For long-time Rolling Stones fans who have seen the group perform during the Mick Taylor era and the early days of Ron Wood – and who are overwhelmed by the jungle of stuff – all the books, DVDs and online media covering/surrounding the Greatest Rock & Roll band in the world, Crossfire Hurricane is a wonderful succinct history perfectly told in a most satisfying way.
This Brett Morgen film is tightly presented with colorful psychedelia, a terrific “Midnight Rambler”, and lots of information told in the first person by the boys in the band.
It has the feel of Bob Smeaton’s work with The Beatles on their Anthology series and, truth be told, why the Stones didn’t put their own Anthology series together with an idea for a similar high-end project is a sign of the times.
Remember when the National Lampoon’s “Magical Misery Tour” (on the 1972 Radio Dinner lp) had the imitation John Lennon singing “Every fucking thing we ever did Mick tried to copy / we even wrote his second fucking record for him…”
But it was kinda sorta true that retail-wise and sometimes even stylistically you had the Beggars Banquet (December 6, 1968)vs. the White Album (November 22, 1968) and things of that nature.
Hearing “You Gotta Move” with a news announcement of a heroin bust on Keith in Canada with amazing footage of the band is the kind of storytelling edit that makes this work so well. There’s a delicious booklet that comes with the DVD including photos and easy to read script…and the cast and credits on the back cover of the insert. Wonderful, simply wonderful.
The Rolling Stones – Crossfire Hurricane (Trailer)
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.