You know, I never intended to be a movie critic. But every once in a while there comes a movie that I just have to opine about. If I wind up illuminating anyone else's existence in the process, then it's all worth it.
Hell, it'd be worth it even if I didn't illuminate anyone else's existence, just because I get to vent about stuff I like.
I want to talk to you about a little movie called Pirate Radio,also known as The Boat That Rocked.
Now this is a good film.
The year is 1966. England has outlawed rock 'n' roll on the radio. So, a motley band of selfless wackos (played to the hilt by such priceless talents as Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as "The Count") rig up a ship with broadcasting equipment, sail into international waters off the coast of Great Britain, and start pounding out rock 'n' roll classics to half the British population on pirate radio.
The movie follows a pompous prig of a government minister (Kenneth Branagh) as he attempts to shut Radio Rock down, and the many hilarious doings and happenings aboard the ship itself. These antics include:
Sexation Saturday:there ain't any women on the boat except for the lesbian cook, so every second Saturday a literal boatload of women comes aboard from the mainland for a little dalliance with the crew.
Chicken:when a veteran DJ named Gavin comes aboard and challenges the Count's supremacy, a duel ensues. The Count challenges Gavin to a good old-fashioned American game of chicken. The challenge? Be the one to climb the highest up one of the ship's radio masts. Watching a not-exactly-svelte Hoffman perform this feat is one of the film's many funny moments.
Cherry popping: the film's straight-man protagonist, Carl, sent onto the boat by his mother after getting expelled from school, is discovered to be a virgin. The well-meaning sinners among the crew conspire to remedy his predicament, resulting in some entertaining bedroom shenanigans.
Needless to say, any movie concerned with rock 'n' roll is going to have a great soundtrack. But this movie has a superb collection of the best of 1960s rock 'n' roll: the Who, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, the Turtles, the Beach Boys, the Troggs, the Hollies, Cream, Otis Redding, the Moody Blues, the Isley Brothers, Smokey Robinson, Jimi Hendrix, even Ennio Morricone's theme from Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More.
The film is the best I've seen in a long while. The casting is excellent; the boat is populated with a host of unique, lovable and hilarious characters. The plot, though inchoate, is nonetheless engaging. After two hours of bedroom farces, crude jokes, high-wire stunts and classic rock (all from a pack of long-haired, hard-drinking chain smokers dressed in full 60s attire), I still wanted more. The music, as I've mentioned before, will blow your mind. But the film has its heartwarming moments, too. When the government finally manages to outlaw pirate radio entirely, there's a really powerful scene in the mess when everyone volunteers to soldier on regardless. The Count, in the final scenes of the film, makes a simply heroic speech about the undying spirit of rock 'n' roll and its place in the hearts and minds of the people. Though the enterprise was short-lived, one felt that Radio Rock earned no less glory than the defenders of Troy or the minutemen on Lexington Green.
Because what the movie, pirate radio, and rock 'n' roll are all truly about, is...freedom.
If you love rock and the rebel/underdog archetype, you'll love Pirate Radio. I hate to sound like a movie trailer there, but I mean it. Watch it and see if you can keep from smiling (or even getting up and dancing in the aisles).
I dare you...chicken.
You know, I never intended to be a movie critic. But every once in a while there comes a movie that I just have to opine about. If I wind up illuminating anyone else's existence in the process, then it's all worth it.
Hell, it'd be worth it even if I didn't illuminate anyone else's existence, just because I get to vent about stuff I like.
I want to talk to you about a little movie called Pirate Radio, also known as The Boat That Rocked.
Now this is a good film.
The year is 1966. England has outlawed rock 'n' roll on the radio. So, a motley band of selfless wackos (played to the hilt by such priceless talents as Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as "The Count") rig up a ship with broadcasting equipment, sail into international waters off the coast of Great Britain, and start pounding out rock 'n' roll classics to half the British population on pirate radio.
The movie follows a pompous prig of a government minister (Kenneth Branagh) as he attempts to shut Radio Rock down, and the many hilarious doings and happenings aboard the ship itself. These antics include:
