Customer Reviews

Half Japanese: Band That Would Be King [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This film reminds us what rock music is supposed to be about. At the conclusion of the movie I was left second guessing my own opinion of what talent is and what what music is supposed to represent. It takes a stab at the changes in music brought about by music video and what the music industry has compromised by insisting that performers be beautiful. I would recommend this video to any young person thinking about starting a band or any old person who has forgotten what it is like to feel something when you hear music. A must see.

This is a wonderful picture about some of indie rock's most eccentric stars. The live rooftop performance of "1,000,000 kisses" is worth the price of admission alone. And Jay Fair's explanation of "How to play guitar" may cause you to wet yourself with delight. Have napkins close for the tears of laughter and joy. If you like indie rock check this out. My only complaint is all of the major label bashing. It is rather pointless in this context. There is also some blow hard DJ type who disses the Beatles (! ). As does someone who negatively reviewed this DVD, but he appears to hate almost everything except the J Geils Band's (?) first album. Bwahahahahahahaha! BUY BUY BUY!

Some day the Fair brothers will be spoken about in the same breath as Woody Guthrie and Elvis. They are pure American treasures worthy of having their heads put on stamps. Especially if the stamps aren't perfect rectangles. You need to see this documentary. For extra credit check out "Daniel Johnston & Jad Fair ."

I love this movie. I love this band. Some people may think that Half Japanese, as well as this movie, is all a joke. Little do they know that Half Japanese could easily take over the planet. While the movie focuses on the entire career of Half Japanese, the most interesting story is how Charmed Life got released. Or didn't get released for 4 years after the completion date. The early home movies of Half Japanese performing are hilarious and incredibly heart-warming, especially the footage at the retirement home. After watching this moving it is easy to see how many bands have been influenced Half Japanese. Jad and David Fair are true indie kings.

Please, before the rotten vegetables start flying, I'm in no way disparaging the brilliance of Half Japanese by low-balling this documentary. I just think there are glaring flaws abounding here. To start with, the film almost completely whitewashes over the music and era that really made the band unique. They talk at length about 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts, but we hear none (or next to none) of the music!! We get a few seconds of "Calling All Girls" and some live versions of "Firecracker Firecracker," and then suddenly we're in Jad's indie-rock later period. All of Jad's "Zany" later songs about Walt Disney and his wholesome songs about dating Juanita and her red dress are emphasized, while his completely seminal work, which revealed a much greater fear of being hurt by women, is ignored. You're going to play "This Could Be The Night" but totally avoid "Nicole Told Me" or "I Know How It Feels...bad"??!?! It's this love/terror mix that makes Jad such a complex artistic figure. Nearly all the music covered is from the Charmed Life/Band That Would Be King era, which is apparently all the thing for certain 1/2 Jap fans, but c'mon, we don't ever hear word (or sound) one about the "Loud" album!

Finally, with the exception of Penn Jilliette, who's at his best here, the lesson we seem to learn from this film is that Half Japanese fans are professional feebs. I can't think of a worse triumvirate to shower praises on this great band than pucker-holes like Byron Coley, Phil Milstein, and the king of all that is wrong with independent music, Gerard Cosloy (No great music has been released on a major label? Warner Brothers put out the Gang of Four's "Entertainment!" Tell me, how's that new Matmos album coming, foolio?). Are there no decent people who like 1/2 Japanese? I mean apart from Penn and David Greenberger?

This is a must-see documentary in that 1/2 Japanese are a must-hear band, and Jad and David really are the best people to tell their own stories. And what great stories they are! Proceed with all due caution, but enjoy the beams of pure unrefracted kindness and sweetness that crack through the cynical hipster overcoat that's haphazardly thrown over the subject matter.

I started watching this DVD with wide eyed anticipation and an open mind.

And then I watched it..

This documentary just seems to drag on slowly, like trying to run over a five lane railroad track with chains and weights around your body; three trains barreling toward you in both directions. Not to mention a rabid rhino in there just to confuse you.

Save your money and buy something else.

This is a very cute and amusing documentary on "Half Japanese". It seems really relavent to the rock music scene here in the U.S. in which " ... rock" groups like Korn and Limp Bizkit are the big sellers. If you're a big indie rock fan (like me) then this will definately tickle your fancy and give you hope that someone out there is in their garage making another breakthrough album.

This film is weirdly obsessed with why the band isn't as popular as mainstream music. It spends most of the film railing against the music industry rather than the band itself. The band exists in contrast to mainstream music. It parodies and plays off of it. The filmmaker is so far off the mark in making this film that it is really depressing. Lovely interview with Penn Gillette, and that's the best part of the film. Nice interviews with the guys but all too short. ALL of the stuff about the "industry" is a waste of time and a damn shame...and totally misses the point.

This is great! It harkens me back to the days when one of my friends and I used to record music in the back house of my parent's place, when we were in the early stages of our continuous learning. True, they don't follow many of the acts today who use pitch correction in the studio, but that's the appeal to me. What's fresh about it is the rawness of their music and their lack of arrogant posturing. I don't mind the air of "coolness" and "mysteriousness" that many of the popular acts today try to maintain in their image/presentation, but sometimes I just want to break away from that facade, which Half Japanese seems to do, dump the "coolness" and just play. To those who say they can't play, listen to the "Charmed Life" album. Sure, they're no virtuosos, but neither were the Ramones (who ended up in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame). I've played guitar for well over 20 years and have played in quite a few bands as well as done studio work for various musicians, and I'll tell you that the musical skill to create "Charmed Life" is beyond any of the Ramones' stuff (and I'm a die hard Ramones fan). So, if you hail the Ramones but whine about Half Japanese's musicianship, then you're full of it (or just a non-musician who thinks he knows how to judge musicianship).

an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.: the genius of Mozart.

--Synonyms 4. gift, talent, aptitude, faculty.