MisterWhiplash
Stop Making Sense is the kind of concert film that gets you pumped up for the Talking Heads even if you're not that huge a fan. I love a few of their songs- Take Me to the River, Burning Down the House, Psycho Killer most of all- but I never really "got in" to them at a younger age, mostly because I knew them from classic rock radio. What Jonathan Demme as director presents with his film of their concert in 1984 is to energize fans and casual listeners to their presence and power and just plain f***ing fun. The main force behind the group, singer/guitarist David Byrne wears suits 10 times too big, runs laps around the stage (while also having back-up singers jogging in place as well), and creates crazy pop-culture and avant-garde imagery on behind them on a screen. It's madness, but it's also alive in performance and song all the way.Maybe one or two songs might not totally click or may sound a little, well, dated (it was the 80s after all, no longer the folks from CBGB's), but there's constantly memorable moments, including the opening take on Psycho Killer, the building-block form from song to song as band members join one by one until it's a good dozen players and singers all in the mix, and with the imagery that Demme and DP Jordan Crenowith create. For the most part it's (perfectly) straightforward film-making... but here and there we see real artistry break through, shadows cascading the figures playing, the juxtaposition of Byrne in that suit flopping around, moving around seamlessly between musicians. It's the kind of craftsmanship that looks like it should be easy enough with a good few cameras, yet probably took as much prep work as Scorsese had on the Last Waltz.So, take in all of the 80's New-Wave mood (and, make no mistake, it's VERY 80's New Wave, but probably in the best and most experimental sense imaginable), take in pretty much all of the classic Talking Heads numbers (there's one I forget the name of that's especially chilling with the chorus a series of 'ya-hay-hay-hay-hay-hay's' from Byrne in marching formation). It's probably one of the best modern concert films.
Framescourer
A well-captured record of a fine concert - if not the Citizen Cane of the genre claimed by Uncut magazine on the DVD cover. There's a a great deal to enjoy. The songs are at the forefront of African rhythm/funk/synthesisers-soaked post-punk and some (Burning Down the House, Once In A Lifetime) are classics. The performances focus on this music making. There are few props, no extraneous narrative/drama and the antics (largely of frontman David Byrne) seem strangely natural. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees the remarkable stage act of Radiohead's Thom Yorke prescribed in his incessant, compulsive movement.One or two things stick out though. For all the integrity of the performance there are reminders that it's been patched together from three different performances - there's occasional mis-synched singing and dancing. Also the performers' patois and costuming hum with the naphthalene of anachronism, particularly in the interpolated number by The Tom Tom Club (Genius of Love), a parallel project of the husband and wife rhythm section.It's all remarkably unaffected, unfussy live music making though, admirably complied and controlled by Jonathan Demme. 7/10
terihu
To be perfectly honest, I was not a Talking Heads fan before this I saw this. A friend had to drag me to see it when it came out. But it totally blew me away! I wound up being totally obsessed with TH after I saw Stop Making Sense, so I don't think it's just for fans at all, it made me a fan.The thing about SMS is that it's just pure music, and pure joy. No filler: interviews with the band members backstage, crowd shots, spliced segments of music videos, blah blah blah. If you love a band's music, why bother with the other crap? It's just drama (which there was plenty of on this tour, apparently, if you read the interviews).David Byrne is such a freak, and his unadulterated joy at being able to BE a freak on stage and get paid for it is infectious. This is a show for every self-conscious teen who felt like shrinking into his chair during class, but who busts out dancing in the privacy of his bedroom.
phmurphy
This concert/movie is simply a brilliant collaboration of music and film. First off, you have the Talking Heads, perhaps one of the most creative and interesting bands in the history of music who put on a concert that is so imaginative that I still cannot believe it happened. Second, you have veteran Director Johnathan Demme who brings the darkness and creepiness that he used in such films as Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, to a concert with sort of a dark and creepy demeanor, i.e. David Byrne in general, the style of music, the dancing. I mean dark and creepy in a good way however. I cannot help to think that this movie is also a comedy. David Byrne's movements, the bass players dancing, the songs and just everything i get a kick out of. I have always been a big fan of the Talking Heads, but after seeing this movie, my love for them skyrockets. They are a unbelievable band with an imagination that rivals that of the likes of Shel Silverstein and the Cohen Brothers. I could literally go on and on about how brilliant this movie is. I think the next time i watch it, i may actually get up and dance. I only wish that I could have been at the actual show. I also cannot figure out what I like better, The Last Waltz or this. Shame on anybody who badmouths this movie or the band in general. See this and then see it again and again and again. 10/10
AD
