| Beach Boys - An American Band / Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times | 
enlarge | Directors: Don Was, Malcolm Leo Actors: Brian Wilson, Carnie Wilson, Daniel Harrison, Marilyn Wilson, Carl Wilson Studio: Lions Gate Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98 Buy New: $5.49 You Save: $9.49 (63%)
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Avg. Customer Rating: 14 reviews Sales Rank: 17936
Format: Best Of, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc Language: English (Original Language) Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Number Of Items: 1 Running Time: 172 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: 12584 UPC: 012236125846 EAN: 0012236125846 ASIN: B00006SFJC
Theatrical Release Date: August 27, 1995 Release Date: December 17, 2002 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Amazon.com A magnificent DVD pairing for Beach Boys fans, these two stylistically different films here pretty much represent the two sides of "America's Band." First up is The Beach Boys: An American Band, made at the height of their Reagan-era resurgence after then Interior Secretary James Watt banned them from performing at the nation's capitol on the 4th of July. A colorful, upbeat film, it doesn't entirely gloss over the more downbeat aspects of the Beach Boys saga (parental abuse, mental illness, uncomfortably tight pants, loads of drugs, and Charles Manson), though it does go out of its way to give the story a happy ending, despite the recent death of drummer Dennis Wilson and the group's complete creative standstill. However, what it lacks in perspective, it more than makes up for in priceless footage, including Smile-era studio outtakes, the unreleased 1967 concert in Hawaii, numerous TV appearances, and extensive interview footage from the mid-'70s. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, on the other hand, goes more out of its way to show the long dark path of head Beach Boy Brian Wilson. While Wilson is now acknowledged as the Mozart of the late 20th century, director Don Was gives us a stark black-and-white portrait of a troubled artist still struggling to get his life back. His reminiscence of dad Murry Wilson's beatings is chilling, and Wilson is as comfortable as he'll ever be in front of the camera bragging up his drug use ("Cocaine... the works... put me in jail") and randomly quoting Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. Through it all, Wilson comes across as a complete original, and if the reworkings of his classic songs don't quite match up to the originals, give the guy a break--he just wasn't made for these times. --Kristian St. Clair
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
Brutally Brilliant Portraits Of A Genius And The Band He Led February 13, 2004 17 out of 17 found this review helpful
"The Beach Boys - An American Band" and the subsequent "Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" are perfect documents of the real American rock band. The former focuses on the years '61 to '85 while the latter is a black & white document of The Beach Boys' troubled leader trying to get his life back together after years of personal problems.1985's "An American Band" opens appropiately enough with footage of Brian Wilson's 1976 birthday party intercut with scenes from an interview done with him from his bedroom, half - dressed, smoking a cigarette. The rest of the film's made up of interviews with the other Beach Boys that are good, though obviously scripted. The real highlight are the concert footage, featuring footage from their European tour that includes an electrifying performance of "Breakaway", not to mention glowing versions of "God Only Knows" and "In My Room", plus rockers like "Barbara Ann" and "Fun, Fun, Fun". 1995's "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" has Brian coming to terms with his troubled life through various interviews with him and several people close to him, including his two wives, his daughters, Van Dyke Parks, and Carl Wilson, his brother who succumbed to lung cancer in 1998. In between are scenes of Brian doing newly recorded versions of "Meant For You", "Do It Again", "The Warmth Of The Sun" (a real surprise for me), "Til I Die", a rousing "This Whole World" as well as a few others. Overall, these are two finely done documentaries of one of the greatest artists of all time, a group who forever changed the face of music with their surfboards, woodies, girls, pet sounds and good vibrations. Surf's up.
Excellent combination May 15, 2003 15 out of 15 found this review helpful
These two films provide a very good overview of the Beach Boys. "An American Band" is a fairly good comprehensive look at the band from their beginnings through 1985. There's a lot of historical performance footage of the group and interviews from throughout the years, with some on-camera narration from Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston from 1985."I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" picks up the story about 10 years later, and focuses on the genius (and genial) composer Brian Wilson, showing his at least partial success in dealing with his personal, emotional, and psychological problems, which had plagued him during the previous two decades as recounted in the "American Band" film. Brian comes off in "IJWMFTT" as much more articulate in conversation than I had expected (he's really pretty articulate by any standard), and his new performances of some older songs are well done and compelling. Interestingly, the footage is almost entirely new, including interviews with family (Carl Wilson, mother Audree, daughters Carnie and Wendy), associates (Van Dyke Parks), and admirers (Tom Petty, John Cale, Thurston Moore, Linda Rondstadt), with almost no archival footage. So, between the two films, you have a history of the band and a portrait of its driving force during its glory years. A great combination. One additional note: "IJWMFTT" is actually in letterbox in this version, not pan-and-scan. When I first bought this DVD, I was dismayed to see on the back of the box that it said the film had been modified to fit the TV screen, which usually means the letterboxing has been scrapped. I was pleasantly surprised to find when I actually watched the film that while the credits were in "full-screen" (i.e., not letterboxed), the rest of the film was definitely in letterbox. Very nice B&W photography.
