TOM PETTY: "SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE" - a film by Mary Wharton

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by McCool, Sep 20, 2021.

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  1. MechanicalAnimal6

    MechanicalAnimal6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    hopefully this will be released on blu ray in the near future....
    hopefully not in a re-release of other things already released though! :)
     
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  2. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    Looking forward to seeing this with my dad tonight!
     
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  3. McCool

    McCool Forum Resident Thread Starter

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  4. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Just saw it, we had a pretty big crowd for one of the music docs, lots of Tom Petty fans out there. Nice to see Tom once again looking young and creating such a great album.
     
  5. Alright4now

    Alright4now Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    This movie was pretty bad. I went to see it in a neighborhood theater here in New Orleans with 2 friends and there were three other people in the theater with us: a couple and a dude by himself (more on this later).

    Context: I love Tom Petty. I love Wildflowers. The boxed set was my salvation during the pandemic. The soundtrack to my midlife crisis.

    The "movie" was a glorified EPK. It was boring. It was tedious. I think they culled the quotes from the liner notes from this footage, so I got to hear the same stories again. Rick Rubin was the king of self-absorbed unintentional comedy in this thing. There's lots of footage of Rubin doing an interview while lying down in the backseat of a car, waxing philosophic on god-knows-what. Rubin claims he listened to Full Moon Fever 10,000 times, but then calls it the "Free Falling Album". We were laughing at him a lot. Couldn't help it.

    Also, it is clear from the footage that Tom was WASTED half the time. Nobody talks about that in the movie. There's a part he's playing one of the hits from Full Moon Fever on a ukelele and it is so obvious he's loaded. Another part where his adult daughters are literally holding him up for a photo. It was pretty sad. If this was an actual documentary, it would have been addressed. But this was just an extended press release for the boxed set (which they had a big advertisement for after the movie).

    It wasn't all terrible: there's incredible footage from the making of the record and even the songwriting process. There were times I was pleasantly surprised that they let some of that stuff go on for minutes without cutting to a boring interview. There's cool footage of their practice space. Mike Campbell gives a sit-down interview in front of 50 vintage guitars. That was impressive and shocking and hilarious too.

    When the movie was over, me and my buddies were sorta standing around and the guy who was in the theater by himself walked up to us and said, "that was TERRIBLE, right?". We all then had a good laugh at how bad the movie was. The couple then came out and politely asked us what we thought and we laughed and told them how we thought and they were relieved because they thought it was boring too.

    I should have watched the new James Bond movie and then waited till this movie came out on Youtube. Don't waste your money or time. This movie sucked.
     
  6. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    I actually considered going to the very same theater you were at last night. Your review makes me glad I couldn't find an arrangement to make it happen.
     
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  7. Alright4now

    Alright4now Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I live a $10 uber ride from the Broad theater, so it was a pleasant night out all told. We had a lot of fun laughing at Rick Rubin. Don't tell me, show me!
     
  8. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I thought that, officially, Full Moon Fever was the "Gold Digging Sister" album. You learn something every day.

    The people behind this movie were interviewed on Debatable/SiriusXM months ago. It sounded like a glorified EPK with some bonus footage they had left around when they described it. I guess that's about right.
     
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  9. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    I live on the Northshore. Expensive Uber ride compared to you.
     
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  10. Alright4now

    Alright4now Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    You made the right decision to skip it.
     
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  11. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    Are there any cheap Uber rides anymore? Using the #BecauseCovid excuse, it seems their prices have risen to just about the level of a taxi in the old days. I'm seeing 3-4x more expensive than #BeforeCovid.
     
  12. nosticker

    nosticker Forum Guy

    Location:
    Ringwood, NJ
    I'm not a die-hard Petty fan, but the Wildflowers set turned my head around. I saw this last night, and it was bittersweet.

    I guess I didn't have the vitriolic reaction that some have had. I didn't expect much. Indeed, was anyone hoping for Jurassic Park? I know that Tom Petty wasn't a teetotaler, but neither did I get a sense of how he was day to day. I imagine the camera people were given strict orders when it was Miller Time.

    Editing-wise, they really overused that B-roll of Tom with that cap on staring into the camera. Enough already.

    The 90s footage was what it was. Probably would have been nicer to see more camaraderie between the band members and Tom and Rick, but I'm guessing it either wasn't shot or wasn't used.
    I love the serendipitous reactions someone will have to a playback in the control room. That, or hearing a spontaneous reaction when someone just KILLS a solo or vocal part. It's a shame we couldn't have shared in the joy of creation.

