Ripe with offbeat Americana, Beesley's rockumentary is also a portrait of growing up in a white-trash Okie ghetto.
The Fearless Freaks (2005)
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Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:11
Rotten:0
Average Rating:7.4/10
Synopsis: Director Bradley Beesley's revealing documentary THE FEARLESS FREAKS fashions an insightful portrait of eccentric Oklahoma City rock band the Flaming Lips. Shot over a period of ten years,... Director Bradley Beesley's revealing documentary THE FEARLESS FREAKS fashions an insightful portrait of eccentric Oklahoma City rock band the Flaming Lips. Shot over a period of ten years, Beesley's film achieves an unprecedented level of intimacy due to his longtime friendship with the band, whom he first met in 1991 when they needed a filmmaker to shoot their music videos. Over the ensuing years, the Lips allowed Beesley to document not only their ever-evolving musical career--which grew from punk-drenched psychedelia to Brian Wilson-esque orchestral pop--but also the personal lives of band members Wayne Coyne, Steven Drodz, and Michael Ivins in their most private moments, including the death of Coyne's father and, most hauntingly, Drodz's ongoing heroin addiction. Culled from over 400 hours of footage, THE FEARLESS FREAKS blends Super-8 home movies, candid interviews, live performance footage, music videos, and outtakes from the feature film CHRISTMAS ON MARS into a compelling narrative that transcends the rockumentary genre to become a heartfelt meditation on personal growth and transformation. Juliette Lewis, Beck, Liz Phair, the White Stripes' Jack White, and Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue make cameo appearances. [More]
Starring: Beck, Jonathan Donahue, Juliette Lewis, Liz Phair
Starring: Beck, Jonathan Donahue, Juliette Lewis, Liz Phair, Jack White
Director: Bradley Beesley
Director: Bradley Beesley
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Reviews for The Fearless Freaks
Bradley Beesley's intimate documentary traces the two-decade career of the Flaming Lips, a seminal art-rock band from Oklahoma City.
Beesley could have made just a fan movie... but here we get much more.
What really fuels the movie, however -- aside from the constant, buoyant presence of the band's leader, Wayne Coyne -- is its warts-and-all approach.
Cobbles together an appropriately whacked-out portrait of the band's surreal and haphazard career trajectory.
Having been involved in helping the band craft its decidedly bizarre visual imagery for so much of its history, Beesley's film is perfectly in sync with the Lips' unique vision.
So darn watchable that it could turn someone who never heard of the Flaming Lips into a devoted fan.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
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| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
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| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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