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47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As joyful, fun and moving as a Flaming Lips show., February 28, 2005
While I've got my order placed, I can reliably give this film a five star rating as I was lucky enough to have seen "The Fearless Freaks" February 26. This review was adapted from a post I placed the other day at flaminglips.com, a site well worth a visit if you dig the band.
I was looking forward to seeing this, but was not prepared for the emotional punch of this beautiful documentary by filmmaker Bradley Beesley. I felt as moved and joyful as I have after actual Lips concerts.
"The Fearless Freaks" was screened Saturday night at the Blue Note in Columbia (Mo). It was a nicely full house on hand to see director Beesley introduce the film as part of Columbia's annual "True/False Film Festival (documentaries).
(This was a special "secret screening", as more official "world premiere" screenings (3) will occur at the 2005 SXSW in Austin.)
Beesley was introduced, talked a bit about the film and his long association filming and working with the band. His cell phone has a speakerphone feature, which he put to use as he dialed Wayne Coyne at the Tarbox recording studio near Buffalo, NY. They talked a bit back and forth, Beesley holding the speaker to the microphone. The audience had lots of laughs during the five-minute chat. Wayne mentioned that he, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins were recording new stuff and that it has snowed every day since they arrived that week. Wayne said that he believed that filming of "Christmas on Mars" movie would be completed this summer, but then they would need to do music for the feature. (It sounds like Christmas '06 is most realistic, but who knows, maybe '05 if the planets align.) "The Fearless Freaks" includes five minutes or so on the making of "Christmas on Mars". Fun.
The movie is a feast for the eyes, ears, mind and heart. You'll see the large Coyne family in vintage home movies from the 70's, the early days of the band, the path to now and the often moving story of the passage of time since the band's founding in the early 80's. About two-thirds into the film, one of those passages sweeps the movie to an emotional impact that vaults this film to a level that transcends any "traditional" music documentary.
As Beesley says at flaminglips.com, the many years of access and friendship with the band allowed him to produce something he hopes goes beyond just "another okay rockumentary and, together with the band, instead create an insightful and personal piece of cinema."
He succeeded.
This is a courageously honest band that has allowed Beesley to present truth that is raw and inspiring. Beesley has fashioned a fine film that ultimately owes its success to the goodness and open-heartedness of The Flaming Lips. The band has bared their souls and their humanity (un-self-consciously) that is completely congruent with the message of their recent music. ("The Soft Bulletin" and "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots", most particularly.)
I spoke with Beesley after the screening and told him how special I thought his movie is. As this is his first film (I believe) he was soft-spoken and a bit deprecating about his work to the degree that he might still have had concern about length or he saw this or that that might still need to be edited. (I did see more than a few put fingers to ears during some of the extended excerpts of live shows from their punk days. While exhilarating and an exciting document of shows that WERE tremendously loud, the sound levels of those sequences did seem a bit over modulated, though seeing it through the pa of a concert venue did allow for that music/noise to come through in all ear-splitting glory!)
While there might be a couple of minor tweaks *maybe* worth considering in the first half of the film, one must be careful because that beginning sets up the emotional power of the second half. Humbly offering my first impression after the show, I assured Beesley that what he DOES have is a film with something all too hard to successfully pull off - weight, depth of feeling, an emotional heart that bathes the audience with goodwill. I've seen lots of music documentaries over the years. Not till this one have tears come to my eyes. Of course, in The Flaming Lips, Bradley Beesley had subject matter that delivers the "goods". I applaud Beesley for bringing that "script" to Life. As fans of the band know, Wayne would be a star of any film. The man is an inspiring example of LIFE, of humanity most kind. Guile has been stripped from Wayne Coyne and he is nakedly human in a manner that makes me proud to be part of the species.
(I also hope that Beesley submits "The Fearless Freaks" for consideration of film festivals - I would think Cannes audiences would love this - and also the documentary division of the MPAA. Oscar in '06? This film is truly worthy. A scene with Steven is one of the most powerful moments I've ever seen - on film or "real" life, one of great humanity that touches the soul and moved some in the audience to tears. The ultimate triumph of Steven, the open-hearted humanity of the band and the inspiring music of The Flaming Lips - particularly since "The Soft Bulletin" - is a gift that should be shared with as many people as possible.)
To be clear, aside from all my talk of "feelings", this is a FUN film - laugh out loud at times, with lots of music and cool visuals.
That it is so much more is what makes this movie a joyous treat.
