Gimme Danger

If you're expecting another quirky, brooding Jim Jarmusch film, or even that Jarmusch signature here and there, you will be disappointed. Gimme Danger is still a great film, but Jarmusch doesn't do what he usually does - show that the conventional can be really far out if you excavate a little - because he gets that Iggy and the Stooges are already supremely avante-garde; they are already Jim Jarmuschy. So Jarmusch does the opposite - he brings that down to earth, and just showcases what's already naturally there rather than try to create something. Still, documentary filmmaking turns out to be well suited for at least a couple of Jarmusch creative sensibilities. There's a charming, amiable leading man (Iggy), and when Iggy speaks there's a subtly comedic element, and subtle comedy is essential in all Jarmusch films. When Iggy tells the story of contacting Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, there's no need for direction with a magic touch. Just let it be.

Ultimately, Jarmusch forgoes being a director with a Jarmusch vision in Gimme Danger other than maybe hoping to convince the viewer to believe, after watching this film, that Iggy and the Stooges are the greatest rock and roll band of all time. He made Gimme Danger as a fan more than as Jim Jarmusch the auteur director, and it ends up being a "normal" kind of rock and roll doc/tribute, with plenty of great music and great footage, history, and lots of interviewing.

So to repeat, don't expect Gimme Danger to be a typical Jim Jarmusch film. But if you expect it to be a loving and intelligent tribute to a rock and roll band that "reinvented music as we know it" according to their former manager, a band that wiped out the 60s according to Iggy, you won't be disappointed.

Early in the film, Iggy mentions how Soupy Sales taught him to keep his writing concise and to-the-point (the kid-show host instructed that letters sent by viewers be twenty-five words or less). The lesson is not lost on Jim Jarmusch, who promises a documentary about the career of the Stooges and delivers exactly that. We get a recap of how they came together, followed by a solid recounting of their brief moment in the spotlight. When they fall apart in '73, the story stops abruptly, then jumps ahead to the group's revival in 2003 (with just a couple of words about what the Ashetons and James Williamson did in the interim). Iggy's solo career is almost completely unmentioned; fitting, as this is a Stooges doc, not an Iggy bio. Though he does get the lion's share of screen time, his recollections here are centered on the band, not himself.

Likewise, the interviews are limited to participants: the band members (minus original bassist David Alexander, who died in '75); manager Danny Fields; the Asheton brothers' sister Kathy; occasional sax sideman Steve Mackay; and late-period bassist Mike Watt. Ron Asheton passed in 2009 and appears via archival interviews. Blessedly, there are no rock critics, musicians or movie stars to expound in an overly fawning, sycophantic fashion about the group's importance to them, rock music, or the development of western civilization in general. The recent Beatles tour documentary "Eight Days a Week" was very nearly sunk by the inclusion of Whoopi Goldberg telling us how her mother bought her a ticket to the Shea Stadium show. Her memories and opinions are no more important (or even germane) than those of the other 60,000 people who were there that night. She's a celeb talking head who added nothing but her ego to the proceedings. Here, the laser focus is on telling a story through those who were part of the story, to the exclusion of third-party opinions (and you know what opinions are like - everybody has one...)

An immense amount of audio and visual material is packed into the hour-and-three-quarter running time, as attested to by acknowledgments in the end credits. That it never seems overstuffed, hyperactive or rushed is a tribute to Jarmusch's sense of pacing.

I went in with limited expectations of a run-of-the-mill rock bio, at best (the choice of film was made by my wife, who's a major Iggy fan). I came out more than impressed by a well-constructed, tightly focused exercise in documentary filmmaking that would have been outstanding no matter the subject.

GIMME DANGER is worthwhile and interesting look at those perennial underdogs of rock music, The Stooges. Long time fans of the band should be mostly satisfied with this documentary about their rise, fall and brief rebirth in the 21st century to a far more appreciative response.

The Stooges primal proto-punk was certainly before its time in 1969 and really wouldn't be embraced more fully until several decades later. The simplicity of their musical ideas may have evolved from their limitations rather than some grand design. The dark and confrontational sound they created together utilized into those basic elements that can make rock music so compelling. Jim Osterberg's transformation into the iconic Iggy Pop gave The Stooges an absolutely perfect front man. While the Stooges rhythm section hardly moved on stage, Iggy's spontaneous, lanky, almost awkward physicality gave their live performances a sense of danger and unpredictability that made their shows so captivating.

Overall, this is an enjoyable enough film, but it does possess some notable shortcomings. One of my main criticisms is that there isn't quite enough focus on the music. There is ample time spent on the songs for The Stooges 1969 debut album, but the songs on FUN HOUSE are discussed only briefly. Even less is said about their landmark RAW POWER album, although though there is some discussion and audio from the early sessions at Olympic Studio. Besides "Search And Destroy", any meaningful discussion about the album or its release are virtually absent here! Instead, the story quickly moves on to the demise of The Stooges and release of Iggy & James KILL CITY project. Although the movie time is approximately 1 hour and 46 minutes, another 15 minutes of musical discussion would have been well worth the time spent.

