This is not a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Jarmusch’s interviews take place in a laundry room, where the band members and Young’s father sit on a straight chair and meditate on the band’s long and lonely road. Young muses on “the trail of destruction IS’ve left behind me,” and there is solemn mention of departed band members (“Neil once said they were dropping like flies”).
These séances are intercut with concert footage, during which the band typically sings the lyrics through once and then gets mired in endless loops of instrumental repetition that seem positioned somewhere between mantras and autism. The music is shapeless, graceless, and built from rhythm, not melody; it is amusing, given the undisciplined sound, to eavesdrop later as they argue in a van about whether they all were following the same arrangement.
The older footage is not illuminating. One high point, from a visit to Glasgow in 1976, is a meal in a restaurant that is interrupted when the fabric flowers in the centerpiece catch fire. The band members try smothering the flames with napkins and extinguishing them with orange juice, and eventually they join the woman who owns the place in sadly eyeing the ashes.
Later in the film, Jarmusch himself appears on camera, reading to Young from the Old Testament, a book the musician seems unfamiliar with. Jarmusch reads the parts where an angry God tells his people how he will punish them, and Young looks like God’s tribulations are nothing he hasn’t been through more than once.
If there is a theme to the band’s musings, it is astonishment that they have been playing together for so long. They play with other groups, but when they come together, they say, there is a fusion. With touching self-effacement, Young tells Jarmusch, “The band is called ‘Neil Young and Crazy Horse,’ but I know it’s really ‘Crazy Horse.’ My new jacket says ‘Crazy Horse.’ The others say ‘Neil Young and Crazy Horse,’ but mine just says ‘Crazy Horse.’” Yes, but wouldn’t the point come across a little better if theirs just said “Crazy Horse” too?
Index
A
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, 1
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, 2
Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn, An, 3
Alien Resurection, 5
Alligator, 8
American Anthem, 9
American Werewolf in Paris, An, 11
And God Created Woman, 12
Anna and the King, 14
Armageddon, 16
Ash Wednesday, 18
Assassins, 20
Assault of the Killer Bimbos, 22
At the Earth’s Core, 24
Awakening, The, 25
B
Babe, The, 27
Baby Geniuses, 29
B.A.P.S., 30
Battle of the Amazons, 32
Beautician and the Beast, 33
Beethoven’s 2nd, 35
Believers, The, 36
Ben, 38
Besieged, 39
Beyond, The, 41
Beyond and Back, 43
Beyond the Door, 44
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, 45
Bigfoot, 47
Big Hit, The, 49
Birds in Peru, 50
Blue Iguana, The, 52
Blue Velvet, 53
Body of Evidence, 56
Bolero, 57
Breaking the Rules, 58
Brother Sun, Sister Moon, 59
C
Caligula, 62
Camille 2000, 64
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, 65
Cannonball Run II, 67
Caveman, 68
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, 70
Clan of the Cave Bear, The, 72
Clifford, 73
Color of Night, 75
Concorde—Airport ’79, The, 78
Critters II, 79
Cyborg, 81
D
Dancers, 83
Dark, The, 84
Day of the Dead, 85
Dead Man, 87
Dead Poets Society, The, 89
Death Before Dishonor, 91
Death Race 2000, 92
Death Rides a Horse, 93
Deathmaster, The, 94
Deep Rising, 96
Devils, The, 98
Devil’s Rain, The, 99
Diary of Forbidden Dreams, 101
Dice Rules, 102
Dirty Dingus Magee, 104
Doom Generation, The, 105
Dracula A.D. 1972, 107
E
Emmanuelle—the Joys of a Woman, 109
End of Days, 110
Endless Summer II, 112
Erik the Viking, 114
Evening Star, The, 115
Exit to Eden, 117
F
Father’s Day, 120
Firewalker, 122
Food of the Gods, 123
Fools, 125
Forces of Nature, 126
Friday the 13th, Part 2, 128
Friends & Lovers, 129
Frogs for Snakes, 131
Frozen Assets, 132
G
Gator, 134
Ghost and the Darkness, The, 135
God Told Me To, 137
Godzilla, 138
Good Son, The, 140
Good Wife, The, 142
Goodbye, Lover, 143
Guardian, The, 145
Gunmen, 146
Guyana—Cult of the Damned, 147
Gymkata, 149
H
Halloween: H20, 150
Happy Gilmore, 151
Happy Hooker, The, 153
Hard Rain, 154
Hav Plenty, 156
Heartbreak Hotel, 158
Heaven’s Gate, 159
Hell Night, 162
Hellbound: Hellraiser II, 163
Her Alibi, 165
Highlander 2: The Quickening, 166
Hindenburg, The, 168
Hitcher, The, 169
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, 171
Home Fries, 172
Howling II, 174
I
I Am Curious (Yellow), 176
I Know What You Did Last Summer, 177
I Spit on Your Grave, 178
In Dreams, 180
In Praise of Older Women, 181
In the Army Now, 183
Instinct, 184
Ishtar, 186
JK
Jack Frost, 188
Jackal, The 189
Jaws the Revenge, 191
Jazz Singer, The, 193
Jennifer 8, 195
Joe’s Apartment, 197
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, 198
Jungle 2 Jungle, 199
Kazaam, 201
L
Lair of the White Worm, 203
Lake Placid, 204
Larger than Life, 206
Last Movie, The, 208
Last Rites, 210
Lawn Dogs, 212
Little Giants, 213
Little Indian, Big City, 214
Lonely Lady, The, 216
Look Who’s Talking Now, 217
Lord of the Flies, 219
Lord Shango, 220
Lost & Found, 222
Lost Horizon, 224
Lost in Space, 225
Love Always, 227
M
Mad Dog Time, 229
Magic in the Water, 230
Marie Baie des Anges, 231
Master Gunfighter, The, 233
Maxie, 234
Medicine Man, 235
Meet the Deedles, 236
Mercury Rising, 238
Message in a Bottle, 240
Meteor, 242
Milk Money, 243
Mr. Magoo, 246
Mr. Payback, 247
Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo, The, 249
Myth of Fingerprints, The 250
N
Newsies, 253
Nick and Jane, 254
Night Porter, The, 256
No Looking Back, 258
Nomads, 259
North, 261
Nowhere to Run, 263
O
Oh Heavenly Dog, 264
Old Dracula, 265
$1,000,000 Duck, 267
One Woman or Two, 268
Opposite Sex, The, 269
P
Patch Adams, 271
Phantasm II, 273
Phantoms, 274
Pink Flamingos, 275
Piranha, 277
Pirates, 279
Place for Lovers, A, 280
Postman, The, 280
Priest, 282
Prison Girls, 284
Prom Night, 286
Psycho, 287
Puppet on a Chain, 289
R
Radio Flyer, 291
Rapa Nui, 292
Rape Squad, 294
Rapid Fire, 296
Reach the Rock, 297
Renaissance Man, 299
Return to the Blue Lagoon, 300
S