Endless Disharmony March 25, 2005 15 out of 17 found this review helpful
This set of two revealing perspectives on the Beach Boys has enough samples of their best music to be appealing to fans. It also uncovers glimpses of the inner turmoil that developed as Brian Wilson, their primary creative force, left touring and changed the focus of his talents from writing catchy tunes about surfing and girls to writing complex harmonic sequences with lyrics that told stories of lost innocence and finding one's soul.
The turning point came in 1966, when Wilson essentially replaced Mike Love with Van Dyke Parks as his primary lyricist collaborator after "Pet Sounds". After the resulting "Smile" project was abandoned due to internal strife, the Beach Boys minus Wilson re-invented themselves as primarily a nostalgia band, riding the crest of the wave that had formed under Brian's leadership, but whose new songs were weak imitations at best. Wilson himself never fully recovered from the demise of "Smile", although the recent successful reconstruction of this project has signified a partial recovery of his significant talents.
"An American Band" does its best to sugar-coat the conflicts, and has the look and feel of the "official story" of the band, like a 2 hour press conference in which the facts are sanitized. There are two pivotal moments in this video: one comes when squeaky-clean Bruce Johnston walks towards the camera looking like a televangelist, saying confidently with a straight face "We knew Brian was not going to be around [after "Smile"] but that we had to push on without him" (why?) The other highlight of the film is Brian's amazing solo performance of "Surf's Up" accompanying himself on the piano. "Surf's Up" expands the harmonic horizon beyond even "Good Vibrations", and is one of the most original, most beautiful, pop songs ever written. Brian's rendition is unintentionally heart-breaking; he is clearly exposing his fragile soul here on lyrics that are suggestive of innocence, a dark past, and a hope for redemption.
"Brian Wilson: I wasn't made for these times" is a biography of Brian Wilson, and is more detailed in its exploration of the Beach Boy turmoil. It is a little too long on talking heads, but also has good moments, including Brian's rendition of the story of "Good Vibrations" to eloquent tributes by Tom Petty and Linda Rondstat.
The other amazing revelation by watching these documentaries (especially if you watch them after you watch the Beatles Anthology) is the complete lack of character and wit displayed by the band members. Brian is the most interesting of the bunch, but his troubled past has rendered him humorless and incapable of displaying any evidence of wit. Carl looked like a nice guy, but again seems to take it all too seriously; Dennis played the part of a 1-dimensional sex toy, wound up and eventually wound down on substances; Al....can't think of anything to say about him... And Mike Love! He's just plain weird, will someone please tell him that he is not cool?
Buy this for the great music and for a fascinating glimpse into a famous dysfunctional band.
First BB documentary paired with recent BW doc is a deal February 27, 2003 14 out of 19 found this review helpful
I flipped in 1985 when the first BB doc, "An American Band" came out. It had great archival footage and music, told the story (although skipping Manson, Blondie & Ricki, and their 70s output), and was reminiscent of the poorly titled "Compleat Beatles", out a few years earlier. What's good about this doc, like the later, superior "Endless Harmony", is that the BBs themselves are key participants in the storytelling. Don Was' B&W art doc, "I Just Wasn't Made...", is equally rewarding. Some important (and a few inconsequential) interviewees dish on Brian -- Linda Ronstadt notably shows she's intelligent with a psychological/sociological awareness, and Graham Nash (a likeable fellow) makes a fatal trivia mistake: "When was 'In My Room'? Was it '66?" No, dude, you're 3 years late. I've seen both the enclosed pan-n-scan version of IJWMFTT as well as the letterbox version. Sadly, the former is featured here, and that pegs the package down a notch. AAB has been improved over the original VHS in that the Pet Sounds sound clips are now replaced by the recently released stereo mix, and the opening and closing credits feature the stirring "Surf's Up" playing over film footage of a surfer in a tasty wave. But another notch down because of its inferiority to the "Endless Harmony" doc. Buy it, but as soon as you find IJWMFTT in widescreen and the aforementioned EH doc, trade this one in.
More than Fun, Fun, Fun October 11, 2003 11 out of 11 found this review helpful
It was great seeing both these documentaries again. "An American Band" has some great concert footage, and includes Brian, eyes closed and totally into it, singing "Surf's Up" for the TV cameras just before the downfall in '67. Dennis' own downfall in the 80's is appropriatly handled; it's painful to see him at the end, barely able to talk. I saw the band in Dennis' last year, and the footage of him here brought back that painful memory. Concert versions of "Good Vibrations" (before it became a ridiculous sing-a-long) and "Heroes and Villains" are also a treat. "IJWMFTT" shows a mostly lucid Brian, memory surprisingly intact, talking about his creations. But, the reason to watch this bio are the performances. Hearing Carl sing "God Only Knows" with his brohter and mother was a treat. And listening to Brian's ex-wife talk about "Caroline No" segue into Brian totally nailing the song was great stuff.
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