The Kids Are Alright

[August1991]

Another Hollywood progressive gay movie.

I am tired of gay movies with utterly self-absorbed characters. Are all gays so obsessed with themselves and their personal lives? If so, an even better version of the same angst is Xavier Dolan's movie "J'ai tué ma mère". Compared to Dolan's movie, this movie is a pale imitation of gay angst.

Annette Bening can act, God can she act. She portrays a lesbian honestly, correctly, accurately, humanly. Bening deserves an Oscar. When you see her in this movie, you see her as a Volvo-driving, control freak, male-hating, uh, neighbour down the street. In fact, this movie's strong point is the acting - I believed what I saw. Except....

As I drove away from the cinema, I thought of "Terms of Endearment". Is this movie another melodrama? Not quite. Then I thought of Susan Sarandon in "Anywhere But Here" but Alvin Sargent wrote that script. This movie's script is good, it presents tough, hard material but it's not Alvin Sargent. The script is not as good as the acting.

In our modern Western world, self-absorbed people in general (fortunately) don't have children. This movie pretends that self-absorbed parents can raise good kids. Hollywood, what a place...

[Jack Weber]

I read the title and thought you were talking about The Who documentary of the same name!!!

[Shwa]

I read the title and thought you were talking about The Who documentary of the same name!!!

LOL! So did I! Ah the blurry summer evenings at the Towne Cinema (?) in Ottawa in the early 80's: The Kids Are Alright, followed by Quadrophenia followed by Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. The air was so pungent, my eyes would burn. Whenever I could feel my eyes that is.

[ToadBrother]

I read the title and thought you were talking about The Who documentary of the same name!!!

No kidding. Now that was a great movie.

[Jack Weber]

A clip from The Kids Are Alright...

The Who...December '68...On the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV show.

The 'Stones still don't like the fact that The Who showed them up on their own TV show.This keepd getting banned on Youtube by ABKCO...Mick and Keef,ya' should've rehersed more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uMKPWvgjk0

Edited August 16, 2010 by Jack Weber

[August1991]

I read the title and thought you were talking about The Who documentary of the same name!!!

True, the title is sadly derivative - and there's no doubt the producers intended it so.

[Jack Weber]

True, the title is sadly derivative - and there's no doubt the producers intended it so.

You should have saved yourself the trouble and rented The Who dvd...

[bloodyminded]

The movie is getting the sort of raves that a quirky family drama receives every three or four years; it's being marketed as something, well, truly special.

I haven't seen it, so my cynicism might be truly unfair; but it's based on historical precedence: Juno was a much adored movie, and I didn't like it. I wasn't crazy about American Beauty, either.

(to tie this together, however, now that I think about it: I agree with August about Bening, who was amazing in American Beauty, too; and in the overrated Bugsy, she stole the film from Warren Beatty.)

As for The Kids Are Alright....I'll wait for the download...er, I mean, the DVD.

Edited August 17, 2010 by bloodyminded

[August1991]

I haven't seen it, so my cynicism might be truly unfair; but it's based on historical precedence: Juno was a much adored movie, and I didn't like it. I wasn't crazy about American Beauty, either.

I absolutely despised American Beauty, on several levels.

So, if you liked American Beauty, you'll probably like "The Kids Are Alright". And IMHO, you are also brain dead.

[bloodyminded]

I absolutely despised American Beauty, on several levels.

So, if you liked American Beauty, you'll probably like "The Kids Are Alright". And IMHO, you are also brain dead.

I'm going to assume that's a rhetorical, generalized "you."

[Jack Weber]

I absolutely despised American Beauty, on several levels.

So, if you liked American Beauty, you'll probably like "The Kids Are Alright". And IMHO, you are also brain dead.

Which,"The Kids Are Alright" are we talking about???

The Who doc or this other stuff?

[ToadBrother]

I absolutely despised American Beauty, on several levels.

The biggest problem I had with that movie was that somewhere in it was a really biting satire that the writer lost the guts to let out, and turned it into a rather more pathetically conventional story.

[ToadBrother]

A clip from The Kids Are Alright...

The Who...December '68...On the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV show.

The 'Stones still don't like the fact that The Who showed them up on their own TV show.This keepd getting banned on Youtube by ABKCO...Mick and Keef,ya' should've rehersed more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uMKPWvgjk0

Ah yes, A Quick One While He's Away. That began the incredible run Pete had that lasted straight on through Quadrophenia.

