The Runaways (movie)
About the band, not the superheroes. ;)
Yesterday I was finally able to see the film The Runaways. Its about the first girl punk/rock band of the same name, the one that rock stars Joan Jett and Lita Ford started out in. The film was loosely based on an autobiography by the band's singer, Cherie Curry, and one of the producers was Joan Jett herself. The film primarily focuses on those two and they are played by Dakota Fanning (Curry) and Kristen Stewart (Jett).
I don't want to go into the story or anything, so no worries - no spoilers here. I just wanted to exclaim at how well Stewart and Fanning acted. First, they both spent a LOT of time with their real-life counterparts, learning directly from them their histories, motivations, behaviors, movements, etc. And second, they both did all their own singing and instrument playing. Impressive.
I've long been a fan of Dakota Fanning. Her role was the more subtle of the two simply because that's how Curry is. So you spend a great chunk of the film waiting for her to just explode. She doesn't, but man, by the time the band gets to perform "Cherry Bomb", wow - that is a Dakota Fanning you've never seen before. Wow.
Kristen Stewart I hadn't had much of an opinion on before. I *hate* the Twilight movies; her acting isn't bad, the character she PLAYS is just dull. So when you see her as Joan Jett.... Holy freaking cow. I've seen Joan Jett perform live and I've seen her plenty of times in music videos and interviews. Kristen Stewart NAILED it. Jett herself was impressed; everywhere Jett went, so did Stewart, mirroring everything about Jett and soaking in her essence. Stewart's performance steals the show as far as I'm concerned - she totally IS Joan Jett, from the way she chews her gum, the way she hangs her head and looks at you from under her glare, shoulders hunched; the way she holds her guitar and pick (which are a VERY signature thing), the way she talks… the whole she-bang.
The film is not a comfortable one to watch, because the girls were so young and went through a lot of uncomfortable realities of the rock music business. But its real and its an important part of women's music history. Joan Jett, with the Runaways springboard, did a lot to shatter notions of what women had to be like in music and that deserves respect.
Now I'm all in the mood for punk rock music and I actually don't have any Runaways or Joan Jett, can you believe? What is the matter with me? In the meantime, I'd almost forgotten: I actually have Joan Jett's autograph. She was at the AK State Fair once and my sister and I stood in line to get her autograph through a chain link fence. I was SO nervous I couldn't speak - Kaisa had to ask for the autograph *for* me. *blushes* So embarrassing. ;)
Yesterday I was finally able to see the film The Runaways. Its about the first girl punk/rock band of the same name, the one that rock stars Joan Jett and Lita Ford started out in. The film was loosely based on an autobiography by the band's singer, Cherie Curry, and one of the producers was Joan Jett herself. The film primarily focuses on those two and they are played by Dakota Fanning (Curry) and Kristen Stewart (Jett).
I don't want to go into the story or anything, so no worries - no spoilers here. I just wanted to exclaim at how well Stewart and Fanning acted. First, they both spent a LOT of time with their real-life counterparts, learning directly from them their histories, motivations, behaviors, movements, etc. And second, they both did all their own singing and instrument playing. Impressive.
I've long been a fan of Dakota Fanning. Her role was the more subtle of the two simply because that's how Curry is. So you spend a great chunk of the film waiting for her to just explode. She doesn't, but man, by the time the band gets to perform "Cherry Bomb", wow - that is a Dakota Fanning you've never seen before. Wow.
Kristen Stewart I hadn't had much of an opinion on before. I *hate* the Twilight movies; her acting isn't bad, the character she PLAYS is just dull. So when you see her as Joan Jett.... Holy freaking cow. I've seen Joan Jett perform live and I've seen her plenty of times in music videos and interviews. Kristen Stewart NAILED it. Jett herself was impressed; everywhere Jett went, so did Stewart, mirroring everything about Jett and soaking in her essence. Stewart's performance steals the show as far as I'm concerned - she totally IS Joan Jett, from the way she chews her gum, the way she hangs her head and looks at you from under her glare, shoulders hunched; the way she holds her guitar and pick (which are a VERY signature thing), the way she talks… the whole she-bang.
The film is not a comfortable one to watch, because the girls were so young and went through a lot of uncomfortable realities of the rock music business. But its real and its an important part of women's music history. Joan Jett, with the Runaways springboard, did a lot to shatter notions of what women had to be like in music and that deserves respect.
Now I'm all in the mood for punk rock music and I actually don't have any Runaways or Joan Jett, can you believe? What is the matter with me? In the meantime, I'd almost forgotten: I actually have Joan Jett's autograph. She was at the AK State Fair once and my sister and I stood in line to get her autograph through a chain link fence. I was SO nervous I couldn't speak - Kaisa had to ask for the autograph *for* me. *blushes* So embarrassing. ;)