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| Movie Review: Neil Young: Heart of Gold Alternate Title: Young at Heart
Story: Concert films come in
many forms and director Jonathan Demme has elevated
the level of this genre to art. His focus this time is aging hipster,
Neil Young. It was filmed over two nights in Nashville
at the Ryman Auditorium in August of 2005. It is a sweet meditation
on Young's career, family and his own mortality. (He had recently learned
that he had an operable brain aneurysm). The music is grand, the audience respectful and
the direction superb. If you are a Neil Young fan, this concert film
is for you. If you don't know who Neil Young is, you can check out this
film and become a fan. Acting: It is a concert film, so there is no acting.
The on-stage gang includes, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ben
Keith, Spooner Oldham, Rick Rosas, Karl T. Himmel, Chad Cromwell, Wayne
Jackson, Pegi Young, Grant Boatwright, Diana DeWitt, Gary Pigg, Anthony
Crawford, Tom McGinley, Jimmy Sharp, Clinton Gregory, Larry Cragg, Fisk
University Jubilee Singers and The Nashville String Machine
Predilection: I like Jonathan Demme's work.
Soundtrack: The first part of the concert is Young's
latest album, Prairie Wind and the last part includes his older
more familiar songs.
Theater Audience: I was alone in the secret balcony
of my local multiplex. I admit to singing my heart out and was glad
there was no one else around me to hear me or be annoyed by my singing.
There were many other aging hipsters downstairs enjoying this concert
film as well.
Drift Factor: It was all too easy to drift during
the more familiar tunes. Music evokes memories like nothing else for
me.
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: The big screen is really the
best way to see this film but I guess rental would be fine. For some
of Jonathan Demme's other films try: The Manchurian
Candidate, The Agronomist, The Truth About Charlie, Bruce Springsteen:
The Complete Video Anthology 1978-2000, The Pretenders: Greatest Hits,
Beloved, Philadelphia, Cousin Bobby, The Silence of the Lambs, Married
to the Mob, Swimming to Cambodia, Something Wild, Stop Making Sense,
Swing Shift and Melvin and Howard.
Length: 100 minutes
LOBO HOWLS: 7
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