Some Kind of Monster

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 3:31 pm

I did see "Some Kind of Monster" this weekend, which is the Metallica documentary. I didn't really know what to expect, but this movie is definitely not an "edge of your seat" thriller or a "devil horns waving, head banging" film. In fact, there are only a couple moments where you feel the thrill of what we perceive to be life as a rock star.

What the film does do is tell a very interesting story about a bunch of guys about 40 years old who have to work together creatively, but often don't get along. Their bass player quits (and Hetfield essentially admits that it was his fault, although they skewer the poor guy the rest of the film), then Hetfield goes into rehab for a year during the making of their album. They have a shrink on staff for mandatory counseling sessions to get them to figure out how to get along and make some decent music without ripping each others' heads off.

The movie is very interesting, even if you aren't a huge Metallica fan. It shows to some degree how hard the creative process really is for bands like this, and finally gave me some insight into why bands break up so often.

Some highlights:

Dave Mustaine (from Megadeth, who I actually like more than Metallica) had a session with Lars and the shrink to discuss the apparently profound effect getting kicked out of Metallica in the early 80's had on his life (in a bad way).

Lars' Dad. He's a strange looking old geezer, but he seems to know his metal.

James Hetfield whining endlessly about only wanting to work 4 hour days in accordance with his recover program. It makes you wonder what guys do who have to work for a living and can't afford to take a year off for a posh treatment facility and then require their entire company to work half days going forward to accomodate their schedule.

Lots of cool shots of San Francsico, although they went a little heavy on the "driving over the GG Bridge" shots. That one is a bit cliche. Cool, but cliche.

The reaction of their new bass player (can't remember his name -- something spanish -- he was with Ozzy and Suicidal Tendancies previous to Metallica) when they told him they were going to pay him $1M up front good faith cash to join the band and would make him a full partner in the corporation (or partnership -- I'm not sure how they are organized). This happened right after they told him he had the job, and he was still blown away from that announcement.

The payoff at the end was their first concert after the release of the new album with the new base player. That was the one goose-bumps moment in the film.