[Jack Weber]

Ah yes, A Quick One While He's Away. That began the incredible run Pete had that lasted straight on through Quadrophenia.

By late '68 the band was rapidly trying to shed their mod image.Also,Townshend was growing in confidence as a songwriter,so he was able to expand lyrically from the usual 3 minute song he was accustomes to.This is the best version of that song I have ever heared.I've heared the one from Monterey and you can tell they still were'nt sure of themselves on stage.It's no wonder The 'Stones don't ant people to hear it even now because it is a 7:45 minute tour de force,and if you've seen The 'Stones songs from that show,they're fairly pedestrian...

By the way,when Moon kicks in with the drums at the beginning,it's like violence and force!!

I agree,this is where Townshend started to really prove his chops as a songwriter.I would say that continued right up until Moon's death nine years later...

[August1991]

The Kids Are Alright, followed by Quadrophenia followed by Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii.

"Tommy can you feel me... "

Sorry, I have never understood the attraction for The Who or much less Pink Floyd. I guess, as they say, you had to be there.

I will admit that Quadrophenia turned into 5.1 surroundsound so they were on to something there - but that's technology, not composition.

I'm going to assume that's a rhetorical, generalized "you."

You assume right. What assumption is not rhetorical?

[Jack Weber]

Did someone say "Quadrophenia"???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHtVaSmK38s

[Jack Weber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD4u4sIjHmY

After listening to this one,I defy anyone to say that Keith Moon is not greatest man ever on the skins...And that Entwistle guy ain't bad on this one either...

[ToadBrother]

After listening to this one,I defy anyone to say that Keith Moon is not greatest man ever on the skins...And that Entwistle guy ain't bad on this one either...

There's no doubt that Entwhistle is probably the top two or three bassists out there, and a major inspirer of our own Geddy Lee.

Moon was brilliant, but as so many of pointed out, he wasn't exactly your typical drummer. He was one of those rare people who played one instrument like it was another (the Ox was like that too). A lot of the Who's stuff often had the whole thing turned on its head; Entwhistle and Moon playing, for all intents and purposes, lead instruments, while Townshend was underpinning everything with very percussionistic guitar playing (listen to the end of Baba O'reilly, where Moon is doing his thing, and it's Pete who is keeping time). The Who were brilliant because they really turned the whole damned thing on its head, and after Moon was gone, they lost that, though with Zack Starkey, they have someone who at least understands what Moon was all about.

But I'm still partial to Bonham in one respect, and that is that there Bonzo remains to this day the great master at finding the pocket. Bonzo was a very groovy drummer, who was as informed by the Motown groove as by anything else (listen to Zep's killer rendition of We're Gonna Groove from Albert Hall, I mean, you almost don't even bother listening to anything else except Bonzo's drumming, and certainly songs like Achilles Last Stand and Kashmir wouldn't have been half the songs they were without Bonzo on the drums).

But for it's apples and oranges. Moon was one of a kind, and even the Who couldn't find anybody who really matched him. I know that they all often complained that Moon could get too outrageous, and there were whisperings at one point that Townshend was happy to work with a more typical drummer like Kenney Jones. But Entwhistle said it best when he said that the Who was never the same without Moon. Could anyone else have come up with that extraordinary drumming like he did in 5:15 (to my mind probably Moon's finest moment on record)? Moon's biggest problem, from an artistic point of view, is that he didn't die right after Quadrophenia, because after that he just fell to pieces. You even look at Won't Get Fooled Again from the Kids Are Alright. He puts on a spirited performance, but when you listen to the record or earlier live performances from the early 70s, the Moon of those latter days was a shadow of his former brilliance.

[Jack Weber]

There's no doubt that Entwhistle is probably the top two or three bassists out there, and a major inspirer of our own Geddy Lee.

Moon was brilliant, but as so many of pointed out, he wasn't exactly your typical drummer. He was one of those rare people who played one instrument like it was another (the Ox was like that too). A lot of the Who's stuff often had the whole thing turned on its head; Entwhistle and Moon playing, for all intents and purposes, lead instruments, while Townshend was underpinning everything with very percussionistic guitar playing (listen to the end of Baba O'reilly, where Moon is doing his thing, and it's Pete who is keeping time). The Who were brilliant because they really turned the whole damned thing on its head, and after Moon was gone, they lost that, though with Zack Starkey, they have someone who at least understands what Moon was all about.

