Count Me In (2021) User Reviews

No Neil Peart.

[dertrommler-74060 · 8/10 · 25 August 2021]

As a drummer I really enjoyed watching this. It is definitely tailored for drummers but can be enjoyed by people that don't slap the skins too

I did have one problem with it like another reviewer here though.

The lack of any kind of mention of Neil Peart is really odd considering he's was an amazing drummer that inspired so many other drummers and was a pivotal part in shaping modern rock and prog rock drumming. They covered many eras and genres of music but failed to even mention his name. Well done doc but leaving him out was a pretty big mistake.

No Neil Peart?

[wgfaej · 6/10 · 16 September 2021]

Just to make sure the makers of this documentary get it loud and clear, I'm going to knowingly echo the other reviewers.

Overall enjoyable, But Neil was a glaring omission

[shaygreenhorn · 7/10 · 25 August 2021]

The documentary went through a timeline of drummers in chronological order, paying the right amount of respect to every drummer that it covered, starting with the old jazz greats before shifting gear into Rock specific territory for the rest of its run time. Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Keith Moon, John Bonham and Roger Taylor, right up to Dave Grohl. Everyone you'd expect is touched on... Except Neil Peart, which frankly I just don't understand, especially with him passing away only last year. Anyone who knows Rock n Roll would count him as a top 5 drummer, he is every bit as influential and inspiring to young drummers as any of the others covered, in fact more so than most. It really seems like he was deliberately omitted for some reason and they could've easily squeezed him in, especially when Keith Moon is covered TWICE, and there's a kinda forced feministy bit at the end with drummers that... be honest... no one has really heard of. They at least could have talked about Meg White for that part, a female drummer who is a respected household name, and another pretty egregious omission, especially during the girl power bit. So yeah, I enjoyed it, and it wasn't a bad documentary, I would recommend it, but omitting Peart is like omitting Eddie Van Halen from a doc about guitarists.

Glaring omission

[davidgibson-19224 · 7/10 · 14 November 2021]

I enjoyed this documentary but it lost a lot of credibility by omitting Neil Peart, considered by most rock fans and all industry magazines as one of the top two or three greatest drummers of all time. His estate might have restricted use of footage but IP laws don't prohibit talking about someone. Wow!

Interesting

[grantss · 7/10 · 4 September 2021]

The purpose of and skills involved in being a drummer in a rock band. Told through interviews with some modern day drummers plus a few legends of the profession. They talk about what got them into drumming, who their idols were and why they do it.

An interesting documentary on rock drummers and drumming in general. Shows the evolution from jazz drumming to rock drumming and some more modern variations on it.

The interviews are generally quite illuminating, especially when the drummers, some of whom are legends in their own right, discuss who their heroes were and what made those people so good.

However, it does often degenerate into a mutual back-slapping session. Rather than giving constructive input on other drummers they just parrot how great they were.

Coverage of the greats is pretty good, but with two notable exclusions. The documentary mentions drumming as an "orchestral" musical form and gives examples of drummers who exemplify this, e.g. Keith Moon. However, no mention of Neil Peart who would be the first person to come to mind when thinking of multi-dimensional, "orchestral" rock drumming. Similarly, funk gets covered but then only to the extent that it influenced The Clash and The Police. How about covering some of the great funk drummers, e.g. Clyde Stubblefield?

Overall, not brilliant or entirely comprehensive but still quite interesting.

Enjoyable but I agree with the criticisms

[ginjaninja-43907 · 7/10 · 30 August 2021]

How can you not mention Neil Peart or Danny Carey among many others. Kind of disappointing. Several of the drummers they spoke to may be well respected but not very well known and certainly not in the top. Disappointed and sad.

No Neil Peart

[jasonrosen-236-330413 · 8/10 · 26 August 2021]

It was a great watch. But there is no way you make this film and not even mention Neil Peart, or even feature him. Any rock drummer list has him in the top 4 of all time. Otherwise it was a great watch.

A film about the joy of drumming NOT an authorized history of drumming

[keithbolton · 7/10 · 21 September 2021]

Some of the negative reviews miss the point. This is a great doc with a dozen or so great drummers explaining their history, their love, their sheer joy of the art of tub thumping. It' s not meant to be a history or drumming, but references the influences and heros of 50 years. It's a live story to drums and drummers.

If you live percussion then watch it. If you ae expecting a definitive list of the greats, then it's not for you. But for what it is, It's great fun and I loved it.

Drummers across.

A strangely fitting homage to Charlie Watts...

[karlmartin-47352 · 8/10 · 24 August 2021]

I'm absolutely devastated. I absolutely adored the man. I'm literally just watching people say how much they love Charlie Watts when a news bulletin popped up to say that he'd passed away.

This might be a bit of a niche topic for the majority of people, but as a drummer I've absolutely loved it. Watching well known tub thumpers who are grown men & women be completely giddy as they relay stories of their own drumming heroes is a really lovely thing to see. It's just been added to Netflix & honestly if you'd like to be let in on a whole new world of music, you'll love it.

Enjoyable, but woefully incomplete..

[steveknightvoice · 7/10 · 16 September 2021]

Even thought I'm not really a Neil Peart fan, leaving him out of this documentary is virtually a hate crime. Lots of other Iconic drummers are left out, especially the session guys (Blaine, Palmer, Gordon, Porcaro, Purdie, all the Motown drummers). All of the above mentioned would have been much more satisfying than the inordinate amount of screen time devoted to Nicko McBrain, Chad Smith, and the parade of obscure drummers we see here.

Not definitive but a great watch

[Flunkstar · 8/10 · 6 September 2021]

Great watch with some worthy contributions. A definitive drummers 'who's who' would be an 8 part series which the detractors don't seem to acknowledge. Enjoyable hours plus fun watch with an interesting female angle.

No Neil Peart, Danny Carey, Jojo Mayer

[FattyBoomBatty · 6/10 · 3 September 2021]

If you like drummers you may like it, but without some of the greats it feels incomplete.

No Danny Carey or Neil Peart. Therefore, not a real drumming doc

[hoovism · 3/10 · 25 August 2021]

Fan of Stewart Copeland. However, omitting Danny Carey n Neil Peart makes this documentary incomplete, IMO.

Loss off words

[marcustcritchley · 6/10 · 26 August 2021]

Not one mention of Neil Peart, one of the greatest and most influential drummers of all time doesn't even get a mention. Meanwhile they're showing some stupid drum circle that no one cares about. But the segments on the other drummers were surprisingly good.

Like he never existed...

[gdurnin · 6/10 · 28 August 2021]

There are some fun, interesting and even technically revealing aspects to 'Count Me In' that make the doc worth a watch for both musicians, especially drummers, and a wider audience. It is well put together, with enough vintage footage and original contemporary material stuffed between compelling, generational and gender-ational commentary to keep things uptempo and rolling along to a fun, if gimmicky, crescendo ending... but, like a growing number of voices, I too was waiting for the conversation to turn to Neil Peart and was shocked when that didn't happen. It's impossible to believe that none of the featured drummers brought him up-- my guess is they all did --so it is clear that a decision was made by director Mark Lo to exercise him from the film. And the only conclusion I can draw is that it was for political reasons. That is, it seems that Lo doesn't like Peart's ideas, or maybe Lo doesn't like the idea that Peart had ideas. What else could it be? Because Peart's indisputable artistic contributions as a composer, innovator and player make him one of the great rock drummers of all time. It is an injustice, insulting to the film and ultimately the drumming genre, to not even mention him... like he never existed.

Drummer's Drummer? and no Neil Peart.

[sensorshot · 6/10 · 6 November 2021]

A few years ago, decades even, some rock mag did a review of the drummer's favourite drummers. It's a pity many of them don't get a mention here. Omitting Phil Collins and Neil Peart is quite a thing. But then I would say that like Simon Phillips ( also no mention ) they are musicians drummers. I loved the whole section on Keith Moon as a huge Who fan and rightly he is the reason so many got behind a kit in the first place. I think the technical skill of a drummer.like Neil Peart is important to a band but can seem a bit, "whoah where's the fun?" to people who do music for the love. Tellingly Peart's favourite drummer was Keith Moon. You buy a 7 year old a drum kit and show them youtube videos of all the greats. Their eyes light up at Keith Moon. If they're still playing at 15 they'll be playing along to Spirit of the Radio, not Who are You. That is enough to at least mention him.

Love to hear percussion

[kdcrowley-28003 · 8/10 · 15 September 2021]

There's something about hearing the stories of people passionate about what they do. Better still when it comes with a beat. Found this simple flick fun, uplifting and inspirational.

