Shine a Light

2008 "A master director shining his light on the best rock band on the planet."
7.1| 2h2m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 04 April 2008 Released
Producted By: Paramount Vantage
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.shinealightmovie.com/
Synopsis

Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones unite in "Shine A Light," a look at The Rolling Stones." Scorsese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the intimate Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Cinematographers capture the raw energy of the legendary band.

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Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Micitype Pretty Good
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
SnoopyStyle Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese sets up a concert film with the Rolling Stones. The guys are performing on their A Bigger Bang Tour. In 2006 over 2 days, they perform at the Beacon Theatre in NYC benefiting the Clinton Foundation and Scorsese captures it. Also joining the boys on stage in small cameos are Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera.The most fascinating part of this movie is Scorsese setting up the performance. It's a black and white section at the start of the movie. It's actually a little funny and we get to see Scorsese at work behind the scenes. The rest is a regular concert film with snippets of old Rolling Stones interviews. It's not a particularly revealing documentary. As a concert film, it's well shoot and great for Rolling Stones fans.
RainDogJr I know that some other users had already write in the beginning of their comments for Scorsese's Shine a Light what I'm about to write and that is: Martin Scorsese is definitely one of my favourites directors of all time and The Rolling Stones is one of my favourites bands of all time. And now this film, second that I watch from the selection of the "Muestra", is one of my personal favourites of 2008.You know that clip of Bob Dylan when a journalist asks him this: "how many people who labour in the same musical vineyard in which you foil, how many are protest singers? That is people who use their music and use the songs to protest the social state in which we live today, the matter of war, the matter of crime or whatever it might be". Then Dylan asks "how many?" and that journalist says "yes, are there many who" and Dylan says "I think there are about 136" "it's either 136 or 142", it was truly great, definitely if you haven't watch that clip you really should, certainly it appears in Scorsese's No Direction Home (after another terrific and funny interview) and also Cate Blanchett says that in I'm Not There (best film of 2007 by the way). Certainly I remembered that clip of Bob Dylan with those clips that Scorsese featured, I really laughed in some of them and enjoyed all of them. Some clips shows "normal" answers by the Stones that now are really great and each one of those made the whole audience laugh! For example there you have a young Mick Jagger, when they had about two years in the business, saying that he hopes to last one year more in the business! And there you have Charlie Watts, the normal, the one who looks like a stranger, the only Rolling Stone with white hair! And he is so great, his clips are fun and once the show begins we watch his expressions after a couple of songs! Truly great.Scorsese filmed two nights at the Beacon Theatre in NYC, October 29 and November 1 2006, and apparently he had a unique experience but not just because of the performances. Is a really funny introduction, Marty wanted the set list, he wanted to know everything, it can begin with a guitar part played by Keith Richards (or Captain Keith!) then Marty wanted to knew that but there you have Mick Jagger laughing, Marty will get the set list for sure but when? Well, seconds before we can hear the opening track, the fantastic Jumpin' Jack Flash. A person who was with me said to me after Shine a Light ended, "I don't know most of the songs but I really enjoyed the entire show", in my opinion Shine a Light does have a great set list, honestly I didn't knew what songs were part of this film and certainly I enjoyed each second of the show like her. You watch the Stones enjoying themselves, of course is impressive the energy at that age, of course each soul at that small theatre were in touch with the legends, they don't think on the stage they just feel. The guest musicians were Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera. The first two were part of two gems of a performance, was pure enjoyment and you can see the face of Jack White (he was sharing stage with the Stones playing Loving Cup!) and with Buddy Guy we have a memorable performance and he ended with two guitars! Aguilera was also terrific and Jagger really enjoyed the performance of Live with Me. Certainly Shine a Light is unique, you can see the expressions of Charlie Watts (as I wrote) and you can see how the audience enjoys like if you were on the stage. By the end we enjoy a powerful encore with Brown Sugar (one of my all time favourites) and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction to finally finish with a great and creative scene. Then 120 minutes were not enough to me, for sure I wanted more but still I just loved Shine a Light aka Some Country for Old Men (filmjack terrific title you clever bastard!) and here's the set list: Jumpin' Jack Flash, Shattered, She Was Hot, All Down the Line, Loving Cup, As Tears Go By ("lovely isn't it"), Some Girls, Just My Imagination, Far Away Eyes, Champagne & Reefer, Tumbling Dice, You Got the Silver, Connection, Sympathy for the Devil, Live with Me, Start Me Up, Brown Sugar and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.
