David Bowie - New Live/Documentary Movie "Moonage Daydream"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by EfWe, Nov 18, 2021.

  1. vcpj

    vcpj Gomper

    Location:
    birmingham, al
    Fair enough but if I played this Blu-ray to my friends who are not Bowie nut extraordinaires, they're unfamiliar with .... all of the above. RICOCHET is rather obscure.
     
  2. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Been on a Bowie kick lately. Seen Celebrating David Bowie (Todd Rundgren was absent) and it was terrific. Ordered the Sound and Vision box set from another forum member.

    Hoped that the Moonage Daydream Blu Ray would be the cherry on top. Didn't know what to make of it. Glad to have watched, but don't see how the whole thing could stand up to repeated viewing. This Bowie as philosopher and musings on living with stardom only last for so long. However, the footage of "Heroes" performed live, from the tour that brought Stage, was impressed. It looked and sounded great.

    Definitely up for some full length live material.
     
  3. ShockOfDaylight

    ShockOfDaylight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    whether they’ve seen it previously or not, isn’t the only issue, it’s the overuse of that footage in general. We need to remember the director had free use of pretty much everything in the Bowie archive, but yet still relied primarily on just a handful of previously released movies/documentaries. It makes the scope of the movie smaller than it should have been.

    Even if they’re unaware of Ricochet, your friends may still ask why they keep showing blonde Bowie on a Singapore escalator, or maybe they won’t…
     
    johnnyyen and Cast Iron Shore like this.
  4. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Yes, far too much Ricochet, not enough Earls Court.
     
  5. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Give thanks! There's always room for more Ricochet!

    One story line is scripted, but is "Moonage Daydream" the chaos of the unconscious the way it pretends to be? Ricochet is a combination of "real" documentary and the way he wished to present himself, and four well-filmed performances. Ricochet Now! Scary Spider forever!
     
    johnnyyen likes this.
  6. brucewayneofgotham

    brucewayneofgotham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bunkville
    wasn't there another thread going about this?
     
  7. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    I very much doubt that anybody started a thread about the Ricochet video :winkgrin:
     
    Chris Bernhardt and Max Florian like this.
  8. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Never say Never. I posted clips and timestamps in the MD thread.
     
  9. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    Not sure how you could watch this film as a Bowie fan and not be moved. The final 10 minutes or so was really intense. Was it perfect? Of course not. Making a film Bowie freaks and casual fans both loved equally would be impossible. I didn’t give a hoot that I’d seen most of the footage already. I’d assumed that going in. And what they did with it all was wonderful (minus the excessive “Ricochet” footage). But even that “Ricochet” footage had a big purpose in the film.

    The big thing got me is I felt Bowie would have loved it. For that alone I think it was a huge achievement.
     
    Vagabond, Tingman, Dayfold and 3 others like this.
  10. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    So anyone get the BluRay yet? I only have a 2 channel stereo and the sound on this being only 5.1 is way weird. Am I the only one who doesn’t do surround sound? This is the only DVD I own that doesn’t have a 2.0 audio track.
     
    TonyCzar likes this.
  11. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    Without spoiling for those who haven’t seen it, I’d say the end of his career is certainly captured. Just not in the normal sense. I found it incredibly moving.
     
    Colinjpush and aphexj like this.
  12. ShockOfDaylight

    ShockOfDaylight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    In my heart of hearts I truly don’t think Bowie would have been thrilled with the finished product. The story essentially ending with Iman saving him from the Glass Spider was definitely a choice. All the material at Morgen’s fingertips and all he does is a simple cut and paste of previous Bowie films, instead of treading any new ground.

    Aside from a few out of context clips from the Blackstar video and a short montage with Hallo Spaceboy, the story of his later years was completely discarded. There was a reason he wanted the Nothing Has Changed comp to be in reverse order, he believed in his later works. Maybe I’m biased because they are some of my favorites, too.


     
  13. GRompre68

    GRompre68 Vive le Prog Quebecois

    Location:
    Colombus, Ohio
    Overall I enjoyed the Blu ray, the movie is a nice overview of Bowie's career, but not detailed by any means. I enjoyed the interviews parts, and the concert parts (Heroes especially). Lots of new footage for me.

    What I did not like too much was the sound effects that were on top of the music and over Bowie's talking. Felt claustrophobic at times. Why not letting the music with Bowie's talking, like a normal documentary... why adding those weird sound effects?
     
