.

The third section of the DVD is called "On the Road," and it features home video footage of the band shot on one of their early European tours. Purely for the hardcore Pixies nerd, but there's some really cool shit here if you're into it. At 30 minutes, it's a nice watch.

The fourth and final section is "Gouge," a mini-doc about the band that has interviews with Bono, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, David Bowie, and the band themselves (except for Kim Deal), among others. The interviews are cool, but for some reason the only clips they show of the band and the only music they play is from the live show from the first section of the DVD. So when they start talking about Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde, they've got nothing. Though they still intersperse the discussions with songs from the live show, even though they're not on those records. Very strange, considering that there are videos from songs of both of those eras on the DVD as well, so there doesn't seem to be any rights issue. Though I don't really understand how that works.

Like I said though, the interviews are great, especially the ones with Joey Santiago and David Lovering. There's some great insight into where the band was at during the different phases of their short existence.

I am ashamed to say that I just saw this for the first time last week. Not sure what I was waiting for. I'm ready to watch that live set again right now.

Here's a clip from it:

"Something Against You"

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pavement - Slow Century (2002)

If you're a Pavement fan, you already own this. Or you've at least seen it. Or you haven't seen it and you're an idiot. If you're not a Pavement fan, you'd probably still enjoy the 90-minute documentary that makes up part of the first disc of this set.

It's actually a pretty straightforward documentary of the band, containing both old and new interviews, some rare footage, and tons of random stuff. Sadly, no current interviews with Gary Young, but you can't have it all. I have watched this documentary at least once a year since it came out, and it always welcomes me back with open arms. It's just that nice. And because it's a music documentary, Thurston Moore's in it. So there's that.

The second part of the first disc contains all of the band's videos, along with alternate versions for three songs. Pavement's videos reflect their music nicely, by being both witty and frustrating at once. It works. The videos also have commentary by some of the band members, but I haven't listened to those in a while. Can't remember if they're any good or not.

The second disc is one full live show and one partial live show, both sets being from their final tour. Each of the concerts are shot with two (maybe three on one of 'em?) cameras, and you get to use your "angle" button - or whatever it's called - to control which camera you see the show from. Pretty cool use of that DVD feature, which rarely gets taken advantage of. The live shows are great, though it's towards the end of the band's existence, so you sort of get the vibe that Malkmus doesn't want to be there. Still, he tears through some nice guitar work and definitely seems enthused in parts.

There's a few easter eggs with some bonus live footage, and all in all, this thing is long as shit. I have watched all of it way too many times. It's actually one of my favorite music DVDs. Shocking, I know. Seriously though - if you like the band and you haven't checked this out, you're a sucker. Get with it.

Sweet clip here.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Deep Crates (2004)

Here's the problem with doing a low-budget music documentary: You can't afford to get clearance to use any of the music that people are talking about in the film. As a viewer, this makes the film an exercise in either having to imagine the songs you know playing behind the person who's talking, or being frustrated because you have no idea what song they're talking about.

This is a really low-budget doc about crate-digging, and while the interviews look like shit (we're talking home video footage here), they do manage to be quite interesting. But when someone starts talking about how a certain sample was incorporated into a specific beat, you instinctively expect the song to start playing in the background. It doesn't, and it really makes the whole thing frustrating. They instead opt to use (at certain points) really non-descript beats that were provided by some random DJ, but even that is only every-so-often, so it's jarring when it kicks in.

The interviews with Lord Finesse and Diamond D are interesting if you have some point of reference for what they're talking about, but without any music (or any visual aids, I might add), this whole thing comes off as a hastily-made student film. That's not to say it's worthless. If you're a hip hop purist and you're interested in knowing about the roots of crate digging, you'll get some interesting info out of this. If you're a novice and just want to see a cool music documentary, this ain't the one for you.

There's a Part II that has Marley Marl in it and looks a bit sharper, so I'll probably check that out.

Watch a bit of Deep Crates here.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (1994)

I bought this on VHS, lost it, bought it again on VHS, and then just recently picked up the DVD, which was released a few years back.

I've always loved this movie. Not only is it well made, but it contains rare (or what used to be rare, pre-YouTube) footage of the band that is usually notable for one reason or another. There's the part where Cobain get punched by the bouncer during an particularly spastic version of "Love Buzz," the part where Cobain sings "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in a deep timbre over a backing track on a foreign TV show, the part where the band is on another show and is announced as playing "Lithium," but they instead play "Territorial Pissings" and wreck all their shit, and lots of other good stuff.

It might not be for the casual Nirvana fan, but if you enjoy seeing a bunch of random Nirvana performances and interviews spliced together, it's fantastic. The editing is weird enough to keep things interesting, and the pace of the whole thing never slows. I've watched this movie at least ten times, and I still love every minute of it. The band put it together (some before Cobain's death, some after), and that's probably why it's so great. It's definitely a "warts and all" sort of affair, and I've always felt that that was part of its charm. Some of the live performances are rough to say the least.

The DVD added a handful of full live songs from a 1991 performance to the VHS release, as well as a rehearsal version of "On A Plain" that rolls after the credits. The audio on that bit is awful, but watching the band in their practice space is awesome.

A fine little film.

Watch the trailer here.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind (2005)

If you've ever watched any of the Classic Albums episodes on VH1 and then seen that same episode on DVD, you know that DVD is the only way to go. The episode's longer, and in most cases, there's extensive bonus features that get even more nerdy than the clips they use for the main piece.

Such is the case with this one. After watching it on VH1, I bought it, and have probably watched it three times since then. I'm a huge Nirvana fan, but this is also just a great little movie (or whatever you want to call it) for anyone who likes to see how an album gets put together. If you can look past producer Butch Vig's Bono-esque eyewear, he's got great stories to tell about the recording of this record, as well as some hands-on mixing board stuff that is incredible to hear. By omitting certain tracks in the recordings, he's able to give a clearer picture as to how the songs were put together, and just how much work he and the band put into the whole project.

People who champion Butch Vig as a big reason that Nevermind was so successful won't have any reason to back down from that opinion after seeing this. His methods aren't exactly by-the-book, but damn if he didn't get some great results. However, he's the first to admit that he wouldn't have had as much to work with if the songs hadn't been so great in the first in the place. He talks about how the band tightened up certain parts per his advice, but mostly it sounds like they had the songs down when they showed up.

Interviews with Grohl and Novoselic are of course included, along with the ubiquitous Thurston Moore and a few others. But it's really Vig that makes this thing so interesting. Dude's either got an airtight memory or took extensive notes (probably both), because he talks about the recording sessions - and moves through the tracks - like they're still fresh in his mind. It's really cool to watch and listen to.

The bonus features, like I said, dive a little deeper into things that are touched on in the main presentation. There's spots on Dave Grohl's joining of the band, some info on the album cover art, and a great segment where Vig meticulously breaks down all the elements that went into one of the record's most expansive tracks, "Drain You."

Thank god they did this right.

Watch the first segment of it here.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: N.W.A - Efil4zaggin: The Only Home Video (1992)

I remember knowing that this was out on VHS when it was first released, but I either never saw it in a store or didn't want to shell out twenty bucks to see it. The DVD came around in 2003, and that's when I ended up with a copy.

Clocking in at less than an hour, this thing isn't a whole lot more than decently-edited amateur (seems Eazy shot a bunch of it) home video footage, with the bonus addition of three uncensored videos for "Appetite for Destruction," "Alwayz Into Somethin'," and "Approach to Danger." There's little bits of interviews, behind-the-scenes tour footage, and just all sorts of random shit. The little bits of concert footage end up being the best parts. N.W.A shows were rare, so it's pretty cool to see some actual film of the shit going down, even it's from a single camera that seems to be in a balcony.

The music videos are a weird bunch. "Appetite for Destruction" features a strangely edited version of the song, and though it contains the same verses as the album version, there's a start-and-stop thing that goes on with it that's distracting. But seeing the dudes dressed up as Capone-era gangsters is hilarious. Easily their highest-budget video.

"Alwayz Into Somethin'" is a little less polished, featuring the group kicking it, for the most part, on the street. There's a little bit of bullet hole trickery and some jail shit that doesn't really work. And watching rasta dude Admiral D spit his tongue-twisters is even more annoying than just listening to him.

The video for "Approach to Danger" seems to be unintentional, like they just cobbled together some footage of them dicking around and tried to fancily splice it. It's not terrible, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Like I said, the rest of the video is just shaky handheld footage of the group. The stuff in the studio is cool to see, but the relatively long-ass segments that take place at the group's pool and pajama parties (!) are really depressing for some reason. The wet t-shirt contests, the gaggles of drunk hangers-on, Dre fondling ass; it just doesn't work.

Neither does the Ice Cube-dissing skit they try to pull off, which lasts way too long. But if you're a hardcore N.W.A fan, this thing is worth seeing, if only to watch the scene where Dre and Eazy argue over the structure of a track they're working on. The look on Dre's face is priceless.

