Mayor of the Sunset strip is George Hickenlooper’s reverent documentary
about LA rock legend Rodney Bingenheimer. It’s like a real-life version of
Cameron Crowe sentimentality – a comparison the filmmakers were aware of, citing
that aside from their film, Crowe is the only other filmmaker Led Zeppelin has
granted song rights to.
The documentary isn’t tightly structured, similarly to Crumb, but like
that picture it’s filled with enough anecdotes and humor to keep it going.
Everybody from David Bowie to Courtney Love sings Rodney’s praises; as a DJ on
KROQ, he was responsible for breaking – or helping to break – bands as diverse
as Van Halen and The Ramones. But that was later on. He started off as a
groupie, and we’re shown footage of him alongside The Mamas and the Papas and
The Monkees and Elvis and just about anybody else you can think of.
Rodney’s been around for so long that his 7-room apartment is filled with
memorabilia. He claims to have never profited much from his endeavors, which
also included owning a club in the ‘70s, though the merchandise in his apartment
would easily auction for millions. When asked at the press conference about what
he intended to do with it all, he replied that he’ll probably just pass it on to
somebody else who would appreciate it. It’s obvious he doesn’t see the monetary
value in these things – his attachment is personal and emotional.
On a side note, I asked George Hickenlooper if it was true that Francis Ford
Coppola was holding up the DVD release of Hearts of Darkness, his
documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. He confirmed that Francis
wanted to alter the context of his Martin Sheen heart attack comments. George
said he has no problem with this, it’s just a matter of Francis allotting him
the time to make the changes – which means it might be a couple of years before
the DVD comes out.
This
was the second time I’ve seen Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 21 Grams.
Both times I’ve had some problems with it, though for different reasons. The
first time, I had issues with Sean Penn’s character being a math professor,
which is never really developed. This time I felt that, like PT Anderson’s
Magnolia, the frantic nature of the filmmaking concealed extreme melodrama.
But I should stress, it’s still better than most of the films you'll see this
year. It features pitch-perfect performances all around. I’ll be truly surprised
if all three leads – Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del
Toro – don’t get Oscar nominations. In fact, I think it’s the best work that Del
Toro’s ever done. I’d also really like to see Focus push a Best Supporting
Actress nomination for Melissa Leo, who plays Del Toro’s wife.
I don’t want to say too much more about 21 Grams, since I’ll be posting
interviews with most of the principles in the near future. If you’d like to know
more, tune in soon for our official coverage.
Copyright 2003 Jamie Stuart