Thoughts and Reviews on "Secret to a Happy Ending"

[pyth]

Huh. Maybe I'm just crazy. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the DVD when I get back to Texas next week. I'm really looking forward to watching it again.

[Zip City]

just ordered it from Amazon. It's only $14

[Kudzu Guillotine]

As I was walking into the lobby after watching the premiere at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond someone was overheard saying, "just when I thought I couldn't love this band any more than I already do..." or at least words to that effect.

['Scratch]

Everyone agreed that it was possibly the most inspirational, depressing and unique thing they've ever seen, all at the same time. I remember walking outside to smoke right after that I wanted to get drunk, achieve something great and kill myself all at once.

I've seen a lot on here about people being really inspired and awestruck, but did anyone else have a reaction similar to mine?

I know what you're saying. Not so much depressed but I definitely came away with a deep sense of longing. That kind of feeling you get when you wake up from an incredible dream only to find yourself alone in your room and it's all gone.

It was kind of like when I was a kid and saw Star Wars. Afterward I was depressed for a week because I knew I could never be a Jedi.

[julianrch]

I just got my copy and watched it twice last night and it was great. Sad to have it end when it seems like so much more has happened since then. GeorgeA was my favorite character, when he is holding the little girl and she is looking at him like, who is this guy? cracked me up. I was a little bit suprised to see Jason and Shonnas divorce handled so well and also that there was so little talk of how much the internet helped the band. I dont think anyone will argue that dbt are one of the best bands on earth but unlike many other great bands who never get known, they had a lot of help on the way up from fans and friends but the movie barely mention that stuff. I thought all the scenery and history from the Shoals was well done and so much of the story revolved around that but next to nothing on Athens, I guess that the movie was more about their inspiration than the place that actually supports and them, I get the feeeling they still don't get a lot of credit in the Shoals area but Athens is very proud of them. Cooley's moment after Space City was really sweet, my GF pointed it out or I'd have missed it. All in all a very good movie and I think I will watch it again!

[pyth]

Everyone agreed that it was possibly the most inspirational, depressing and unique thing they've ever seen, all at the same time. I remember walking outside to smoke right after that I wanted to get drunk, achieve something great and kill myself all at once.

I've seen a lot on here about people being really inspired and awestruck, but did anyone else have a reaction similar to mine?

I know what you're saying. Not so much depressed but I definitely came away with a deep sense of longing. That kind of feeling you get when you wake up from an incredible dream only to find yourself alone in your room and it's all gone.

It was kind of like when I was a kid and saw Star Wars. Afterward I was depressed for a week because I knew I could never be a Jedi.

Yes. This. You put it much better than I did.

[beantownbubba]

I'm a little new to the DBT scene. I started listening to them about six months ago and was lucky enough to go to a show of theirs with a bunch of my friends who are rabid DBT fans in Oxford, MS this year. I was ecstatic when they played Nine Bullets because at the time, that was my favorite song. In the wake of the concert, I listened to nothing but DBT for a good month or so, and I've pretty much kept up that pace up until even now.

But coming around to the documentary, I got to see it in theaters at around 11:00 at night at the Oxford Film Fest with the same group of DBT fans with whom I went to the concert. It was incredible. Everyone agreed that it was possibly the most inspirational, depressing and unique thing they've ever seen, all at the same time. I remember walking outside to smoke right after that I wanted to get drunk, achieve something great and kill myself all at once.

I've seen a lot on here about people being really inspired and awestruck, but did anyone else have a reaction similar to mine?

Also, I must agree with the commenter that said that it was interesting to see the Wilson Dam and all of the bits about the TVA. It helps put a bit of context to the songs, I think.

Welcome pyth! This is from my review of the first Athens show this year in the Athens January 13-15 thread:

The fourth floor of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris houses the greatest collection of impressionist art in the world. It's not even close. To my knowledge, there is no second place. I have had the good fortune and privilege to spend a fair amount of time there across a number of visits and every visit since my first has been somewhat similar:

First there is the sense of being in the presence of greatness. Of seeing things that represent the finest in the human spirit and the greatest aspects of our evolution. But after a while it's just overwhelming. The eyes, the mind just can't process any more, just doesn't compute. One monet starts to blend into another. And along w/ the highest high, that feeling of a supreme aesthetic experience , comes a kind of depression.

There is the knowledge that no matter what i do, i will never achieve a single moment of brilliance that approaches even the average of these great artists. That the very best i can do is simply ordinary. There is the certain knowledge that i will never touch people, move people, reach people in any way remotely like what these artists did routinely. I am not w/out ambition or w/out ego. Nor am i w/out talent. So this realization is, like i said, depressing, even amid the celebration, the glory, the rush of being surrounded by greatness and wondrousness.

Tonight was kind of like that.

The drive by truckers have nothing left to prove. To my mind they are, plain and simple, the greatest rock n roll band in the world. The only contender i can think of is the rolling stones, getting it together for one special night and bringing all their brilliance to bear. But of course they don't actually do that anymore. Who else is out there? Nobody.

