Watch 20,000 Days on Earth For Free

the audience applauded

So much average

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

With Easter coming up,I started searching round for a music documentary that a friend could watch during the Easter holiday.Searching round on Amazon UK,I was surprised to find a doc on Nick Cave,which led to me picking up a bunch of bad seeds.The plot:Waking up on his 20,000th day alive,musician Nick Cave begins recording a new album with regular collaborator Warren Ellis.Along with recording a new album,Cave begins to talk to friends about why they do particular professions.Whilst making music & talking to friends,Cave begins reflecting on memories,and the meaning of his existence.View on the film:Opening with an atmospheric shot which has Nick Cave's life flash before the viewers eyes,co-writers/(along with Nick Cave)directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard take a fascinating,partly-staged improvisation /partly- real approach to the movie,with Cave being kept driving in a car, (to a destination that is never revealed)whilst talking to friends who disappear like ghosts.Staging scenes of Cave talking to a shrink,Forsyth and Pollard use the fictional moments (such as Cave talking to a fan who is playing his shrink,and 2 archivists pretending to be working on a Nick Cave archive) to superbly emphasis the psychological connection that Cave makes with his audience in the thrilling concert footage.Appearing like a preacher in the concert footage,Nick Cave gives an excellent performance as himself,with Cave giving the movie strong mythical vibes during his car journeys.Cave also gives the movie a hauntingly deep melancholy streak,as Cave attempts to piece together fading memories with the film makers,on his 20,000th birthday party.

Documentary profiles of famous musicians are ubiquitous and they are mostly rather repetitive, but this is a breath of fresh air. This unique and challenging gem goes for a different approach about the much celebrated Australian musician and writer, Nick Cave, who in this film is marking his 20,000th day on Earth. One of the unique things about this documentary is that in many ways, it is not a documentary as some of it is fictional and scripted. It is generally difficult to tell if it is fictional or if it is genuine Nick Cave. I cannot imagine this kind of approach suiting any other musician other than Nick Cave as he is a rather odd character who probably sees a world where fiction and reality blur.On the 20,000th day, we see Nick Cave playing a version of himself going about his day in a nicely shot and artful account of what is routine. He drives around Brighton first going to an interview, then visiting his friend and band mate, Warren Ellis, in his idyllic seaside home for a seafood lunch. He has what seems like imagined conversations with random celebrities who appear in his passenger seat as he drives and he goes to his archive studio where he examines photos and bits of writing he did in the past. Interspersed between these scenes are a mixture of studio performances and live concert footage of Nick Cave performing mainly new material from his last album 'Push the Sky Away' with the Bad Seeds.The documentary starts off with a surreally beautiful timeline of Cave's life filled with quick appearances of personal stock footage and various pop culture since 1955 all edited at a rapid fire pace. As it progresses, we see Nick Cave ponder many things like existence, the creative process, inspiration, memories and other philosophical and poetic musings. This coming out of the mouth of a less experienced musician would sound like a pretentious fart, but since Cave is notorious for his dark eccentricity, it is pretty much expected from him. The interview near the start shows this very well as it is a revelatory and candid conversation as he talks about very personal memories which make him who he is today. Nick Cave does have a darkly poetic perspective, and the imagery supporting his powerful voice make this experiment something of a cinematic experience. One chief example in particular is a spoken word piece which he wrote many years ago. I remember reading it when it was on display at the Nick Cave Exhibition in Perth, Australia and thinking it was a particularly well worded expression of love at first sight which stuck in my head. It is about how he first met his wife and the feelings experienced at that moment completely exceeded any other experience of women through real life and pop culture (Cave worded it far better). It was interesting to see this written text come to life with the rapid edit of stock footage with Cave's voice reading it.The scenes in Cave's car are surreal, especially when notorious British actor, Ray Winston appears in his passenger seat to discuss performing art. Cave discusses his form of expression from a musicians perspective while Ray Winston makes comparisons to his acting experience and complaining about the weather! Also, Kylie Minogue, a one time collaborator with Nick Cave, appears in Cave's rear view mirror much like the character Betsy in the closing scene of 'Taxi Driver'. Her and Cave discuss audience connection.It may be a partially fictional documentary but somehow it seems less self-aggrandizing with this approach as Cave seems to be playing a version of himself where he could only be perceived as weird and interesting, playing up to an image which already exists. In my opinion, I think it helps to appreciate his music in order to enjoy the film as there are extended performances of what is an acquired taste. I generally find his music interesting, but that was not the most interesting thing about it. I felt it was not just a film about Nick Cave, but about existence in this convoluted, manic and complex world and how one fits into and draws inspiration from it. It can be seen as unique and original, albeit a little pretentious in parts, but I have never seen any profile of a musician done this way.Check out my film blog - www.projectionistreview.wordpress.com

First, I'm 22 years old. I've never once wrote a review but this wasted a huge amount of time being two full hours long.Secondly, the music left me wondering "Is this movie a joke?". I'm assuming this man made a film about his lifestyle? honestly, I don't know who he is, or what makes anyone like him, but I simply don't care to find out.I didn't know what to expect, and it was the worst movie I've ever seen in my life hands down. all i got from it was "the feels on stage" Dem feels man. Jesus, that's all he says repetitively. He seems narcissistic to me.It may just be my generation being born in the 1990's everyone in my generation I want to let you know Begin Again was an excellent film about music! check it out.

". . . The never-ending drip feed of eroticism" Nick CaveI'm not sure either what that quote means, but what you may get is a sense of writer/musician Nick Cave's poetic inclinations and the sensuality of his life, encapsulated in a fictional day, his 20,000 day on earth to be specific. Starring him, of course, because he is the center of his universe, and he believes, maybe a deity or an angel. He once said about his creations: "I can't explain that dividing line between nothing and something that happens within a song, where you have absolutely nothing, and then suddenly you have something. It's like the origin of the universe."This smooth fictional biography, partially narrated by Cave, first takes us in his fine car, which he always drives, to visit his therapist (scene so relaxed and interesting I wish we could have heard the results). Then lunching with band mate Warren Ellis, where the talk is mostly music, and over to an archive brimming with his memorabilia. Interspersed are performances with The Bad Seeds, from his almost Leonard Cohen-like poetic music to his Jagger-like rocking in Sydney (he's an Aussie), where the capacity crowd is fully under his spell. As he speaks through the music about its transforming power, he also shows us his struggle to bring poems and lyrics together. He once said about author vs. musician: "Musicians are at the bottom of the creative pyramid and authors are at the top, and many people think it's unacceptable for someone to attempt to jump from the bottom to the top of the pyramid."Along the way we see him and his sons eat pizza and watch Scarface. Although he seems to have little time for his family, when he does, it's relaxed just the way he presents himself to us in a film that gives much more insight into an artist's creative process than we usually get with bios."My music has to do with beauty, and it's intended to, if not lift the spirits, then be a kind of a balm to the spirits." Nick Cave