awakeinreality Reviews

Along for the Ride (2016)

Poetic, touching and moving.

[7/10 · 26 March 2018]

There are a few Dennis Hopper documentaries, I have seen some great ones. This one is ultimately different though as it's about Hopper by way of his PA, friend and confidant, Satya de la Manitou. Manitou speaks candidly but always with love and respect of some of what he experienced in the rise, "sleeping" and rise again of Hopper's life and career from Easy Rider and his black balling from Hollywood in making "The Last Movie" to his last days and utimely death. Just like in "The Last Movie", Hopper's career refused to die.

This documentary explores some of his private life, haunts, fellow actors and friends that shared experiences with Dennis. Manitou has a very deep love for Hopper which is beautifully apparent, but never shys away from telling it how it was. Some of Hopper's most influential films as a director and actor are looked at uniquely and cements his impact on American counterculture, the movie world and in history.

Beautifully shot, scored and edited this film is worthy of anyone being a fan of Hopper,film or sociology for that matter.

Rebel, Icon and outlaw, Hopper may be never intended to be any of those, but he definitely was.

Underbelly Files: Chopper (2018)

Forget the Chopper film as brilliant as it was, and give this a chance.

[7/10 · 15 February 2018]

Yes Eric Banna did a brilliant Chopper Read, and yes it was a brilliant film. What was floored in that film was a lot of artistic liberties that were taken that even Read himself condemned. If yiu watch some interviews with him you will see him say for example that the potrayal of Tanya as a junkie was untrue. Mark "Chopper" Read was a man of myth, contradiction and folk law. This potrayal of a series of events in his life not focused on in the film presents the cerebral side to the man and the enigmatic and complex manner that was the split personality almost that was Mark and that was Chopper. Give this a chance, watch a few interviews with Read and approach this with an open mind and you may just enjoy it. I did.