95% A Band Called Death

All Critics (40) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (2)

Fortunately, Bobby and Dannis, the surviving brothers, prove genial company.

If the brothers seem a little drunk on their own myth, they're also genuinely humbled by the band's rediscovery and warmed by the fact that their kids have carried on the family tradition.

Their story can feel almost too ready-made for the telling, but it's well worth a listen.

... a must-watch for fans of punk music, vinyl record wonks, or even those interested ... a visionary entertainment dream.

[A] generous, spirited documentary [that captures] one of the strangest and most inspiring of all family stories of tragedy and triumph that this crazy country has produced.

It was fans' ardor that began the Death revival and propels the movie's exhilarating second half.

Directors Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett tell this part of A Band Called Death without much artifice, relying on the natural charm and sunny dispositions of the surviving Hackney brothers to draw us in.

It's a soul-stirring tribute to a man whose vision was too bold and revolutionary for his lifetime, or the convention-bound ways of the music industry, but was ultimately too powerful to be denied.

An amazing story -- about the history of rock, about the capriciousness of fame and, perhaps most importantly, about the power of family.

Like 'Searching For Sugar Man,' 'A Band Called Death' takes its cue from the modesty and joyfulness of its subjects, letting the glory of their music speak for itself.

It's less about the rediscovery of genius than it is the value of obscurity, a sentiment that should give hope to every garage band out there.

Questions about what that reputation is worth today, and how the Hackney brothers struggled to find a foothold, give filmmakers Mark Covino and Jeff Howlett plenty of material to work with.

A Band Called Death shines the light on a previously unexplored corner of musical history and does it in an accessible, straightforward manner.

A Band Called Death is a film that is all heart, as was the band it looks to explore.

Death never got very far, and their story is a fascinating one, told beautifully by Jeff Howlett and Mark Christopher Covino.

Thanks to the new revelatory and inspiring documentary A Band Called Death, the truth behind the band's nearly simultaneous birth and death may yet find them their proper place in music history.

It is a deeply moving story of a family that was both bound together and driven apart by art, and it tells this personal story so beautifully that there were several moments that gave me actual chills.

Even if you didn't know a thing about the band and you don't even typically listen to the kind of music they play, you're going to find yourself thankful that the Hackney brothers are now in your life.

The story of Death sure adds an interesting and virtually unknown footnote to the annals of punk rock.

Still sounding amazingly fresh, the brothers' good spirits and storytelling are as infectiously appealing as their punk rock seems to be a fountain of youth

In the vein of Searching for Sugar Man, this earnest and engaging doc again proves that all the best nonfiction music stories aren't tied up in bitterness and acrimony, and certainly aren't related to any level of achieved fame.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_band_called_death_2013/

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