Shine a Light (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  saw this on an IMAX screen

• paul s

  
  The beauty of this musical documentary of the Rolling Stones circa 2006 is that you don't really realize the technical brilliance that goes on behind the scenes; and brilliant it is - seamless editing and whirlwind use of hundred of cameras make this Scorscese effort a joy to… More
  The beauty of this musical documentary of the Rolling Stones circa 2006 is that you don't really realize the technical brilliance that goes on behind the scenes; and brilliant it is - seamless editing and whirlwind use of hundred of cameras make this Scorscese effort a joy to watch. Anything else you may want to say about the film is strictly about performance, and here the Stones give a pretty darned good accounting of themselves, with Mick still Jumping Jack Flash, in perpetual motion while the band chugs along in their loose, "it's only rock and roll" garage band way. What really comes through here is the brilliance of Keith Richard's supporting guitar play. He is such an expert at nailing the backbeat, which is the soul of the Stones sound. I was also impressed that Charlie Watts - almost 70 I believe, was still bringing it on drums, even at the end of the over 2 hour performance - especially on Brown Sugar. The cameo appearances are fun, with the Jagger duet with Christine Aguilara especially ripping, though I felt that the jam with Buddy Guy lacked focus (and it was obvious that the band struggled with the odd blues progression). Marty interspersed the affair with some archival interview footage that was only occasionally enlightening, with the most entertaining bits concerning bandmate statements about longevity from the 60's. In all - I found this to be entertaining and a true insight into the power of the band - much more intimate than the concert footage from say the Steel Wheels Tour. You don't have to be a Stones fan to dig this - but having an appreciation for music will help.

• Graham J

  
  Grandpa's tearing shit up.

• Alexander D

  
  SHINE A LIGHT is truly epic, absolutely amazing. It is one of the best musical documentaries I have ever seen, and it truly defines the Rolling Stones.

• Mark W

  
  Having already covered such musical talents as The Band in "The Last Waltz" and Bob Dylan in "No Direction Home", director Martin Scorsese now turns his hand to iconic rock 'n' roll band The Rolling Stones. The closeness that Scorsese achieves is… More
  Having already covered such musical talents as The Band in "The Last Waltz" and Bob Dylan in "No Direction Home", director Martin Scorsese now turns his hand to iconic rock 'n' roll band The Rolling Stones. The closeness that Scorsese achieves is nothing short of magnificent. He must have had cameras everywhere and manages to capture the vibrancy of this fabulous band during their "A Bigger Bang" tour, playing at the Beacon theatre in New York. He manages to get so close you can see every wrinkle, every pore and you can almost smell the whisky from Keith Richards. Having been going strong for nearly 50 years (they were formed in 1962) and each band member over 60 years old, they've still got what it takes and can still get a crowd going. Their vibrancy is second to none and you can see why they have lasted so long. Tour footage is intercut with old footage of the band in their younger days and rise to stardom. It also briefly shows how the film was put together with footage of Scorsese conducting his documentary as the legends on-stage conduct their music. You can see Scorsese has a love and a knowledge of this great band. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't hear so many of their classic songs played throughout his films. It's just a shame that the band members have aged. This would have been a much better intrusive film had it been The Stones in their prime. However, they're still an exceptional outfit, Mick Jagger's energy still impresses and they remain my favourite. For Stones aficiondos only. If you count yourself as one, then you'll love it.

• Jennifer D

  
  I'll be honest, I didn't exactly watch this beginning to end. Only because I'm not such a fan of the Stones later stuff. However, I got what Scorsese was going with it and after seeing lots of concert DVDs, I can tell it was extremely well filmed. Beautiful and crisp,… More
  I'll be honest, I didn't exactly watch this beginning to end. Only because I'm not such a fan of the Stones later stuff. However, I got what Scorsese was going with it and after seeing lots of concert DVDs, I can tell it was extremely well filmed. Beautiful and crisp, cleanly filmed even if the Stones themselves are a bit rough to look at. But judging by Mick Jagger's dancing he's not a day over 20.

