SUNDANCE WILL "ROCK"

Not that I'm attending The Sundance Film Festival, but among the many great films that will be screened there are a couple of cool-sounding "rock" flicks.

"Bernard Shakey" (alias Neil Young) has directed a doc called Deja Vu, which documents Crosby Stills Nash & Young's summer 2006 tour, which was in support of Neil's Living With War album. It should be interesting, and not just because I'm a huge Neil fan. I went to that tour, and the reactions were really interesting. Where I can almost understand some conservative rock fans being surprised when, say, Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp make politically progressive statements (in other words, pointing out the obvious - that bush II/rove/cheney have done horrible damage to this country), I don't know how you could be surprised by CSNY's progressive views. And yet, people were offended by some of Neil's new songs. But I know that there have been a lot of Vietnam vets who are against this illegal war, and I think the film focuses on that.

Politics aside, I'd love to see some behind-the-scenes stuff about the band though. I know that they love each other, but they can't seem to get along for long periods. And I think that Stephen Stills in particular, isn't always comfortable with the more radical politics of the other three. Although his solo song, "Treetop Flyer," which he performed on the tour, is one of the best songs about a Vet. Also, I hope they put out a soundtrack - there haven't been any releases from any CSNY tour since they reunited in 1999. Then again, we've been waiting for a Neil box set since I was in college.

Then there's the upcoming U2 3D flick, smartly called U23D. That one is just supposed to bring the excitement of a U2 concert to the big screen, in a way that maybe Rattle & Hum didn't. (Personally, I think that the Rattle & Hum album, at least, is really underrated.) I look forward to catching that in IMAX. I've seen ever U2 tour since 1985, and other than on the Pop tour, they've never let me down. Their shows on their last tour were great.

There's also a Patti Smith documentary which should be interesting, and a doc on a sort of forgotten thrash metal band called Anvil. I was never interested in them back in the day (although I was and am a big fan of many of thier peers, Anvil just seemed goofy to me) the film could be interesting, because it documents their comeback attempt.

But I still have some current rock movies to catch up on: I'm Not There, the Joy Division doc Control and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.