Doc Corner: Bowie and 'Moonage Daydream' at Melbourne International Film Festival

By Glenn Dunks

Moonage Daydream is unlike any other Brett Morgen film. If you expected the same stately warmth that imbued Jane or even a tragic rock and roll epitaph like Cobain: Montage of Heck, then you would be wrong. This is evident immediately into its 140-minute runtime, beginning as it does with not just any David Bowie song, but the (incredible, it must be noted) Pet Shop Boys remix of “Hallo Spaceboy” from 1996. I love a bit of trolling the rock crowd, so I was instantly on board. The mere inclusion of this song—to say nothing of the kaleidoscopic, tie-dyed montage that accompanies it—keyed me in that Morgen wasn’t just going to do what a Bowie fan may expect from a biography documentary.

These high-octane opening minutes don’t exactly let up, either. Moonage Daydream is a work of documentary that is almost as exhausting as it is exhilarating.

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Showbiz History: Sophia Loren, Emmy Nights, and Female-Driven Hits

13 random things that happened on this day, September 20th, in showbiz history...

1941 The Porky Pig short "Notes to You" was released. It's sometimes credited with introducing Sylvester the Cat but that's erroneous. The confusion probably stems from the fact that this short was remade as "Back Alley Uproar" seven years later with Sylvester, by then an official character who looks not unlike this cat, and Elmer Fudd in the roles. 

1975 "Fame" hits #1 in the US, the first David Bowie record to do so... 

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Sakamoto on Criterion

by Cláudio Alves

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a master of music that needs no introduction. Thanks to his work with the Yellow Magic Orchestra and solo experiments, Sakamoto has helped shape the evolution of electronic music like few other artists in the past decades. His avant-garde sound is difficult to confuse with that of other composers, but he's not an artist predisposed to repetition or stagnation. Since the 1970s, has never stopped composing, never stopped challenging himself, or dazzling his audience with music whose beauty transcends comprehension. Sakamoto's also an avid cinephile and had been writing film scores since the 80s when Nagisa Oshima cast him in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Across the years, he's built an eclectic filmography that's rich in artistic brio and lacking in mediocre efforts. He even won an Oscar.

Because of such excellence, the Criterion Channel has curated a selection of 10 Ryuichi Sakamoto scored pictures. Here are some highlights…

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Soundtracking: The Life Aquatic

Chris Feil wishing Wes Anderson a happy 50th birthday!

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou feels like a transitional film for Wes Anderson, one caught between our perceptions of his “arrival” and the artist himself firming up his trademark approach. At the time of its release, dismissals of Anderson as all affect without substance were starting to take hold. The key traits used against the film were its dollhouse set design, its rudimentary and chintzy sea creatures, and a song score that relied heavily on revamping and repurposing the David Bowie songbook.

But now the (sure, flawed) film defies that perception on rewatch as a something that’s explicitly about living and creating with authenticity...

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Beauty vs Beast: Acid Queen

Howdy, Jason from MNPP here with our Mother's Day edition of "Beauty vs Beast" - it's maybe becoming a bit cliche to talk about the Alien franchise for Mother's Day at this point... but that's not going to stop me, for two reasons. First off today is the 42nd birthday of the actress Carrie Henn, who played "Newt" in 1986's Aliens - click here to see a picture of her with Sigourney Weaver a couple of years ago. She's a grown lady! Time is weird, you guys.

And secondly we're doing Alien because I got to see the film on the gigantic screen of the United Palace Theater here in NYC yesterday and a million wows. Never have I more envied the moviegoers of yesteryear who got to watch films in these literal palaces. United Palace does a movie screening every month and if you're in New York you owe yourself the experience of seeing something there, it is absolutely grand - see their whole schedule right here. Anyway we've faced down Ripleys for this series once before so this time let's face down her foes! Which came first, the Egg or the Queen...

polls

PREVIOUSLY Last week we sup from the throats of the haute couture bloodsuckers in Tony Scott's The Hunger and it was ice-blonde Catherine Deneueve who came out on top to the tune of nearly 80% of your votes - said thevoid99:

"I vote for Miriam although.... my heart and soul will always belong to David Bowie's character in that film. Still not over him."