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Michael Des Barres

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Inside Metal: The Pioneers Of Los Angeles Hard Rock And Metal Trailer

In Los Angeles during the late seventies and early eighties, music was all about hard rock and metal. It was a time where Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Great White reigned, with their music becoming an essential part of teenagers' record collections. Just as there was never a time like it before, there will never be another time like it as music continues to evolve and expand into twisted versions of the originators. Between 1975 and 1981 rock 'n' roll was musical purity, and something that is respectfully explored in this forthcoming documentary.

Continue: Inside Metal: The Pioneers Of Los Angeles Hard Rock And Metal Trailer

California Solo Trailer

Lachlan MacAldonich is an ex Britpop musician whose glory days are well and truly over. He moved to Los Angeles from Scotland twelve years ago and settled comfortably into a lifestyle of farming, market selling and music podcasting on a small scale. Although he adores the country that he is living in, his life in general can sometimes prove too much (or too little) forcing him to drink his problems away at various city bars. After a particularly heavy booze fuelled night, Lachlan is pulled over by the cops and arrested for driving under the influence as he tries to get home. His arrest throws into light previous drug charges that ultimately put his future in the balance as he is threatened with deportation back to the UK. The only way he can remain in the country is if he can prove that his leaving would cause emotional hardship to a wife, child or other relative who is of US citizenship and since Lachlan is divorced with one child who he hasn't seen in several years and has one female friend who visits his farmer's market regularly but is very much out of his league, he hardly has a chance.

'California Solo' is the heart-wrenching story of a forgotten man's quest to bury his past and find a way to lead the life he so wishes to lead. It has been directed and written by Marshall Lewy ('Blue State') and opens in New York on November 30th 2012.

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Alexia Rasmussen, Kathleen Wilhoite, A Martinez, Michael Des Barres, Danny Masterson

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Mayor Of The Sunset Strip Review

By Chris Barsanti

Like most viewers of his documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, director George Hickenlooper (The Man From Elysian Fields), doesn't seem initially all that impressed with little Rodney Bingenheimer. A small, black-clad moppet with a Monkees haircut, Rodney may be this legendary DJ for Los Angeles alt-rock powerhouse KROQ, but how cool could he be? Then there's that scene early on when Rodney's taking us through his house, showing his walls of framed photographs and letters, some quite impressive, when he gets to Elvis's driver's license. You can hear Hickenlooper stop short and ask, "What? How did you get that?" Rodney says off-handedly, "Oh, he gave it to me," as though talking about somebody loaning him a dollar, before tottering away on his little matchstick legs.

To look at the life of Rodney is to look at a near-complete history of several decades of music. A shy kid from a broken home, