directed by George Hickenlooper
USA 2003

 

Mayor of the Sunset Strip” tells the story of Rodney Bingenheimer, who with no other motive than the love for music, influenced the American music scene for over three decades. Coming to Los Angeles in the late sixties, naïve and star struck, he became a celeb hang around, then writer, then publicists and finally a DJ for KROQ, and Bingenheimer introduced David Bowie, T-Rex, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Van Halen, Oasis, Nirvana, Coldplay, Green Day and many, many more to L.A, thereby opening the doors for many careers.

Directed by George Hickenlooper, who also made “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse” and “Dogtown”, “Mayor of the Sunset Strip” is one incredible documentary. Going back and forth between interviews with celebrities and people of the scene, historical documentation of the life of Bingenheimer and talks with Bingenheimer, Hickenlooper creates a deeply intimate portrait of a man, who gave so much, who got so much in return, but despite it all never profited.

Another side of “Mayor of the Sunset Strip” is its examination of the obsession with fame and celebrities, which ultimately is an illusion. Here we have a man, who knows everyone, who everyone knows, who during the seventies was the guy everyone wanted to get in with, and despite all this, Bingenheimer is a very lonely person. It is incredible painful to watch Bingenheimer sitting next to the woman he loves, who calm says, that Rodney only is a friend.

Mayor of the Sunset Strip” is one of those rare documentaries, who just raises above the rest. It is full of insight, pathos, great music and history. It is deeply moving and honest to the bone. It is documentary film at its very best.
 

Henrik Sylow

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 17, 2003 (Los Angeles Film Festival)

Reviews    More Reviews  DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Tartan - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the Review!

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Distribution

Tartan

Region 2 - PAL

Runtime 1:30:10 (4% PAL speedup)
Video

1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.46 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital English, 5.1 Dolby Digital English, DTS English
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Tartan

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1

Edition Details:
• Audio commentary by George Hickenlooper and Julie Janata
• Audio commentary by Rodney Bingenheimer and Chris Carter
• Interviews
• - David Bowie (9:43 / 4:3)
• - Brian Wilson and Elvis Costello (15:31 / 4:3)
• - Courtney Love (4:39 / 4:3)
• - Oasis (4:02 / 4:3)
• - Gwen Stefani (7:24 / 4:3)

DVD Release Date: June 27, 2005
Keep Case

Chapters 16

 

 

Comments The image is very grainy, but considering the source, the image is very good. There are some artifacts, but nothing really visible.

The sound ranges from flat dialogue to amazing concert recordings, which simply blows you away. The DTS is slightly better than the 5.1 Dolby Digital here.

There are two superb audio commentaries on the DVD. The first is by director George Hickenlooper and co-producer / editor Julie Janata, who talks about the technical sides of the film, how it came to be, the compositions, the interviews and so forth. The second is by Rodney Bingenheimer and producer Chris Carter, where Rodney reflects on his own history, comments on the scenes. Two very dedicated commentaries, which adds to the films quality.

There also are five interviews, very brief and quiet chaotic ones, where the artists comment on how they met Rodney.

 - Henrik Sylow

 

 





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