Captain Beefheart: Some Yoyo Stuff

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful And Simple
Review: A gorgeous (and often very funny) little film by photographer/video director Corbijn. This is not a documentary by any means, just a small tribute to Don Van Vliet by a fan and a friend. Also appearing is David Lynch, also a fan and friend of 'Captain Beefheart'. The previous reviewer seems to be unaware of Van Vliet's highly successful career as a painter after releasing his final album Ice Cream For Crow. His also are unaware that the man has been very ill for years now, suffering from multiple sclerosis. For fans of his work, it is heartbreaking to see his condition, but his spirit in every way still resembles the 'old Captain'.

Rating:
Summary: Does he suffer from Multiple Sclerosis?
Review: According to the Web site "All About Multiple Sclerosis":

"Don Van Vilet (aka Captain Beefheart), the Rock 'n' Roll singer, does not have MS" (sic)

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/famous.html

Ignore my rating, my 5 stars is only out of respect to Don Van Vliet

Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware!
Review: Although marketed as "a short film about Don Van Vliet" (Cap't Beefheart) this is really nothing but a pretentious art project which happens to use some footage (over and over and over) of Don smoking a cigar. At least I assume it's Don?

Thirteen minutes of black & white footage of the desert, and closeups of some stuffed animals with a moving lightsource. Somebody who sounds like a 90-year old drugged out Alzheimer's victim (supposedly Don) rambles with some nonsense (absolutely no traces of the verbal wordplay Don was known for.)

Don't expect anything even remotely resembling the old Captain, and don't expect a single insight into Don's reclusive life since he quit music. This is Corbijn's project all the way.

Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware!
Review: Although marketed as "a short film about Don Van Vliet" (Cap't Beefheart) this is really nothing but a pretentious art project which happens to use some footage (over and over and over) of Don smoking a cigar. At least I assume it's Don?

Thirteen minutes of black & white footage of the desert, and closeups of some stuffed animals with a moving lightsource. Somebody who sounds like a 90-year old drugged out Alzheimer's victim (supposedly Don) rambles with some nonsense (absolutely no traces of the verbal wordplay Don was known for.)

Don't expect anything even remotely resembling the old Captain, and don't expect a single insight into Don's reclusive life since he quit music. This is Corbijn's project all the way.

Rating:
Summary: A rare look at what Van Vliet is up to now...
Review: Don Van Vliet permanently hung up his well-known-Zappa-given moniker "Captain Beefheart" forever in 1982 with his final album "Ice Cream for Crow". What a way to go out! He then basically traded his microphone for a paintbrush, and began a very successful career as an abstract painter. Here's how successful it has been: If you want to get an original Van Vliet painting to hang on your wall, be prepared to shell out at least 5 figures. It's possible that Van Vliet may be making more money as a painter than he ever did as "Captain Beefheart". Sadly, though his painting career is going extremely well, he also has been suffering from multiple sclerosis.

"Some YoYo Stuff" is a great tribute to the man who was "Captain Beefheart" and who is still very much Don Van Vliet. The movie is not about Captain Beefheart (even though a huge sticker on the box yells "A MOVIE STARRING CAPTAIN BEEFHEART") but about Don Van Vliet, and almost exclusively about Don Van Vliet the painter. Some incredible piano pieces of Van Vliet's provide accompaniment to some amazing filmed images (my favorite is the fish over the desert), and David Lynch admits his favorite piece is "The Dust Blows Forward and The Dust Blows Back", but that's the closest this movie comes to the Captain.

The film is a series of images with Van Vliet speaking. You see Don Van Vliet (yes, it's really him) in front of what looks like a screen. The screen projects questions that are never vocally asked, but are answered by Van Vliet, but not by the Van Vliet on the screen. The Van Vliet on the screen never talks, but he does smoke a cigar and gesture. The topics range from favorite paintings to Frank Zappa to Van Vliet's "message to the people watching" (worth the price of admission alone). Van Vliet's voice is obviously burdened and weary, but the content is amazing, funny, and poignant (listen for his comments on how he hopes that animals are smart enough to stay away from people).

Much of Van Vliet's dialogue echoes a radio/phone interview that Van Vliet gave in 1993 to a Dutch radio station (clips of this are available on the internet). This is, I believe, one of the last audio interviews with Van Vliet known of (I could be completely wrong, and if I am, please send me a link). Assuming that his condition has worsened since this film and the interview (both dated 1993), Van Vliet may no longer be capable of granting interviews. Let's hope that's not the case.

If you're interested at all in what Don Van Vliet is up to these days, this film is one of the few audio/visual sources of information. It is also a great tribute to an underrated and underappreciated artist and his work.

Rating:
Summary: WHERE'S THE BEEF?
Review: THIS IS A SHORT SWEET 13 MIN. DVD OF BEEFHEART TALKING.WE SEE HIM ON CAMERA SMOKING A CIGAR AND UNLESS HE'S TALKING WITH HIS MOUTH SHUT ITS A AUDIO VERSION OF DON SPEAKING.I'M STRUCK BY THE TONE OF HIS VOICE.POOR GUY,DID HE HAVE A STROKE OR THROAT OPERATION?HE SAYS SOME INTERESTING STUFF BUT YOU STRUGGLE TO MAKE IT OUT MUCH OF THE TIME.ONLY GAVE IT 3 STARS CAUSE THEY SHOULD OF PUT A FEW MUSIC CLIPS OF HIS ON IT SINCE ITS SO SHORT.YET THE PRICE IS LOWER ACCORDINGLY.A MUST HAVE FOR DIEHARD CAPTAIN FANS.