Finally got to see End Of The Century in Amsterdam last night where it was screened as part of the International Documentary Film Festival, and man, was it ever worth the wait!. Sure, I know the Ramones story by heart; but even for someone as jaded as myself the film held a lot of surprises. Not so much the archival material (excellent tho' it was) but the fact that finally all the right people (ie the band themselves and those part of their inner sanctum) finally opened-up and admitted, on-camera, all the rumors that have been spreading like wildfire ever since the band broke-up that this was in fact not a happy family. Seeing and hearing the three very distinct but radically different personalities tell their tale was both enlightening and sad. Johnny the drill sergeant who was able to keep the show rollin' for all those years thru' sheer determination, Joey the geeky kid with compulsive behavior disorder who saved himself by becoming the singer in a rock band and Dee Dee the eternal junkie misfit with the songwriting talent. As for the others: Tommy was able to save his ass early on by jumping ship while the others (Marky, C.J. and Richie) were always too one-dimensional to be on the same level as the triumvirate. The interviews with Johnny and Dee Dee especially are the highlights of the movie with the latter displaying a large amount of deadpan humor that saves things from getting too serious. Well paced and focusing on both the internal turmoil and the bigger picture (let's not forget these guys are among the best ever, no ifs or maybees), End Of The Century is mandatory viewing for all NBT readers, no excuses excepted...
Late Note: as in previous videos there was jet another short snippet of the London Rainbow show from Dec 31 1977 included, this show demands the full DVD treatment ASAP!
4 comments:
Which reminds me that I'll need to try and chase this It's Alive thing up again and see if anything is actually happening to it
some of the story and pics up here
http://website.lineone.net/~murrayramone/ItsAlive.htm
Murray
I've just checked, it is moving slowly onwards
hopefully I'll be able to say more soon
Murray
First off, here's a direct link for the above.
2nd: Michel Fenderwoods sez he once talked to Bill Inglot (Rhino) who told him that "It's Alive is compiled from about four shows and even then only the drums and parts of the bass made it to the album with the rest being overdubbed later on. Inglot also mentioned that the film material was only edited for a few songs".
Anyways, it would be interestring to learn who actually owns the material these days so maybe we could set up some kinda campaign demanding the release of the material.
No need to start a petition, the wheels are in motion and it will hopefully come out in some form in the not too distant future although I doubt all the legal and logistical problems have been solved yet
I think there was 6 shows recorded for the album, but lets face it, its the Ramones - they dont vary much from one show to the next so dubbing the soundtrack to the film footage wont be impossible (wont be easy either !)
Inglot is correct when he says that the film material was only finished for a few songs which is the ones that pop up in a few places like end of the century - the video I have although properly edited does not have any sound
More news soon hopefully but whether that 'soon' is days or weeks or months I'm not sure !
Murray
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