CSNY / Deja Vu
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Movie Reviews of CSNY / Deja Vu
Movie Review: Let's Impeach the President for lying!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this concert.....three times. It just kept getting better and better.
What makes the movie good is Neil Young's unflinching look at the people who love the message of Living With War music and those who loathe it. And they do loathe it. It's kind of funny watching the people in Atlanta react so angrily to the song "Let's Impeach the President".
Of course the old stuff is great and the interviews with CSN are what you'd expect but the interviews with the veterans is very emotional.
Buy this product. Oppose the war. Vote for Peace.
Movie Review: Revealing documentary...
Summary: 5 Stars
Not so much a live concert document as a look at the country during the last few years, this film demonstrates how divided the nation is and gives everyone a chance to either agree or disagree with the politics on hand here. And by the way, Atlanta, what did you expect from the guys who brought you 'Ohio'? I expected a little bit more progressive thinking from the state where 'Deliverance' was filmed.Movie Review: Old songs for a new war
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a timely rockumentary from Bernard Shakey (Greendale). Bernard who? Okay, you probably know him better as the iconoclastic folk-rock-alt-country-"Godfather of Grunge"-cum-antiwar activist-filmmaker (did I leave anything out?)...Neil Young.
Mixing backstage footage and musical highlights from the 2006 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Freedom of Speech Tour with vox populi interviews and analysis by "embedded" journalist Mike Cerre (a veteran front lines Afghanistan/Iraq war correspondent) the doc plays somewhere between The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing and Fahrenheit 9-11.
The 2006 reunion of the notoriously mercurial foursome was spearheaded by Young not so much as a nostalgia tour but rather as a musical wake-up call addressing the Bush administration's post 9-11 shenanigans, at home and in Iraq. The tour commenced on the heels of Young's incendiary Living with War album (definitely not on Junior's iPod).
The reaction from audiences (and music critics) was mixed. Young cheekily employs voiceover actors to read excerpts from concert reviews in the local rags, and particularly seems to take perverse delight in highlighting the sneers and snarks (usually involving ageist references to the band's senior citizen status). I will give him credit for including some (brief) "warts and all" excerpts from some early shows in the tour, like one instance where the quartet's rusty pipes are definitely a couple bubbles off plumb. And speaking of falling flat, we also witness a senior moment as a band member takes an onstage tumble.
The most eye-opening moment in the film occurs when the band plays Atlanta, a city usually perceived as a blue oasis in a red state. At first, all appears to be going swimmingly, with the audience happily clapping and singing along with the old "hits". But things get interesting as the band launches into some more recent material from Young's aforementioned Living with War album (accompanied by a faux-Karaoke lyric scroll on the huge onstage projection screen, just in case anyone misses the point):
Let's impeach the President for lying
And misleading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
Suddenly, the temperature in the auditorium seems to drop about 50 degrees; catcalls and hisses quickly escalate to boos, bird flipping and near-rioting. Cerre interviews some of the disenchanted as they stalk out; the outrage ranges from bitching about the ticket prices to threatening grievous bodily harm to Neil Young, should they get close enough. Backstage, the band takes the philosophical high road (with age comes wisdom, nu?)
But all cracks about geriatric rockers aside, it becomes apparent that the one thing that remains ageless is the power of the music, and the commitment from the performers. Songs like "Ohio", "Military Madness", "For What it's Worth" and "Chicago" prove to have resilience and retain a topical relevance that does not go unnoticed by younger fans. And anyone who doesn't tear up listening to the band deliver the solemnly beautiful harmonies of their elegiac live show closer, "Find the Cost of Freedom", while a photo gallery featuring hundreds of smiling young Americans who died in Iraq scrolls on the big screen behind them, can't possibly have anything resembling a soul residing within.
Movie Review: A LIFE WITH WAR
Summary: 4 Stars
My son Joshua was a senior in high school on that fateful morning of
September 11th,2001.The next day he and his best friend went
to the local Army recruiter and enlisted.Like all Americans,he felt helpless in this terror-filled new universe we all woke up to
on the morning after.Nothing would ever be the same.Americans were
facing a "faceless" enemy;my son and thousands of young Americans like him,felt they had to "do something". In the spring of 2003,Josh
entered Iraq and would not come home until January 2004. America had finally put a face to our enemy;Saddam Hussein had to be taken down.
Mission accomplished...but was it the right mission?
CSNY/DEJA VU chronicles the aftermath of Bush's decision to topple Saddam.
The "liberators" suddenly became "occupiers" and our brave young men and women were no longer soldiers but were thrust into becoming policemen.
It is this new role of the American soldier that is the underlying basis for this Bernard Shakey film and THIS is a Bernard Shakey film like no other.There are intercuts of folks that do not share CSNY's view
of Dubya's policies and those folks do not mince words.Everyone has heard
what happened at the Atlanta concert and it's hard to watch. There's an
interview with some cat who walked out and he makes the comment that the
people in Bush's government are smarter than CSNY.I bet he wishes he could take that comment back now!!!This is NOT a performance film;it is a
documentary of four aging icons who could no longer stand on the sidelines and let the game go on without any regard to the rules.Crosby has stated on numerous occasions that Bush and Co highjacked America's
principles and turned them into policies. It is these policies
that have killed thousands of our soldiers and tens (if not hundreds) of
thousands of Iraqi civilians.Maybe CSNY made money off this tour...I've
read some criticism of that.Who cares? They did put their music where their mouth was and I thank them for it. My son Josh went back to Iraq again in the spring of 2005.I had to live with war all over again.He came back
in early 2006 but he was a changed young man.At 21, my son had seen things
most male baby boomers will never have to experience. Seeing CSNY
sing "Find The Cost Of Freedom ", beneath the backdrop of thousands
of photos of young soldiers killed in action,is chilling. I know we were blessed that Josh came home safely after two tours.
This film was made over two years ago...OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS ARE STILL DYING today in a country that will not pay their share for their cost of freedom.CSNY still preach that love is better than hate,understanding is better than confusion and peace is still better than war. Carry on!!!!
Movie Review: They're Right: 'We Have All Been Here Before'
Summary: 4 Stars
"CSNY / Déjà Vu" documents a politically charged reunion tour of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. While you may not have realized it by listening to classic rock radio, the band always had a political conscience. In particular, "Déjà Vu" (1970) featured 'Ohio,' a protest song about the Kent State shootings. Fast forward thirty-five years to the "Déjà Vu" film. The concept of déjà vu is used as a poetic device to make a connection between the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. So on one hand, this is a film about a musical tour but it is also a highly critical piece about George W. Bush and his handling of the Iraq War. Exclusively political segments show band members participating in rallies to support the election of anti-war candidates. There are heartfelt profiles of military personnel and their families. At one point Neil Young jams with Josh Hisle, a military veteran turned anti-war rocker. One of the most emotionally charged moments happens when the band is heckled in Atlanta. Scenes from the Colbert Report add humor to an otherwise heavy film. Musically, the 2006 Freedom of Speech tour featured a combination of material off the original "Déjà Vu" album and Neil Young's "Living with War" (2006). Old favorites like 'For What It's Worth' and 'Déjà Vu' find new significance along side newer songs like 'Let's Impeach the President' and 'Living with War.' The soundtrack is a good accompaniment that features songs played in their entirety. As a musical flick that deals with Iraq, "Déjà Vu" works well along side "I Know I'm Not Alone" and "Heavy Metal in Baghdad." Combining great music with leftist politics, "CSNY / Déjà Vu" is an entertaining, thought proving and powerful film.