• Michael S

  
  As a Stones fan, SHINE A LIGHT was an exceptionally concert documentary. It's not as great as the genres best (GIMME SHELTER and Scorsese's own THE LAST WALTZ) but it showcases one of the greatest bands of all time with great stylistic flair and inventive camerawork.… More
  As a Stones fan, SHINE A LIGHT was an exceptionally concert documentary. It's not as great as the genres best (GIMME SHELTER and Scorsese's own THE LAST WALTZ) but it showcases one of the greatest bands of all time with great stylistic flair and inventive camerawork. *Skip it if your not a fan of the Rolling Stone. It's just not meant for you.

• Chris W

  
  For several years I have been a huge fan of both the band and Scorsese, and eever since I got into Scorsese (which happened after I got into The Stones), I was longing for a collaboration between the two that involved more than Marty using thier music as a backdrop to his films. When… More
  For several years I have been a huge fan of both the band and Scorsese, and eever since I got into Scorsese (which happened after I got into The Stones), I was longing for a collaboration between the two that involved more than Marty using thier music as a backdrop to his films. When I first heard about this film, I basically creamed myself (for lack of a better phrase). Finally. A true collaboration. However, before I continue the review, a brief departure. I was fortunate enough to get to see the Rolling Stoens perform in St. Louis in 2006. It was an incredible experience, and one that I'll probably never get to replicate ever again. Ok, here's why I told you that. As awesome as it was for the Stoens and Scorsese to finally collaborate in a proper way, it was unsatisfying for me. Granted, this film is really, really good, but it could have been great. Seeign this flm just can't compare with seeing the band in person, even if they are in their 60's. First, a few more gripes (minor as they are, they are still enough to prevent a 5-star rating). I wanna say that I'm ok with the fact that it's PG-13, but I'm not, especially because of the fact that in order to get a PG-13 (for whatever reason) censorship was needed. Why the hell was the 'black girls' line completely ommitted from "Some Girls", and why was it deemed necessary to remove the line about the Kennedys from "Sympathy for the Devil"? To be fair, they do allow a couple of f-bombs to slip by, but only a couple (two are bleeped-one is from archive footage). Originally the film was rated R for language, and they should have just left it like that. Editing it to get a PG-13, thus allowing for a more commercially friendly film is stupid. Especially when it involves the Rolling Stones. These guys are legends. No matter what it's rated, it's gonna be commercially succesful, even if it's Rated R. Another gripe: the performances of their bigger and more well-known hits are a let-down, especially "Sympathy for the Devil" (and not because of the censorship, either). The best performances are the not as well known songs like "Far Away Eyes", "You got the Silver", and the spectacular, show stoppng cover of Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer", done with a little help from blues legend Buddy Guy. Of the bigger hits though, "Brown Sugar", and "Start Me Up" (even though that songs annoys me a lot) are great. "Jumping Jack Flash" is decent, but I've heard better versions. Ok, time for the positives. The aformentioned Buddy Guy guest appearance is definitely at the top. Christina Aguilera (surprisingly) holds her own and also almost manages to steal the show. Jack White's guest appearance is good, but he seems a bit too star struck. The use of well-chosen and equally well-placed archive footage throughout is superb. The archive footage manages to flow with the concert, and works with it, not against it. The opening segment involving the planning and backstage preparation for the show might bore people who are solely Stones fans, and not also hardcore film fans, but I loved it. It was cool getting to see the hard work that goes into a product like this, and it's funny as hell, too. I haven't yet seen "The Last Waltz" *gasp*! I know, I know, it's shocking. However, even though I haven't seen it, I know that it's superior based on what I've read and heard. In watching Shine a Light though, I can tell that Marty wasn't trying to top his earlier work. No, with this, he was just trying to have fun, and showcase that, even though The Rolling Stones should have reitred years ago, they can still rock really hard, despite their ages. Both he and the band succeed, and despite the films problems, it's still really good, as is the set (even though they've had better sets in the past), and that is why I gave it at least a 4 star rating, despite the gripes I have with it. My bias for both Marty and the band is while I inflated it. Overall ,the film doesn't disappoint. I was slightly let down, but that was just for personal reasons. Don't let things like that keep you from enjoying this glorious celebration of great music and great filmmaking.