But I'm still partial to Bonham in one respect, and that is that there Bonzo remains to this day the great master at finding the pocket. Bonzo was a very groovy drummer, who was as informed by the Motown groove as by anything else (listen to Zep's killer rendition of We're Gonna Groove from Albert Hall, I mean, you almost don't even bother listening to anything else except Bonzo's drumming, and certainly songs like Achilles Last Stand and Kashmir wouldn't have been half the songs they were without Bonzo on the drums).

But for it's apples and oranges. Moon was one of a kind, and even the Who couldn't find anybody who really matched him. I know that they all often complained that Moon could get too outrageous, and there were whisperings at one point that Townshend was happy to work with a more typical drummer like Kenney Jones. But Entwhistle said it best when he said that the Who was never the same without Moon. Could anyone else have come up with that extraordinary drumming like he did in 5:15 (to my mind probably Moon's finest moment on record)? Moon's biggest problem, from an artistic point of view, is that he didn't die right after Quadrophenia, because after that he just fell to pieces. You even look at Won't Get Fooled Again from the Kids Are Alright. He puts on a spirited performance, but when you listen to the record or earlier live performances from the early 70s, the Moon of those latter days was a shadow of his former brilliance.

A couple of things about Moon...

If he was not such a proficient drummer,he probably would have been a skid row drunk.He really was'nt good at anything else.His life outside the music was a hodge podge of immaturity and gross excess.It's what killed him...

He also rarely,if ever,practiced.He was infamous for hating studio work because it was tedious and it had to be done a certain way to fit the time allocated for whatever track was being recorded.Where Moon outshines everyone is his improvisational ability.And ironically,I've seen interviews wher Daltrey felt that it was Moon who would keep the band together on stage because both Entwistle and Townsend would go way off on tangents and it was Moon's drumming that would bind the band together.Because of Moon's improvisational ability,rearely would 2 concerts be the same.

With respect to Bonham,I agree with you.The reason Bonzo was a better groove drummer is really because his style fit the influences of Led Zeppelin.Zeppelin was a more bluesy band than The Who.Both drummers played the music each band was influenced by.In The Who's case,they came out of the early and mid-'60's mod era,and are heavily influenced by the angst and anger of Pete Townshend.Moon's frenetic,almost barely in control style,fits the music.Again,I've heared Daltrey say that Moon could play a straight beat,but would never stick to it.But that was OK for the music he was playing.I don't think he could have fit in playing Led Zeppelin's music,because the styles are incongruent.

You mentioned the Won't Get Fooled Again clip from The Kids Are Alright.If you read a little about that,it's really pathetic.Moon was so far gone by that time that they had to redub the drumming in the studio because his live version was so terrible.He was out of shape.He was missing beats.He could'nt keep up.He was a shadow of his former self.If you watch the end of it,Moon gets up and almost falls down climbing over the drum kit and you see Townshend trying to catch him...

Have you ever heared the story of Bonham and a roadie going to a Chuck Berry concert in the mid-'70's?

[Jack Weber]

Hey Toadie...

Check this interview out with Townshend and Daltry...

[DogOnPorch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17F9i302tfo

I wonder which city's CSI team gets this Who song?

[Jack Weber]

That's completely unacceptable on so many levels!!!

In fact,I have to expunge that from the memory banks immediately!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCXpFy0E5s

Perhaps the most devastating live performance by any band,anytime,anywhere!!!

If this does'nt have you shredding it with the air guitar or air drums...You should check yourself into the nearest morgue!!!

Raw and Row You Pukes!!!!

[DogOnPorch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Y64dpZGnE

She goes like...THUNDER... Edited August 30, 2010 by DogOnPorch

[ToadBrother]

Hey Toadie...

Check this interview out with Townshend and Daltry...

I've seen Roger's bit before.

It was Entwhistle who said the band was never a "proper" rock and roll band. You had a guitarist who spent half his time playing percussively, a bass guitarist who played his bass like it was a lead guitar and a drummer who seemed firmly convinced he was supposed to be playing the lead instrument. The Who lost the larger part of their sound after Moon died, and while both Kenney Jones and Zak Starkey are both really good drummers, even Starkey can at best only imitate Moon. Moon, at his peak, was just too wildly unpredictable, throwing in fills where they ought not to be, always the unpredictable presence.

There really was never another unit quite like The Who. Maybe The Clash came close when Topper Headon was playing drums (another brilliant drummer sidelined by an insane lifestyle), but then again what were The Clash but Son of The Who?

[ToadBrother]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17F9i302tfo

I wonder which city's CSI team gets this Who song?

Makes me want to go out and listen to Frank Zappa for someone reason...