Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Well, I have no new movies to review, although I do plan on catching up a little bit this weekend. This is the first in what I hope is a lot more.

1. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Directors: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky)

The Berlinger and Sinofsky team have made some incredible documentaries in the last 12 years, beginning with Brother's Keeper in 1992 and then one of the best docs you'll ever see, Paradise Lost in 1996. Berlinger went on to direct the sequel to The Blair Witch Project, Book of Shadows, which I thought was going to be great due to his documentary sense but ended up being a well-photographed piece of crap--maybe not entirely his fault, could have been the studio, but his name is on it and it was a disaster. Now the team is back together doing what they do best, using one of the biggest bands ever as their subject (who also allowed them to use their music in the Paradise Lost series), as they try to complete the St. Anger album amid a complete crisis in their personal relationships with each other.

I'm afraid to use this sort of quip, in fear that it has been used before, but this is Analyze This for Metallica fans. It's lead singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett going to therapy, trying to work out this funk they're in with a psychologist, and I couldn't help but think that this is so completely against the image of a metal band, working out their frustrations, sharing their feelings. There's even an appearance from former lead guitarist and founder of Megadeth Dave Mustaine explaining to Lars that his exit from the band hurt when Lars later mentioned that Kirk was a much better guitarist than he, and how Metallica continued on and "everything you touched turned to gold," while his own band he perceived as a failure (even though, yes, for the record, Megadeth has sold 15 million albums--but compared to Metallica's 90 million, chump change). More trouble brews as Lars fights Napster and Hetfield goes to rehab for his drinking. Some problems arise from former bassist Jason Newsted's departure to join band Echobrain.

At first, listening to their disjointed, uninspired attempts at creating songs in the studio, you wonder if they're ever going to make something worthwhile, especially when classic songs start playing in the background--Where were you as a band, then, Metallica? They fight, argue. Hetfield looks like he could call it quits at any moment.

Berlinger and Sinofsky are also aware of how their own cameras affect the subject. There's even a part in the movie where they are talking to Metallica trying to figure out if the movie is even going to be made or not. Once this conversation takes place, you start seeing less in-studio rehearsals and recordings and more after-the-fact type stuff--which doesn't make it a lesser documentary by any means.

This is good stuff, especially seeing a band hammering out songs in their infancy, and then auditions for new bassists that ultimately leads to their hiring of former Ozzy bass guy Robert Trujillo. It's also insanely interesting to see a band, an image, almost completely torn down by real life--family and therapy. I don't know if I can ever look at a band like Metallica again without thinking, these guys discuss their feelings.