By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
TORONTO (AP) --Jonathan Demme is still infatuated with the concert film.
The director of "Stop Making Sense," the landmark 1984 Talking Heads concert film, numerous Neil Young documentaries (including "Neil Young: Heart of Gold") and a Robyn Hitchcock capsule ("Storefront Hitchcock"), Demme has long been training his cameras on stages to capture the visceral thrill of music in action.
"I've come to believe, and I kind of felt this when we did 'Stop Making Sense,' that shooting live music is kind of like the purest form of filmmaking," Demme said in an interview. "There's no script to worry about. It's not a documentary, so you don't have to wonder where this story is going and what we can use. It's just: Here come the musicians. Here come the dancers. The curtain goes up. They have at it and we get to respond in the best way possible to what they're doing up there."
Demme was on Tuesday to premiere his latest concert film, "Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids," at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film documents the final Las Vegas concerts in 2015 from Timberlake's two-year "20/20" tour. The film will hit Netflix on Oct. 12.
Though Demme is perhaps most famous for his fiction films ("The Silence of the Lambs," ''Philadelphia," ''Something Wild"), music has long coursed through his movies. His last, 2015's "Ricki and the Flash," starred Meryl Streep as an aging rock star, long-absent from her family.
"I can't play any instrument and I have a hideous voice," Demme says. "But I've discovered that when I shoot music, I actually feel like I've become part of the band and I have something to do with the creation of music, which is a very good feeling for someone who loves music as much as I do."
"Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids" is a far larger pop spectacle than Demme has tackled before. To do so, he shot with many more cameras than he usually does. But many of the identifiable elements of a Demme concert film are there: the close eye for the rapport among performers, the unbroken focus on the stage.
"Not everybody is a great subject for a performance film, obviously. You've got to have that lucky confluence of events where the music just really thrills you. Just: 'I want to capture that and share it with people,'" says Demme. "No, I will never tire of filming music. I love it."
“Scandal” cast will reunite for online script reading for hurricane relief in western North Carolina
The cast of ABC's hit political drama "Scandal" may need to brush up on their snappy, speedy delivery known as "Scandal-pace," because they're reuniting for a good cause. Its stars including Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young will take part in a live virtual script reading on Nov. 17 to raise money for hurricane relief in western North Carolina.
Beginning Friday, fans can go online and donate to reserve a spot for the online reading. Proceeds will benefit United Way of North Carolina. Everyone who donates will be able to take part in a virtual pre-event with the cast and Shonda Rhimes will give an introduction.
Additional guest stars will also be announced. The online fundraising platform Prizeo is also holding a contest where one person who donates online via their site will be selected to read a role from the script with the actors. The winner should not worry about the "Scandal"-pace, assured Young over Zoom.
"Whomever the lucky reader is can read at whatever pace they want," she said.
Young, who played Mellie Young, the first lady and later Republican presidential nominee on "Scandal," was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. She came up with the idea for the effort with a friend and took it to her fellow "Scandal" actors, who all jumped on board. Young said this is the first script reading the cast has all done together since the show ended after seven seasons in 2018.
Which episode they will be reading has not been announced yet.
Young said it's "been devastating" to see so many parts of her hometown badly damaged by Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western North Carolina one month ago.
To research the best use for donations, Young spoke with numerous political leaders, including North... Read More