The Transcendents

Watched the Go Go's at the Rock & Roll HOF ceremony the other day and started doing a deep dive on all the work they've done solo over the past few decades.

WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE TO FIND THIS GEM WITH KATHY VALENTINE!!!

In a movie about a rock & roll band on the the rise and fall and rise and fall, there's 1. No Rock&Roll music and 2. Characters played by rock musicians who bring a real authenticity to the world of indie rock music. This is especially apparent with Valentine who has been as mainstream as possible at times in her career and as indie as possible. She brings a real authenticity to the character of Jan (an owner of a dive bar that used to be big and is now lucky to get a few customers a night).

The whole cast is spectacular, but Kathy is a surprisingly good actor. I hope this film wasn't just a one off and that she continues to act along with all the great music she puts out between her many bands and collaborators.

Def check out this movie.

It feels like a lot styles are bouncing off of each other in this film. It's a comedy but it's sad. It's a revenge story but it's not violent. It's colorful yet muted. It's extremely slow at points and jaggedly fast at others. I've watched it twice just to make sure that all this was done on purpose. It feels as though it was. Different camera styles is a choice. Lens', framing, lighting and editing were choices. The fact that it's a rock n roll band but there's no rock n roll, but rather opera as a soundtrack is a choice. So with that said, I at least know there's a reason I'm supposed to be watching what i'm watching. But there's just something that's a little off about it. I can't place it. Nonetheless, i'd definitely recommend the movie to people that like weird movies.

Watch this movie for the brilliantly performed monologue by the great Savannah Welch. It's the culmination of a character's descent in depravity. Like pealing away the layers of an onion. It's wonderfully written and the director really allows Welch to do her thing with an extremely long push in that stays at this insane close on her depraved face as she sets up a totally cathartic final act of the film.

Everyone talk about the movie being about a band without playing music, but they missing that it's about addiction without showing drugs too. The main characters all fall into a spell of abuse but we only see it mentally and how self destruction takes over. But thankfully we never see the drugs. Im sick of seeing actual needles and people doing drugs. Good flick. Definitely not a pause and break away from movie. Must watch in one sitting.

I rented this from the local library and don't know why it was in the "rock doc" section. It's not a documentary at all. There's not even any of the fictional band's music in it. I was actually looking for the new Go Go's documentary. I guess the fact that there wasn't the band's music in it was smart, because the score is lush with an old school western vibe. And since the plot is a revenge plot, I see why the choice of western was made.

Anyway, the movie is actually very good. It's creepy and surreal. Even the casting was surreal. Like outside of Valentine from the Go Go's, I feel like I saw every other actor in a different strange indie or something. Sure enough, after I looked them up, they were in other strange films that i'd seen. Good casting.