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it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:35 pm
by steven_crayn
just got out of the cinema at UK opening WOW!

The footage incredible Wolfman Jack at Hollywood Bowl, Alice & Bernie at piano doing Millie and Billie the whole movie was the biz and the original band got due credit.

My question about Jeff Beck got asked too even though they spelt me Steven Cryne but who cares, a great film.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:44 pm
by Si
steven_crayn wrote:just got out of the cinema at UK opening WOW!

The footage incredible Wolfman Jack at Hollywood Bowl, Alice & Bernie at piano doing Millie and Billie the whole movie was the biz and the original band got due credit.

My question about Jeff Beck got asked too even though they spelt me Steven Cryne but who cares, a great film.
I agree, it's very well put together and features some very interesting stuff.
Especially like the way they animate the still photos. Very cool.
However the fact that Michael Bruce isn`t mentioned at ANY point (apart from in the "thanks to" in the end titles) is unforgivable.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:53 pm
by Mike Drew
Yea,I thought it was super duper,bit confused about MB not once getting a nod? and no real mention about Glen,a few other things i could question but not worth it,overall,a very enjoyable experience,and the early AC music sounded so cool n loud up on the big screen,i can see a lot of work went into this....7/10 :-)

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:58 pm
by del
Just back from one of the Glasgow showings and have similar thoughts to Si. Enjoyed the film a lot but but it left a really bad taste to see so little reference to Glen and Michael. What happened there?

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:00 pm
by Si
At least Glen got a talked about for a few seconds, Michael got NOTHING at all.
And I agree Mike, the early stuff sounded absolutely fantastic. Should get a few people to revisit the first two albums.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:32 pm
by del
Watched the Q and A session for the film premier last night on You Tube and thought Alice's "he is difficult to contact sometimes" response to the where is Michael question was a bit lame. Shame that for whatever reason he didn't get his share of the focus.

Highlights for me, the very early years and the Bernie and Alice piece. Oh, and enjoyed the questions at the end too.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:43 pm
by Mike Drew
"Watched the Q and A session for the film premier last night on You Tube and thought Alice's "he is difficult to contact sometimes" response to the where is Michael question was a bit lame. Shame that for whatever reason he didn't get his share of the focus."

Indeed,and lets be honest,even if that were true,its no reason not to mention him or show an an archive piece of him talking (If any exist)
It just seems very strange considering he was a major part of the songwriting.....But overall I loved it.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:49 pm
by A_MichaelUK
> and no real mention about Glen,

That isn't really true. There's a segment (albeit a short one) on how Glen joined the band and he is also referred to later on in the story. The fact that this documentary is about the individual and not the band needs to be remembered.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:02 pm
by Mike Drew
That isn't really true. There's a segment (albeit a short one) on how Glen joined the band and he is also referred to later on in the story. The fact that this documentary is about the individual and not the band needs to be remembered.

I appreciate and acknowledge that,I just think that MB and GB should have had a reasonable presence in the early part of the film (at least the same as Neil)....Whats your take on the fact that MB has NO mention at all,Andy?

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:05 pm
by VinceRaven
My overall reaction is that it was superb, the early photos and footage especially were brilliant. Some of the archive stuff (Millie and Billie being a great example) was a joy to behold. One of the highlights for me was the audio of the early band doing the Stones' 'She Said Yeah'. I'd love to hear more of that stuff.

The lack of Michael Bruce is extremely noticeable, for the fans anyway, and there were other curious omissions, but there's only so much time.

I had a chuckle at Steven Cryne, well done on getting the question in.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:06 pm
by A_MichaelUK
>Whats your take on the fact that MB has NO mention at all,Andy?

I think it's unfortunate.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:07 pm
by pitkin88
Mike is on Face Book quite a bit. I would guess there might be other reasons he wasn't involved and of course he should have been to some extent.

Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:14 pm
by While Heaven Wept
Just got back from watching it in Bristol.

Good things:
Some fantastic footage, much of which was new to me. Loved all the early band stuff and it was fantastic to hear lots of PFY being used. It's amazing how big and fresh those tunes sound when used in this kind of context. Definitely makes me want to dust off the vinyl and give those first 2 albums another spin.

They didn't avoid the whole cocaine issue and this was covered pretty extensively. Alice sounded a little reluctant to talk in much depth but atleast he did acknowledge it. The footage with Taupin was very enlightening.

Great to hear Dunaway getting alot of air time. Neal Smith featured but nowhere near as much. Shep's contributions were quite frank, colourful and enjoyable to hear.

Great footage from the hollywood bowl and the footage from all strapped up is quite shocking to see. Alice looked so ill.

The Q&A at the end was very enjoyable, including a question from our fellow sickthing Steven Cryne ;)

The use of songs sat well with the subject matter and there was a good mix of albums included.

Bad things:
Not ONE mention of Michael Bruce....NOT ONE!! This is unforgivable. Could MB have prevented them from mentioning him? I understand this film is primarily about Vincent, but to totally disregard him is quite terrible. Glen Buxton was given only a small mention. Neil Smith was present but again, he had very little to say.

