The Rawside of... (TV Series) Die Mannequin (2008) User Reviews

Ode to Canadian Punk Rock.

[graham-lawford · 6/10 · 22 September 2009]

As a fan of Die Mannequin before seeing The Raw Side of... I'll be the first to tell you the documentary does lack a lot of the enthusiasm and energy that makes the band so much fun to listen to.

What I did like was the connection to Bruce McDonald's film Hard Core Logo. From the over all visual style to the inclusion of Julian Richings as the narrator (reprising his Bucky Haight character), there are a number or little easter eggs that fans of Hard Core Logo can enjoy.

However it was lacking in 3 areas. 1. they didn't but the lead singer at the forefront, as the driving force behind the band Care Failure should have been the focus of the narrative. 2. they show some concert footage, and some rehearsal footage, but the majority of the soundtrack is not Die Mannequin. 3. Considering they hinted at the pressures of a deadline to deliver a new album they certainly didn't show it.

They also included a DVD of The Raw side of: Die Mannequin with the finished CD Fino + Bleed (great album) but there was zero making of footage, which was a letdown.

Despite my review focusing on the negatives I would recommend watching this at least once if you're a fan of The band, or even if your a fan of Hard Core Logo, which if you haven't seen it I suggest checking it out.

Rock'n'roll should not be this boring.

[pmetzger · 3/10 · 19 May 2009]

Watched the first half hour before switching to a rerun of Scrubs. Then I decided I'd review it, so I watched the rest to give it a fair shot.

Sure, self-pity and artificial pathos is the driving force behind some great punk music, but it's supposed to be off-set with excitement, anger, madness. There's lots of the former here, none of the latter that I could see.There's also no story to speak of - the filmmaker briefly tries to create some tension by playing up the lead singer/guitarist Care's writers block as she heads towards some indeterminate deadline but eventually loses interest, although not before the audience does.

There are lots of interview clips laden with barely post-teen angst, and there's also some old English guy who does a lot of the VO and quasi-narration. I should probably know who he is, but I can't be bothered to look.

Music behind the film leans too much towards folk-dirge style, with far too little audio/video of the band themselves. These guys cannot be as tiresome and cheerless as this. At least I hope not, and without hearing much of them I suspect they deserve better.