
Muscle Shoals
★★★☆☆



Directed by
Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
Produced by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier and Stephen Badger
With: Gregg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Aretha Franklin, Donna Godchaux, Rick Hall, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Mick Jagger, Jaimoe, Jimmy Johnson, Alicia Keys, Ed King, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Candi Staton, John Paul White, Steve Winwood, and Jerry Wexler
Editing: Richard Lowe
Runtime: 111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color
Produced by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier and Stephen Badger
With: Gregg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Aretha Franklin, Donna Godchaux, Rick Hall, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Mick Jagger, Jaimoe, Jimmy Johnson, Alicia Keys, Ed King, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Candi Staton, John Paul White, Steve Winwood, and Jerry Wexler
Runtime:
111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color: Color
Cinematography:
Anthony ArendtRelease Date: 25 October 2013
Color: Color
Editing: Richard Lowe
Runtime: 111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color

Muscle Shoals
★★★☆☆


Riding in on the buzz of 20 Feet From Stardom, Muscle
Shoals is another entertaining documentary about
under-appreciated backing musicians who literally “made” many of the greatest
rock ‘n’ roll songs we know and love. Where 20 Feet From Stardom tells
the stories of predominantly black and predominantly female back-up vocalists, Muscle
Shoals focuses on the primarily (and surprisingly) white
studio musicians who all emanated from a tiny, muddy area in rural Alabama and
collectively created some of the most soulful sounds and funky rhythms. At the
center of the film is Rick Hall, the man who assembled all these musicians at a
small studio he built himself.
Having a central figure in the film helps make it a bit more grounded
then 20 Feet, and director Greg 'Freddy' Camalier assembles an
even more impressive line up of great interviews. The film is chock full of
fascinating behind-the-music anecdotes; actually a few too many anecdotes, as
it turns out. Muscle Shoals is as rambling and uneven as
the Tennessee River that many in the film say gives the area its magical
musical quality. And while Camalier doesn't pollute his film with staged,
up-close-and-personal segments where the audience “hangs out” with the film’s
subjects, he does indulge in many staged montages of his subjects walking in
slow-motion, standing in fields and barns, and playing music. No matter. The
stories behind all the great music make any filmmaking flaws as irrelevant as
they do in 20 Feet From Stardom.
Directed by
Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
Produced by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier and Stephen Badger
With: Gregg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Aretha Franklin, Donna Godchaux, Rick Hall, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Mick Jagger, Jaimoe, Jimmy Johnson, Alicia Keys, Ed King, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Candi Staton, John Paul White, Steve Winwood, and Jerry Wexler
Editing: Richard Lowe
Runtime: 111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color
Produced by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier and Stephen Badger
With: Gregg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Aretha Franklin, Donna Godchaux, Rick Hall, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Mick Jagger, Jaimoe, Jimmy Johnson, Alicia Keys, Ed King, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Candi Staton, John Paul White, Steve Winwood, and Jerry Wexler
Runtime:
111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color: Color
Cinematography:
Anthony ArendtRelease Date: 25 October 2013
Color: Color
Editing: Richard Lowe
Runtime: 111 min
Release Date: 25 October 2013
Color
How I Rate Films
★★★★★
One of the 5000 greatest films. Usually only awarded after repeat viewings, so there are more five-star films from decades past than recent years.
★★★★☆
An excellent film. Possibly one of the 5000 and certainly worthy of repeated viewing.
★★★☆☆
A good film well worth seeing. Films listed at the top of this ranking could end up one of the 5000.
★★☆☆☆
A disappointment, an interesting failure, or just a bad movie. Still, maybe worth seeing: I often enjoy the top two-star films in a given list more than the bottom three-star films.
★☆☆☆☆
A bad, rant-worthy film. Should be avoided regardless of hype or talent involved.
☆☆☆☆☆
One of the worst films.
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