Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts Not A Fan Of Scorsese Flick?

Posted about 1 year ago

Artist:

The Rolling Stones
Album:

Shine A Light

You know that rule of thumb, the one that goes -- some things are better left unsaid? Well, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts should have taken notice of the saying when talking to BBC 6 Music about the Martin Scorsese-directed rockumentary Shine A Light, starring his band. The media have been feeding like a pack of hungry wolves on Watts' blunt review, and somewhere out there Marty Scorsese is crying. Watts, it seems, was expecting an Academy Award winning biopic, and only got a live concert film interjected with flashback vignettes. Here Marty, have a tissue...

For starters, Watts made this weird comment about Scorsese in general: “He’s (Martin) a very good film maker – filming a good performance by our band – that’s it.” That's it?“Well he uses a bit of flashback which I don’t really like much cause I don’t like seeing yourself 40 years ago saying something stupid!”Understandable.“How good it is I’ve got no idea – to look at it’s a great. Mick looks fantastic and the theatre is….great." Ok, i'm pretty positive the first part of that sentence makes no sense at all. Is that Watts thinking the Beacon Theater where the concert was filmed during a 2-night 2006 run, and ol' pal Mick Jagger are the best things about the film?“It’s like a little theatre performance and it’s very beautifully filmed – it is well filmed." Well, phew. We thought he was really digging himself in a hole there for awhile.“We came off and said it was alright but you never see them back normally but – the way Marty has put it together – it looks pretty good…but…what it means to anyone I don’t know.”Pretty good?Watts is a walking tabloid for not seeing the film. People are entitled to their opinion, but his comments leave me wanting to wait for the DVD or PBS airing of the flick. For those of you who can't wait, the film hits theaters on April 11th.And I give you these parting words from Watts on watching the film at the Berlin Film Festival: “We were ... in the front so you can't get up and leave cos everyone’s looking at you so we had to sit through it but actually about 5 minutes from the end I thought ‘ok that’s enough’.”

Comments (8)

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w1llits says i'll have to see the film to decide the degree of retardity to which those comments belong, but i can't imagine a scorsese documentary about the stones being anything but pretty fucking amazing. speaking of amazing documentaries involving the rolling stones, have you seen Gimme Shelter? the one about alta mont and the hell's angels? damn.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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Charley Rogulewski says yeah, Gimmie Shelter is freakin' awesome. I bet this flick, like Julian Schnabel's Lou Reed 'Berlin' film concert, was just that, a hi-def concert captured on film, but i mean, it would still rule.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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anna log says i think the LAST THING the world needs is another Rolling Stones concert flick - directed by Martin Scorsese or no. for the record, i did not like his Dylan thing for PBS, which started while i was working at PBS and dragged on for a good 10 years later. because i was the gate keeper of PBS's archival footage, i knew what was out there for Scorsese to use and he didn't make good use of it. instead, he provided a very paint-by-numbers flashback of Dylan. he's lucky Dylan agreed to be in it, albeit in an interview conducted at his own direction. in the mid/late 90s, the Rolling Stones presented "STRIPPED," filmed in a luxuriously beautiful French theatre - the songs played acoustically as well full-out. it was in BW, there were backstage/off stage/rehearsal sequences of the band... wasn't that ENOUGH? the Stones film-music canon is chock full of stuff that doesn't really need to even exist. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE ROLLING STONES is great, GIMME SHELTER is better.... the live thing they did for cable at the end of the 1981 tour at Hampton Roads was passable... LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER from the following year was superfluous... its not like they need the money. Scorsese has been an angel in the world of archive & preservation of old films, and of resurrecting some of the great, un-sung films of the past (ROCCO & HIS BROTHERS - which hugely influenced Scorsese's best work - RAGING BULL).... why couldn't he have spear-headed a restoration/compilation of the Stones best performances -- they did shit tons of "music videos" before that animal really existed (the promotional film)... and there's a whole body of work to draw from. Scorsese is not going to be able to make another THE LAST WALTZ... so why try? the MAYSLES (Gimme Shelter), DA PENNEBAKER (Monterey Pop; Dont Look Back, etc) - these guys are known to and friends with Scorsese... he ought to take a page from their worth ethic... and yeah, let me also disclaim that i executive produced the Maysles "Conversations With the Rolling Stones" for the MTV Networks back in the mid-90s when i worked there; we won awards and shit.... BUT... that's not why i think the Stones shouldn't be filmed again.... i think that the Rolling Stones CONCERT FILM has gone beyond beyond beyond being even necessary. SHINE A LIGHT might possibly be the joint nadir of Scorsese's and the Stones' career. too bad. i actually like them both....

