Tag: don’t stop believin

Tribeca 2012 Review: DON’T STOP BELIEVIN: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY

With a title like DON’T STOP BELIEVIN: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY, one might expect a fairly cheesy music documentary that would only appeal to fans of the band. Instead we are treated to a fairly fascinating real life fairy tale where a struggling musician from the Philippines is chosen to be the new lead singer of world famous rock group he has been a fan of since he was a kid. Arnel Pineda had dozens of videos on Youtube of himself performing cover songs, including many of Journey’s biggest hits. Guitarist Neil Schon came across these videos while in the midst of searching for a replacement for their lead singer who was forced to leave the band for medical reasons. This documentary covers everything from Arnel’s initial auditions to the conclusion of their very first tour together as the new & improved musical juggernaut that is Journey.

DON’T STOP BELIEVIN is an inspirational film detailing Arnel’s struggles both before and after joining the band, as well as the subtle changes within the band after his inclusion. One of my favorite moments in the film came when he performed his first full concert in a crowded arena in Chile. Prior to going on stage, he is a wreck asking to go home but once the lights kick on, he owns the stage. Then afterward he is told not to go so crazy on stage because Journey’s music is not meant to be performed that way. He apologizes then tells the cameras that they will get used to it. Arnel really is just a captivating and entertaining presence who is a joy to watch.

My biggest and only real criticism is that the doc does feel its running time of close to 2 hours. There are plenty of little things that could be trimmed to tighten up the pacing although I’m sure Journey fans will want to see it as is. There will probably be some sort of editing depending on the type of release this gets even if just to remove the surprising amount of f-bombs dropped throughout. It also would have been nice to get the opinions of some former band members on the new lineup although I understand how that may not have been possible in some cases. Their absence is not really noticed while watching the film and is more of a curiosity I had after the credits rolled.

You don’t need to be a Journey fan to enjoy this film although you need to at least be able to tolerate them because their music is on constant rotation throughout the film. I would consider myself only a casual listener but I will admit that since watching the film, I thought about buying their greatest hits CD. Then I found out my dad already had one so I just borrowed it from him. Now that’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

Jerry Cavallaro – @GetStuck – JerryCavallaro.com

Tribeca 2012 Daily Recap: April 20th

My Friday morning at TFF started off with more Magnum Ice Cream, of course. It doesn’t matter what time of the day, it is always a good time for free ice cream. After enjoying my super nutritional frozen breakfast, I walked over to Clearview Cinemas for one of my most anticipated films of the fest.

There are moments in TAKE THIS WALTZ that I absolutely loved and there are moments I was put off by the forced subtlety and repetition. That seems to be exactly how Margot (Michelle Williams) feels about her marriage in the film so this may have been a stylistic choice on the part of writer / director Sarah Polley. Or it could just be that I am not a fan of watching grounded-in-reality relationships where no one says what they actually mean. It is probably pretty telling that despite everyone’s fantastic emotionally charged performances, my favorite was Seth Rogen who seemed to be most at ease handling the intense mix of drama and comedy.

After dissecting (i.e., criticizing) the ending with some fellow press, I made my way over to the Filmmaker Lounge to meet up with Ala LaFave. I thought the press lounge was bad; the Filmmaker Lounge truly is a hike from the main festival venues. It is the perfect distance to make you question walking, but not far enough to warrant paying for a cab. Upon leaving the lounge, I noticed a table by the door full of postcards & posters for the films playing at TFF. Why is there nothing like this at the press lounge or at the theaters for the public to see?

Before making the trek back to the theater, Alan and I decided to grab a “quick” lunch at Shake Shack. I have heard constantly that it is the best burger in NY and despite being a New Yorker my whole life; I’ve never eaten there. Apparently the 1-hour wait is no myth. It took 55 minutes to order & another 10 minutes before the food was ready. We had to eat the food on the walk back to make the next movie on time. Sadly the food was good but definitely not worth the time or money. At least the movie that followed was quite entertaining and inspiring.

DON’T STOP BELIEVIN: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY is nowhere near as cheesy as you might assume based on the title. The documentary covers the “journey” of Arnel Pineda from his beginnings as a poor musician in Manila to becoming the new lead singer of Journey. It is a thoroughly enjoyable doc that works for fans or even just casual listeners. After watching, I couldn’t believe how many of their songs I actually knew. It made me want to go pick up a greatest hits CD. Thankfully, my dad already had one for me to borrow. (Now that is a scary thought.) Even more shocking, this doc would be rated R due to language. Who knew the drummer from Journey cursed so much?

I talked a bit with Chris Bourne (@bournecinema) about the doc before heading right into my final flick of the day, RESOLUTION. I heard some great things from the pre-festival screening and I’ve been tweeting with co-director Aaron Moorhead leading up to the fest so I had high hopes for the film. It did not disappoint. RESOLUTION is a perfect blend of suspense and dark comedy, which concludes with perhaps one of the most fantastically meta endings in cinema history. Much like the spectacularly brilliant CABIN IN THE WOODS, this film works best knowing as little as possible about it. I genuinely found myself wondering what the hell was going to happen next and that is a rare feat to accomplish these days. I know it is still early but just like what happened with last year’s second day screening of RABIES, RESOLUTION has easily become my front-runner for best of the fest. I stuck around after the screening to tell that to Aaron personally and he invited me to the bar across the street with the cast and crew of the film. I said I’d come by for a few minutes. 3 hours later I went home.

Lesson of the Day: Apparently you really shouldn’t stop believin’

Jerry Cavallaro – @GetStuck – JerryCavallaro.com