The Hot Blog

I really liked Control. Perhaps because Ian Curtis died so young there wasn't a need (like there was in other movies like Ray, La Vie en Rose and Walk the Line) to simply reduce his life to five or six key events and then fill it out with performance sequences.

Plus, Curtis is a much more fascinating person to me than Ray Charles or Edith Piaf or Johnny Cash and, I'm sure this is representative of my youth, I like the music a lot more here (although I am a Cash fan, and Ray's music was incorporated well, I can't say I'm a fan of Piaf's music). And while it looks clean and wellmade it also has a sort of grungy look to it (probably due to the b+w) that suits the story of a late '70s garage band. I enjoyed the performances too (Samantha Morton especially).

I guess it was also nice to see a biopic that didn't end in either a drug overdose or alcoholism (or both).

Yeesh, I feel like I've been hearing about how great No Country for Old Men is for months now. My anticipation level keeps growing, though. Juno sounds like a great little sleeper flick, especially with Cera coming off Superbad. And since I've been a Joy Division fan since I was 14, I think Control should be interesting at the very least. I'm a big fan of Penn's The Pledge, so I hope Into the Wild is at least as good.

Hold on... we are getting late breaking reports. Is this official Jerry? It is? Can we call it? Yes? Alright... let's call it. We can now say as of Friday Morning, that David Poland aka 'MIAMI HEAT' has a man crush on "INTO THE WILD." Repeat: Miami Heat has a man crush on "INTO THE WILD." Stay tune for further developments as they develop.

Silliness aside; Heat stated "probably a touch more than it deserves." Spoken like a man who has not listened to enough Joy Divison! The music along is reason enough to give this movie more props then you believe it deserves.

Kamikaze,

You made a good point. I am not the biggest Joy Division fan, but the fact that Cutis' life was cut short gives the film a narrative framework that is limited in scope, but makes it more complete.

I loved Walk the Line, but it leaves sooooo much out that there is room for two sequels, a remake and a reimagining somewhere in there.

That is the problem with too many biopics. Too much to concentrate on so nobody really feels satisfied.

Control doesn't have that problem. I suspect a well thought out film on Kurt Cobain would have the same feel.

Nicol, did you see the Gus Van Sant movie Last Days? It's not a Cobain biography at all (inasmuch as the movie covers, like the title says, just his last few days, and doesn't actually cop to the character being Cobain, though it obviously is), but it's an interesting movie. Afterward I thought about how in a lot of ways I preferred this snapshot approach to the usual "biopic" arc. Of course, a more traditional narrative about Cobain could still be made, but I found Last Days pretty fascinating.

I'm really looking forward to Walk Hard, as it'll be nice to see a genre-parody that isn't informed by the "hey, remember this scene?! Well here it is with a much [louder/more violent/more disgusting] edge!!" approach to spoofing.

Interestingly, Control uses the marriage as a time setting device, though obviously, in the end, actual death does create finality. I don't think it gives much away to tell you that we are looking at the "dead body" of Dylan/Blanchett and eulogizing him at the top of I'm Not There as well. So in spite of - SPOILER - Dylan not actually being dead, it's eerie how similar that device is in two TWC films... also the use of black & white.

Man crush? No. But it's a strong movie. Man crush (if there is such a thing) on I'm Not There.

Heat; you are all about crushing HARD on films. Thanks for clarifying the current man-crush as of the TIFF. Stay tune for more updates as we follow Heat's Man-Crushes all the way through award season!

Also, with Control, 24 Hour Party People covered a great deal of the New Order/Joy Division story. I am curious as to how Control expands on Curtis' life (outside of his wife's biography that makes him out to be a wife-beating lout of a man), the inter-dynamics of Joy Division, and if it concludes by telling the audience that the band went on without Curtis to form a New Order -- who changed music as much as Joy Division did. If it does any of that well. I am all there for this flick.

No New Order.

A bit about the group, but the film is mostly Curtis and his wife and eventually, child, and girlfriend. No wife beating here though.

Joy Division rules. Love to see the movie, but the music alone is epic and amazing and anyone who hasn't listened to them should go get their first two albums right now. Unless you are a suicidal teenager, in which case you should probably hold off and tick to the prozac.

24 Hour Party People was a lot of fun, but a comedy. And comedy doesn't really seem to be the proper way to look at Joy Division. I imagine Control is much different in tone from what I've read.

Keep the new movie blurbs coming!

I would argue New Order changed music even more than Joy Division, and their blend of rock with club music can't be underestimated in its influence and innovation.

As I've always been a much bigger fan of NO than Joy Division, Control is a bit of a happy ending story the way I see it. Shame about Curtis though.

I feel the exact opposite, laz. I never could get on the NO wagon, but I find Joy Division as essential as early Ramones or Televison or Talking Heads or X or...

Between the music and the cinematography, this has to be good, even if it's bad. Kinda like Rumble Fish. (But better yet if it's actually GOOD.)

ps: I've never seen Last Days -- really ought to, I know -- but is sounds to me like it's similar to the Chelsea Hotel portion of Sid and Nancy, stretched out to feature-length. Is it?

Last Days is a feeling of sorrow for Kurt Cobain that never goes anywhere except to feel bad. I saw a free preview and while I empathized with the supposed-to-be-Kurt chararcter, it wasn't a movie either (so I'm a little glad the view for me was free).

Hey Frank, I saw a Pabst Blue Ribbon can on my alley this AM, I have to run back out and take a photo on my camera phone so I can set it as the wallpaper. How often does such an opportunity for pure art arise?

I didn;t even know they still sold Pabst Blue Ribbon. Is schlitz and Hamm's still for sale?!

You're right, Last Days isn't a movie, but it is a film.

YOU DIDN'T KNOW THEY STILL SOLD PABST...BLUE...RIBBON!!!??? DON'T YOU FUCKING LOOK AT ME!

Ahem.

So, Jeff, are you saying it works as a sort of mood piece or tone poem despite its lack of narrative structure? It's a film, yes, but a good one or bad one?

Yes, mood piece or tone poem works for me. I had it in my top ten of that year.

IO, give it up already with the Miami Heat thing, for crying out loud. You're the only one still doing it.

On the JD/NO debate. I would argue that New Order had more of a chance to change music because they were around for much longer during the new wave development. I admit to prefering New Order because they're more my kind of music, but havind said that, Joy Division's music is nothing to turn my nose up at. Songs like "Intermission" are classics for a reason. I was surprised to see in Control that "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (arguably their most noted and wellknown song) was merely used as soundtrack where the other popular songs were seen in performance sequences.

personally i like Sisters of Mercy the best then JD then NO.

I'm not looking at you Frank, just at the Pabst blue ribbon can on my phone. I'm hoping no one figures out why I actually have a pabst blue ribbon can photo on my phone.

Didn't LOVE WILL TEAR US APART come out after Curtis' suicide? I know it wasn't on either of their first two albums. I'm no expert, but it's possible it wasn't in the performance sequences because maybe they never performed it live?

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

URL:
Remember me? YesNo

Comments: