SIDETRACK FILMS

SIFF-ting Through Celluloid-Part 2

The 2007 Seattle International Film Festival is in full swing, so I am continuing my series sharing some of this year’s highlights with you.

This week, we’ll take a look at the new rock doc “Kurt Cobain: About a Son”, directed by AJ Schnack (whose previous work includes “Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns).

It’s nearly impossible to be a pop culture aficionado living here in Seattle and not be reminded of Cobain’s profound impact on the music world. Every April, around the anniversary of his death, wreaths of flowers and hand taped notes begin to appear on a lone bench in a tiny public park sandwiched between the lakefront mansions I pass on my way to work every morning. Inevitably, I will see small groups of young people with multi-colored hair and torn jeans, making their pilgrimage and holding vigil around this makeshift shrine, located a block or two from the home where he took his own life. – read more

From Hullabaloo – Posted on June 16 2007

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON

R.E.M., Bowie Set For Cobain Film Soundtrack

Tracks by R.E.M., David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Bad Brains and Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard will be found on the soundtrack to "Kurt Cobain -- About a Son," due Sept. 11 via Barsuk.

The film is told in Cobain's voice from audiotapes utilized by Michael Azzerad on his Nirvana book "Come As You Are." It will be released theatrically in the fourth quarter, with a DVD to follow shortly thereafter.

– read more

From Billboard – Posted on June 01 2007

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON

SIFF Doc Offers Rare Glimpse of Kurt Cobain in Happier Times

"Kurt [Cobain's] death hit me extremely hard," says writer Michael Azerrad. "I couldn't listen to those tapes until a few years ago."

The tapes he is referring to contain more than 25 hours' worth of conversation between Azerrad and the Nirvana frontman, which were used to help compile Azerrad's band-approved biography, Come As You Are.

More than a decade has passed since Azerrad sat down with Cobain to set the record straight about the oft-misunderstood frontman. In that time, countless books and articles have been written about Cobain, largely by folks who didn't know him personally. This literary clusterfuck has resulted in an unhealthy amount of mythmaking about Cobain's personal life—especially regarding the circumstances surrounding his death. (For truly regrettable examples of this, check out Nick Broomfield's Kurt & Courtney documentary and Gus Van Sant's loosely fictional film Last Days.) But the fact that most people overlook is that Kurt Cobain actually lived and breathed, and that he did manage some enjoyable moments while doing so. – read more

From Seattle Weekly – Posted on May 30 2007

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON

Film Synopsis

Intimate recordings of Kurt Cobain reflecting on his life are paired with striking shots of the musician's stomping grounds around Seattle to form a complex portrait of one of America's most notorious Gen Xers. – read more

From Philadelphia Film Festival – Posted on April 10 2007

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON

SXSW Film: Daily Reviews and Interviews

This is not a documentary. Schnack's moving film is fine art on celluloid. Images of the Northwest awaken beneath the vibrant, angry voice of Kurt Cobain as he tells his story to music journalist Michael Azerrad. From his childhood in Aberdeen, Wash., to his last days in Seattle, Cobain is open and honest. Intimate tales of a perfect childhood, a painful adolescence, and a constant desire for more make a fractured man out of a god. Schnack (Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns) floats image on canvas, illustrating the world almost entirely through Cobain's point of view to an excellent soundtrack (Queen, Mudhoney, Scratch Acid) and original score by Steve Fisk and Benjamin Gibbard. "The realization is there was nothing to do," Schnack said of his and Azerrad's subject. "He was on a certain path." – read more

From Austin Chronicle – Posted on April 04 2007

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON

Beyond the Multiplex

Two of the best films at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival are movies about musicians, one of them the dead godhead of indie rock and the other an almost forgotten (but still living) pop legend. That certainly befits this festival in the self-professed live music capital of America. But if this year's edition of SXSW's movie bash will be remembered for the Genesis-scale downpours that have washed out patio parties (in between the gorgeous days) and maxed out this city's modest fleet of taxicabs, it will also be remembered as a festival of surprises.

