I Just Read About That…

[WATCHED: July 11, 2010] Beyond the Lighted Stage

I had heard about this film around the time that I read .  I was pretty excited about it, and then evidently everyone I know went to the TriBeCa Film Festival and saw it (except me).  And then everyone saw it on VH1 (except me), so I bought the DVD instead.

This film is really fantastic.  Obviously, it helps if you’re a Rush fan, but Geddy and Alex in particular are funny and interesting (even if they think they are boring).  And the film is expertly edited.  They cover 40 years of Rush’s history in 90 minutes.  This leads to a rather cursory look at their history, so the film doesn’t get mired in details, but there are tidbits of fun for die-hards.

And like all good documentaries, the film spends a little extra time on their earlier years, setting up who they were and what they did before they became who they are now.

I was pleased that original drummer John Rutsey is given a very sympathetic portrait, and I was even more pleased to see just how friendly Alex and Geddy still are with each other (they’ve been friends since middle school).  There’s also a very emotional sequence about Neil.  After he lost both his daughter and his wife in a very short period of time and the band almost broke up.  But it’s not all heartbreak, as they are all quite silly.  And so, since Neil joined the band after their second album (in 1975), he’s the new guy, and it’s clear that although he’s a perfect fit musically, he’s his own man: from riding his motorcycle while the rest of the crew rides the bus (and Geddy reads The Sound and the Fury and Alex reads God is not Great).

There some great old concert footage, as well as celebrity cameos (Kirk Hammett giving ALex Lifeson justified praise; Les Claypool, unsurprisingly, Sebastian Bach (!) who was the third member of the Rush Backstage CLub, of which I was a member although I don’t know which number, Matt Stone from South Park (with a cool Rush tribute video used in their concerts), and even Billy Corgan, who comes across as very smart and not solipsistic in the least.

The film seems to gloss over a few albums, but that’s to be expected when they have so many to choose from.  ANd I have no other complaint about the film.  It was simply fantastic.  Now I just have to convince Sarah to watch it to see what a non Rush fan thinks of it.

The DVD by the way is worth the purchase.  There’s 90 minutes extra footage, including deleted scenes (some very, very funny) and old concert footage (some with Rutsey!).   I was particularly amused that Alex likes to golf every day if he can (and he wants to buy a golf course).  I can’t imagine how awesome it would have been to get paired up in a foursome with him if they were touring my area.

Thanks filmmakers, and Rushcon folks.