Early live performance footage of the band was either in short supply or the producers just didn't have the budget for the rights. For whatever reason, many clips are repeated throughout the movie, mainly the classic Cincinnati Pop Festival footage showing Iggy wandering off into the audience, smearing peanut butter on himself while being hold aloft by an adoring (or fearful) crowd. More vintage footage would have made this documentary a bit more compelling.

Given that this movie is focused on the The Stooges (or Iggy & The Stooges), Iggy Pop's solo career is mentioned pretty sparingly. I respect the reasons for this decision, but it would been interesting to spend a little time talking about Iggy & David in Berlin or even just some highlights. But given how little time in the spotlight the Asheton brothers, Dave Alexander and James Williamson have enjoyed, it is admirable that Iggy's celebrity isn't allowed to completely overshadow their contributions.

It was also a good decision to limit the interview sections to the band and a few insiders. Many rock documentaries are overfilled with a parade of contemporaries, critics and talking heads whom usually only add limited insight and too much hyperbole. Danny Fields slightly overstates the importance of The Stooges during his interview clips, but this is forgivable given that he was the person that basically discovered them. The newer interview sessions with Iggy back home in his parents trailer and James Williamson holding his Gibson Les Paul Custom Pro Black Beauty are each quite interesting and enjoyable.

All in all, i would rate GIMME DANGER 7.5 and would recommend to anyone who wants to learn about the band. I applaud the spirit and well meaning intent of Jarmusch, but wish he'd not moved so quickly through certain eras. It's a very nicely done film, but also a missed opportunity in some ways.

Gimme Danger: Gimme Iggy

Gimme Danger is about Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the unruly, undisciplined band of post-hippy rockers that, "killed the sixties" as Iggy says in one interview. There are several directorial and artistic choices made in the film that prevent "Gimme Danger" from being a spectacular film and places it in the middle of the list of good biopics, but not spectacular. In summary, I would rate the parts of the film thusly:

First half: A+ Third Quarter: B End: C-

The film doesn't address Iggy Pop's career from 1975 to 2003. What was happening during those years? What was happening is Iggy Pop was recording his successful solo album "Lust for Life" with the cult hit The Passenger on it.

Why exclude this? Did the record label refuse permission? Did Iggy or Jarmusch insist on only including Stooges music? What about Pop's other solo music and his dabbling into acting? What about his lifestyle transformation from drug addiction to clean living? No, the film buried the real story: Iggy Pop. It was a poor choice and I wonder why they did it? Why not more about Iggy? Was he trying to "Share the credits evenly?"

Why not interview some of the musicians Iggy and The Stooges influenced like Henry Rollins, Billy Joe Armstrong, among others? I would love hear what Neil Young thought of the Stooges, or Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth. Why not interview the family or others around the scene. Why not quote Bowie who produced some Iggy Pop music after the Stooges? Why take out the most interesting subject of the film? That was a bad choice, and even if Iggy Pop insisted, insist harder to include more about him. Perhaps that was a condition of filming, or otherwise, Pop would have refused? If it wasn't, Jarmusch did us a disservice.

That said, they did include his early career as a drummer, the development of the band, growing up in a progressive town, Ann Arbor, and how that influenced them, their drug addiction and issues staying clean, his travels to record music from Detroit to Chicago to New York to London and finally L.A.

Iggy is far more interesting, his transformation is more interesting, than the band. Imagine a Bourne movie spending half the film talking about Nicky Parsons. She's an important character, but you would be rightfully disappointed. That's how it is with Gimme Danger. Iggy is the attraction.

Rating: Matinée, accrued score. First half: Pay full price, see it twice. Second Half: Rent it.

The first half had me laughing and intrigued, the second half of the film was a big let down.

Peace, Tex Shelters

A friend of my recommended this documentary to me. Just randomly heard about it and was enough of a Jim Jarmusch fan to want to try it out, and he loved it, despite not being a fan of the Stooges, or having it change his mind about their music. As much as it was an in-depth look on Iggy Pop and the Stooges, it's just as much an in-depth look on Rock and Roll, and every Rock and Roll Documentary should be.

I gave it a shoot, as I am a fan of the Stooges and what they have done. After all, I'm sure a lot of the music I listen to they directly or indirectly are responsible for.

Going into the movie, I was expecting somewhat an adaption of the book Please Kill Me, which was an in-depth look at protopunk, which I herd the Stooges be described as before, plus they take up a big chuck of the book, but that's not what this doc is at all. It was so focus on the Stooges that it rarely expanded outside of the band members and those really close to them.

As the only original surviving member at the time of this release, Iggy does a lot of the talking, but not in an egotistical way. He seemed very genuine in his stories about The Stooges and their history. Not that the other Stooges did not get to chime as it looks like Jarmusch had been working on this for a while with the drummer of the Stooges also able to tell his stories before his death.

It is all about rock and roll and all about the music. I can see why Jarmusch selected and loves this band as they seem uncompromising to their love of the music. It's a great message on sticking with it. It also a great message about how it never dies within you, as the doc tells the story of the Stooges second guitarist James Williamson, who rolled with the band and Iggy until they dissolved got himself a pretty square life, but when Iggy calls to say come Jam with the band like 40 years later, he did just that.

Not Just for those people who love the Stooges, it's for those who love a really good rock and roll story. This is one!