bloodymonday Many musicians are constantly trying to "reinvent" him/herself. They might try any new angle or new idea in their music career. Well, I don't see anything wrong about that at all. David Bowie changes his style more than chameleon changes color in its lifetime, and he's still a legend. But in the case of history of The Rolling Stone, it's the other way around. Because what we saw in 2008, every bit of energy in Mick, Keith, Ronny and Charlie are exactly the same as 1960's. And that's also made them a legend (To tell you the truth, I'm literally feared for his life when Mick Jagger began to dance like a complete madness on stage. I mean, he's 62 -friggin'-years old for crying out loud).Who are Rolling Stone? Well, if you really have to ask, then you've got yourself a long history lesson to do. And this concert/documentary might be a good start to experience their legacy. Shooting for two nights at concerts in New York's intimate Beacon Theatre, "Shine a Light" will make your typical night event look like concert in downtown pub. Martin Scorsese and his nine or so cinematographer (all of them are Oscar nominated) create such an energetic camera movement (in fact, dollies are so close to the audience that I thought it would hit them eventually). And between songs, Scorsese decided to put rare footages. Some of them link to the present time in a spooky kind of way (in 1960's one reporter asked Mick whether he can imagine himself doing what he does in the next 30 years, and then Mick said "definitely"). Some of them is just classic (When interviewer asked Keith that between him and Ronny, who's better guitarist? Keith reply "Neither one of us is any good, but together we're better than ten others.") Even all those Scorsese have done is already masterfully handled. But the real deal is the concert itself. They have mandatory stuffs like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (what a way to start concert), "I'm Free ", "Start Me Up" (a must for live performance). Unexpectedly good stuffs like "As Tears Go By", "Brown Sugar" (this one got me cheer with joy). And collaboration from the best with Buddy Guy in "Champagne and Reefer", the decent with Christina Aguilera in "Live With Me" (even though it's a little bit creepy to see Mick gets behind her and doing what he does best) and the mediocre with White Stripe's Jack White in "Loving Cup" (They seem to be annoyed by each other). There a bunch of songs that I haven't mentioned, but let me tell you, there's not a single song that will fail by your expectation.I'm not sure that whether we (Thai people) will have an opportunity to experience in IMAX like we supposed to or not (you wish!). And I would love to see it again on that gigantic screen, because what I've experience so far in my lame ass bedroom television is already made my skin crawl.
frankenbenz The Rolling Stones are ubiquitous. Practically everyone loves them, likes them or at least wants to see them play live before they (or the Stones) die. Aside from producing a few decades worth of great music (most of it lifted from the Chicago blues scene), the Stones haven't had an album worth listening to since the early-mid eighties, so why is it they are still considered one of the biggest acts in the world? Is it their age-defying perseverance? Their on-stage energy? Their legend? All of the above? The painful truth is, there is only one correct answer: nostalgia.The Beatles broke up, John Lennon got shot, Morrison killed The Doors, booze killed John Bonham and the Stones stayed the same. The Stones stayed so much the same that, aside from their wrinkled and withering bodies, every rock 'n roll fan born in the last 60 years or so looks to them as a (fairly) well preserved specimen of their youth. They are a reminder of what it was like to be young, rebellious, idealistic and, ultimately, free. But guess what folks, the Stones may have stayed the same on the surface, but all that remains of the bad boys of rock is the surface. The Rolling Stones are packaging. The Stones of your youth - like your youth - are dead.It's fitting then that another iconic artist well past his prime should rise to the occasion to make a concert film about the Stones. Despite winning his long elusive Oscars for ably re- making a Hong Kong action flick, Martin Scorsese hasn't made a great movie since GoodFellas. Granted, Goodfellas may be the greatest film ever made, and Scorsese may be the most gifted and unique American filmmaker since Orson Welles, but Shine a Light is nothing more than an old man trying to sip from the fountain of youth. That's not to say SAL isn't well made, it is in fact, well crafted, polished and brimming with professionalism. But SAL, like the Stones, like your youth and like any chance of Scorsese ever making another great film, is dead. It may be bristling with glossy, glitzy and glamorous packaging, but like Bill Clinton and his pre-concert guests, this film is stiff and it reeks of establishment. In other words, this isn't what rock and roll is supposed to be about, it's about what happens to rock and roll after a very long time spent being incredibly rich and pampered. The same can be said of Scorsese, Coppola, DeNiro, Pacino and every other angry young artist who has since gone on to untold riches and fame. They lost their edge. They lost what made them seem revolutionary. They simply lost "it."As far as concert films goes, SAL does have something most don't: the dueling visions of two artistic giants. When the tone is set with documentary footage of the behind-the-scenes planning leading up to the concert itself, you get the feel you're in for a display of fireworks that isn't triggered by the Stones' pyrotechnics crew. In this segment, Scorsese is the star, a frazzled control freak (as all directors should be) who is powerless in the court of the whimsical (read: flaky) spirit of the Stones Commander in Chief Mick Jagger. When Scorsese's face time is displaced by his multitude of lenses focused on the concert, SAL loses its appeal and fails to deliver anything more compelling than the startling effect of far too many close-ups of Keith Richard's war ravaged face.After the tedium of hearing every Stones song you've heard before finally wears to an end, we're reminded that this was a Martin Scorsese affair with a signature tracking shot through the backstage crowd and onto Marty himself. The shot continues until we float out of the theater, into the night and high up above Manhattan, a shot aided by the savvy use of a computer. While this tracking shot is intended to remind us of Goodfellas, it does nothing to capture the energy the made Goodfellas great, in the end, all this shot does is remind us we're watching the shell of something that was once great and someone who never used to use a computer to help him walk through a crowd.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/