Many of you have mocked my naivete as expressed in the "break on through" thread. You've explained that the band is simply a cult band, a niche band. You've opined that there is no more mass audience, that the band is a "fall between the niches" band. You've noted that the band manages to make a living and what more can one expect in this day and age. You're all right, but simply put, you're all wrong. I see no difference between this band and the legendary "starving artists" of yesteryear, slaving away in obscurity, awaiting discovery and fame only after it was too late. This band is that good, and it's a flat out shame that hardly anybody knows it.

[Clams]

There's a point toward the end of the movie... Jason and Shonna are on the rocks... Jason's playing the keyboards and singing Goddam Lonely Love... and it's a close-up of just his face and the microphone... and as the last note of the song fades.... the camera moves from Jason in the foreground and zooms right in on Shonna in the background. Goddam lonely indeed.

[Given to Fly]

There's a point toward the end of the movie... Jason and Shonna are on the rocks... Jason's playing the keyboards and singing Goddam Lonely Love... and it's a close-up of just his face and the microphone... and as the last note of the song fades.... the camera moves from Jason in the foreground and zooms right in on Shonna in the background. Goddam lonely indeed.

I noticed that too. So close, but yet so far

[kendix]

I got my copy signed by the band at the Amoeba in-store.

Quick aside: I work in the entertainment industry and end up seeing and talking to a fair amount of famous directors and actors. I'm never star-struck and I don't consider myself celebrity-driven. So anyway, In line to get to my DVD signed, I had all these things in my head I wanted to say. But when I got up there, I was pretty much speechless. I couldn't do anything but stand there stupidly and smile and say thank you. I could barely even look at them in the eye.

As for the film, I thought the subject matter was great and the director happened to catch them at a fascinating time in their history. While I don't think this is as well put together or packing the punch of "The Last Waltz," "Bittersweet Motel," or "Stop Making Sense," it's not exactly reasonable to expect Barr Weissman to be on par with some narrative film's greatest directors. I was so grateful to see the band talking so frankly about their existence, though. I plan on watching it pretty regularly. Along with how well the band is playing now, it really helps provide some closure on the split with Isbell. They're both in better places now, I think, but it was so painful for me to see the Jason interview where he says he thinks the band would exist in that form forever. I certainly agreed with him at the time.

[n.danger]

There's a point toward the end of the movie... Jason and Shonna are on the rocks... Jason's playing the keyboards and singing Goddam Lonely Love... and it's a close-up of just his face and the microphone... and as the last note of the song fades.... the camera moves from Jason in the foreground and zooms right in on Shonna in the background. Goddam lonely indeed.

She definitely looks miserable during the ABAAC scenes. Poor girl.

Though not related to the band, makes me think Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore must be kickin' some good chemistry.

[Zip City]

Just watched it for the first time.

It was great, but different than I thought. I had this impression that the entire thing was basically about the ABAAC era of the band, so when the first 2/3 of the movie were history/back story of the band, I was surprised. Since that's how it turned out, I kinda wish the movie had a few words from Earl Hicks, Rob Malone, Adam Howell, etc. about those early days.

Though none of the info in the film was "new" to me, seeing it all laid out in pictures and video was pretty special.

It also left me with a feeling of great happiness. While the film ends with a band uncertain of the future, I can sit here comfortably in 2011 knowing that great things are coming for those worried faces on my TV screen.....

[Jenn]

It also left me with a feeling of great happiness. While the film ends with a band uncertain of the future, I can sit here comfortably in 2011 knowing that great things are coming for those worried faces on my TV screen.....

Beautiful.

[Penny Lane]

Cooley's moment after Space City was really sweet, my GF pointed it out or I'd have missed it. All in all a very good movie and I think I will watch it again!

the extra 5 seconds lingering after Space City was the filmmaker's finest moment (or editor or producer)

[Rocky]

I saw the film for the second time this weekend; the first being at a film festival.

The movie is a great primer on the band and does a good job of filling in the back story. My hat's off to Barr Weismann. Nice work. I paused on a few of the still photos that were moving quickly and there is a great one of a long haired Cooley in what looks like some kind of crazy treehouse.

The thing that I will look at over and over is probabaly the bonus features. There are great sounding songs played all the way through that provide a nice snapshot of the band when Jason was still playing lead.

[Tequila Cowboy]

My coworker who I turned into a fan some years back (she's Jason live but not DBT yet) watched it this weekend and was brought to tears in parts. In fact she watched it twice. When you get it you get it and this film just helps you get it more.

[Virgil Caine]

I know the movie is no longer a "hot topic", but I just watched it for the second time. I tried to stay a little more sober and a little less stoned this time watching it.

Leave it to DBT to release a documentary on the history of the band and have a former member give the intro on why the band would and would not work.

While I watch it, I keep asking myself the same question. What is it about this band that makes me connect with it so much? Is it because I grew up in Buttholeville? Because I know they guy in Dead, Drunk, & Naked? Because I believe in the duality of the southern thing?

A few quotes that strike home......"We didn't realize our town was not well off. We might have been in a trailer, but hey, we were in a trailer. It wasn't raining on our head." "I had a graduate student write a thesis about the TVA. It took him 2 years to do that. And then, here's Cooley, who does a way better job in 3 minutes."

Basically this documentary confirms what I already knew.........

[ramonz]

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/drive-by-tr ... 0191291717

Go Canada!

[Beaverdam]

I usually end up watching this whenever I'm getting ready for a DBT weekend. I guess I'll be pulling out the DVD in February!