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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sonical says Quite a post Anna. I love Ladies and Gentlemen... Great, true concert film. One you didn't mention but is incredible is Cocksucker Blues (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocksucker_Blues). A great look at a band as they release and toured to support Exile. As for other shows/movies on The Stones, I mean they are The Rolling Stones. Big business now and one of the greatest bands in history. This movie isn't really billed as anything more than a concert film at a small venue which not many people get to see them at anymore. It's not a documentary or history on the band which I agree has been done before to varying degrees. There are several guests including Jack White on Loving Cup which I look forward to hearing. And in the recent tours they've been doing more of the mid-70's tunes which I happn to like the most. I for one am looking forward to seeing it on the big screen with big sound.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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anna log says I didn't mention Cocksucker Blues because most people haven't had an opportunity to see it.... I own a copy and I don't understand why anyone thinks its a big deal. I think its relative scarcity is more of an attraction than the content. Maybe I'm jaded? CHARLIE IS MY DARLING is another one that is truly weird; perhaps not essential... but die-hard Stones fans might want to see it. The recent Stone film I mentioned - STRIPPED is also a concert movie shot in a small venue (smaller than Beacon Theatre). Its from maybe 1996 or 1997. Its now available on DVD, I'm pretty sure. I really do believe that SHINE A LIGHT is absolutely superfluous... and to top it off.... the great song "Shine a Light," which is the film's title.... its not even IN the movie!!! its on the bonus material in the DVD. I can't even begin to discuss the stupidity of that. With EACH TOUR since 1981, the Stones HAVE DONE small venue performances and on the past 2-3 tours, have even ANNOUNCED THEM, unlike the secret shows from before. They are making it easier to see them in small places. They have been doing the 70s tunes AND 60s tunes since 1996 at least. When I covered their STEEL WHEELS and VOODOO LOUNGE tours for VH1 in 1994/95, they had a whole LOT of 70s and 60s songs in the set list. My fave song from an album most people dismiss (Black & Blue), "Memory Motel" made it in to the regular set list rotation in 1996... that's 12 years... MORE than recently... its a generation's worth At the end of the day, I believe Martin Scorsese ought to know better. Its not the first time I've criticized him. I've even pissed him off in person discussing THE AGE OF INNOCENCE when I was doing his pre-screen interview when he was on Charlie Rose (which I was a segment producer for).... if he hadn't made such BRILLIANT WORK so early on in his career, a less intrusive microscope and spotlight would be on him for everything he does now that doesn't live up to what he has proven he can do. I'm not saying don't see it... I'm just saying I've had enough and I quite agree with Charlie Watts. From where I stand, Charlie Watts IS the arbiter of whether or not the Stones are "on" any given night. As Charlie plays, so does the band.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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burningdervish says It is almost all concert film and not a real documentary. Which is neither positive nor negative just set your expectations accordingly. The first 20 mins or so of Marty trying to pin Mick and the band down for details is hysterical though and very truthful if you have ever worked around them. Surprising they left that in.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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Charley Rogulewski says "For the record, i did not like his Dylan thing for PBS ... he provided a very paint-by-numbers flashback of Dylan." -- Couldn't agree with you more on that. it was dull, like Dylan's "Chronicles," which I read to page 60 twice before giving up, because I kept falling asleep while reading it. I see where your opinion is coming from. Your points def. shed more light (every pun intended there) to Watts' comments and where he was going. I think i will def. check it out still, but this open debate will have my critic's eye and ear more fine-tuned.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008
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sonical says Well Anna, I seem to be outmatched here. Perhaps I'm just coming at this from a different perspective. I've not been in "the business" as they say and haven't seen (or known about) all the previous films. But I also don't have nearly the Stones knowledge. With that said, I did like Cocksucker. Part of it I'm sure is the fact that I'm seeing it. It was in SF at a film festival and shown at the Castro Theater which is beautiful. I also do like the concert footage. Stones with Stevie Wonder as a kid in the early 70's was pretty cool. I don't spend a lot of time looking at their set lists but a few years ago a friend (whom I do qualify as "in the know" since she sees a lot of stones shows and her father has been running the lights for them for years ) told me they started playing more 70's tunes (vs. 60's) in recent tours and with Exile being on of my favorite albums that made me happy. Secondhand info which I can't confirm. The fact that Shine a Light isn't in the film is just plain stupid. Unless they felt the version didn't make the cut but then I'd change the title of the film. Either way, great post Charley and I very much appreciate your thoughts and enthusiasm Anna. It's good to see people's passion for music. After all, that's what this whole MOG thing is all about.

Permalink posted 03/27/2008