![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/01\/future-101x150.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cJoe Strummer\u201d has always been my answer to the question \u201cWho would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?\u201d He represents the perfect mix of aggro, intellect, and sensitivity. And it is no doubt that over time his sensitivity has emerged as his strongest trait. He cared about people, had an unmatched appreciation for world music, and when asked what he wanted to do with his life, his answer was \u201cto groove\u201d. All of that and he died of a failed heart while marching on an increasingly permanent trip of self-exploration.<\/p>\n
Julien Temple\u2019s optimistically and forebodingly titled new film, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, is great to look at. The Clash\u2019s logos, slogans, clothes, obsession with Hollywood films, etc. played a huge part in why I liked their music to begin with and this movie is consistent with that highly visual nature of the band. And those as obsessed with the cinema as Strummer and The Clash need great movies made about them. As the opening credits roll, a short-wave signal crackles as Strummer\u2019s name appears written in the AM\/FM font behind the clear plastic tuning dial of a ghetto box- and the effect is classic radio-Clash for dread-people. Temple employs other cool techniques in the production such as having Joe\u2019s voice recurring throughout the film as a DJ. This creates the spooky effect of old Joe indoctrinating us with roots platters from beyond the grave. The storyline is also enhanced by the inclusion of some strangely eerie b&w stock footage of British boarding school life as well as snippets from film versions of \u201cAnimal Farm\u201d and \u201c1984\u201d (watch for Peter Cushing). Another highpoint is the depiction of the politics surrounding the early 70\u2019s squatting scene in London. <\/p>\n
This film\u2019s greatest strength is that it doesn\u2019t shy from revealing Strummer as a convoluted and often self-contradicting man. He apparently dealt with perpetual feelings of self-doubt in regards to his relevance as an artist and was plagued by extreme guilt (over breaking up the Clash and the death of his brother). Strummer was a geezer that could enact strict edicts of \u201cno drugs\u201d in his band and then later spend four days tripping in the forest on MDA. And don\u2019t call him Woody! Ask Topper. Pleasantly, Joe confesses in the film to what was true all along \u2013 he was just as much hippy as punk rock warlord. Consistent with Strummer\u2019s later persona as a kind of campfire Aldous Huxley, most of the film\u2019s interviews take place around the flames of an outdoor blaze. The film\u2019s only drawback would be its overall length, including a few too many of those interviewed spouting the same old points about the Clash\/Strummer\u2019s relevance. The people interviewed are also not identified and I honestly didn\u2019t know who some of them were. The reflections by Scorsese, Buschemi, Cusack, Matt Dillon and many others are great though. <\/p>\n
Kosmo\u2019s signaling me to wrap it up at the 3:00 mark\u2026.<\/p>\n
Rating: 4 out of 5 Rizlas<\/p>\n
DrBrad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cNina Simone Si, Bernie Rhodes No!\u201d \u201cJoe Strummer\u201d has always been my answer to the question \u201cWho would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?\u201d He represents the perfect mix of aggro, intellect, and sensitivity. And it is no doubt that over time his sensitivity has emerged as his strongest trait. He cared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":2275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,300],"tags":[206590,124,206588,206533,206589,316],"class_list":["post-2271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-video","category-rock-and-roll-film-dvd","tag-dub","tag-joe-strummer","tag-julien-temple","tag-punk","tag-reggae","tag-the-clash"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2007\/11\/future-post.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/skateandannoy.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2007\/11\/future.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n