Lemmy

I like movies. To me, a good night can be as simple as seeing a really good movie. I am a huge fan of almost any genre, except one: movies about musicians. I find most movies about musicians (or concerts), to be at best, self-serving praise, or more likely, boring as hell.

That all changed for me this past week. I saw "Lemmy".

"Lemmy" is a biography of Lemmy Kilmister, of Motorhead fame. The tagline for the movie sums it up well, "49% Motherf**ker. 51% son of a bitch." I admit, before seeing the movie, I didn't know much about him, or Motorhead, outside of their song "Ace of Spades". If it wasn't for the folks on 89.3 The Current here in the Twin Cities, I would not have known this movie existed, much less would I have seen it. Of all the movies that came out in 2010, this one could be my favorite.

Lemmy is about as normal as you can get for a rock star. He has no entourage; fans can walk up to him in bars and get their photo taken with him for free. He lives in rent controlled apartment in LA. He has no pretensions about his greatness. When asked if he really thought he would still be playing now that he is in his 60's, he replied, "I'm not qualified to do anything else."

But at the same time, this is a guy who lived his life the way he wanted to, and he didn't care what anyone thinks. If he thinks you are an SOB, he tells you it to your face. Nothing is held back, and no apologies are made. Musicians and fans love him for it. Ozzy, Alice Cooper, David Grohl, along with a cast of others, all praise him as the Godfather of metal, but also because he did it the way he wanted to, and f-off if you don't like it.

I give it a big thumbs up. Jim Bob says check it out.