Stoned

I'm afraid that 'Classic Rockher' has completely missed the point! Director Stephen Woolley has spent well over 10 years researching this film so as to paint as accurate a picture as possible of the suspicious death of Brian Jones. I know it may be difficult for die-hard fans to accept, but The Rolling Stones was founded by Brian Jones!!! Keef and that art school student poser, Mick Jagger, were recruited into the band by Brian. Brian's love was for 'the blues' of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Elmore James ... and hence the lack of over played 60's Stones tunes in the film. Stephen tracked down the likes of Anita Pallenberg, Brian's ex girlfriend who had disappeared back to her native Germany many years before, to make a film about Brian's death NOT a film about the Stones. One theory is that he was killed by his builder/chauffeur/gopher, Frank Thorogood, who was sacked the morning of Brian's death and has himself since died in 1993. I believe this film portrays the most accurate view on the last sad days of genius Brian Jones. 'Classic Rockher' come on - wake up and smell the coffee!!! Bob the Binman

I actually read 2 of the 3 books written about Jones and his demise, and if nothing else, the film is an accurate portrayal of the books. If you want to know what the last few months of his life were like, and also get a brief overview of how he got there (via flashbacks), then this movie will do it for you. If you want something else, then perhaps not. I would rather see a film on a subject like this get made with a low budget than not get made at all. Yes, some of the acting is bad, but some is very good as well. My only strong complaint is that the editing -- especially the sound editing -- is really poor. Especially the cuts/fades/transitions.

Anyway another topic about films...saw 'Stoned' last night. A film about the life and death of the Rolling Stones member Brian Jones...The death of whom was quite a shocking event at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed it..

Directed by Stephen Woolley, with Leo Gregory as Jones and Paddy Considine as the man who lived closely with him, Frank Thorogood..

It was a very good surprise..

I had no expectations and was hooked from the start..The actors playing the young Stones were very good at creating the look, feel and attitude of the band and the design of the film, especially the make up of the women cast members, was just evocative of the time in the 60's..The music was excellent and the editing to the music was superb..Hooked me in from the word go...

The opening shots of the film shows an early stones line up under the leadership of Brian Jones getting their first gig. It is stylishly shot in black and white and as they roll through little red rooster a camera takes stills of the action. Then from the slow blues rift you are suddenly thrust to the frantic end as Brian is found dead in the pool. It is the stark contrast that works well and shocks the viewer into the heart of scene. Then the incredibly tragic and eccentric life of Brian Jones is told in a heady mix of flashback drug trips and sly nods to 'performance'. Leo Gregory stumbles through the film as Brian much like Michael Pitt did as Kurt Cobain in Van Sant's 'last days', you already know the outcome but it's the road on which you get there that forms the backbone of the plot. As Jones becomes more estranged, paranoid, wildly extravagant and more drug fuelled it begins to rub off on frank the builder who is doing work on Brian's house. Brian being bored and in need of not only a nanny but a drinking partner takes frank under his wing to a certain extent. But Jones being the flamboyant pop star doesn't see frank as anything more than a builder and taunts him until its too late. Frank see Jones' world of excess and wants in, although when he finds it out of reach that want turns to anger and jealousy. If you approach this film looking for a story of the stones you wont find it, this film like last days is a film that shows one mans downfall and the lives of those around him who should have helped. Jones portrayed as never happier than when making music is rock and roll myth personified. Without the tragic end to his life, the question is posed, would anyone still remember the tortured genius behind the stones early formation? There is obviously a love for the era and Jones from director Woolley, who not afraid to show Jones' vulnerable side also tries to show the man behind the myth. Whether a fan of the band or not this is an interesting film full of directing techniques and skillful editing that blend into a heady mix of rock and roll excess which takes the viewer to the sixties and back through one of the most interesting stories of the time.

How does one cast a movie portraying at least three of most worshiped, admired, envied, charismatic people in the business? Add to that, two of them are still alive and performing, maintaining their persona quite effectively into their sixties. Perhaps if this all had occurred before high-quality film, video, and sound-recording was so easily available. As it is, any one from any generation can get a first-hand idea of how fascinating the Rolling Stones' entrance into the pop-music scene was. If you want to know all about the aspects of Brian Jones that really matter, listen to the music; his total immersion into whatever style he was interested in gave him almost instant ability on whatever instrument he wished to play; his knowledge of and ability at Chicago Blues guitar styles,(not the hot solos, but the foundational group styles), was unparalleled. If you want to understand why he was so adored; look at his pictures. You're not going to get the idea from this film, but it's almost not fair.