End of the Century

This really well made documentary is finally out and it is great for all rock n roll / punk or just music fans. Not only it is very interesting about the Ramones and give them their "pioneers of punk" status, but it is also very funny. It features all the Ramones and also Clash frontman Joe Strummer in previously unseen interviews. Almost everything you'll here in this documentary comes from the mouth of the "actors" themselves. It shows and we can make our opinion on the band and its different members. For instance this scene where Johnny Ramones thanks god and G. Bush during the Hall of Fame ceremony is quite surprising.

This movie tells us the story of the Ramones, but in fact also the story of many other bands ...

In Auckland in the 70's we saw/heard much more from the Sex Pistols and Clash although everyone knew about NY Dolls and Ramones. The documentary was great in covering some of the gaps and in that the surviving members got to comment on their own memories or lack of them.

In an early tour to England the Ramones met the Clash and Pistols whom they helped through a back window. It was energising to think that many of the personal connections through a relatively small groups of bands reasonated so widely and so far. It was also of interest to realize that Ramones for all their fame never really cracked it and that is partly what makes them so interesting now.

It was great to relive some of the magic moments and also a bit sad to catch up on more recent events. I wasn't a huge fan but I do remember the day Joey died. I also enjoyed learning about the image making and the constructed views including those awful bowl haircuts. Johnnys role as brand director and developer was a revelation.

what a laugh I had watching this film ! It's ridiculous that a band like The Ramones haven't got a proper DVD with their videos etc etc . . . and the documentary even though hasn't got any video as such has great interviews with Dee Dee (Uber Cool he is and funny as . . .) Johnny ( never though he was such an idiot), Joey ( a darling that never said anything bad about anyone), Marky and the rest of the musicians...and Areturo Vega the designer of their logo and official Ramones website and merchandising.

The early footage from the CBGB (1970 ish) it's incredibly funny and endearing along with arguments on stage that will make you laugh till you die, they were really excellent.

I am just a fan of this band and I will always have them close to my heart for their music, their attitude, their sense of humour and above all they cheer me up when I am down and this film just made me feel even closer to them.

I have been a fan of the Ramones for most of my life and never realized how much I didn't want to know about them until now. I don't care about what they did before or how they met. Listening to them talk is just sad. I wish the movie would have continued after the farewell tour and covered the tour they did the next year. I would have loved to hear why they did that. But it is a good movie if you think you need this much info about the Ramones.

Joey!

Man, when I think about that frail, tall, slightly off-kilter character, and how painful his life was, it almost breaks my heart. The only reason it doesn't is because Joey fronted the coolest punk band of all time, and he did so with such amazing style and panache. Way to overcome your limitations! Joey was a victim of pretty bad OCD, and had every reason to believe he would spend his life a loser. Well, Jeff, (his real name,) you were a winner, even if cancer took you way too young.

I heard my first Ramones album in the late seventies. It was the newly released Rocket to Russia, and at the time I had been listening to stadium rock like Kiss and Rush and the junk on the radio with this kid named Steve Hiltner at Ridgemount Jr. High School. Luckily for us, Steve had an older brother who played guitar, and he influenced us to listen to this grinding guitar based insanity that was the Ramones. MAN! When I heard "Teenage Lobotomy" coming out over my stereo speakers, it probably changed me forever.

There was never a punk band as good as the Ramones, and this film does a great job of showing their tragic, and yet strangely inspiring story. These guys WERE SERIOUS! They really were. That's what made them so good. They wrote really great songs with really great hooks and melodies and lyrics, and yet they did it with three or four chords and snappy 4/4 drumming that varied little from song to song. The old "idiot savant" label could easily apply to their lack of musical sophistication coupled with such excellent natural artistry. Everyone needs to see this movie. Everyone needs to understand the true REAL nature of rock and roll, and how it's not about being a big rock star, and a guitar god, and that corporate BS that's been shoveled down our throats for the longest time.

Sure, I love to hear Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and the "big names" of big rock, but we must never forget the Stooges and the NY Dolls and Lou Reed, and those who HAD to play rock and roll, because their lives were just too bizarre not to.

Long live the Ramones!

I really really loved these guys. I can't believe three of them are dead.