Guitar Documentary: It Might Get Loud - finally out this weekend in limited release...

Cafe Society
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…and I can’t see it since we are leaving on vacation. Grr.

General interest article - not much comment on the actual doc here on MSNBC.

Earlier threadI started - about a year ago when it was first shown at a film festival. It has been in the can for a while.

Rotten Tomatoes is at 80% positive…

Lordy I want to get into NYC to see it!

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Wow, this sounds really cool. I’d missed the earlier thread, thanks for bringing it back up, WordMan.

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And how long do you think it will take for this one to reach Chillicothe, Ohio? :smiley: I just watched the trailer on Sony’s site. I plan to see this in Columbus or Cincy whenever it is released there. I’m really looking forward to seeing this. I have a feeling my wife will want to skip it.

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I have a feeling my wife is trying to figure out what she gets in return for my going to see it, buy the DVD, etc…

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I am sooooooooooooo seeing this.

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They’ve been showing the trailer for this on “Nothing But Trailers” nearly every week for a month now. It just looks awesome. I’m not a big music guy, but I can’t wait.

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I suppose I’ve underestimated the stature of both The Edge and Jack White, if they can stand with Page as equals, at least in the eyes of the film makers (and Page was an assoc. producer!). I need to hear more White Stripes obviously, I’ve only heard a smattering. And perhaps re-listen to U2 with a more discerning ear.

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Guggenheim was looking for archetypal guitarists from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s/today. Dave Evans (Edge) and Jack White are both very intelligent, articulate, self-aware players who are making conscious choices about how they play and discuss why. Both have signature sounds and have VERY different approaches to how they produce them. Bottom line is that they are legit “guitar heroes” AND interesting choices to toss into a pot and stir up with Pagey. Now we have to see how much of that potential for insight and entertainment was realized…

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I would never say otherwise, just saying they weren’t my guitar heros, whether through ignorance or underappreciation.

Definitely!

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Excellent. I shall be there opening night. (whenever that is)

Thanks for the heads up!

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I just saw this last weekend in Palo Alto. It was awesome!
My favorite part was the first 5 minutes when:

Jack makes his homemade electric guitar out of a few pieces of wood, a coke bottle and some nails. He shear’s off some really gritty sounding and raw notes from it (but still better and more honest than most of what you hear on the radio these days) before declaring, “Who says you need to buy a guitar.”

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Wait a second. Even though this is a documentary and no real plot to spoil can the Mods review my post and make a ruling? If it offends please spoiler box it for me…

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I saw it a couple weeks ago and the main thing I learned is that Jack White is a gigantic pompous twat. But I kinda suspected that already.

I did love all the parts with Jimmy and Mr. The Edge, though.

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Funny. It made me an even bigger fan of JW than I was before (that’s quite a feat since I’m a huge JW fanboy anyway) . I thought he was very deferential to the 2 other guys that he obviously had a lot of respect for. The way he put his guitar down and just watched Page play “Whole Lotta Love” with the boyish grin on his face was endearing.

I found The Edge portions to be a bit boring but that’s just because his style is not to my taste.

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I am so jealous. Been away on vacation. Gotta get into the city to check it out.

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I just watched the trailer. I haven’t seen Jimmy page in a while. He looks surprisingly healthy and happy.

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Okay - I may be in: I and another dad may be taking our sons tomorrow night. w00t!

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Okay,

Got to see it with a buddy on Friday night - we were going to bring our boys, but the kids didn’t want to interrupt perfectly good sleepover silly time on a grown-up guitar movie. So we left them at home and caught it ourselves.

