SYNOPSICS
Austin to Boston (2014) is a English movie. James Marcus Haney has directed this movie. Bear's Den,Ben Howard,Gill Landry,Ben Lovett are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2014. Austin to Boston (2014) is considered one of the best Documentary,Music movie in India and around the world.
5 old VW camper vans. 4 bands. 3 thousand miles. 2 weeks. 1 gloriously backwards tour. The adventure starts after a fire-fuelled final night at Austin's SXSW Music Festival, where the bands (Ben Howard, The Staves, Nathaniel Rateliff, Bear's Den) pile into their rides and head northeast. They play everywhere from bars to barns, rooms to rooftops, packing out tiny venues and wowing crowds with their unique sounds. But heavy rainstorms, multiple breakdowns, and cramped conditions remind them that to push through sometimes you need to pull together. Featuring Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett and narrated by Gill Landry this documentary is about a modern tour, done the old fashioned way. 70 mins.
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Austin to Boston (2014) Reviews
A Journey thru The Midwest to your Minds
I am an Audio Guy , Tiny Bird Productions is the name of my gig . And I had goosebumps , I had tears , I gasped several times while being buried in my Headphones all the way thru this . I know what a VW Bus sounds like , So make no mistake the recording skills of the crew involved on this , My Hat is off , I am seriously humbled by what I heard thru this . Because only someone who does sound will know what actually happened , The general Listener will never understand the care that was taken and attention to detail . So many subtle nuances in this . 10 stars , For me to the Crew that filmed and recorded this . To You , not just the film . My Listening environment was this > Sound Devices USB Pre2 , as Audio Output , Sony 900st studio headphones, Laying on my couch , covered in Blankets as it is freezing in the house now , and sipping a really good whiskey . Thank you for this ride . And I was able to say all that without putting a spoiler in .
A pleasant diversion
This movie is more about the music than the musicians. Some little-known bands play and sing a bunch of excellent songs. Sometimes they are singing in vans, sometimes in campgrounds, sometimes on stage. If you like that sort of thing, you'll like this movie. We don't really get to know any of the musicians at a personal level. The one attempt at delving into the difficult past of one of the singers ultimately falls flat. The music is compelling, though, especially the spectacular harmonies of The Staves. Although the narrator waxes eloquent about both the extreme rigors and rapturous rewards of touring, the audience actually doesn't see much of either on the screen. In reality, nothing particularly noteworthy happens. Still, it's reasonably pleasant to be riding along with the bands.
Contrived, pointless noise and video
I love music. I was hoping to get a view of the road from other musicians' perspective. Instead, I got garbage. Most of the footage captured should have been edited for Instagram. The musicians are boring, incredibly pretentious people. I found myself hoping all the mini buses stopped working forcing the tour and the documentary to end. Speaking of documentary, what does Austin to Boston document? Most of the shots are of the Staves singing in the woods while a shaky cameraman attempts to record "art" and nature. Simply put, nothing happens. There is no drama, story arc or resolution. Again, this would have been GREAT Instagram footage. Let me summarize this movie for you. Some people tour from Austin to Boston. They drive, sing the same songs over and over again, and then they swim in a swimming pool. Even if you're a fan of the artists depicted, don't watch it. Horribly boring.
A damn good time.
Hot on the heels of the 2012's SXSW festival, a group of London's Communion folk artists, including Mumford and Sons' Ben Lovett, embarked on a journey across the United States to tour the old fashioned way. They play everywhere, packing out venues big and small with their bittersweet and deftly textured music. They're nostalgia hunters for a rich aesthetic and while many could claim it to be too 'hipster' for the sake of it, director James Marcus Haney captures it in all its raw authenticity, complimented with a gruff narration from their driver Gill Landry. In fact, the bands love the lack of modern conveniences. The vans breaking down is just part of the adventure and these tough situations just reveal a person's true character so they can bond honestly. Their vision of the American dream is one more modest and about connecting with people on a deep level. It's a shame that the film's brevity with a 60 minute runtime means it doesn't have time to get under everybody's skin, outside of a notable break where one of the American musicians visits the place where his Dad was murdered. As a result, it breezes over the events with no obstacles feeling like show-stoppers or giving us the relief of moving forward. Shot on a blend of 16mm, with all its charming flaws of scratches, grain, focus issues and exposures of colour, and sharp contemporary footage, often using a fish eye lens, it's a mood piece more than anything. The film is entirely built of candid footage. Any interview is quite casual, often in any situation. It's hand-held and rough, making good use of the little light they often have. The lack of intention in how the cameras are stuck in the middle of the camaraderie on the road and the soul-searching of its individuals is just part of its charm. The music is wonderful. They're all talented artists for sure, especially standouts The Staves with their beautiful harmonies. They cover a lot of classics in a unique way and it's deeply therapeutic for everyone in earshot. While we may not get as much of an insight into each individual and the events on the road as they could have done, they certainly feel like a family by the end as worn down physically and mentally as they may be. The documentary is admittedly a little self-congratulatory, but as they say, at least it was a good time. Austin to Boston is all about savouring the moment because you may only go places once. I want to revisit it already. 7/10 Read more @ The Awards Circuit (http://www.awardscircuit.com/)
Truly Upset
So many people recommended this documentary to me, so I bought it immediately and watched it. After watching, all I could think was, that's it? There was almost no real substance to grab onto. They dive into part of Nathaniel Rateliff's upbringing and it's good, but it's short and we don't get anything like that with the other artists. I didn't learn anything new about the places they went, I didn't get a real sense of what it's like to be on tour It was a glorified tour video that was made out to be more revolutionary than it really was. The first 75% of the documentary is a montage of performances and travel b-roll. The last 25% is a montage of the whole tour and a poetic narration to wrap up how the experience was so amazing for them. The end. Bummed I bought it because I won't ever watch this again.