Popular reviews

• 

  Review by Evan “Kaizō Haya-shill” Pincus ★★★ 7

  It feels super disingenuous to promote this by saying it features “rare archival footage” and bury the fact that much of it (how much is unclear) is fake in the credits (and only mention it offhandedly in one interview)- I think a documentary has a responsibility to make that clear from the get-go, otherwise it’s just flat-out lying. At least Rolling Thunder Revue lied for fun, this one just seems to do it for utility, and I frankly think that’s a bit irresponsible. And speaking of irresponsible, I realize Allen Ginsburg is a vital character in Arthur’s story, but the clip where Al talks about crushing on Art because of “the youth he exuded” is absolutely not a cute, wholesome…

• 

  Review by Doug Dibbern ★★★★

  Watching this movie made me intensely nostalgic for the feeling I had when I first heard Arthur Russell -- 2006, maybe? -- that combined sensation of discovering genius for the first time and at the same time being confused and astounded that this person wasn't more well known. But even back then, that feeling was mixed with a nostalgia for the years of the early 90s when I first moved to New York when one could still see the last vestiges of bohemian possibilities in the East Village. But those hopes have been dead for so long now. Everyone I know talks about leaving the city. It's just become too hard to live here anymore. But where can we possibly…

• 

  Review by theironcupcake ★★★½

  "There's a lot of great art that never finds a huge audience, or that never finds a huge audience during the artist's lifetime. I mean, I could say that some of his stuff was just... it was out of its time. It was ahead of its time. It was behind its time. It just existed as itself, and... I mean, from my point of view, he's one of the best songwriters ever. You know, he's as good as the Beatles. He's as good as anybody."

  Out of all the films leaving Criterion Channel after October 31, the one that I most wanted to make absolutely sure I saw was Wild Combination, a 71-minute documentary by Matt Wolf that observes the…

• 

  Review by ben ★★★ 1

  Wish a better filmmaker made it

• 

  Review by David James ★★★★ 2

  "Arthur was creating this kind of utopia. So there was a compulsion to keep remaking this world, and this world was very, very complicated." - David Toop

  "Music can heal. It can heal you. Music is not just something you go dancing to. It can really heal." - Arthur Russell

  While I'm tempted to rate this documentary five stars simply through my longtime abiding affection for the artist himself, I have to admit that it left me wanting just a little bit more. Maybe more detail or insight into his recording process, or maybe just more time spent with those who knew and loved him best; I'm not sure what would truly scratch this phantom itch. There simply doesn't exist…

• 

  Review by David Weigel ★★★★ 1

  "Efficient" sounds like faint praise, but that word popped into my head as the credits rolled - this does a fantastic job carving a spot for Russell in the history of modern music, and an even better job introducing him to the viewer who goes in blind. Wouldn't have hated to hear more from Russell himself, but the choice to tell the story through lovers and collaborators does work.

  Also, bold for Jens Lenkman to show up 65 minutes into a narrative that could be called "Jens Lenkman's early work was incredibly derivative of Arthur Russell."

• 

  Review by Ryan 2

  Its so true how the funkiest white boys come from the prairies

• 

  Review by ian ★★★½

  simply a genius

• 

  Review by emily b ★★★★

  have really fell in love with Arthur’s music this past year especially. love is overtaking me is one of the most beautiful albums ever crafted. really great insight into his life and work. extraordinary guy

• 

  Review by shames of badzone ★★★½

  im a big arthur russell fan and this does a pretty good job of going through arthur's biography without being overly basic (though i still havent read tim lawrence's hold on to your dreams, the little bits ive read delving into his early life in the buddhist monastery and working in the downtown avant garde and disco scenes are thoroughly fascinating, and i wish more of that was included here. the scene where lola love talks about singing on "go bang" is great)

  the best parts of this is the interviews with his parents (who though very supportive were apparently just like the rest of society and didn't fully appreciate arthur's music until after he died) and tom lee, his…

• 

  Review by nick

  Long live Gay Iowan Cowboys. From one gay cowboy to another

• 

  Review by yanni

  loved getting to know more abt arthur russell pushing me to explore more of his music. we really lost an entire generation to AIDS, the thought of that really makes my heart ache.