• Mike N

  
  Cursed spinniness of the white orbs, never ending countcountcountcountcount of moments. Moments of moments. Moments of micro-moments. The fantastically perilous progression moving at the speed of today, tomorrow, Tuesday. For the love of Tuesday. Measured thoughts, another bowl… More
  Cursed spinniness of the white orbs, never ending countcountcountcountcount of moments. Moments of moments. Moments of micro-moments. The fantastically perilous progression moving at the speed of today, tomorrow, Tuesday. For the love of Tuesday. Measured thoughts, another bowl of soup. Flying, whizzing, lonely trap captured, enraptured, fractured locations from each other, like a peeling desert, wrinkles in the earth, in our faces. Faces in the earth. A ruler that stretches to your personal omega, absorbed in gait of blind conscious fervor to an inky depth in the shape of a man. Spinniness. Spinniness. Crush me in your hand and rolling pin me into your devised infinity. Eddies of memory, quicksilvering children's drawings, a waxpaper spectacle closely cousined with sleep pictures. Bestriding each bubble, circling through, over again and another bubble reliving forever. A drink, a sedimentary portal with sediment of light, an escape from no escape. Open up, bring yourself that horizon. Apex of hope, Himalayan courage of a molehill, brittleness of a soapbox, fading music of a voice. Flotsam dreams, sinking islands. Whirlpool fate. For the love of spinniness. Spinniness.

• Matt F

  
  If you're not a fan of the Stones, and most certainly if you're not much for classic rock, you'll probably not get much out of this film. However, if you enjoy both the former and the latter, "Shine A Light" offers an electrifying concert film experience.… More
  If you're not a fan of the Stones, and most certainly if you're not much for classic rock, you'll probably not get much out of this film. However, if you enjoy both the former and the latter, "Shine A Light" offers an electrifying concert film experience. Intricately shot with lots of camera movement, the visuals more intimate than any other live-show-to-video I've ever seen. The only complaint I have is that the music guest stars are largely hit and miss, but a pleasant surprise is Christina Aguilera's duet with Mick on "Live With Me". Oh yeah - the band sounds great too.

• William G

  
  Scorsese renders a rockin' two hours with the Stones and company poignant by way of early interview footage.

• Keith M

  
  I love you Marty, but I get it, they "WERE" a great band.

• Wu C

  
  Scorsese does the Stones. A very good concert film, but I expected more documentary. Rolling Stone fans should enjoy.

