RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE
By Damanjit Lamba
Rush is an interesting national specimen. For a country that decisively supports all things Canadian, locals seem to stray when it comes to backing Rush; you’ll never see front man Geddy Lee or drummer Neil Peart as trending topics. So what’s the deal? Why is Rush, a band that places only third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones when it comes to the most gold or platinum albums, marginalized in the world of rock? This is what Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage tries to make sense of.
The documentary takes us from the band’s roots in suburban Ontario to their present state as one of the top selling bands in the world. Sharp and entertaining commentary comes from avid defenders like Billy Corgan, Kirk Hammett, Jack Black, Sebastian Bach, and Gene Simmons. The audience is shown snippets of early performances, news clippings, concert posters, band photos, and even footage of guitarist Alex Lifeson arguing with his parents about his decision to drop out of high school and focus on the band.
Gene Simmons puts it best when he says, “What kind of band is Rush? It’s Rush.” The documentary makes it clear that it’s impossible to pigeonhole Rush into a single genre. The band’s musical style is as inconsistent as their fashion sensibility. The trio went from sporting bell-bottoms and platforms to cravats, fringe tops, and their infamous silk kimonos in the ‘70s. Musically, Rush has produced bluesy heavy metal, progressive rock, synthpop, and their current stance as a contemporary power trio. The band members don’t regret the musical choices they’ve made. As drummer Neil Peart explains, “There was no ‘that doesn’t suit Rush,’ those words have never been uttered.”
Rush is inherently a cult band. They were ignored by critics who felt their music was derivative and Geddy Lee’s voice sounded like “Mickey Mouse on helium.” Their epic songs – some clocking as long as twelve minutes – were unsuitable for radio play. Rush’s sixth studio album, Hemispheres, is evidence of the band’s “music nerd” appeal: fantasy and science fiction lyrics are backed by structurally and thematically complex rhythms and time signatures. Snubbed by the media, Rush’s fame has come from their fans’ enduring support.
The documentary also touches on the band’s personal life: if you’re a Neil Peart enthusiast, you’ll know he is notoriously private and struggles with fan adulation. The film tastefully delves into his personal life and the loss of his daughter and wife. After Peart’s personal struggles, it took the band six years to put out another album. In 2002, they made a strong comeback and travelled to new destinations such as Brazil where mosh pits stretched to the end of venues.
Even if you can’t recite Rush’s twenty studio albums by heart, you can still enjoy this documentary. Not only does it chronicle one of Canada’s music icons, but it’s also a great window into the Canadian music scene from the 1970s onwards.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage is in theatres one night only on June 10
GET HIM TO THE GREEK
By Eradj Yakubov
Judd Apatow does not do subtlety. One suspects that if subtlety were to fall on him from the sky, he would not know what exactly it was that had hit him. He does, however, usually make funny comedies. Sadly, this does not apply to Get Him to the Greek, the latest film that carries his name (as producer, not director). Get Him to the Greek is a spin-off from 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, with the plot now revolving around the attempts of a record company employee Aaron (Jonah Hill) to deliver the has-been British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to a comeback gig in LA. Aaron is a stock Apatow lead character: uncool and lacking in self-confidence. Brand’s Aldous Snow is a flamboyant musician with a penchant for drugs and drink, living on the remnants of past glories (think Robbie Williams). A sub-plot involves Aaron’s struggling relationship with Daphne Binks (Elisabeth Moss) and Aldous’ inability to let go of his pop-star / model ex-girlfriend of seven years, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne).
The story is reminiscent of Richard Benjamin’s 1982 comedy My Favourite Year, but where that film was intelligent and genuinely funny, Get Him to the Greek is woefully lacking in proper laughs. One of the principal failings is the writers’ assumption that characters constantly cursing is tantamount to utter hilarity. When intelligently handled, coarse language can be viscerally entertaining (Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It series is the prime recent example), but multiple mentions of the words “penis”, “shit” and “tits” generally stop being funny in one’s early teens. This direction towards obtuse crudeness is disappointing, as the film opens with a promising spoof of ego-driven efforts of pop-stars to save the destitute of Africa through the medium of mind-numbingly dull ballads. The only other truly funny moments come when Snow performs his songs, most of which have been written by former Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker. They are light, silly and knowing – everything that the film isn’t.
The film’s only potential saving grace is Brand, an effortlessly witty and superbly eloquent comic, here completely neutered for all but a few scenes. Of the numerous cameo appearances, the only notable are The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams (his 10 second appearance is funnier than anything that the charisma black-hole Jonah Hill manages) and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs; the latter gets the most screen time, playing Aaron’s record company boss, and to his credit makes up for lack of acting ability with a few moments of amusing self-deprecation.
Get Him to the Greek lacks the charm of similar Apatow productions like The 40 Year Old Virgin, and while not plagued with the same off-putting undercurrents of misogyny as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this film is still an insipidly unfunny and turgid mess. Watching an hour of Russell Brand’s stand-up on YouTube would be a better use of your time.
Get Him to the Greek is now in theatres
