Overall, it was very good and well worth the time and $5. Plus, it's not like there's an abundance of opportunities to revel in the Minutemen's music, apart from just playing the records themselves. About a third of the movie was tremendous live footage, which really drove the point home that they were a very musically talented trio that played together in a unique way. D. Boon was a hell of a guitar player and had a true populist's voice, Mike Watt was one of the best bass players of the 80s, and George Hurley was a really jazzily interesting drum player (who looks like a complete doof in most of the footage -- his hair makes the Flock of Seagulls singer look like a crewcutted jarhead). When the jam footage was showing, heads were bobbing and everyone was smiling.
About a third of it consisted of a couple extended interviews with Mike Watt, who came off like a slightly out-of-it Billy Bob Thornton. I don't think he's really as spacey and semi-clueless as he appears in the movie, but it made him seem like such a genial father figure as he drove around San Pedro in a crappy van, or was sprawled out on an old couch.
And then a third of it was a bunch of interviews with the leading punk and music icons of the era. This part got real boring fast. It seemed like every one of the interview segments (and there were at least 20) was the person responding to the question, "Explain, in the most misty, philosophical, almost-speechless way possible, the manner in which the Minutemen were the most awesome band ever" Clearly everyone watching the movie was a fan of the band, so sitting through accolade after accolade was pretty dull. Did the producers think that a bunch of Maroon 5 fans were going to attend and that this was the one chance of teaching them the wisdom of the Minutemen? Hell, I heard a guy in line say that he was going to road-trip up to Philly to catch a screening there, so it's pretty obvious that we were the choir.
Random memories:
Ian MacKaye was sitting right behind me, and was wearing the exact same thing as he was wearing in his interview segments -- right down to the same black watchcap worn slightly askew on his head.
Flea came across as a pseudo-intellectual who worked feverishly to include as many references to various Black groups as possible, thus demonstrating that he is down, word.
Keith Morris, Black Flag/Circle Jerks singer, was great. Kind of like a cross between David Lee Roth and that burned-out hippy that MTV used to feature as its mascot. What was his name, Randy?
Seriously, George Hurley's hair was out of control.
