Sunset Strip

Sunset Strip

Sunset Strip

Sunset Strip

Watching this documentary in 2022, post pandemic hysteria, post hyperinflation, post RvW, post EA & J6, post George Floyd & BLM, post Elliott Page, post Weinstein, post Matrix, post JDvAH, post *everything*...is a trip. 2012, the year this documentary was filmed, feels like a hundred years ago. The heydays of the previous century feel virtually ancient. But man, what an era! And it's captured so explicitly. This is a must watch. Oh, the scenes you will see when you take a cruise down the Sunset Strip!

I knew musicians and movie stars went hard, but dang. Some of these guys got down with some crazy partying. If the walls could talk they would have the most killer party stories ever. I had no idea some old school bands, and movie stars made it big here too man, all kinds of history happened here. Movie stars partied here in the 1920's, and you know the clubs were banging in the 40's. Those mafia style gangsters kind of messed stuff up in the 50's, but by the 60's dudes like the Beatles were making people go crazy for guitars and hippie music. The punk bands of the 1970's seriously partied like maniacs, as well as the 80's hair bands. Watch this documentary, it is incredible fun.

Fun from start to finish, and a history lesson as well. It does not get much better than this as far as biographical documentaries go. Pop culture in the Unite States has for a long time centered on the happening of the Sunset Strip, and now we have a chance to hear what it was like, from the people who lived it. Stories from speakeasies, night clubs, hotels, brothels, and comedy clubs make for great laughs and insight. I really enjoyed hearing about the change in musical genres, and how it affeceted the people who frequented the strip from decade to decade, especially the change from the 1950'2 to 1960's. It was also quite interesting to hear first hand about the drug use, and death of certain stars. A must see for sure.

Interesting documentary (and an overdue one) chronicling the history of the infamous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, extending from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood to its western border with Beverly Hills. Lots of celebrities pop up to tell their own personal histories of life on the Strip, but the textbook facts are more interesting. Beginning with silent star Alla Nazimova's hotel, the decadent, sex-saturated Garden of Allah, the Strip quickly became the haven for Hollywood's elite (and their imitators) who wanted to party their nights away. Smelling easy money and opportunity, gangsters and gamblers invaded in the 1940s, but the rise in popularity of night-life in Las Vegas seemed to zap the spirit of the Strip. With the Big Band sound on the way out, teenagers ruled the territory throughout the 1960s, with rock and roll evolving into protest music, which then brought in the riot police. The film is a nice mix of stills, recent interviews, vintage home-movie footage and movie clips--but nothing here really sticks in the memory (with the possible exception of Peter Fonda's recollection of being arrested and calling for help from passing actor Bob Denver of TV's "Gilligan's Island"!). The 2006 closing of Tower Records music store (a Strip-staple) could well be the death knell for a generation of partyers, yet time inevitably brings a wave of new faces and personalities to the scene...and the Strip lives on. ** from ****

I like how this film documents all eras of the Sunset Strip. From the beginning of it's creation (dirt road surrounded by Poinsettias) to now. I wish I would have been around to experience Sammy Davis Jr. performing at Ciro, to have been there while history was being made. Wow! I also liked hearing the stories being told by the celebrities themselves who experienced these memorable times. There are stories of sex, drugs and rock and roll in this film as you would expect. Since it's a documentary, it's explaining the lifestyle of how things were on the Sunset Strip during those times. You will hear some great stories about this famous strip of road, from the celebrities, to the buildings and even about the energy of the strip.

You won't be bored at all watching this film. It is full of interesting nuggets about the Strip but it is so disjointed in its telling. Some of the important people in the history of the Strip tell some great old stories, but many of them have little relevant stories to tell. I have a certain nostalgic feeling for the Strip myself where I probably spent over a hundred nights in the 70's being a bad boy and seeing some remarkable music. Rodney Binginheimer who should be able to tell great stories about the glam era on the Strip has surprisingly little to add. Mickey Rourke whom I admire as an actor and some tattoo artist guy have a lot of screen time but add little to the proceedings other than the viewer wanting to figure out if Rourke is still using after all these years or not. On the plus side you have some great comedians telling stories, STeve Jones from the Sex Pistols and Johnny Depp and some other nice story tellers, but there are just as many folks involved that probably should not have been. I am sorry, but Kelly Osbourne is just too young to be nostalgic about anything. It is a really disjointed film, but always interesting in spite of itself.

The Sunset Strip started out as a strip of land that connected Beverly Hills to the studios of Hollywood, but feel out of the jurisdiction of both. That pretty much sums up the history of this iconic strip of land. Whether it was the speakeasies of the 20s or the counter culture of 60s the sunset strip as always had an intriguing outlaw vibe that has attracted people from all over the world. "Sunset Strip" tells the story of the strip through interviews with the people who lived it. Anecdotes are shared and the viewer learns that the sunset strip has mirrored and also influenced society. As a music fan I found myself engrossed from start to finish. Maybe someday I'll buy a ticket and head to the strip, but until then this doc will keep my daydreams alive!