Steve Earle Movies

The celebrated singer and songwriter Steve Earle once said "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." Earle was hardly the only artist of note who loved Van Zandt's poetic, elliptical songs of love and dashed hopes -- Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, the Cowboy Junkies, and Nanci Griffith are among the many performers who have recorded his work, and he was a key inspiration for much of the Texas singer/songwriter community, including Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Lyle Lovett. However, while Van Zandt was greatly admired by his peers and a small cult of passionate admirers, it was other artists who had hits with his songs, not him, and this gifted but troubled man was haunted by drug and alcohol addiction much of his life. Van Zandt also had difficult relationships with his family and three wives, and at the age of 20, he was given shock treatments which wiped out nearly all of his childhood memories. In the 1990s, Van Zandt's public profile began to grow larger, and he was signed to a major record label for the first time in 1996, but as often happened in his songs, fate stepped in, and Van Zandt died following hip surgery on New Year's Day, 1997. Filmmaker Margaret Brown, a longtime fan of Townes Van Zandt, examines both his life and his art in the documentary Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt, which includes interviews with many of his close friends, family members and collaborators, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Shelley, Guy Clark, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the fall of 2002, singer, songwriter and political activist Steve Earle released an album of songs written in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, entitled Jerusalem. One of its songs, "John Walker's Blues" -- written from the perspective of John Walker Lindh, a Muslim from America who was discovered fighting alongside Taliban forces -- triggered off a flurry of controversy, and Earle found himself having to defend his views, his patriotism, and his right to free speech in the press. Steve Earle: Just an American Boy is a documentary which follows Earle as he tours in support of the Jerusalem album, speaks to journalists about his songs and the looming war in Iraq, writes and directs his first play (Karla, a dramatization of the life and death of Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman ever to be executed by the Texas penal system), discusses his outspoken opposition to the death penalty, and, with his band, shows why he's become one of the most critically acclaimed singer/songwriters of his generation. Steve Earle: Just an American Boy was directed by Amos Poe, who previously helmed the groundbreaking document of New York's nascent punk rock scene, Blank Generation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actors and political activists come together to take a long, hard look at the State of the Union during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election in this documentary, a follow-up to 1993's The Last Party, in which actor Robert Downey Jr. followed the 1992 presidential campaign. In The Last Party 2000, with Robert Downey Jr. unavailable due to drug convictions (he does make a brief appearance, and his legal problems as well as the current state of American drug laws are discussed), Philip Seymour Hoffman takes his place as he visits the 2000 Democratic and Republican National Conventions and talks to politicians and activists both famous and obscure as a pitched battle is fought between supporters of democratic candidate Al Gore, republican nominee George W. Bush, and the many voices who believed neither candidate represented a worthwhile or reasonable choice. Along with Downey and Hoffman, celebrities speaking out on the issues in this film include Courtney Love, Rosie O'Donnell, Reese Witherspoon, and David Crosby; the rock band Stone Temple Pilots also appear at a political rally. The Last Party 2000 was directed by actor and musician Donovan Leitch, who served as a producer on the first film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This video is part of the Live From Austin, Texas series which released full versions of concerts that were shown in a truncated form on the television series Austin City Limits. This release contains a September 12, 1986, show by singer/songwriter Steve Earle. The set list includes 17 numbers including "Guitar Town," "My Old Friend the Blues," "Nowhere Road," "Fearless Heart," and "Down the Road." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide