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'Pistol' - Danny Boyle's Sex Pistols biopic

D'wards said:
Will binge this after Stranger Things.

I love Steve Jones - he always funnier, more interesting and more charming than the "other guy" in interviews.

Proper working class cockney 'erbert made good - something he's never lost despite being an LA resident for decades
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We actually met Steve Jones outside the Lafayette in Wolvo when they played as SPOTS. He scrounged a fag off my brother, then Paul Cook came out and did the same. My brother said fuck me I thought you rock stars where loaded? To which Jonesy replied not with that cunt of a manager. When they left they slung a copy of Pretty Vacant out of the car at us and said cheers for the fags. Great blokes.
 
Posted this on the Disney thread last night:

Watched all of Pistol.

It’s a funny thing, tonally. Too short to tell the story without broad strokes, but too long for Boyle to do his thing properly (ie: creating a stylised-yet-gritty, darkly comic world where consequences are grim but the fallout of the grimness is necessarily elided).

I’d have liked him to have made it as a film (or as a 10-12 parter).

For all Lydon’s tantrums, he comes out of it rather well, and in fact there’s sympathy for almost everyone - including Sid. Only Maclaren (sp?) is totally savaged, and I’m sure he deserved it.
 
I watched it all too and really enjoyed it but I did have the benefit of Kaka Tim review upthread. Was great spotting who some of the other actors were representing like Billy Idol and Shane MacGowan. The series does slow down at the end but that can only be expected when Boyle gets into the Bambi stages.
Not enough music in for me, as a six partner Boyle could have played one classic Pistols tune in full each episode.

I'm not moaning though, it's well worth a watch.
 
Finished watching it yesterday. Not bad but a tad cheesy and cartoonish at times - plus they fuck about with the timelines a bit. Best bit I think was DB’s insistence that the actors play and sing for real - even if it’s a bit on an insult to Steve Jones who is a fine player and not the two chord garage guitarist being portrayed. This just perpetuates the myth that punk meant no skill or musicality when the best bands of that genre could hold their own like the pistols, Buzzcocks, Johnny Thunders. Even Sid wasn’t as bad a bass player as received wisdom claims. Some little flashes of what a tight band they were on this soundcheck tape:

 
seeformiles said:
Even Sid wasn’t as bad a bass player as received wisdom claims.
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when as a callow youth i met glen matlock in 1988 i asked him about sid's skill as a bassist he was rather disparaging - and who'd know better than someone who'd played with vicious how skilled or otherwise he was?
 
Pickman's model said:
when as a callow youth i met glen matlock in 1988 i asked him about sid's skill as a bassist he was rather disparaging - and who'd know better than someone who'd played with vicious how skilled or otherwise he was?
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Also a man with a justified axe to grind who, quite reasonably, was pissed off about being replaced by a beginner :). What I'm saying is that he improved as time went on - later tapes showing a lot more promise than I expected from someone supposedly on the nod more than awake. .
 
seeformiles said:
Also a man with a justified axe to grind who, quite reasonably, was pissed off about being replaced by a beginner :). What I'm saying is that he improved as time went on - later tapes showing a lot more promise than I expected from someone supposedly on the nod more than awake. .
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yet who played with vicious after his departure from the pistols
 
In his book, steve jones is pretty adamant that vicious was close to useless on the bass. made an effort for a few weeks early on then decided to have some more smack.
 
Contemporary opinions notwithstanding I realise Sid was no Jaco Pistorius but, to my ears (as a musician of some 40 years standing) he wasn’t as bad as legend has it - tapes bearing witness to him being an OK functional player for songs with a few chords. 🙂
 
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Kaka Tim said:
In his book, steve jones is pretty adamant that vicious was close to useless on the bass. made an effort for a few weeks early on then decided to have some more smack.
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Nancy Spungen's mum says the same in her book. She says something like, her husband picked up the guitar and tried to learn for a week before quitting, and still he was better than Sid was
 


nation.cymru

Watch: The moment Sex Pistols bus crashes outside Principality Stadium

There was Anarchy In Cardiff when a bus promoting the new Disney+ show Pistol crashed into the entrance to the Principality Stadium. The bus can be seen juddering its way down Westgate Street blaring out The Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK, before taking a sharp right turn in front of the stadium...
nation.cymru
 
Hollis said:
This is being recommended by Jon Savage/Luke Haines on twitter as the punk doc. to watch..

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Thanks for posting that :) if I'd seen it before I've forgotten. But so many memories from some of the stuff talked about. I missed the end just after the clash are on, for some reason i can't figure out, as I had no sound for that part .. but so many memories.

I binge watched the show on Disney yesterday. Borrowed a Disney log in. Short and sweet and okay with me tbh for what it is. A fair bit of artistic licence but why not. I recognised a lot of it, but not as much as the documentary ^^
 
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