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Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King (1993)

Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King (1993)
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The first thing to remember when viewing this difficult-to-believe documentary is that there really is an underground band called Half Japanese and that the stories being told about their eighteen year musical career are, for the most part true. That being said, it is almost impossible to distinguish this evidently sincere documentary from the earlier (and entirely fictional) This Is Spinal Tap, which idolizes a similarly inept and clueless group of musicians and fans. Penn Jillette (of the gore-and-magic duo Penn and Teller, acknowledges that he is such a fan of the group that he took over as their producer. It is possible that the very naivete which this film captures is the source of the group's popularity - surfacing, as it did, in the lush, overcomplex and overproduced pop music scene of the late seventies. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Jad Fair, David Fair, (more)
Director(s):
Jeff Feuerzeig
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King

The first thing to remember when viewing this difficult-to-believe documentary is that there really is an underground band called Half Japanese and that the stories being told about their eighteen year musical career are, for the most part true. That being said, it is almost impossible to distinguish this evidently sincere documentary from the earlier (and entirely fictional) This Is Spinal Tap, which idolizes a similarly inept and clueless group of musicians and fans. Penn Jillette (of the gore-and-magic duo Penn and Teller, acknowledges that he is such a fan of the group that he took over as their producer. It is possible that the very naivete which this film captures is the source of the group's popularity - surfacing, as it did, in the lush, overcomplex and overproduced pop music scene of the late seventies. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
120 mins

Complete Cast of Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King


Director(s):
Jeff Feuerzeig
Producer(s):
Jeff Feuerzeig
Categories:
Documentary
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    Stacey G.

    So, there's the band, a duo of spastic brothers from nowheresville with zero propensity for playing music of any sort. They bash away tunelessly for a decade, the fat brother wanders off to get married, the skinny, skittish brother carries on. The music, throughout, is godawful, and yet, the band is revered by rock crit snobs who actually claim that Half-Jap is better than the Beatles and the Stones. Ok, so said crits include terminal cranks Bryon Coley and Gerard Cosley and can therefore be laughed off rather easily, but believe me, enduring all this nonsense for 90 minutes is a trial. Use your delusion if you want, but bad rock n' roll is not as much fun as you think it is.

    Yes   |   No

     
    Manuel B.

    Thirty minutes was all I could muster. Not even a few beers helped. This is not a funny movie by any means, trust me. If you like Spinal Tap, this is the complete oposite.

    Yes   |   No

     
    Michael O.

    "the greatest rock band" that's quite subjective. to me there was a lot of fluffing going on here, waxing the dolphin poetic about how great they are, and why they should be heard. but by the same token, these guys would say half japanese, sold out if they got big. what's really important is the punk ethos of getting out there and doing it yourself. putting your music in the hands of your audience. i think somethings can be learned from half japanese, on how to market your self in the current climate of major labels. on them competing with the independents artists and labels for the same mp3 dollars of today. if you are wanting to know or how to make a band this movie could be inspiring. however in this age of ableton live, who needs a band? i don't...

    Yes   |   No

     
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