Comments on: Jonathan Demme Vs. Martin Scorsese: Who’s The Best Music Doc Director?

By: bunyan 10

bunyan 10 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:16:31 +0000

—Even the most circle-jerky of their comfortr-zone worshippers should by now be realizing Scorsese and Demme are BOTH long rich and stale —-SELL OUTS.

Tooooo predictable.

By: Luke N Atmaguchi

Luke N Atmaguchi — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:05:29 +0000

Just saw “Shine a Light” in IMAX, and (spoiler alert) my fave scene is when Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci savagely pummel the catering manager. They weren’t portraying characters or nothin, they were just there at the concert.

By: Clevertrousers

Clevertrousers — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:59:48 +0000

Actually, Demme is a smart choice for a Marley biopic - he's done a lot of doc-work in Haiti and understands the Caribbean context better than most big-name directors. But I do hope that he gets Marty to sit down and reminisce about doing spoonfuls of coke with Bob at Studio 54 back in the day.

Michel Gondry would probably dress up a bunch of Rastas as whimsical ballerinas or some other ridiculous shit.

By: PeterBjorn&Yawn

PeterBjorn&Yawn — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:27:59 +0000

My roommates and I accidentally stumbled upon Demme’s ‘Heart of Gold’ on cable – and watched all of it simply because it looked so gorgeous. We had a long discussion that EVERY performance based rock-doc should be made by Demme. Except he should add some Scorsese elements like a rat in front of the statue of liberty or something.

By: Mike P.

Mike P. — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:16:29 +0000

@Chris Molanphy: Just one of them. Albert, I believe.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:08:36 +0000

Are the Maysles brothers still alive?

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:03:45 +0000

Slightly off-topic, but Steven Soderbergh made this: [www.imdb.com]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:47:53 +0000

Demme, for his work on “Stop Making Sense” alone. I just showed the film to some 6th graders today, and they were thoroughly confused, and incredulous that such a band could have any big hits.

By: GhostOfDuane

GhostOfDuane — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:08:56 +0000

Interesting question (except for that last part). For me, Marty makes better movies; Demme makes better concert films. The Last Waltz is terribly overrated. The music is fantastic, but it's really not that well shot, and not only does he totally ignore the rest of the Band other than his coke buddy Robbie, he makes them seem like mental defectives. He fails to include any audience or shots of the decked-out Winterland Ballroom (they served the audience a full Thanksgiving dinner, for God's sake). Worst of all, he inserts himself right in the middle of an event that really wasn't about him in the least. Shine A Light was OK but the plants in the front rows were stupid and no one in the world wants to see close ups of the Stones. If Marty was secure enough to just stay the hell out of sight, I'd appreciate his films a lot more.

Stop Making Sense is fantastic, and I loved Heart Of Gold too. Demme seems to have a better understanding of the genre. Basically, concert films are inherently boring no matter how many fast cuts and close ups you employ. Just present the concert honestly and let the performance speak for itself, I say. Looking forward to Demme's take on Marley.