The Past Is a Grotesque Animal

Jun 15, 2014

1h 17m

★ 5.9

Overview

A personal, accessible look at an artist - Kevin Barnes, frontman of the endlessly versatile indie pop band of Montreal - whose pursuit to make transcendent music at all costs drives him to value art over human relationships. As he struggles with all of those around him, family and bandmates alike, he's forced to reconsider the future of the band, begging the question - is this really worth it?

Genres

Documentary

Music

Production Companies

Wrecking Crew

Polyvinyl Records Co.

Shrine

Oscilloscope

The Past Is a Grotesque Animal Trailers

Cast

Self

Dottie Alexander

Self

Derek Almstead

Self

David Barnes

Self

Kevin Barnes

Self

Nina Barnes

Self

Janelle Monáe

Self

Solange

Self

Susan Sarandon

Self

Jon Brion

Capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their electrifying element, 'A Hard Day's Night' is a wildly irreverent journey through this pastiche of a day in the life of The Beatles during 1964. The band have to use all their guile and wit to avoid the pursuing fans and press to reach their scheduled television performance, in spite of Paul's troublemaking grandfather and Ringo's arrest.

6.2

Fubar

May 24, 2002

Terry and Dean are lifelong friends who have grown-up together: shotgunning their first beers, forming their first garage band, and growing the great Canadian mullet known as "hockey hair". Now the lives of these Alberta everymen are brought to the big screen by documentarian Ferral Mitchener in an exploration of the depths of friendship, the fragility of life, growing up gracefully and the art and science of drinking beer like a man.

0.0

The Power of Utopia: Living with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh

Aug 24, 2023

With the construction of the Indian planned city of Chandigarh, the Swiss and French architect Le Corbusier completed his life's work 70 years ago. Chandigarh is a controversial synthesis of the arts, a bold utopia of modernity. The film accompanies four cultural workers who live in the planned city and reflects on Le Corbusier's legacy, utopian urban ideas and the cultural differences between East and West in an atmospherically dense narrative.

0.0

Post New Bills: The Story of Green Patriot Posters

Jan 17, 2014

A short documentary illustrating how art can influence public perception towards environmental issues. Green Patriot Posters is a highly acclaimed multimedia design campaign that challenges artists to deepen public understanding and ignite collective action in the fight against climate change. So far, it has reached five million people through print media, public space and digital culture. The film features interviews with key Green Patriot Posters contributors (Shepard Fairey, Michael Bierut, DJ Spooky, Mathilde Fallot) and its founders (The Canary Project, Dmitri Siegel).

7.0

Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau

May 7, 2019

A childhood in boarding school, volunteered at 17 for the war and dismissed for indiscipline, thug in Marseille turned gigolo in Paris, he became actor thanks to some inspired women. Then flying high, fast and far, thanks to his director masters René Clément, Luchino Visconti & Jean-Pierre Melville.

0.0

Livet är kort, konsten lång – filmen om Åke Göransson

Apr 14, 2023

No overview available.

6.0

Eye of the Storm

Feb 28, 2021

The film tells the story of James Morrison’s early years, painting the tenements of Glasgow, through to his dramatic encounter with a polar bear while painting melting icebergs in North West Greenland. As the artist struggles with imposing blindness, the film follows James, as he prepares for what turned out to be his last ever public exhibition at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh in January 2020.

10.0

Rage Against The Machine: Pinkpop Festival

May 31, 1993

Pinkpop 1993 was held on May 31, 1993 in Landgraaf. It was the 24th edition of the Dutch music festival Pinkpop and the 6th in Landgraaf. There were around 64,300 spectators. During the performance of Thelonious Monster, singer Bob Forrest climbed through one of the songs through the loudspeaker towers to sit on the roof of the main stage as an inanimate person. He was then talked down and continued the performance. During the closing act of the festival, the performance of The Black Crowes , the power went out making it almost dark on the site for about ten minutes. The audience reacted laconically to this pause by loudly singing Monty Python's 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life'. The Black Crowes were forced to stop their performance but when the power failure was over they came back on stage to complete the performances.

7.2

Frida Kahlo

Jun 15, 2020

She was a prolific self-portraitist, using the canvas as a mirror through all stages of her turbulent and, at times, tragic life. This highly engaging film takes us on a journey through the life of one of the most prevalent female icons: Frida Kahlo. Displaying a treasure trove of colour and a feast of vibrancy on screen, this personal and intimate film offers privileged access to her works and highlights the source of her feverish creativity, her resilience and her unmatched lust for life, men, women, politics and her cultural heritage.

6.7

Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers

Feb 11, 2008

No overview available.

7.0

The Sound of Identity

Aug 22, 2020

In the spotlight of global media coverage, the first transgender woman ever to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, makes her historic debut in one of the reddest states in the U.S.

0.0

Where the Lark Sings

Oct 30, 1936

Country girl Margit sits for the artist Sándor, from Budapest. She is fascinated and charmed by him, and agrees to accompany him to the capital, so he can complete the painting there. Disillusionment sets in, however, when Sándor wins a prize with the finished portrait and loses interest in her. Margit recognizes that her true happiness lies at home, with Pista, her faithful lover.

0.0

Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War

Jul 1, 2022

One of Britain’s greatest landscape artists, Eric Ravilious, is killed in a plane crash while on commission as Official War Artist in Iceland in 1942. His life is as compelling and enigmatic as his art, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspire him. This film brings to life this unique and still grossly undervalued British artist caught in the crossfire of war 80 years ago, whose legacy largely sank without trace, until now…

0.0

Marcel Duchamp: The Art of the Possible

Oct 23, 2020

A remarkable walk through the life and work of the French artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), one of the most important creators of the 20th century, revolutionary of arts, aesthetics and pop culture.

6.7

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Nov 25, 2020

Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.

6.2

Soldier

Feb 13, 2017

A young man decides to join the army. He becomes the drummer in the military band, and his everyday life is now a combination of military training and music. What does the Argentine Army do these days, more than thirty years after the dictatorship? What does it mean to be a soldier in a country without wars?

0.0

Harumi

May 12, 2019

In the hills of Los Angeles the reclusive, stylish and enigmatic 96-year-old Harumi Taniguchi spent decades painting, writing poetry and dancing in her home designed by architect Richard Neutra.

5.3

Blues Brothers 2000

Feb 5, 1998

Finally released from prison, Elwood Blues is once again enlisted by Sister Mary Stigmata in her latest crusade to raise funds for a children's hospital. Hitting the road to re-unite the band and win the big prize at the New Orleans Battle of the Bands, Elwood is pursued cross-country by the cops.

7.1

Lu Over the Wall

May 19, 2017

In a small fishing village, a gloomy middle school student named Kai meets a mermaid named Lu.

8.0

Bernard Blier, façon puzzle

Dec 23, 2020

In a career spanning more than half a century, Bernard Blier has shot more than 180 films. He alone represents a history of French cinema without having spent his time cultivating its legend. He crossed his century as an actor with the modesty of a craftsman. He believed in learning, know-how and transmission. He considered himself, like the butcher or the cabinetmaker, as a man useful to his fellow men. Bernard Blier found in Louis Jouvet, who was his teacher at the Conservatory, a master at playing, a mentor and even a spiritual father. Jouvet taught Blier the love of acting, theater and Molière. And if he knew how to take hold of Michel Audiard's best tirades like no one else, notably those of the "Tontons Flingueurs", it is to this apprenticeship that he owes it.