Austin always offers a strong showcase for quirky documentaries and low-budget genre movies (especially horror films), but the field in both categories seems especially broad and deep here this year. I could stay another week and not catch everything I want to see. Many of the most-discussed movies here have been low-budget affairs that arrived with little advance publicity. Meanwhile, some of the most anticipated premieres, including critical biopics about Michael Moore ("Manufacturing Dissent") and Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Running With Arnold"), along with the farcical New Zealand horror picture "Black Sheep" (from the special-effects workshop behind "Lord of the Rings") are widely seen as disappointments. – read more

From Salon.com – Posted on March 15 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON SIFF-ting Through Celluloid-Part 2 The 2007 Seattle International Film Festival is in full swing, so I am continuing my series sharing some of this year’s highlights with you. This week, we’ll take a look at the new rock doc “Kurt Cobain: About a Son”, directed by AJ Schnack (whose previous work includes “Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns). It’s nearly impossible to be a pop culture aficionado living here in Seattle and not be reminded of Cobain’s profound impact on the music world. Every April, around the anniversary of his death, wreaths of flowers and hand taped notes begin to appear on a lone bench in a tiny public park sandwiched between the lakefront mansions I pass on my way to work every morning. Inevitably, I will see small groups of young people with multi-colored hair and torn jeans, making their pilgrimage and holding vigil around this makeshift shrine, located a block or two from the home where he took his own life. – read more From Hullabaloo – Posted on June 16 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON R.E.M., Bowie Set For Cobain Film Soundtrack Tracks by R.E.M., David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Bad Brains and Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard will be found on the soundtrack to "Kurt Cobain -- About a Son," due Sept. 11 via Barsuk. The film is told in Cobain's voice from audiotapes utilized by Michael Azzerad on his Nirvana book "Come As You Are." It will be released theatrically in the fourth quarter, with a DVD to follow shortly thereafter. – read more From Billboard – Posted on June 01 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON SIFF Doc Offers Rare Glimpse of Kurt Cobain in Happier Times "Kurt [Cobain's] death hit me extremely hard," says writer Michael Azerrad. "I couldn't listen to those tapes until a few years ago." The tapes he is referring to contain more than 25 hours' worth of conversation between Azerrad and the Nirvana frontman, which were used to help compile Azerrad's band-approved biography, Come As You Are. More than a decade has passed since Azerrad sat down with Cobain to set the record straight about the oft-misunderstood frontman. In that time, countless books and articles have been written about Cobain, largely by folks who didn't know him personally. This literary clusterfuck has resulted in an unhealthy amount of mythmaking about Cobain's personal life—especially regarding the circumstances surrounding his death. (For truly regrettable examples of this, check out Nick Broomfield's Kurt & Courtney documentary and Gus Van Sant's loosely fictional film Last Days.) But the fact that most people overlook is that Kurt Cobain actually lived and breathed, and that he did manage some enjoyable moments while doing so. – read more From Seattle Weekly – Posted on May 30 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON Film Synopsis Intimate recordings of Kurt Cobain reflecting on his life are paired with striking shots of the musician's stomping grounds around Seattle to form a complex portrait of one of America's most notorious Gen Xers. – read more From Philadelphia Film Festival – Posted on April 10 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON SXSW Film: Daily Reviews and Interviews This is not a documentary. Schnack's moving film is fine art on celluloid. Images of the Northwest awaken beneath the vibrant, angry voice of Kurt Cobain as he tells his story to music journalist Michael Azerrad. From his childhood in Aberdeen, Wash., to his last days in Seattle, Cobain is open and honest. Intimate tales of a perfect childhood, a painful adolescence, and a constant desire for more make a fractured man out of a god. Schnack (Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns) floats image on canvas, illustrating the world almost entirely through Cobain's point of view to an excellent soundtrack (Queen, Mudhoney, Scratch Acid) and original score by Steve Fisk and Benjamin Gibbard. "The realization is there was nothing to do," Schnack said of his and Azerrad's subject. "He was on a certain path." – read more From Austin Chronicle – Posted on April 04 2007

				KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON Beyond the Multiplex Two of the best films at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival are movies about musicians, one of them the dead godhead of indie rock and the other an almost forgotten (but still living) pop legend. That certainly befits this festival in the self-professed live music capital of America. But if this year's edition of SXSW's movie bash will be remembered for the Genesis-scale downpours that have washed out patio parties (in between the gorgeous days) and maxed out this city's modest fleet of taxicabs, it will also be remembered as a festival of surprises. Austin always offers a strong showcase for quirky documentaries and low-budget genre movies (especially horror films), but the field in both categories seems especially broad and deep here this year. I could stay another week and not catch everything I want to see. Many of the most-discussed movies here have been low-budget affairs that arrived with little advance publicity. Meanwhile, some of the most anticipated premieres, including critical biopics about Michael Moore ("Manufacturing Dissent") and Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Running With Arnold"), along with the farcical New Zealand horror picture "Black Sheep" (from the special-effects workshop behind "Lord of the Rings") are widely seen as disappointments. – read more From Salon.com – Posted on March 15 2007