Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Loui Blair
It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Wuchak
RELEASED IN 2004 and directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, "Some Kind of Monster" documents the band Metallica a few months after bassist Jason Newsted's departure wherein the band started the writing/recording sessions for the album that turned out to be ST. ANGER (2003). The movie covers the next couple of years centering on their time in the studio with producer Bob Rock, who fills-in for Newsted on bass, and psychotherapist Phil Towle, a successful "performance-enhancing coach," whom they hired for $40,000 a month throughout the recording process. Fragments of concert footage, etc. are mixed into these events, including bass try-outs to replace Newsted in the final act.This is an interesting documentary from a psychological standpoint, but it's hard for fans of the band because it's such a brutally honest portrayal of the members as it removes any mystique that was there. The focus isn't on the members being masterful musicians and metal gods on stage (although there's some of that), but rather on them being regular dudes baring it all to the camera. The film was shot 18-20 years after the band began and shot to fame in the 80s, culminating with their ultra-successful self-titled "BLACK ALBUM" in 1991. Here they are a decade later in total crisis. I can't believe they allowed the footage to be released. What a risk! Although Phil Towle occasionally utters some stereotypical counselor verbiage (e.g. "How do you feel about that?"), the members later credited him with saving the band; and I believe it. The biggest problems were James Hetfield's control issues & alcoholism, stemming from a tough childhood/adolescence, as well as Lars Ulrich's ego. While these two started the band and are its nucleus, here they're openly at each other's throats, ready to scrap the band at any moment, even daring each other to quit. Meek & mild Kirk Hammett (lead guitarist) is pretty much stuck in the middle and tries to keep the peace and some sense of unity.There are some entertaining bits or cameos with guests, like Metallica's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, which is thoroughly interesting but cringe-inducing (Mustaine later complained that the filmmakers edited his scenes down to a few whiny snippets, which portrayed him in the worst light possible). You get to meet the wives & kids of James and Lars. James' wife is precious. The last act chronicles the hiring of bassist Robert Trujillo, who's offered a $1 million to join the band right out of the gate (!). Don't watch this film unless you want to see the awful truth behind a famous band's image and music, as well as a little bit of the awesome truth. THE FILM RUNS 2 hours & 21 minutes. GRADE: B
Christopher Hagen
When you think of rock-stars you usually think of hard hitting guitar riffs, beer and all round fun. Wrong. SKOM shows you the true cost of being a metal legend, and holds back nothing when delivering serious emotion. The film shows Metallica at probably the worst time in their career. James is struggling with alcoholism, Jason has left the band, and the remaining members are fighting Napster over copyrighted music. Out of all their struggles, they decide to record a new album, with a new sound. Producer Bob Rock takes the bass duties for 'St Anger', and influences a lot of the musical direction. Due to their struggles, the band hire the services of renowned Psychotherapist Phil Towle. Throughout the film, we see Metallica in an entirely different light, we see their emotions. We see how much they can simultaneously love and hate each other dependent on their mood in that day. The film is hard to watch, and it will certainly sadden any Metallica fan because of the conflict between themselves and everyone around them. A must see for fans of not only heavy music, but music in general.
bob the moo
Despite bass player Jason Newsted leaving the band, Metallica hire empty army barracks in San Francisco to record their first studio album in years. At the same time they go into group therapy to try and resolve lingering issues between the band members and try and deal with any building issues before they get any bigger. This film follows them as they make that album, complete with disappearing members, infighting, bonding, rocking, suing Napster and other events.I'm not a Metallica fan although I used to listen to their stuff when I was in my teens and perhaps was angry enough to do something with it; now that I'm older and my anger has turned from the passionate kind to the "empty bitter husk" kind, metal doesn't really do it for me. However for some reason I thought this film seemed interesting enough to be worth a look. The on screen captions helps set the scene for those of us not au fait with the band and this approach continues across the film, which also helps keep the vast spread of time in context and keeps it together. Although this is useful and although I know there was about 1600 hours of material, this still could have been a little shorter – not because it was too long but mostly because it was a little baggy. That said it is still mostly very interesting although it will help if you care a jot about these people – if you don't then there is likely to be little for you here.For myself I thought it was interesting to get behind a group of multi-millionaires and see their issues and conflicts. This isn't to say that it is all about the fighting because it isn't, it is just a fairly interesting look at the personalities and the events of the past few years. The events provide a good frame although none of them are really gone into in detail and instead everything is given a general sweep. What forms the majority of the film is how the people are within these events. As such it is engaging without being fascinating and the guys vary between normal people, idiots, ego-heavy stars and star sprouting pretentious psycho-babble.Whether this is worth you watching I suppose depends on your view. For fans it will possibly be too short as they want as much of their band as they can get. For me these elements were interesting enough to be worth watching but perhaps not enough for the long running time. Regardless, this is interesting and worth a viewing just to see behind one of the biggest metal bands in the world.
sexedweekly
Where should I start?James = Ego, need a Therapist because I can't connect to myself. But nonetheless I am better than you! Kirk = Have no opinion anyway, so it really doesn't matter. Lars = Well, let's just say the "$" went too his head. Otherwise, just a normal, Hollywood wannabe who thinks he is a somebody. And Finally,Rob = "Why the hell did I leave Ozzy for these guys??????????????" Rob, again = "Jason has a GREAT job now!!!!!!!!!!!"That pretty much sums it. Well, see you on the "RICH" side!
