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Movie Review: It Might Get Loud
Journals - Arminius
Written by Arminius Von
  
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 18:16
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If you're a guitar player or a fan of The White Stripes, U2 or Led Zeppelin, see this movie.  It's not as good as I expected, but it got me into some serious RawkLand for a good hour and half.  The chinema spends far too much time rehashing the bands' formations.  Aside from a few cool insights (Page STILL speaks about music in terms of art/school-light/dark composition), you're not going to hear anything about their pasts that you couldn't find on wikipedia.   It would have been a much better movie with an increased focus on varying approaches to songwriting, or even filosophies of rawk, if we dare ...

The dynamic plays out like some reality show (Rawk Island!  Who will be the last to leave?)  Most times, the three interact awkwardly like distant family members who are supposed to give a shit about each other but somehow can't manage anything more than an awkward A-frame hug.  Perhaps this is a reflection of their respective places in the rawk pantheon.  Page's work with Zeppelin was a reaction against tepid music, Edge got started b/c he was sick of Rawk Star Bombast (read: Zeppelin), and White gets his fuel from a hatred of all things digital (read: the Edge).  As a result, their "jam" sessions never wholly gel, but hey, they had to try.

SPOILERS:
- See Jack White and the Edge try to keep their shit together as OH-MY-FUCKING-GOD-IT'S-JIMMY-FUCKING-PAGE PLAYING WHOLELOTTALOVE IN FRONT OF ME!!!  AND FUCKING KASHMIR!!!

- How is it that between the aged Jimmy Page, the aging Edge and young Jack White, the grumpy old man turns out to be Jack White?  The dude is so dogmatically insistent on the superiority of old skool blues, I'm surprised he's not afraid to admit he has running water in his house.

- Watch guitar players play guitars they're not known for!  The Edge with a Gibson Explorer!  a feature on Page's Strat!  this movie cured me of my desire to have an LP Custom just b/c it's a rock machine from the gods.  Sure, I still want one, but now, for the tone, not b/c it looks good under lights.  Thank you, Jimmy Page and the Edge, for reminding me it's ok to rock with what you have (and thank you, my little Squier)!  Jimmy Page wasn't born with a Les Paul in his hand!
 
- The Edge's soundcheck at the end, worth the movie.

 

 
Comment (1 posts)
Re:Movie Review: It Might Get Loud
Jan 06 2010 16:17:18
hmmm

you know how I get grumpy in movie theaters and don't like loud noises

at its core is my $$$ gonna teach me something about the immortal spirit of the guitar...?

"see a guy traveling with a guitar... 90% of the time it's a douchebag. the other 10% well, *cough cough cough weeeeeeze* maybe some good music but @#$%bag."
-???

"I was a lonely kid so I picked up the axe and learned some chords so now everyone can hate me"
-???

I mean... lovely review- but it seems like a by rockers *for* rockers sort of thing. I liked the image of the cow. "come inside! listen to us play immortal music!"
"no I'm enjoying this cow right here. please be quiet or I'll hurt you."

the Edge as example of the Ficher-Price forehead rolling technique and beautiful music comes out. "I can totally be phoning it in and this cool shit happens! Gimme another xanax!" (and queue perfectly timed montage. "see that's me during live-aid. I was gone! being held up with wicker but the guitar plays itself man..."

and who's this zep guy and why should I give him my money? where-ever the hell I am I hear this reverence cross people's lips about paige... right right... pantheon crap. the zep. yes. the ultimate garage band with echo effects and cool album covers may their name live forever - it's cool but an hour an a half with the guy who while stoned, noodled out some immortal guitar licks? pass me the xanax -

by rockers, for rockers man. like, I can't wait until it's out on DVD but in the meantime I'll take Holmes of some silly mass-marketed fluff if I *do* manage to get my cranky ass out to the great brainwashing machine with popcorn.

i mean... it *does* have a certain appeal... but it also stands as maybe one 2010's first candidates for "Crazed man starts shooting at movie screen. News at 11."

nice of them to bring Marilyn Manson as a foil for the other two. Glad to see she's still hot.
#698

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