Thursday, November 17, 2005

New Music Documentaries: New York Doll and Townes Van Zandt Profile Be Here to Love Me

NEW YORK DOLL
(Greg Whiteley, USA, 2005, 75 minutes)

BE HERE TO LOVE ME: A FILM ABOUT TOWNES VAN ZANDT
(Margaret Brown, USA, 2005, 100 minutes)

I'm glad SIFFBlog (now Seattle Film Blog-ed) is back as I wanted to mention a couple of notable music documentaries coming to town this fall.

First up is New York Doll, which plays at the Northwest Film Forum from Nov 18 - Dec 1 (no show on Nov 24). I haven't seen it yet, but it arrives with good buzz from the festival circuit and the local response so far has been quite enthusiastic. A friend who attended last week's press screening found it "quite touching." According to the latest NWFF newsletter, "Director Greg Whitely and producers Seth Gordon and Ed Cunningham will all be here for the Seattle premiere of their Park City favorite, about the depressed, suicidal former rock star Arthur "Killer" Kane (of the influential New York Dolls) who found his own humble salvation in...the Mormon Church." They'll be at the 7 and 9pm screenings on Fri., Nov 18.

Incidentally, director Michael Almereyda was at last week's premiere of William Eggleston in the Real World, a leisurely home movie-style look at the great color photographer. It raised a lot of questions in my mind; so much so that I wish the Q&A had gone on longer. Kudos to the NWFF for bringing all of these interesting filmmakers and producers to town.

I also wanted to spread the word about Margaret Brown's fine solo documentary debut, Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt--following an unreleased documentary about singing cowboys she made with her father Milton, who penned the title track to Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose. It plays at the NWFF from Dec 2 - 14. 

For my money, it was one of the best music documentaries at SIFF '05--if not the best. Highly recommended, even if you don't know much about the Texas singer/songwriter. Features appearances from Joe Eli, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and many more. And guns. And booze. And more guns. And more booze. A friend (yep, the same guy) who caught this week's press screening described it as "Sad sad sad." He's right...but don't let that scare you away! It may be sad, but it's enlightening, too.

More Info: The Northwest Film Forum and Townes Van Zandt. Image: Apple TV (Arthur "Killer" Kane as featured in New York Doll). 

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