To say the film 'stars' Elton John, Iggy Pop, Dee Snider and John Lydon is a little misleading... they literally said about a sentence each. I would have loved to hear more from Elton and Iggy. Lydon's contribution felt very forced to me, it's as if he wasn't even given a context to comment on. It felt very out of the blue.

The 'story' didn't really work for me. I know that they needed some kind of redemption story to give the film a narrative but Alice's career doesn't really lend itself to a start, middle and end in my opinion. The pay-off (returning in 1986) felt somewhat underwhelming to me.

It's very hard for me to be objective as i'm such a fan. I tried my hardest to watch the film objectively however...and as much as I enjoyed the presentation, the use of animation with stills (very reminiscent of the recent Bill Hicks documentary), great footage and nice soundbites.... I can't help feeling that a non-Alice fan would be pretty bored by it. The film neither gave me enough detail on aspects of his career or gave me a full picture of what Alice really means to me.

It feels as if they couldn't decide whether to make this for the fans or the casual listener.

I'll certainly buy it when it comes out on blu-ray as some of the footage is a must-own for fans. Big respect to all involved in sourcing some really fantastic stuff.... i'm sure Andy Michael played a big part in this so my thanks to him as always.

Re: Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:20 pm
by Mike Drew
Don't get me wrong,thats really my main criticism,and joe public won't know anyway...I appreciate the fact,that a lot of work has gone into this...This is about as good as its gonna get,looking forward to Super Duper 2 "The Nightmare Returns" :-)

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:22 pm
by Cindy Lang
I saw it in Copenhagen tonight and I agree with all of you. But as someone that has "lived" with Alice since early 1972 I was a bit surprised that quite many dates showned in the "timeline" were wrong. For instance the Paris 1972 interview was dated 1970 for some reason. Also a bit disapointed that they filled in with photos here and there that didn't fit in the timeline around 1970. I may be picky but don´t understand why this happened.

Quite many very nice surprises that I didn´t know existed was shown and of course a good quality of the Hollywood Bowl 1972 intro and that School's Out break from The "Your all crazier than I am" bootleg I finally got to see it after more than 41 years :alice: . Strange that the clip from Hofstra 1972 were in such bad quality. The one I have is a first generation copy.
I was also surprised that MB were totally "cencored". It must be a reason for that? And why did Neal bring up the quija board story that has been denied so many times?

Now I´m looking forward to watch the complete Hollywood Bowl concert. I remember I discussed this with Renfield when I was at his appartment in LA in 1988 and he told me that he tracked the complete original footage in New York but couldntt get a hold on it for some copyright reason. Maybe it's finally solved? Hmmmm... when thinking of it it was not the Hollywood Bowl but the Long Island 1972 concert (also known as the Electric Ballrom Detroit) filmed by Pennebaker.

Can't wait to get the Bonus DVD :grin:

Sorry for all grammatic errors and misspelling :rotfl:

Re: Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:27 pm
by dadascot
I've just seen it in Hamilton and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. The early band stuff is excellent plenty of coverage, even the old chicken story has some new life breathed into it. The cocaine use was a real eye opener, especially as Alice has always stated that drink was enough of a problem and has kept his drug use pretty much under wraps. The footage with taupin was superb. I loved the way the film was put together but then I. Also a big fan of "the kid stays in the picture". I thought the content was great for the casual fan, non-fan or total cooperite! I also picked up that MB was never mentioned and thought it pretty outrageous, the only other disappointment was that there was only five people in the audience.

Re: Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:33 pm
by While Heaven Wept
dadascot wrote: the only other disappointment was that there was only five people in the audience.
Yeah that was a disappointment for me too. I counted about 12 people. I expected better from the people of Bristol.

Re: Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:34 pm
by A_MichaelUK
>Alice sounded a little reluctant to talk in much depth

I didn't get that impression and as you can probably imagine, with something like this, hours of audio is recorded. It can't all be used.

>I know that they needed some kind of redemption story to give the film a narrative but Alice's career doesn't really lend itself to a start, middle and end in my opinion.

At no point does it say his career has ended. In fact, it says the opposite.

> gave me a full picture of what Alice really means to me.

You would need to make your own film for that. If someone else also made a documentary, it would be different (by the way, I don't think it was necessary to create a new thread for this subject).

>i'm sure Andy Michael played a big part in this so my thanks to him as always.

You are very kind but the biggest praise should go to the incredibly talented bunch that put this together, especially incredibly talented Reginald Harkema and I have to say that I hated every minute of working with him (that's a joke for anyone who can't tell).

Re: Super Duper - Some great moments but seriously flawed

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:37 pm
by A_MichaelUK
>especially as Alice has always stated that drink was enough of a problem

I actually think in some ways that the alcoholism may have been even worse - that may give you an indication of how bad that was.

Re: it really is Super Duper

Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:40 pm
by A_MichaelUK
>Mike is on Face Book quite a bit.

He joined long after the film was finished, if it makes a difference.