Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

Rating:
Summary: most fulfilling workout film ever!
Review: Dirty white shoes open this film, which pans up to a gaunt and taut Byrne singing along with a little 80s radio. As the film progresses, it remains almost unnaturally energetic, viscerally entertaining, and as groovy as you can get in Izod.

As the crew, band, and expanded band gradually come onstage, Jonathan Demme manages to capture a performance as clear, as vibrant, and sweaty as it should look. He strays from including too many shots of the audience in favor of a more direct presentation, and employs the cinematography talents of Jordan Cronenweth. Much of the lighting is conceptually dependent on the band, but Cronenweth captures it on film in an almost obscenely accurate, vivid, and artistic manner.

Stop Making Sense is visually masterful, both in concept and in execution, with oozing clarity, color, energy, and technically astute. Camera placement, lighting, shot choices, sound, and editing make for a film that forces the viewer to let go and enjoy dancing while watching a screen. In fact, its so technically flawless its nearly difficult to remember one is viewing a film. Even on a very small screen, viewing the film appears to be a concert that's better than an ordinary concert. It has the closeness and clarity one wishes for when attending shows, and this intimacy allows for an otherwise blessfully detached band connect with a filmgoer who started the film expecting to remain in their seat.

Talking Heads take you on a trip of energetic indulgence of art nerd glory, a trip of big suits, silhouettes, floorlamp dancing, and hair flipping, and a trip that allows even the most of indies to remember that dancing is fun. It's a dose of speed, a shot of caffeine, and an inherently entertaining exhibition of musical grandeur.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: You can't say enough good things about Stop Making Sense.

It is simply the best band film in existence.