Reel Music, Take 2

[January 10th, 2007] Air Guitar Nation

"To err is human," announces Dan Crane at the outset of Alexandra Lipsitz's film. "To air guitar is divine." It is also divinely silly (as evidenced by Crane's stage name, BjÖrn TÜroque), and in Air Guitar Nation the transcendent and the dumb are on a collision course for Oulu, Finland—home of the Air Guitar World Championships. Crane and David Jung (a.k.a. C-Diddy) are the first-ever American entrants, and their rivalry carries all the antipathy of David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hagar, plus imaginary axes. Both competitors favor heavy metal for their performances, perhaps sensing that miming the chords of "Sweet Baby James" would fail to evoke that certain quality the judges term "airness." Lipsitz, shooting her first documentary, maintains exactly that buoyant atmosphere, and the film unexpectedly turns into the most gripping competition tale since Spellbound. The contestants preen, wail and self-mock in equal measure, and their quests epitomize the pleasure of selfless dedication to a profoundly frivolous cause. They've got no strings to hold them down. —AARON MESH. 9:15 pm Saturday, Jan. 13.

Jon Hendricks: The Freddie Sessions

This ain't Weird Al: Jon Hendricks, purveyor of vocalese (the practice of writing lyrics to the instrumental melodies of well-known jazz tunes) assembles an all-star roster of singers to record the classic Miles Davis tune "Freddie Freeloader." The highlight is a jaw-dropping a cappella session between Hendricks and Bobby McFerrin on scat bass and scat sax. The 1990 film continually hints at lending an essential meaning to these performances (to merge jazz and pop, to revive jazz after the Vietnam War, among others) but fails to do so convincingly. However, Hendricks is charming as a narrator, especially as he explains who Freddie Freeloader is in the opening scene. Hendricks' own introduction is buried near the end, so if you're not familiar with him, a visit to Wikipedia is recommended. —JASON SIMMS. 7 pm Sunday, Jan. 14.

Danielson: A Family Movie

Brooklyn filmmaker JL Aronson documents one of the current music scene's most peculiar stories: that of songwriter/visionary Daniel Smith and his band, the Danielson Famile. The film focuses on the tribulations of a young musician caught in a bind between his faith and his music: Smith and his band (his four siblings, as well as a few friends) find themselves and their critically acclaimed music too weird for the Christian community they belong to, and too Christian for the indie rock scene they play in. The doc also follows Smith's relationship with then-unknown Sufjan Stevens, who often played with Danielson before pursuing his own, more successful musical career. The questions raised about religion and its place in music are intriguing, but exhaustively long live and recording studio scenes filter out the appeal to a general audience, leaving the band once again to diehard fans. —DEVAN COOK. 7 pm Wednesday, Jan. 17.