"Approach to Danger"/End Credits

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Nerdcore Rising (2008)

I had this flick sitting in my Netflix queue for months, and for some reason I kept putting off letting it slide into the top spot. I fiddle with my Netflix roster way too much.

Anyway, I finally watched it last week, and though it wasn't exactly what I expected, it was a fun little documentary. For some reason, I thought it would be more of a straightforward documentary about Nerdcore culture - and there was some of that - but it's mostly based around MC Frontalot's first tour, which took place a few years back. The cameras follow the Nerdcore hero and his small band of cohorts from town to town, focusing on every aspect of the tour: the shows, the hotels, the downtime. Mötley Crüe these guys ain't, so it's really interesting to see what some nerds without any of the typical vices spend their time doing on the road. (Spoiler: at one point, Frontalot visits a chiropractor. Wild!)

The guys are all (after they get comfortable on camera) interesting fellows, and though the tour is very short, the footage is paced well and makes for a solid narrative. There's not a whole lot of musical genres that haven't been ruined yet (and even Frontalot is way more well known than he was when this was made), so it's cool to see some guys on the forefront of a previously unexplored movement. Given, it's a small one, but Frontalot's fans are hardcore, and the short interviews with them outside the shows are hilariously nerdtastic.

As with most indie documentaries, I felt like this thing could have been a good half hour longer, and the deleted scenes don't add a whole lot more. But if this is the only Nerdcore doc going (it is, isn't it?), it does its job. But I would still like to see a more thorough exploration of the genre as a whole. Still, definitely worth a Netflix. Queue that shit.

Oh, and Prince Paul is in it, and as usual, he is awesome.

Nerdcore Rising Trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention in the 1960's (2008)

Because I am an idiot, I just found out this movie existed a few weeks ago. Without hesitation, I Netflixed it, and then watched the shit out of it. I had no idea what to expect, but I came away completely satisfied. If you want a two-hour crash course on the original Mothers of Invention, this'll do the trick.

Starting with the roots of the Mothers, this movie documents (it's a documentary, if that's not clear) Zappa's early musical life, briefly, then dives right into the story of how the Mothers formed. After that, each of their albums are discussed in fairly great detail, chronologically. My kind of movie. It's logically constructed, and the story is told mainly through the interviews, with minimal narration. Clips of the Mothers performing are included (though there's nothing new and the bits are usually short), and music from each album plays while it's being dissected. Like I said, it's put together nicely.

The interview subjects are a varied bunch, and I've seen some online reviews criticizing the film for the long-winded answers and explanations that some of the interviewees are allowed. Yes, some of the segments are long. But, the dudes interviewed (at least the ones that I've seen complaints about) are music nerds who have done their research and get almost every point correct. On top the biographers and music geeks, there are also, thankfully, interviews with some of the original Mothers of Invention: Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner, Don Preston, and Arthur Tripp are all in the film, and it's their first-person accounts that really make the film.

While it's clear that the ex-members do harbor a little bit of bitterness (mostly regarding Zappa's oddly-timed dissolution of the group), they spend most of their segments recalling the more positive experiences they had with the band. Jimmy Carl Black, particularly, has some great stories to tell, and his pride in being in the band is apparent in every one he tells. There are tales of the infamous Zappa audition process, shows gone completely wrong, and what it was like to be in a band that rehearsed for hours a day, almost every day.

Personally, I didn't find any of it windbag-ish at all. Yes, some of the people interviewed weren't actually there, but they know what they're talking about. I even learned a few new things about the chronology of some of the recorded output, and seeing the current interviews with the Mothers members (especially Jimmy Carl Black, who died shortly after) was fantastic.

It might be a little to detailed for someone who just wants an overview of the band, but if you're looking for some analysis and some in-depth discussion of all the original Mothers of Invention albums, this is a great way to find it all in one place. I recommend the heck out of it.

You can watch the first few minutes here.

And by gosh, I think that does it for The Mothers. We started on January 1st, and here we are on the 24th. Three and a half weeks, folks. Thanks for hanging in there. Now go buy Freak Out! and introduce yourself to the greatest band ever.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (1988)

You've watched the film version of 200 Motels at least ten times, and you've spent hours, headphones-clad, listening to the original motion picture soundtrack. What's left for a 200 Motels junkie like yourself? Why, the making-of documentary, of course. Yes, that's right. You heard right. An hour-long documentary on the trials and tribulations of one of the weirdest films ever to be released.