    If anything, it's really not clear what Rick Rubin actually does as a producer. He's not a musician, didn't arrange any parts(Michael Kamen for that), didn't see him really making any big judgment calls or playing good cop/bad cop with the other players.

    It was nice to learn more about Stan Lynch, but once again, he got thrown under the bus. It was curious to hear, albeit second or third hand, that he didn't like the new songs. Ultimately, I think they just didn't like the guy. Still, I don't buy the retro-hate I've seen in interviews; it shouldn't take you 20 years to decide someone isn't right for your band. However, if you write songs of Wildflowers quality and someone doesn't like them? I'd be baffled. And ticked off, too.


    Dan
     
  13. changeling69

    changeling69 WorldCitizen

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    I was looking FWD to a good movie on Petty.....
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    Well, Petty was in the throes of serious Heroin addiction at that time, something that was kept tightly under wraps by anyone with access--probably as a condition to access. So, yeah, I imagine there was stuff they couldn't film.
     
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  15. Alright4now

    Alright4now Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    This is excellent:
     
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  16. aroney

    aroney Who really gives a...?

    That's what torqued me off about the "Runnin' Down a Dream" doc - ZERO mention of Petty's heroin use/addiction, but plenty about Howie's...

    You'd think now, given to what contributed to Petty's death, there'd at least be a smidge of honesty...Nope. o_O
     
  17. gjp163

    gjp163 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wamberal Beach
    For those that have read accounts of his life ie. Warren Zanes etc. has anyone documented his problems...
     
  18. Hammerhead

    Hammerhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aberdeen
    Saw it in the cinema, first time since Star Wars in 2019.

    It was OK, basically a longer Classic Albums episode. But I admit I must have checked my watch 4 or 5 times…
     
  19. windfall

    windfall Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    The Zanes book (which is excellent) was in part promoted by this exclusive, that it was the first time Petty had spoken honestly about his addiction. My feeling is, Petty had the right to reveal or not reveal this part of his life when he chose to. Howie’s problems were fairly well documented IIRC - and eventually very obvious in his appearance.

    personally, I think having someone like Petty speak openly is helpful in destigmatising addiction and deglamorising it in rock’n’roll culture. Both pretty essential to a better understanding of this terrible disease.
     
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  20. McCool

    McCool Forum Resident Thread Starter


    TOM PETTY: "SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE: THE MAKING OF WILDFLOWERS" COMING TO YOUTUBE ORIGINALS ON NOVEMBER 11!
    As announced today courtesy of Rolling Stone [Daniel Kreps], "Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making Of Wildflowers" is heading to YouTube as part of their YouTube Originals slate of programming on November 11, 2021. The 90-minute documentary, directed by Mary Wharton, will arrive on Tom Petty’s YouTube channel on November 11th.

    Linkage:

    Official Website: www.tompettyfilm.com
    Rolling Stone: Tom Petty Talks Working With Rick Rubin in Clip From 'Wildflowers' Documentary
     
  21. faceinthecrowd

    faceinthecrowd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    My understanding, and damn if I can't remember where I read this, is there is (or was?) a segment on Tom's heroin addiction that he had removed from Runnin' Down a Dream. Like any band, there is very much a deliberate mythology built around TPATH and that's often missed because they all seem so real and down to earth.

    I've been skeptical of this doc because it looked like a family vanity project. I'm glad it will be coming to YT so it can be widely viewed by those who couldn't make it to the theater (me included). I still think the exclusion of 400 Days from this Wildflowers media bonanza is truly unfortunate. To me, that's the real documentary of this era.
     
  22. McCool

    McCool Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Martyn Atkins "400 Days" documentary was included as part of the "Wildflowers" campaign [albeit briefly] through Tom Petty/Heartbreakers YouTube channel in October of 2020.
     
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  23. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    Well, now I'm happy that those who couldn't see it in the cinema will now have a chance (although I think it should've been a simultaneous release to cinema and YouTube, but hey). Between Somewhere You Feel Free and Get Back (Let It Be), I've got some fun musical viewing for Thanksgiving week. Yay.

    I have a DVD version of 400 Days that came with the Super Deluxe edition of The Live Anthology.
     
  24. faceinthecrowd

    faceinthecrowd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    I missed the Super Deluxe edition, unfortunately, but I have watched 400 Days on YouTube. It's great. OT, but I'm also in for Get Back. Good stuff all around, and both important parts of rock history!
     
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  25. gjp163

    gjp163 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wamberal Beach
    I'm trying to understand the comments above about this doc being an EPK. It's essentially the making of Wilflowers and 100% agree it could have done with a heavy edit but it wasn't a tell all of TP taking his substances. We lost the man & I for one prefer to see the man creating a masterpiece.
     
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