MISSING AND LOST
A few weeks ago, Scott posed the question Can Indie Directors Ever Really Rock?
That issue will always be hotly disputed, but I personally would argue that documentaries are the best way of capturing the spirit of a musician, and there are two fine examples which come out today. First there is the long-overdue re-release of photographer Bruce Weber‘s iconic portrait of jazz legend Chet Baker, Let’s Get Lost. Though nominated for a Best Documentary Academy Award, it hasn’t been seen since 1993, but now a restored 35mm print is being shown at Film Forum in an exclusive 3-week run. If you make it tonight’s 7:00 screening, you can also catch a Q&A with Weber.
Also worth catching is Keven McAlester‘s You’re Gonna Miss Me. Like Let’s Get Lost, the film is a documentary about one of the music world’s victims of fame, except this one has a happy ending. In the 1960s, Roky Erickson was the frontman of The 13th Floor Elevators, the first psychedelic rock band, but his reliance on heroin and LSD and subsequent schizophrenia crippled his creativity and all but ended his career. McAlester’s doc charts Erickson’s sad story and watches as his youngest brother battles to help Roky escape from his hermetic existence and reclaim his life. The film plays at Cinema Village from today, and if you want to find out where a rehabilitated Erickson is playing live, check his website for more details.