  14. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Bowie fanatic, and I wasn't moved at all...mostly annoyed. It was sensory overload, but not in any kind of meaningful or impactful way, because the music was so fragmented. His voiceovers didn't really add anything after the first few minutes, IMO. What moves me about Bowie is his music...and for a movie with a 2+ hour runtime, it felt like there was comparatively little music, at least in a way where a song registered with the listener. I don't think anyone can really say whether Bowie himself would've liked it or not, his opinions on things over the years (to me) were all over the place.
     
  15. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    To each their own I guess. For the record, I've been a Bowie nut since I was about 9 years old (I'm 53).

    I've seen it twice and both times I was incredibly moved at various moments. And it was mostly because of hearing his own voice throughout. That approach for me was what made the film so successful but it seems that's exactly why it didn't succeed for others. But I could listen to him talk for hours and not be bored at all as I find him fascinating. I thought visually and audibly this film was a total triumph, especially when viewed in the theater. It was overwhelming!
     
  16. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    Especially since they were mostly taken from characters he had played in movies.

    Misleading nonsense
     
    Jimmy Jam and karmaman like this.
  17. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    Do you have a surround system? I do not, and with the DVD only including a 5.1 audio track, the voiceover and sound in general is awful on a 2-channel system. I sent it back. What a shame, because otherwise this is unbelievable sound-wise! I almost want to set up a surround system just for this movie.
     
  18. ShockOfDaylight

    ShockOfDaylight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    It’s cool that you enjoyed it, and I’m happy to see what people’s different viewpoints are on the film. But as a huge Bowie fan, it is frustrating to come across these positive reviews that also feel the need to essentially imply “how can you call yourself a Bowie fan if you don’t like this movie”
     
    Jimmy Jam, walrus and Oatsdad like this.
  19. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident

    I have not yet seen the film so can't comment on it, but it occurs to me reading your post that the artifice of using Bowie's characters to provide the narrative is the sort of thing he would have liked - he spent his whole career speaking from the perspective of different characters and personas.

    Not suggesting that Brett was consciously trying to play into Bowie's sense of artifice, but just an observation.
     
    Vagabond likes this.
  20. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    It's probably cheaper to get Ziggy MP, Ricochet (SM), TMWFTE because they all have stereo audio options and you can watch them without edits and explosions
     
  21. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    I understand your point and why not, but younger audiences leaving the movie theatre thinking either what a deep philosopher or a complete bore Bowie was is misleading
     
    Bink and Max Florian like this.
  22. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    My teenage son thought neither of those things. I think you’re projecting your personal issues with the film onto others. Most will be able to take from it and interpret it what they want to. Just like Bowie’s music.
     
    Vagabond and FrixFrixFrix like this.
  23. Colinjpush

    Colinjpush Master of Rhythm and Pacing

    Location:
    Erie PA
    I finally got the chance to watch it, and being familiar with Brett Morgen via the Stones and Kurt Cobain docs, this is definitely the lesser comparatively. It’s still Bowie so it is good for that, but what bugged me is the constant reuse of certain clips throughout, like the moon imagery from what appeared to be the “Blackstar” video and the outtakes from “The Hearts Filthy Lesson” video. Editing-wise it does seem rushed and probably could’ve benefited from an extra year of production.

    The thing lacking that those other two docs do have though, is a through-line. This felt like ‘a taste of Bowie’ rather than in-depth explorations like Crossfire Hurricane or Montage of Heck. Admittedly both of those have their faults too, and all three look good (for the most part, except for the mirrored 1973 performance footage in the Bowie one), but I don’t know, Bowie I’d imagine is one of the toughest artists to pin down into one solid documentary without skipping over a bunch. A multi-part docuseries would very much be welcome I think. Or just continue the Five Years series and do one covering the Tin Machine days up to the turn of the century.

    But yeah, 3/5 score for me.
     
    Max Florian likes this.
  24. ShockOfDaylight

    ShockOfDaylight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    It’s also worth noting that Bowie’s son Duncan, a filmmaker in his own right, has not shared his thoughts on the film. He did tweet in May verifying the estate approved the film, but that he had not yet seen it. He hasn’t promoted or said anything on the film since.
     
    Chris Bernhardt and Colinjpush like this.
  25. Crosseyed

    Crosseyed help I'm a rock

    Location:
    NJ
    Some random thoughts after watching the movie
    1. I didn't know the the history of David Bowie began in 1973 - spoiler alert it did not
    2. When David talk's about his brother they play a track from Diamond Dogs (rock n roll with me -wtf?) in the background instead of one from The Man Who Sold the World (all the madmen) - baffling...
    3. At some point while watching the movie I started washing my dishes and lost interest
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2022

Share This Page

molar-endocrine