Tag: music

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)

vergeoflightLeave a comment

Streaming on Netflix | imdb | trailer

Around 1982, when I was 9 or 10 years old, my older brother Chris took me with him to the local big record store, Sound Warehouse. He bought Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast picture disc (which he still has), and from that moment on they became the most important band of my childhood. Fast forward to Middle School and it seemed like Led Zeppelin was a lot more loved among the non-pop music weirdos. Since I had aspirations of getting laid sooner than later, I gave the band a try, and yeah, not too shabby. Not as good as Maiden, or Black Sabbath, but I recall liking Zeppelin II and Houses of the Holy for a while there. Then I discovered thrash metal. Led Who? I sold my Zep LPs and got really into thrash while remaining a Maiden and Sabbath fan (the latter has become arguably my favorite band to this day). FF again to the early 2000s when I was Art Director for Relapse Records. Guess which group I forbid to be played on the office stereo? Correct. Time moved on, my strong opinions softened a bit, and around 15 years ago I listened to some full Zeppelin albums again. Ok fine, I didn’t hate them any more. Here we are in 2025, and a couple of weeks ago I watched this documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I had no clue that John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page had their hands in so many awesome things before the band formed. It also looks and sounds fantastic. I’m not going to go out and BUY any of their albums or anything, but yeah… it’s a damn good movie. I would REALLY like to see a documentary of this caliber made on the early days of Black Sabbath.

Blu-ray coming soon (no official US release date yet).

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

SLY LIVES! (2025)

vergeoflightLeave a comment

Streaming on Hulu | imdb | trailer

(AKA The Burden of Black Genius) If you are already a fan of Sly and the Family Stone you have probably seen this. My recommendation is for those of you that know little or nothing about Sylvester Stewart or his music. This documentary is director Questlove’s follow up to the excellent Summer of Soul. Here he does a great job of mixing old footage with new interviews that together tell the story of Sly’s life and music. The good news is that there is no attempt to gloss over the negative aspects of the man’s behavior and bad decisions. You get the bad, the good, and everything in between. SLY LIVES! also manages to reveal larger truths about Black artists and the music industry. Even if you are not a fan of soul music, you are likely to enjoy seeing this film. I liked Sly and the Family Stone before, but have gained a much deeper appreciation after watching.

Not available on Blu-ray at this time, but you can pre-order the soundtrack here.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Frank (2014)

vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

I decided to watch this because I am a fan of co-writer Jon Ronson, who was also behind The Men Who Stare at Goats. Of course I like the idea of Michael Fassbender working behind a mask for an entire movie too. This is all very loosely based on the true story of Ronson playing keyboards in Chris Sieveys, aka Frank Sidebottoms, backing band. I was in weird music groups for 25+ years, so some of that aspect of the film rings a bit false, but I still enjoyed watching it. If you’d like to see something Anomalous, give Frank a try.

Blu-ray available from Magnolia.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.

Space is the Place (1974)

vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

This is a cult classic psychedelic movie starring one of the most eccentric musicians in  history, Sun Ra. Even if the sounds of Space Jazz do not appeal to you, there’s no way to take your eyes off this bizarre introduction to the universe of Sun Ra. You old weirdos keep an eye out for Jack Baker who played drums in Richie’s band on Happy Days and was the comic highlight of several ‘80s XXX films. Look at the bottom of his IMDb page and you’ll see he was in a ton of TV shows and weird non-porno films as well. However his finest performance was in The Devil in Miss Jones 3 and 4 where he guided the titular heroine thru HELL. Sadly Jack passed away far too young from cancer. [Bow your heads.] Ok back to the subject at hand, watch Space is the Place, maybe under the influence. Be prepared though, your consciousness just might teleport to another galaxy.

BONUS – If you enjoy this one, check out the documentary Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

If you are a fan of Anomalous Cinema, please consider supporting this site by donating any amount (even $1.00 is appreciated) via Venmo @vergeoflight / Cash App $vergeoflight / or Paypal at this secure link. A Paypal account is not required. Thank you.