Maui Film Festival @Wailea THE TRAMP
BEHIND THE SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK ‘N ROLL OF METALLICA time being in group therapy also seemed like great material for a documentary.” But then Metallica’s record label, Elektra, got a little antsy and wanted to put the film out quickly as trendy cable fodder, to coincide with the release of St. Anger. This was far ahead of the schedule Berlinger and Sinofsky had planned. “They [Elektra] wanted to chop it into multiple parts and put it on TV with commercial breaks and bleeped ‘shits’ and ‘fucks,’ redesigned as reality television,” Berlinger said in the website interview. “While we both really enjoy The Osbournes, we saw this project as a sort of antitheses to that show, and now it was about to be transformed into something meant to be consumed, spit out and forgotten.” The band members sided with the filmmakers. Instead of dealing with the record company, Metallica bought out Elektra’s investment in the film and gave back control to Berlinger and Sinofsky. The resulting rockumentary has been made an Official Selection for film festivals worldwide, including the Sundance, South By Southwest, True/False, San Francisco International, London International and Full Frame Film Festivals. Even if you’re not particularly a fan of Metallica but are just nosy enough to want to peek in on the “lifestyles of the rich and famous,” it will likely make your own dreary existence seem not so bad after all. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster shows at the Castle Theater on Friday at 7:30 p.m. For more info, call 242-7469 or visit www.somekindofmonster.com. MTW
A five-minute requiem for the 20th century, featuring the music of Stevie Wonder.
TWINS Accompanying his wife, award-winning photographer Mary Ellen Mark, on a book project about twins, director Martin Bell wanted to explore further the extraordinary bond he observed in her subjects. After being photographed, a series of identical twins of varying ages and backgrounds were asked 20 questions. This heart-warming documentary is constructed from their answers.
THE YES MEN
-VTHE VAGABOND After passing the hat and taking the donations intended for German street musicians Chaplin heads for the country. Here he finds and rescues a girl from a band of gypsies. But then girl falls in love with an artist—or so Charlie thinks. The artist’s portrait of the girl is later seen in a shop by her real mother, and she is taken back to her rightful heritage, leaving Charlie thinking she has gone off with the artist. But has she?
-WWHAT THE #$*! DO WE KNOW?
TWINS
270 MILES FROM GRACELAND The 20th century gave the world Woodstock, and the 21st has given us Bonnaroo. A dayslong open-air concert and celebration attended by tens of thousands of people featuring, in this rousing documentary of the 2003 event, terrific performances by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Jack Johnson, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the Allman Brothers and, the Roots, Sonic Youth, Polyphonic Spree, the Flaming Lips, Leo Kottke and the godfather of soul, James Brown, among others.
-UUNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS
METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER
18
JUNE 17, 2004
FILM FESTIVAL
studded V-Day benefit at Harlem’s Apollo Theater; travels to regional events in Ukiah, California, the Philippines and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Rapid City, South Dakota; and culminates in the opening of the first V-Day Safe House for girls in Kenya.
TRUST
BY: SAMANTHA CAMPOS
FEATURE
Ever want to be a rock star? Or just date one? Well, watch this movie about the trials and tribulations of one of hard rock’s most successful bands in history and then think again. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a documentary that follows the legendary heavy metal band as they struggle to overcome the “clashing egos and artistic inertia” that came from spending 20 years together making music. The film also chronicles the departure of longtime bass-guitarist Jason Newsted as well as lead singer James Hetfield’s entry into rehab for alcoholism, all while the band is preparing to make their latest album, St. Anger after a six-year hiatus. When they end up in group therapy, the cameras are still in tow. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky—documentary filmmakers for multiple-award winning 1992’s Brother’s Keeper and 1996’s Paradise Lost—spent three years on the film. They came up with the idea after filming a VH1 piece on extremely devoted music fans, with Metallica and their audience at the forefront. The band and filmmakers then set about preparing for a potential future collaboration, allowing for the right time when Berlinger and Sinofsky’s all-access approach would be welcomed by the band, or at least, not so intrusive and jarring. The time was finally right in 2001, but not without some trepidation. “When you set out to make a cinema-verité film you never know where it is going to take you,” said Berlinger in an interview posted on the movie’s official website. “We also made sure that we had complete access to the band’s sessions with [therapist] Phil Towle, and the idea of the most successful metal band of all
Chaplin plays a tramp, who, after saving a farmer’s daughter from thieves, is given a job on the farm as a reward. Charlie later manages to thwart the same bandits who try to rob the farm, but he is accidentally shot in the process by the farmer. Charlie basks in the attention of the farmer, and his daughter, until the girl’s boyfriend arrives. This film was not the first to introduce Charlie’s famous “tramp” character, but it laid the groundwork for many of his future masterpieces.
U-Z
Eve Ensler’s award-winning play The Vagina Monologues, which played to sold-out audiences on Maui in 2003, inspired this documentary that premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. It is the first film about V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls that grew of the play. In 2002, 800 cities participated; Until the Violence follows the uplifting, empowering impact of V-Day in five of these communities. The story begins at a star-
Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) stars in this cosmic fable as Amanda, a divorced photographer who has given up on finding new love. All this changes as her life literally begins to unravel when she finds herself in a fantastic Alice in Wonderland-like experience. Through magnificent special effects that take us on a fantastic voyage through the human body, the unpredictablility lurking behind our collective efforts to control the “real world” is revealed.
-YTHE YES MEN This hilarious documentary, winner of Best Documentary at HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, follows anti-corporate activistpranksters Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno as they impersonate World Trade Organization spokesmen at business conferences around the world. The story begins with the duo setting up a tasteless parody of the WTO’s website. Some visitors don’t notice the site is a fake, and send the Yes Men speaking invitations meant for the real WTO. Mike and Andy play along with the ruse and soon find themselves attending important functions as WTO representatives.