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Heart Like A Hand Grenade


burnout409

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So technically if this comes out on demand on Oct. 16 does that mean it'll become available right at midnight? Hmm...

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So technically if this comes out on demand on Oct. 16 does that mean it'll become available right at midnight? Hmm...

Depends on Vimeo. Not sure how their postings work.

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It is $12.99 on Vimeo.  They will send updates when it is available for viewing.  They only say that it is available on the 16th, they do not specify a time.  And for all my international fans, including someone in Oz, when you order it, it does list pretty much every international country.  So, everyone should be able to see it.

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Watch Green Day Perform 'American Idiot' Live For First Time in Exclusive Doc Preview

Today, we have an exclusive first look at a clip of the John Rocker-directed film.

 

“I remember trying to focus on filming them but also being hyper-aware of how the crowd was reacting to the song,” Roecker tells Billboard. “It was a hold your breath moment for me and the reaction was incredible. We were in the studio for nine months, in this bubble, and now the music was being unleashed. After that, I knew it would never be the same again.”

Roecker continues: 

“This year has been an incredible year for music documentaries -- Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Elliott Smith -- but this documentary has a happy ending. Eleven years ago I was fortunate enough to be able to document Green Day recording their album American Idiot, a departure on a very epic scale.” 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6730013/green-day-american-idiot-documentary-heart-hand-grenade-exclusive

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Mike's penis is in the film actually, so yeah, don't see it with your folk haha

you dirty liar?

It is $12.99 on Vimeo.  They will send updates when it is available for viewing.  They only say that it is available on the 16th, they do not specify a time.  And for all my international fans, including someone in Oz, when you order it, it does list pretty much every international country.  So, everyone should be able to see it.

hubby is at this minute looking into it for me?

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Been debating on if I should bring my 13 year-old son with me. 

Also debating on what to wear. Probably one of my American Idiot T shirts.

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My friend Henry and I are going tomorrow :happy: He's the one playing drums in the Green Day cover set I'm doing for Halloween, so he's a pretty big fan, too. It's a bit of a drive to get to the nearest theatre that's showing it, but I'm excited! 

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SPOILER/CRITICAL ALERT: Skip if you want to see it untainted or don't want to read critical commentary of anything GD-related.

I was fortunate to see HLAHG at the Mill Valley Film Festival.  I wanted to go to the first 10/8 screening in San Rafael but had a conflict.  So I went to the second 10/13 showing in Corte Madera.  Marquee:

22652 Heart Like A Hand Grenade premiere at Mill Valley Film Festival in Corte Madera

Perhaps it was just out of the way, namely not very close the East Bay for those not familiar with the Bay Area, but the huge theater wasn't anywhere close to full.  People in line seemed like half GD fans and half standard film festival attendees.

The film was introduced by an MVFF staffer as is convention.  There were no special guests or Q&A afterwards that typically happens when someone from the film is present.

The film goes through most of AI's songs in album order, so it had an inherent structure that you'd expect if you were a fan.  You when it was starting to wrap up around "Homecoming".

Most songs were presented with their genesis, like an early verse in studio.  Then you saw some band practice version and finally a live performance.  If you've seen them live or have watched a lot of their amateur- or professionally-filmed live performances, the last is the least novel.  I found myself enthralled to hear Billie's isolated vocal on "St. Jimmy" in the studio.  When the film cut to live footage, as you'd expect right at the "1, 2 / 1, 2, 3, 4" beat, I was almost disappointed at the tease of going from something exceptionally rare to something more conventional.

I won't pretend to have the sharpest ear, but I'm pretty convinced studio or practice footage had the audio of a live performance or even the finished album mixed in.  I suspect they wanted to present the finished product, but I instead really wanted to hear how they sounded right in the studio.  Perhaps they weren't specifically recording for audio at the time.  I just felt that incongruity of watching a setting that was informal or raw but hearing very produced audio.

