Died Young Stayed Pretty

by

I gotta admit that I was really excited to see Died Young Stayed Pretty, a new full length documentary focusing on the DIY rock poster (see gigposters.com) movement that has brewing in the US and beyond for the the last decade. The doc has hundreds of interviews with big names (many of whom you’ve never heard of) within the close knit rock poster scene,who discuss personal taste, poster philosophies, and what role money,drugs, and 70′s&80′s porn plays in rock posters. Many of the artists interviewed are amazingly talented (i.e. Tyler Stout & Brian Chippendale) and interesting, sharing with the viewer a small glimpse of their creative process.

While I really really really wanted to love this doc I was left wanting more. Died Young Stayed Pretty does a fantastic job giving a vague overview of the rock poster scene but constant crisscrossing story lines, unnecessary sound effects, and a lack of a coherent story line leave me feeling like I just watched a 1 1/2 hour trailer instead of fully developed film that sheds light on a scene that many are not privy to.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the final dvd version has some extras that tell more of the individual artists stories.

If you’re in the LA area there will be a screening of the movie on September 16th at American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana ave, Santa Monica, CA) at 7:30pm.

Additional screening times and locations can be found at www.diedyoungstayedpretty.com

  • Pingback: C33» Blogarchiv » Died Young Stayed Pretty

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Died Young Stayed Pretty | BEAUTIFUL/DECAY MAGAZINE -- Topsy.com

  • Akhila

    i saw this last week
    their creative process is interesting. oh and the posters are soo great!
    but yes, I agree, the movie was kind of all over the place and never really centered in on anything,
    someone asked about her decision to film it that way, and she said that she wanted, as a filmmaker, to have it be
    more about the scene than about the individual artists. It’s interesting cause she said she lived with all these artists – some for a week and some for a month – I’m sure she had a lot of footage about their specific processes and a lot of visual references; the movie could have been so much more personal.
    Also, she said her choice to film from weird angles or to have the sun shining right into the screen was because she felt like those “effects” fit with the style of rock posters and the artists in those scenes. I wish she had been a little bit more purposeful …

    THAT SAID, people should check it out…even if for nothing more than to see all the posters and to hear some of them talk about how they designed them.

  • http://EmoPorn.co.uk punk porn

    rawrrRrr