Shine a Light (2008)

A career-spanning documentary on the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their "A Bigger Bang" tour.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Stars:

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mick Jagger	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals / guitar / harmonica
Keith Richards	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar / vocals
Charlie Watts	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: drums
Ronnie Wood	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar
Darryl Jones	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: bass guitar
Chuck Leavell	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: keyboards
Bobby Keys	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone
Bernard Fowler	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Lisa Fischer	...	Herself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Blondie Chaplin	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Tim Ries	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone / keyboards
Kent Smith	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: trumpet
Michael Davis	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: trombone
Albert Maysles	...	Himself - Camera in Hand
Christina Aguilera	...	Herself

Storyline

Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones unite in "Shine A Light," a look at The Rolling Stones." Scorcese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the intimate Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Cinematographers capture the raw energy of the legendary band.

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Plot Keywords:

the rolling stones | black and white to color | harmonicist | electronic keyboard | keyboardist | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug references and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Kinowelt [Germany] Paramount Classics [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shine a Light: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,488,081, 6 April 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,355,376, 15 June 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Classics,Concert Productions International,Shangri-La Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bruce Willis can be seen in the audience wearing a yellow hat.

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Quotes

Martin Scorsese: We cannot set Mick Jagger on fire.

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Crazy Credits

From end credits: Every day the Clinton Foundation works to make a difference by finding real and tangible solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, including HIV/AIDS, climate change, global poverty, child obesity and many more. For more information visit www.clintonfoundation.org

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Nim's Island/Sexy and Death 101/Leatherheads/Forgetting Sarah Marshall/Shine a Light (2008)

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Soundtracks

Far Away Eyes
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Performed by The Rolling Stones
Courtesy of Colgems-EMI Music, Inc.

User Reviews

Dead beached whales smell better, actually

I own many Stones records. Who my age doesn't? So, of course, I knew many of the songs and was looking forward to hearing them. After a few minutes I was cringing in my seat. I thought this was one of the most embarrassing movies I have ever watched. Flat singing by Jagger in his usual exaggerated fake American accent was to be expected, but the guy made no effort whatsoever to sing the melody of the songs or phrase the lyrics in any way that made the song recognizable. Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards sounded like they were playing in different bands and in a time of their own. Charlie Watts did a fair job of keeping time, but after every song looked like he was going to pass out from the effort. I don't even know who is on bass these days, but he seemed to be the only one in the front line-up displaying competence as a musician. The whole effect was like a very bad garage band backed by some excellent backing musicians. Without this large complement of additional helpers they would have sounded very very bad indeed. I was soon thinking that these guys had passed their sell-by date by several decades and stank like a dead beached whale.

One high point of the documentary was the historic footage that Scorcese cut in, even if in retrospect it exposes them to be a group of vacuous wasters with nothing interesting to say. The very high point was a great performance by Buddy Guy, showing the Stones up as a group of white boy wannabee pretenders. Jack White's duet with Jagger would have been better if Jagger had left him to sing alone.

The Stones are like the Lou Gehrig of rock and roll. They go on playing long past when they should have retired, making an embarrassing spectacle of themselves so they can set some kind of longevity record.