Incidentally, they mentioned the first time AI was performed straight through was at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood (September 16, 2004: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/green-day/2004/music-box-at-the-fonda-hollywood-ca-1bd7ad00.html ).  However, much of the live footage was from a few months before that (July 29, 2004: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/green-day/2004/grand-olympic-auditorium-los-angeles-ca-4bd6779a.html )

To the hardcore fan, spending most of the running time on the live performances was a missed opportunity for me.  However, there's an awesome sequence of Billie doing "When It's Time" solo acoustic in studio.  Even rarer were some scenes of just him and the piano or keyboard.  These were the highlights of the movie for me.  We want the full band, of course, but it made me realize how much I'd still want to see him if he just toured solo (e.g., Ben Folds).

In the beginning of the film, "Jesus of Suburbia" had extended sequences of Live Freaky Die Freaky-style animations or dance performances.  Just as I felt about AI, the musical, they're an interesting reinterpretation of AI.  However, ultimately I'd rather be at a show, even one that wasn't GD.  It's hard for me to have different expectations for a punk documentary, film, or musical, but it's always very hard to compete with the energy and intensity of a live performance.

I mention the LFDF styling because that was the only thing that really stuck out for me as having strong John Roecker fingerprints.  Most of the movie, he just let Billie, Mike, and Tre do the talking.  The most important thing he did was have the relationship with the boys to ask to film the recording of the album.

He did capture a few very interesting visual points, to me at least.  One was seeing Billie in the red tie or other tie during the recording the process.  It confirms that aesthetic was something that came from him instead of some wardrobe department in the run-up to promoting AI upon release.  Second, in band practice, Billie turns around to face Mike, Tre, and the Jasons.  It's nice to see the unusual when we're used to them all facing outward.

There's also a bit of in-studio banter and the usual fart jokes, but it's the band as we expect: Billie being the most serious of the three, Tre the goof, and Mike somewhere in between.  They had quite the entourage with them, and Billie admitted as much to having quite the "scene" in studio.  I'm sure he did much more (and he could certainly rest on just having signed them), but Rob Cavallo is the cheerleader.  BJA: "How did that sound?" / RC: "That sounded great!"  Jason White and Jason Freese are seen playing, but this film is about the trio.

So that's long (but not as long as my Dreamforce 2013 recap :-p ), but here's what you might want to consider if you're on the fence:

You'll really like HLAHG if...

  • you're a huge fan that sees and listens to everything related to them
  • you want to relieve the context for AI or haven't seen a lot of live footage
  • you're looking for a change-up from seeing shows themselves, especially something less intense

Perhaps adjust your expectations if...

  • you've seen a lot of their professionally filmed concert footage
  • you're familiar with the trio's banter in interviews
  • you followed the band closely of how Warning didn't do well commercially, how they had to challenge themselves post-Warning, how the reacted to the Iraq War, how they began to make AI by stringing together 30-second song sequences, etc. (the AI recording process)

Thanks for reading, and please comment back if you felt differently about the film.

Frank

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I don't want to just judge on one person's perspective, but based solely on the above write-up, I still want to see it, obviously, but I think I'm now more OK than ever to wait until the DVD release instead of doing a 140-mile round trip tonight to see it immediately, sorry John :ninja:

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Thanks for the detailed write up! Just based on that it sounds quite different from the version that was shown in 2009. I'll be interested to hear what the people who saw that think about it.

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Thanks for the write up, Frank.  While I'd love to see it in a theatre, I think waiting to watch the DVD in my own home will be better.  Stopping and replaying interesting moments and all that.

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I'm excited that this gives me an excuse to not work for a part of the day tomorrow.  I have every intention of streaming this instead of work. 

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I'm excited that this gives me an excuse to not work for a part of the day tomorrow.  I have every intention of streaming this instead of work. 

Me too! Unless it's available at midnight tonight. Then I'm going to have a movie night with my cats once I get home from work today. :D 

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Me too! Unless it's available at midnight tonight. Then I'm going to have a movie night with my cats once I get home from work today. :D 

That's past my bedtime. :(

Am I the only noob still waiting for the cinema?

Yes

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Going to see it tonight in the theater.    I just want to see it on the big screen.  Still buying the DVD for my collection of videos.

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