Zappa put this little movie together himself, and I have to say: it might be more entertaining than the actual film it documents. There's behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with members of the band, some bonus live performances, and best of all, some of Zappa's own home movies from 1970. Yep, FZ just kickin' around his house with his wife and a few of his kids. It's pretty awesome.

Narration is done on-screen, with Zappa providing informational asides through written bits superimposed over whatever's happening. Usually these give insight into how the person talking fucked up the movie or otherwise prevented things from being easy in one way or another. There is also a current (at the time) interview with Zappa where he provides further information on the technical aspects of the film and the hoops they had to jump through to get it made.

It's not a traditional documentary, but at an hour long, it makes for a great companion piece to the film. The biggest bummer of 200 Motels is revealed here, which is even more troubling when you consider how much more awesome this documentary could have been: The producers of the movie, after it was done, took all the film used to shoot the movie and erased it. So all the scenes that didn't make the final cut, and all the random shit that got shot over the week of filming was lost forever. And they recouped four grand on a movie they were paying over $675,000 to make.

Pretty weak. But Zappa found the guy who made his own documentary about the making of the film (for a news station or something), got a hold of his footage, and re-edited it and made his own movie out of it. And that's basically what this is. It's impossible to find (and of course hasn't been released on DVD), but if you have any desire to see it, you can watch about the first forty minutes of it
here
here
here
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Stallion Alert at the Movies: 200 Motels (1971)

Like Uncle Meat, I hadn't seen 200 Motels in years. And also like Uncle Meat, 200 Motels was tough to track down because it hasn't been released on DVD, and not quite as bad as I remember it being.

Before I had seen either of these movies (for the first time, many years ago), I had some slightly exaggerated expectations for both of them. It was The Mothers; how bad could it be? Plenty bad, of course. But re-watching both of them, I already knew basically what I was in for, so I just relaxed and took them for what they have since come to represent: The Mothers captured on film during their still-kind-of-early days. Which is cool, regardless of things like "story" or "plot." I also watched them by myself this time around so I didn't have to apologize to anyone for subjecting them to these flicks.

As I said during the recap of Fillmore East - June 1971, Zappa was, throughout this short era, entirely consumed with life on the road. Specifically, what a semi-struggling rock & roll band has to go through on a day-to-day basis. If you take the time to try and figure out what 200 Motels is about, this is probably what you'll roughly come up with. But, it's tough to glean a whole lot more than that from the acid-y random segments (ironic, considering Zappa's staunch anti-drug stance and hatred of psychedelic culture) and loosely scripted vignettes of air-headed groupies and frustrated rockers.

I have to be honest: it's really hard to explain a film like 200 Motels, especially without explaining how each character (usually a member of the band, in this case, and usually reliant on the viewer's knowledge of who they are in relation to The Mothers) relates not only to the equally inexplicable plot, but to the nonsensical happenings around them. This movie watches like a dream, literally. The only difference being that there's some really good music in certain sections. Of course, Zappa's barely in it. It's mostly Flo & Eddie, and a little bit (but not nearly enough) of Don Preston.

The final scene is fantastic, with both the movie and the music building up to a huge ending. But really, it's just the fact that this thing got made that ends up being the most impressive thing about it. Nobody seems to know what they're doing, they never leave the one room they're in, and nothing really happens. Yet Ringo Starr and Keith Moon are both in it. It's just incredibly fucking bizarre. And if you're a fan of this era of Zappa, you should see it. Just to say you saw it.

I'm planning on watching it every decade or so.

200 Motels trailer

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Uncle Meat: The Mothers of Invention Movie (1987)

Thank goodness for Movie Madness. When you need to rent a straight-to-video release from Frank Zappa's Honker Home Video that was put out on VHS in 1987 and never released to DVD, you can count on them. I think they had three copies. Which is sweet, because I really didn't want to shell out forty bucks for it on eBay, when I know it'll see a DVD release at some point in my lifetime.

Here's the deal with Uncle Meat (as far as I know). Zappa and the Mothers started filming the flick around 1968, quickly ran out of money and time, and never finished it. Almost twenty years later, Zappa pieced the footage they did have together and released it to home video independently. Mothers fans had been waiting for it forever. How did they know about it? Because The Mothers released the soundtrack to it in 1969 (we'll get to that next), with this subtitled on the front: "Most of the music from the Mother's (sic) movie of the same name which we haven't got enough money to finish yet." So, the legend was born.

