ROTTEN TOMATOES: Joel Selvin

JOEL SELVIN

Agrees with the Tomatometer 82% of the time.

Publications: San Francisco Chronicle

Total Reviews: 23

LISTING OF ALL REVIEWS & ARTICLES

Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Fresh 3/4	Fresh 86%	Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2008)	" Director Stephen Kijak not only got a composed, almost warm interview out of Walker, but he filmed some of the sessions for Walker's latest adventuresome recording project." Posted Jan 23, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 100%	Anita O'Day - The Life Of A Jazz Singer (2008)	" A gentle, swinging film that pieces together her extraordinary life story from vintage performance clips and various interviews done over the years." Posted Sep 26, 2008
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 20%	Chapter 27 (2008)	" The film is impressively mounted and Schaefer has made a directorial debut of distinction, but it is an uncomfortable ride from the opening scenes of Chapman arriving in New York to the inevitable, inexorable final scene." Posted Apr 18, 2008
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 86%	Shine a Light (2008)	" He brings all his skills as a filmmaker to the film, but Scorsese did not achieve the monumental dimensions of his movie from cinematic savoir faire. Shine a Light is huge because the Stones are giants." Posted Apr 4, 2008
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 92%	U2 3D (2008)	" Having these enormous, almost disembodied figures endlessly cascading through space is more distracting than illuminating." Posted Jan 24, 2008
Rotten 1.5/4	Fresh 72%	Kurt Cobain About a Son (2007)	" The ending section, where Schnack and Azerrad let Cobain ramble philosophically about life and music, is a muddled intellectual mess." Posted Nov 30, 2007
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 88%	Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (2007)	" The Future Is Written is a loving testimonial to one of rock's true originals." Posted Nov 9, 2007
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 95%	Pete Seeger - The Power of Song (2007)	" The filmmakers treat this aged curmudgeon almost too reverently, but it is hard not to be awed by this gentle, resolute soul because of the ideas he steadfastly and faithfully represented." Posted Sep 14, 2007
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 79%	Glastonbury (2007)	" A warm and witty, detailed look at this parallel universe." Posted Mar 2, 2007
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 90%	Shut Up & Sing (2006)	" [Natalie Maines] makes it clear in this astonishingly candid, intimate film that she doesn't think she has anything to apologize for." Posted Nov 17, 2006
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 70%	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2006)	" In the end, it's Cohen's songs that are what this loving musical portrait is all about." Posted Jul 14, 2006
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 88%	The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006)	" Whether Johnston is a genius or a wonderful anomaly remains to be seen, but director Jeff Feuerzeig has stitched together a detailed portrait of the artist's life and music that is never less than compelling." Posted Apr 7, 2006
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 15%	Stoned (2006)	" Almost so bad it's good. Almost." Posted Mar 24, 2006
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 91%	Neil Young - Heart of Gold (2006)	" Another snapshot of his fabled career that's of little interest to anyone outside his many fans." Posted Feb 10, 2006
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 93%	Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2005)	" A documentary that in its spirit and feel catches some of the vulnerability and naive optimism of its subject, Van Zandt." Posted Feb 3, 2006
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 93%	Make it Funky! (2005)	" The brilliant colors, the vibrant flavors and sultry, seductive rhythms of New Orleans music serve to remind us how unique, beautiful and valuable the city and its heritage are to all of us in this country." Posted Oct 28, 2005
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 35%	The Great Raid (2005)	" The story line is telegraphed from word one and the meticulous unfolding plot plods ahead inexorably without the slightest bit of suspense." Posted Aug 12, 2005
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 87%	Lightning in a Bottle (2004)	" Any movie with Ruth Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples and Aaron Neville (with his brothers) for openers can't be all bad." Posted Nov 19, 2004
Fresh 3/4	N/A	The Grateful Dead Movie (1974)	" Even for Deadheads who have watched the movie more times than was probably healthy, the new high-definition video digital transfer will still yield revelations." Posted Nov 5, 2004
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 90%	DIG! (2004)	" Filmmaker Ondi Timoner followed the entangled rise of these two bands from the Pacific Northwest with an obsessive compulsive's eye for detail." Posted Oct 8, 2004
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 89%	Tom Dowd and the Language of Music (2004)	" A fitting epitaph for a giant few people outside the industry knew but whose work everybody heard." Posted Aug 13, 2004
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 96%	Festival Express (2004)	" Rock's great lost concert film, a backstage pass to the wildest and woolliest ride in the history of the music." Posted Jul 23, 2004
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 93%	MC5 * A True Testimonial (2004)	" The film is a touching, detailed portrait of an important and often overlooked band." Posted Apr 9, 2004

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JOEL SELVIN

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