Tuesday - Movies

The Age

Thursday March 27, 2008

Craig Mathieson

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

World Movies, 10pm

A film that begins as Spinal Tap and ends - with the metaphorical killing of a father figure - as Shakespeare, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a fascinating look at what happens when the most successful heavy-metal band in the world tries to grow up. The band would spend 700 days struggling to make its album St Anger, and veteran documentary makers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Paradise Lost) captured every bizarre occurrence. At the centre of the band, and the internal conflict, are the withdrawn but charismatic vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and ego-bound drummer Lars Ulrich, who engaged "performance enhancement coach" Phil Towle. A quasi-analyst, Towle tries to get the pair, along with stupefied guitarist Kirk Hammett and whiny producer Bob Rock, to give voice to their feelings. A hard-rock band in therapy is a situation rich in comic potential and the film has no shortage of frankly hilarious moments.

Chinese Odyssey 2002

SBS, 1pm

A Hong Kong period comedy from director Jeffrey Lau and star Tony Leung. -- CRAIG MATHIESON

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