“There’s a reason why I listen to that album at least once a week and it still makes me tingle.”

Hello Everyone :-)

I’ve spoken in the past about my love of documentary film making and how I’m over the moon that it’s currently having a bit of a renaissance. I think the key to this has been the recent slew of documentaries with super accessible subject matter.
I indulged myself on Saturday and took myself to a mid-afternoon screening of ‘The Stone Roses: Made of Stone’ (just ‘Made of Stone’ from now on) at the always wonderful Electric Cinema in Birmingham.

‘Made of Stone’ charts the reunion of The Stone Roses from 18 October 2011, up to their gigs in Heaton Park on 29–30 June 2012. The documentary follows the band from their reunion press conference, through rehearsals, warm up shows and finally their homecoming gigs in Manchester.

Anyone looking for a hard hitting, 'warts and all' documentary about The Stone Roses should carry on the search. ‘Made of Stone’ is a softer picture that’s as much about one fan’s love of their favourite band as it is about the band itself.

That one fan is director Shane Meadows. I have a massive amount of time for Shane Meadows, I enjoy his feature films and really like the ‘This Is England’ TV series and in ‘Made of Stone’ he endears himself to his audience with his heartfelt sentiments about the band. Out of sheer affection he steers the documentary away from anything too inflammatory, most notably after drummer Remi walks away from a European tour in the lead up to Heaton Park. This, obviously, deflates any kind of tension the film had but part of me thought it was a sweet thing to do, I know if it was me with my favourite band I’d be hesitant to shove a camera in their face in the middle of an argument.

It looks lush. The decision to shoot much of the action in black and white is stylish and makes the move into the full colour of Heaton Park more vivid. Think ‘The Wizard of Oz’…
There are a few nice additions of old news and previously seen interview footage and lots of home video clips of a young Ian Brown riding mopeds. The choice to inter-cut the ill fated ‘Second Coming’ footage with the band’s European bust up is a conscious one but fails to properly draw a parallel because of Meadows’s aforementioned hesitance to get in the thick of any ructions.

The best parts of the film are the bits showing the band doing what they do best; playing music. There is a scene in the middle of the picture when the band does a full rehearsal of ‘Waterfall’ that gave me goosebumps.
The section devoted to the free Warrington Parr Hall gig, however, is what rang most true with me.
I’ve been that girl; queuing with an album clutched in her hands desperate for a precious wristband, running to the front when she’s finally let into the venue, screaming her head off when the band first emerge on stage and forcing her way to the barrier to get as close to every sweat stained note of those songs as she could.
After that scene I just wanted to go home a book tickets to every band I love just to feel that again; there’s nothing else quite like it and seeing fans snaked in lines and plastic cups being flung around a humid venue will strike a chord with any gig-going music fan and, at its heart, I think that’s what ‘Made of Stone’ is about.

In a similar way to 2011’s ‘Senna’; ‘Made of Stone’ gives an unashamed, rose tinted view of its subject matter. If you’re a super-fan there won’t be much here to give you a new insight into The Stone Roses but there is some joy to be had at the sugar coated bliss of it all.
‘Made of Stone' is a love note to the rush of live music and the devotion of it's fans, I really enjoyed it.

'The Stone Roses: Made of Stone' is in cinemas now.

Well that was nice :-) Let’s have some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. ‘Man of Steel’ is out on Friday! So excited to see this! This is my favourite trailer for it (I REALLY love the music) hopefully off to see it at the start of next week.

2. The first poster has arrived for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'. As much as I had mixed feelings about ‘TheHobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ you can’t deny that this poster is lush :-)

3. The brilliant 'In the Flesh' has been picked up for another series! The first series was three episodes of note perfect television. Really loved it, so glad a second series has been commissioned and can't wait to get back into Roarton!

4. Not entirely sure if this is a reason to be cheerful but unless you've been hiding under a rock for weeks you've definitely heard that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who this Christmas. I have really loved Smith as the Doctor, more than David Tennant in some respects and while I'm sad to see him go my overwhelming emotion is one of serious gratitude. He's done such a good job as one of my favourite ever characters I can do nothing but say 'Thank you' to him... so thank you Mr Smith :-)

That's enough for today.

Goodbye till next time :-)
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