A Few DVD Docs Rock The Rutles & The Ramones But Neither Is Definitive

A couple of new rockumentaries (one is actually a mockumentary) are out now on DVD. Here's brief reviews of both:

THE RUTLES 2 : CAN'T BUY ME LUNCH
(Dir. Eric Idle, 2004)

"Did you ever get the feeling that the truth is less revealing than an outright lie?" - Ron Nasty (Neil Innes) 

This is an utterly unnecessary, painfully unfunny, and even a bit embarrassing sequel to the classic '77 NBC-TV special parody of the Beatles (ALL YOU NEED IS CASH).

Apparently former Python and also the formerly funny Eric Idle felt he was justified re-hashing the enterprise by airing un-used footage from the original, and adding new A-list celebrity interviews (Steve Martin, Conan O'Brien, David Bowie, Salman Rushdie, even Jewell for crying out loud!) but except for the occasional witty line - "I loved A HARD DAY'S RUT, that has influenced all of my work. That and some of the stuff the Turtles did" (Garry Shandling) this is a cringe inducing fest of bad ad-libs and smug posing. 

THE RUTLES 2 confirms that Eric Idle is officially THE GREEDIEST PYTHON.

For those of you keeping score:

John Cleese: THE SNOTTIEST PYTHON
Michael Palin: THE WORLD WEARIEST PYTHON
Terry Jones: THE MOST MEDIEVAL PYTHON
Terry Gilliam: THE MOST OVER BUDGET PYTHON
Graham Chapman: THE MOST DEAD PYTHON

END OF THE CENTURY - THE STORY OF THE RAMONES
(Dir. Jim Fields & Michael Gramaglia, 2003)

"To the short list of great rock docs - DON'T LOOK BACK, LET IT BE, THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, etc. - must now be added END OF THE CENTURY" - Kurt Loder (MTV News) 

Sorry Kurt, it's good but not that good. Ultimately a sad tale of New Yawk leather and denim clad mock hoodlums saving rock 'n roll from its excesses in the '70s. Three of 'em are dead now. The tale is extremely biased and rough but this is at least better than last year's hodgepodge RAW. 

Too bad full performance clips aren't presented as extras and a more rawking structure wasn't applied to this material like the Who doc THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT comparison Loder lofts. Such a could've been. I guess the definitive Ramones doc is still to come, but in the meantime there's a lot of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky and the other various band members who took on the Ramone surname to satisfy hardcore fans. Especially at its lengthy 110 minute running time.

More later...