• MJS M

  
  ?The road has taken a lot of the great ones; Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis? It?s a goddamn impossible way of life.? This was the sentiment Robbie Robertson had left us with in Martin Scorsese?s legendary concert film, The Last Waltz. That film… More
  ?The road has taken a lot of the great ones; Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis? It?s a goddamn impossible way of life.? This was the sentiment Robbie Robertson had left us with in Martin Scorsese?s legendary concert film, The Last Waltz. That film was all about a band that had been worn down by years of touring to the point where they needed to leave the road for good. Almost thirty years later Martin Scorsese has made a concert film about the band that has notoriously become the absolute antithesis of that sentiment: The Rolling Stones. I won?t contribute to the long list of jokes about the aging stones still playing music into their sixties, because I think those jokes are mostly unfounded. No one has any problems with much older people playing jazz, classical music, or blues; so why not rock and roll, especially when they still ?bring it? as well as they do here. The film is culled from footage taken at a pair of concerts at New York?s Beacon Theater in 2006. The show is introduced by former President Bill Clinton, whose foundation was receiving the proceeds for the show. Martin Scorsese was hired to film the event, the first such job he?s had since the aforementioned 1979 film The Last Waltz. Scorsese seemed a natural choice to direct, one can tell just from the soundtracks to his movies that he?s a huge Stones fan; after all he?s used ?Gimmie Shelter? in three movies (four if you include both of the times it?s used in The Departed). Considering how well The Last Waltz turned out, and considering how good his other music documentary No Direction Home worked out, expectations were high for another gem from this cinematic master and preeminent rock fan. The film also contains some archival footage from The Rolling Stone?s past, but make no mistake, this is a concert film and no a documentary. The archival footage is very brief and mainly exists for the purposes of transitioning between numbers. Of course this is far from the first movie to chronicle a Stones concert, of particular notoriety is the 1970 Albert and David Maysles documentary Gimmie Shelter, which depicted the botched Altamont concert which ended with the stabbing death of an audience member named Meredith Hunter. There?s nothing that dramatic to be found at this Stones show, and it also lacks any of the end of an era sentiment that added so much weight (no pun intended) to The Last Waltz. This instead documents a concert that appears to have mostly gone smoothly, so Scorsese has the challenge of making an entertaining film while simply filming a badass Stones show. Mick and Keith are clearly older now than they were at the height of their popularity, but they still seem extremely energetic onstage. Mick Jagger in particular doesn?t seem to have slowed down a bit; he?s still an electrifying performer and dances across the stage with utter glee. The whole band sounds pretty good here, of course I wouldn?t be shocked if they used a lot of overdubbing and ADR, but they sound good in the film and that?s all that really matters. The set list covers most of the classic period of the band?s career and never wastes time with the newer tracks that the fans aren?t as excited about. The band doesn?t shy away from their ?greatest hits? and happily play songs like ?Satisfaction,? ?Start Me Up,? and ?Brown Sugar.? The less famous but much beloved Some Girls album also gets a workout here with ?The Girl with the Far Away Eyes,? ?Shattered,? and a wonderful rendition of the album?s title track. Of course they couldn?t fit all the hits here, you won?t be hearing ?Paint it Black,? ?Ruby Tuesday,? ?Under My Thumb,? or ?Street Fighting Man.? Also missing is Scorsese?s beloved ?Gimmie Shelter? which would have almost been a parody of itself were it to have popped up for the fifth time in a Scorsese film. Also suspiciously missing is the title song ?Shine a Light,? which only appears for a few minutes in the credits, much the way ?Gimmie Shelter? only appeared in the credits of the documentary of that name. The Stones are also joined by guests on three different songs. Jack White joins for a rendition of ?Loving Cup,? I can?t say White contributes a whole lot to the song but watching him here is interesting as he seems incredibly flattered to be on stage playing with one of his idols. Christina Aguilera joins the band for ?Live With Me? with less than memorable results. Finally Blues legend Buddy Guy for a cover Muddy Water?s ?Champagne & Reefer,? and it?s far and away the best guest performance here. Scorsese?s filmmaking eye shows itself here as he chooses to focus his camera on Guy?s eyes during Jagger?s part of the song before Guy finally lets loose with a classic Blues vocal performance. The Stones show a great ability to keep their show moving throughout, choosing the right songs in the right order. The only time the show slows down is when Mick leaves the stage for two songs and Keith Richards takes over for a pair of songs he fronts as well as providing the guitar licks. There?s a reason Keith hasn?t been fronting all these years, and without Mick on screen the movie suffers. One Keith song would have been perfectly acceptable, but two was overdoing it. It?s revealed shortly thereafter that Keith has been taking over so that Mick can change costumes and make an entrance on ?Sympathy for the Devil,? still cutting that kind of filler out is one of the advantages concert films have over real live shows, and that tool should have been used here. In order to film the movie Scorsese employed a dream team of Academy Award winning cinematographers lead by Robert Richardson as the camera crew as he called shot via radio. This is similar to his approach on The Last Waltz, except the set list wasn?t as rigid and it required a lot more improvisation. The result is primarily a gorgeous looking movie, the lighting and image clarity are great and the cameras are able to really get close in and photograph at just the right angles throughout the film. If there?s better looking live concert footage out there I?d love to see it. Of course as beautiful as this looks, there are obviously better concert films out there. No matter how well Scorsese shot and edited this it?s is still going to be just another Rolling Stones show, not a cultural landmark like the Altamont show or The Band?s Last Waltz performance. Still, as average as the show may be Scorsese has managed to capture it about as well as it could possibly be captured and that?s all he ever set out to do.

• Andrew P

  
  I have never been a Stones fan, I like their music but I would never ever sit down and chill to an album of theirs. This movie was one big stones concert. It doesnt take a genious to figure out my critiques of it. But I did actually enjoy it. Scorsese really tried hard to put us there… More
  I have never been a Stones fan, I like their music but I would never ever sit down and chill to an album of theirs. This movie was one big stones concert. It doesnt take a genious to figure out my critiques of it. But I did actually enjoy it. Scorsese really tried hard to put us there into the action and it works well. The shots are beautiful and look stunning on the cinema screen. Its a shame he didnt make this more of a documentary about the band though which would have been much more interesting. The Stones deliver a great musical performance, and Are well worth a watch.

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