Was it worth the almost two-decade wait? I could probably find some folks who would tell you it was. But those people would be hardcore Mothers fans. This movie is not for the casual fan, my friends. Though, I do have to say, it was not nearly as boring as I remember it being. I watched it about ten years ago and really struggled with it. This time around, I knew what I was in for, so I just sat back, relaxed, and watched keyboardist Don Preston (in the title role) dick around for almost two hours. And really, that's all it is.

There's a loose story about the love between Uncle Meat (aka Don Preston aka Biff Debris) and Sheba Flieschman (aka film editor Phyllis Altenhaus, who also plays herself), which is both portrayed as part of the scripted film and part of the making-of documentary, which is sort of what the movie ends up being anyway. Sheba gets excited when Don transforms into Uncle Meat, but she can't understand why. He attempts to coax her by drinking dry-iced concoctions and rubbing her all over with raw hamburger. Cal Schenkel also plays a cymbal with pliers in the middle of a supermarket aisle. Confused yet? You should be. Because it barely makes sense.

But for some (and sadly, I'm one of these), watching the original Mothers dick around for an hour and a half ain't too bad. But, here's the crap part: Zappa's barely in it, and there's hardly any actual music in it. They show the stage show where the Uncle Meat character came from (sort of), but it's cut short after only a little music. And later in the film, there's a short bit of "Mother People." There may be a few other short interludes, but that's about it.

But, hey, if you want to see Don Preston naked in the shower rubbing raw meat all over a fully-clothed girl, this is the flick for you.

Long clip of Uncle Meat here.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Frank Zappa Presents: Video from Hell (1987)

I watched this movie a long-ass time ago, and have barely even thought about it since. A friend of mine who works at a video store gave me a copy last week, and coincidentally, we're about to get into the first of many Zappa-related albums, so I figured I might as well dive right into it.

If you're hoping for some talk show-ish action with Frank sitting behind a desk like he is on the cover there, you're out of luck. This is basically a teaser video (with a bunch of extras) for the stuff Zappa was getting set to release on VHS in the late 80's. So, there's previews for the Uncle Meat movie, The True Story of 200 Motels (a making-of documentary), and a few clips from Baby Snakes. There is also random footage of various eras of Zappa: Some short interview clips, the video for "You Are What You Is," FZ and Steve Vai going double wank-tastic on an extra-long version of "Stevie's Spanking," and the obligatory claymation from Mr. Bickford.

Good stuff, but it's pulled from all over FZ's career, so it's hard to get too excited about any of it when you know it's going to get cut short. If nothing else, this video just really made me want to see the Uncle Meat movie again. It hasn't been released on DVD yet, and the videos are way overpriced on eBay. I've got two ideas for where I might be able to rent it here in town, but they're long shots. I'm going to try and make it happen.

Get ready for the Mothers.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Nirvana - Live at Reading (2009)

Holy crap.

The awesomeness that is this 78-minute DVD of Nirvana at their arguable apex can hardly be contained.

I knew that I would enjoy watching this concert. And even though I'd seen a lot of the footage in the bootleg versions that have been on the internet forever, nothing could have prepared me for how fucking sweet this looks and sounds. The picture is incredible. The sound is dialed in. And the show itself is about as good as Nirvana was ever gonna get when they knew they were being filmed by a camera crew.

I saw Nirvana on September 10, 1992 at the Portland Meadows. This show was filmed on August 30, 1992. I think they did the MTV Video Awards in between the two gigs. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that this was the same Nirvana that I saw, more or less. Which makes me endlessly happy. It's the same band that hadn't yet released the follow-up to Nevermind, but were already playing "Dumb," "Tourette's," and "All Apologies" with early lyrics that would eventually change. I swear they played "Rape Me" when I saw them, but that's not on this DVD.

What is on this DVD is 25 songs worth of Nirvana when they were the biggest band on the planet. Kurt is slightly frazzled, but for the most part, he seems into it. Dave and Krist leave no doubt that they are into it. Watching the two of them is just as fun as watching Kurt wail away and yelp.

And their setlist is stellar. The usual suspects are there, but they also pull out some deep cuts. "D-7," "Been a Son," "Spank Thru," and the completely oddball "The Money Will Roll Right In" are all treats. And the version of "Territorial Pissings" that closes out the show – complete with instrument destruction – is worth the price of admission alone.

I really can't say enough about how well done this is. I liked it so much I even bought the double LP so I could have the soundtrack.

If you like Nirvana, you need this.

"Spank Thru"