Megadeth: Behind the Mask

For the last 41 years, Megadeth have created a legacy as one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal, alongside Anthrax, Slayer and Metallica. Although Dave Mustaine, the band’s founder and only constant member, hasn’t created an empire on the same level as Metallica, the band who famously kicked him out, serving as the catalyst for the creation of Megadeth, he has still found great success in his own right, including sixteen albums and contributions to several film and video game soundtracks, plus tours that regularly sell out in the thousands. In that time, Mustaine has also been through a lot physically, including a successful battle against throat cancer and, most recently, Dupuytren's contracture, which has affected his ability to play guitar. Before closing the book on Megadeth, however, Mustaine has decided he’ll go out on his own terms, including a seventeenth and final studio album, Megadeth, and an extensive global farewell tour. Part of the buildup to the final album’s release included Megadeth: Behind the Mask, an immersive feature that’s both an extensive interview regarding the band’s 40-year history and a world premiere listening party for Megadeth, complete with Mustaine’s own track-by-track reflections. A unique film for sure, but one that did its job remarkably well.

Stubs - Second Look - Let It Be

Let it Be (1970, re-released 2024) starring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Produced by Neil Aspinall Run time: 88 minutes (originally 80 minutes) Color, United Kingdom, Music, Documentary

Having waited nearly 50 years to rewatch Let It Be, your first reaction may very well be, what was all the fuss about? There is a mythology surrounding the film, perhaps more to do with what had happened soon before its release in May 1970, The Beatles' breakup, rather than what actually happens in the film itself.

Having more recently seen the longer, Peter Jackson version, Get Back, it is hard not to compare the two. The original film was intended to be a television documentary about The Beatles doing their first live concert since the Cow Palace on August 29, 1966. The film turned into a documentary of the group working, but still ended with a live performance, the unannounced, free, rooftop concert on January 30, 1969.

Metallica & San Francisco Symphony: S&M2

20 years after the original collaboration between Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Symphony and Metallica (S&M), in 1999, the band was approached to do it once more for S&M2. Not only would this new concert celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original concert, it would also provide Metallica the opportunity to open San Francisco’s Chase Center. After a back-and-forth collaboration between the two groups over the course of Metallica’s WorldWired Tour, they performed two shows, one on September 6, 2019 and one on September 8, 2019. These performances were then edited together into a 160-minute concert film that was shown theatrically for one night on October 9, 2019. As a longtime Metallica fan, I naturally went out to see the theatrical showing and, fortunately, walked away satisfied.