Stop Making Sense

*Favorite Films and 2024 Goals* I went into Stop Making Sense with some preconceived notion that I didn't like Talking Heads. To be fair, I couldn't think of a single song name, album title, band member, or anything else to latch onto. I was ready to write this off as unnecessarily weird and overrated concert entirely based on the fact that some Cillian Murphy lookalike was wearing a goofy, oversized suit that looked straight out of Roblox. I'm listening to the album on Spotify as I'm writing this review meaning it definitely lived up to the hype. I haven't seen many concert films, but this one is incredible. What makes it so great isn't just the singing or the instrumentation. What solidified this as truly special experience is the unwavering energy that the band and the crowd has. I'd love to see how many calories were burned in that hall. The second David Byrne kicks off Psycho Killer with nothing but him and a jukebox, you know exactly what this dude is like. The jerking, intentional stumbling, twitching motions that he makes are contagious. If you're sitting down watching this that won't last long. Even if you have severe arthritis you'll have no choice but to get up and start dancing along with everyone. As more band members come out on stage the layers and personality increase with each track. I'd be remiss to not mention how much love and care were poured into this. The stage crew is nuts. I don't know how they didn't get trampled by someone sprinting around the stage. The number of instruments and outfits that were swapped in and out in such a short time frame is unbelievable. I don't know how they made that happen. The production value is of the charts. The music aged like fine wine and it sounded like it could have been released last week. I felt like I opened up a time capsule and got transported back to 1984. You should definitely watch this with headphones or the loudest speakers you can find. Sidenote: I was going to rent this later in the year, but due to how difficult it is to find I took the opportunity to watch it now since they added it to Max.