A glaring omission

[estathena2 · 6/10 · 28 August 2021]

An enjoyable documentary that falls a tad short of the mark due to the omission of one of - if not the most exceptional & awe inspiring drummers, Neil Peart. If Moon & Bonham could be mentioned, why not the Professor?

Lots of omissions in the movie

[scott-38505 · 8/10 · 4 January 2022]

While I have seen a few comments lamenting the omission of more well know rick drummers like Neil Peart...the two most glaring omissions from this movie are Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford, probably the two most gifted and innovative drummers rock has ever had.

Great Documentary but lacking

[jhdietterich · 6/10 · 4 September 2021]

How do you have a documentary on drummers and drums and not have Neil Peart?

This was not a "best drummer" doco...

[holgerschnabel · 9/10 · 12 October 2021]

Yes, Neil Peart was a great drummer, but this was just about drumming. I found it highly watchable and I'm a bass player.

Loved Nicko McBrain, he was hilarious. Enjoyed the giant drum shop and all of the drummers on show.

One Drumming Great Missing!!

[derektetlow-459-856509 · 6/10 · 6 September 2021]

Interesting documentary and they cover many of the greats, but I am hard-pressed to take this documentary seriously when they leave out Neil Peart of Rush. It would be like doing a documentary about guitar greats and leaving out Eddie Van Halen or Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Neil Peart was both stylistically and technically a genius, not to mention he was an amazing lyricist! He took drumming and percussion to a whole new level.

This is by no means meant to take anything away from Keith Moon , John Bonham, Charlie Watts, or Ginger Baker. All were amazing and had exceptional musical talent. But I find it hard to believe that it was accidental in leaving Peart out of a documentary about the greatest drummers of all time. Anyone who plays the drums knows who Neil Peart is.

For this sin of omission, I only give this documentary a 6 out of 10.

Omitted a lot of the best drummers in history

[bigolekern-76386 · 3/10 · 26 August 2021]

The list of omitted drummers left me with the impression that this was more about a light trip into drumming for people only vaguely interested in music.

Serious musicians should probably just skip this one, you'll probably be angry unless your favorite drummer is ginger Baker, John Bonhomme, Keith Moon or Ringo Star.

They even skipped Peart altogether... Like not even a mention.

A bittersweet review with an IRL caveat from a real musician

[ricdesan · 6/10 · 30 January 2023]

As many have alluded to the glaring omissions I have to in places concur. From a slightly relevant musician history of playing guitar for 15 years and then turning my back on that skill set to pick drums back up from childhood barely covers the excitement for this documentary.

It started so strong ... talked about historical drummers selected interesting perspectives from drummers of all walks of life and flirted with all time greatness early into its tight runtime. There wasn't a drummer here I didn't respect and then the documentarian made his fatal flaw. Almost tossing out all the wonderful attention to detail early on.

Personal taste aside when you got to rock greats you talked Moon and Bonham and I waited for the obvious entry in that triumvirate! But no mention of Neal Peart was forthcoming not even an brief mention and for many in the drum world it was clearly a criminal mistake. If you can mention the other two and even the non rock era legends like drum God Buddy Rich, Neal's snub slams this effort right into the dirt and leaves the space open for the greatest drum documentary of all time .... Because even this single omission means:

You are not it.

I wont say I didn't enjoy you for I watched you 3 times over time before I wrote this review and my disappointment would not waver. To watch this you may want to have my 40 years in music love and be a drummer that can see the whole with love even missing such a huge heart of creativity at its core.

Enjoyable film

[darrenhemann · 7/10 · 11 December 2021]

All these reviews giving the documentary poor reviews are missing the whole point. They are so hung up on the fact that their favorite drummers were not even mentioned that there was no way they could just sit back and enjoy the music. And that's what it's all about!

Some of my favorite drummers were not mentioned either but I was glad to see a few were included. For me, my enjoyment of the film was listening to these musicians talk about their craft and seeing the excitement that they got from sharing that love for what they do.

Their life is centered around their instrument and they get such a charge out of playing live and being such an important, if often forgotten, part of the music. Everybody loves the lead singer and jams with the guitarist but it's the drummer that holds it all together.

Listening to musicians talk about their inspiration, their influences, their own styles is what I love. I love the creative process and these musicians (and they are all fantastic musicians) let us in on that.

Chad Smith mentions in the film how you have to be doing it for the right reasons. The people reviewing this are just fanboys. They aren't in it for the right reasons.

Give this film a chance, if you really love music.