Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

End of the Century: The Story of The Ramones (2003)

Director: Jim Fields, Michael Gramaglia

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Brothers stick together, even when they can’t stand each other and aren’t actually brothers. For twenty-odd years, New York punk quartet the Ramones traded under a single surname, dressed in a uniform of leather jackets and jeans, shared tour buses and dressing rooms, and hated each other’s guts. Fields and Gramaglia’s absorbing lament to a band that never matched respect with sales suggests that – along with the recent ‘Metallica: Some Kind of Monster’, and the soon-to-be-released ‘Dig!’ – rock and documentary might finally be able to find some common ground after the little difficulty that was ‘This is Spinal Tap’.

This is a largely sympathetic look at a group that could never cash in on the kind of witty, radio-friendly pop-punk sounds since imitated by everybody from the Pixies to Busted. Sympathetic, but even-handed: Johnny, the bowl-haired guitarist and de facto leader, is presented as an intractable, unfeeling right-wing disciplinarian, but one whose determination kept the band together and provided much of their dynamic. Johnny (who died last year) and singer Joey (who died in 2001) fell out in the early-’80s over a girl (later Johnny’s wife) – an experience that Joey exorcised in ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ – but they remained colleagues for another decade. It’s that kind of story: through regular turmoil – heroin, Phil Spector and constant caricature – indomitable Johnny and romantic Joey continue to believe that success is just round the corner, until both are forced to accept the inevitable. It’s possible that the band’s shared identity might ultimately have been more of a hindrance than a help; it is to the directors’ credit that the brothers’ individuality is allowed to stick out.

Author: PW 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out London Issue 1794: January 5-12, 2005


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

The ultimate 'Harry Potter' crib sheet

The ultimate 'Harry Potter' crib sheet

Our resident potter professor, Wally Hammond, offers the ultimate introduction to 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

Bruno is here!

Bruno is here!

Sacha Baron Cohen hits the streets as Austria's premiere gay fashionista in 'Bruno'. Read our review of the film plus see the pics from our cover shoot

Lars von Trier's 'Antichrist': joke or masterpiece?

Lars von Trier's 'Antichrist': joke or masterpiece?

Dave Calhoun invites seven experts to watch Lars von Trier's latest and share their reactions

Classic Film Club: 'Smiles of a Summer Night'

Classic Film Club: 'Smiles of a Summer Night'

Each week Tom Huddleston watches a classic film he's never seen before. The rules are simple: each film must be considered a masterpiece and each must be completely new to him.

Has Michael Mann lost it?

Has Michael Mann lost it?

Adam Lee Davies mourns the passing of a major Hollywood talent as Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' sees the great director running on empty

Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults

Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults

Tom Huddleston takes a look at a selection of films which bring adult problems to a pre-teen audience

Is this Summer 2009's best film?

Is this Summer 2009's best film?

The French filmmaker Claire Denis speaks to Dave Calhoun about her new film, '35 Shots of Rum', a tender portrait of a father-daughter relationship in Paris

Outdoor film screenings in London 2009

Outdoor film screenings in London 2009

Derek Adams offers a guide to the best places to see films outside in London this summer

50 essential sci-fi films

50 essential sci-fi films

With 'Star Trek' making serious waves, we thought it would be a perfect time to select 50 must-see sci-fi films






The City made easy in association with Sony Ericsson W715