Bottom line:

  • It was worth seeing - it scratches the guitar geek itch pretty well
  • You don’t need to see it on the big screen, but it was fun to
  • One or two viewings will be enough - i.e., it’s not an “instant buy” although I will probably end up owning it

What was good:

  • Jimmy Page as Elder Statesmen - he was the revered one and when he played, he Led (sorry, couldn’t resist) the other two.
  • Jack White as the Young Turk - sure he came across as cocky, but that was kinda his job as the baby of the group. I enjoyed his making the one-string slide (I know it has a name but can’t recall it - elelle, are you reading this thread? I’ve seen them done on the side of a house, too).
  • Watching Jimmy and Jack discuss their “epiphany” songs, Rumble by Link Wray and Grinnin’ in Your Face by Son House. You could tell how important the songs are and I respect their choices.
  • Watching The Edge discuss his “epiphany” moments - both realizing that a Delay box would be key to his sound and when he had to write the song that ended up being Sunday Bloody Sunday.
  • Watching Jack and Edge watch Jimmy Page play Whole Lotta Love - the director sold it hard, but the admiration and respect was clear on its own. And watching all of them play In My Time of Dying on slide was fun. Jimmy drove and Jack added some cool licks on top of it and Edge fit in, too.

What wasn’t so good:

  • The director didn’t frame the playing to always show both hands at work. Sorry, but this is just a non-starter. You show Fred Astaire dancing full-body, that’s the rule - and you show a guitar player fully playing the guitar. Sheesh - and this is supposed to be a guitar geek’s movie.
  • Tell the damn story - at a couple of points, a story is set up - our Heroes’ first guitar or epiphanal moment or something - and the film jumps across each of the three, nudging each story along in increments. Screw that - let Jimmy tell his story and let it get resolution, then let Edge tell his, etc…I wanted to smack someone when they got to a good part and then cut to the next guy.
  • Overall, The Edge - he comes across as neurotic and not nearly as “connected” with his instrument as the other two - and I since I respect him and don’t believe that to be the case at all, I question some of the choices of the film makers. The other two show up with guitar cases; Edge shows up with an effects rack the size of Peoria and a guy. And while it appears that the other two are ready pretty quickly (which I doubt - and Pagey clearly had a guy, too) Edge is shown dicking around with his rig. In fact, that is what Edge is mainly shown doing; when they show him on his own in his practice space, he spends more time dicking with his rig that playing anything - and the only thing he plays is the riff from Get On Yer Boots. At one point, he plays a big riff then shuts off the effects and you see he is playing the equivalent of chopsticks - and then drops it and they move on, so he comes across as someone using trickery. Why the heck didn’t they have him break down the beginning of Where the Streets have No Name so you could hear how the cascading delays set up a ping-pong stream of notes that sound cool?
  • Guitars - Okay, so Edge talks about his Explorer which is cool. Jack barely touches on his red Airline / White Stripes guitar but you get a good story about a battered Kay guitar he loves. But Jimmy? Okay, his first guitar is a Strat and we hear about it (although when he is shown as a young man playing a guitar, it’s not a Strat) - but he barely talks about the guitars that “matter” for him - his Les Paul #1, his Tele from the Yardbirds used to record LZ 1&2 and the Stairway solo, or the Danelectro he uses for slide. Heck, the doubleneck got more screen time than #1 - that’s just wrong. As I mentioned in a earlier thread, Pagey’s #1 is pretty much the most desirable/collectible guitar out there - I wouldn’t want to guess it’s value, but it’s more than Clapton’s Blackie or Jerry’s Tiger by a lot. And other than showing him playing it, it barely rates a mention. Sigh.

Overall, the sum of the parts were better than the whole. But fortunately, there are a lot of good parts!

My $.02

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Nice summary, WordMan. I’m definitely signed up to see this, although I’m out in the boondocks so hopefully a DVD will appear someday and I’ll watch that. I agree totally on the issue of filming someone playing and not showing the hands. Makes me crazy, it does.

What did this part mean?

I thought it was not at all uncommon for slide players to do single-string solos, so you probably meant something else.

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He made an actual instrument. WordMan isn’t talking about playing on a “real guitar.”

I saw the movie as a music fan, and most particularly a U2 fan. I have a passing knowledge of White Stripes/Raconteurs, but enjoyed seeing how experimental and intrigued with music Jack White is. My youth was bathed in Manilow and Denver rather than Led Zeppelin, so I know very little about Jimmie Page - however, his smile when he hears a great song is infectious.

I thought it was a good ol’ time, but then I don’t actually play guitar, so don’t have some of the irritations that you all might have.