I will not spoil your enjoyment of this movie by revealing any further specifics. See it for yourself.
So, in the end, I certainly recommend that you purchase this when it becomes available. In the meantime, if you - or maybe a loved one - haven't already, order "The Soft Bulletin" and "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots". In that sequence, listen to each cd from beginning to end, reading the included printed lyrics. I think you'll be quite glad you did. Then you'll really be ready for the "Fearless Freaks"!
- Do You Realize? -
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roots Rock?, October 9, 2005
If you've been to a Flaming Lips show in the past few years you've noticed lead singer Wayne Coyne's penchant for letting fake blood fall over his face and onto his trademark khaki suit. One of the least momentous, yet most revealing, of the revelations in The Fearless Freaks is that Mr. Coyne washes his suits himself. So there is Mr. Coyne, in his modest bathroom at home in Oklahoma City, soaking his suit in the bathtub (pre-Halloween hint: soak in cold water so that fake blood doesn't set).
Wayne's involvement in the state of his suits is revealing because it demonstrates that the worklike manner he displays before and during a Flaming Lips show is no show. He still mows his own lawn. Still hangs with the neighborhood kids in the neighborhood he grew up in. Still helps his mom out with her house. It seems his only extravagence is the Sci-Fi X-Mas movie that Wayne is producing and directing in his backyard.
This film delves into the roots of the members of the Lips and it will interest even those who have never heard a song they've written. Why? Because it is about how people relate to their family, the place(s) they grew up in, and their pasts. Drugs are a large part of movie, though probably not the way most people would suspect. One of the most startling, and poignant, vinettes of the movie occurs when band-member Steven Drowd inject himself with heroin while on camera.
In sum we get to see how the members of the Lips grew up: from playing rag tag pick-up football games to watching family members go to prison, to conceiving banal and then transcendent music. And, of course, there is more Wayne, the court jester, going back to his old Long John Silver's. This is the story of a good-hearted group of people making good music despite, or because of, the problems they've encountered in life. The film ends with another piece of heartache, but you just know that this group (and man) is built to handle it.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essential for Flaming Lips fans, June 16, 2005
Memories...this retrospective look back at the formation and final breakthrough of The Flaming Lips, described by one of the band members as "hillbillies" crossed with The Who. This movie uses home movies, home video and current footage of the band to go back into the past and see the formation of one of America's most important rock bands around. Coyne describes his band early on as a loud band without much talent (oh, not true Wayne perhaps inexperienced) in the beginning of their career, The Flaming Lips went from cult favorite to critical favorite and while not in the top ten (who is today except historic singers) they've found a niche in rock music that they work exceedingly well in. Coyne at 41 with a touch of gray proves that there are second acts in American lives...or perhaps first acts with a late curtain. We also get a glimpse behind The Flaming Lips science fiction movie a bizarre, unscripted film like only The Flaming Lips could make involving an insane Santa Claus, a giant bunny and Wayne Coyne as a super powered alien.
Because the source material for this is drawn from a variety of sources over the years, the picture quality ranges from poor to good. That's not a problem in the transfer but in the source material itself which includes Super 8 home movies, early videotapes, film shot in less than the best lighting conditions and video ditto. The picture quality for the newer footage is quite good. Audio, likewise, varies quite a bit from poor to good once again depending on the source material.
We get a whole bunch of very cool live performance footage of the band (some of it with distorted sound), deleted scenes including behind-the-scenes footage of the band warming up for "Austin City Limits". There's also footage of Wayne as Santa and some truly strange stuff that was cut out of the film including footage shot for one of the band's first recording sessions. There's a photo gallery that looks like a trip through my childhood (bell bottoms, long hair, goofy afros, punk hair cuts although I'll never confess to any of those and I've burned MY photos like that) clearly the band and I share a bond that goes beyond simple music. Perhaps it's my simpleton attitude but, more than likely, it's an appreciation for Coyne and his band pushing the limits of music wherever possible.
The current line up for the band does a running commentary throughout the film giving considerable background on the various people interviewed throughout the film. It's actually interesting in a car wreck sort of way in that we learn a lot more than we really need to know about the lives of the band members and their extended family.
If The Flaming Lips hadn't come into existence someone would have to invent them. Luckily, Wayne Coyne found his true calling as a songwriter and singer. Yes, they borrowed from the best (including The Butthole Surfers) but Coyne made it all his own creating a sound and style unique to his band.
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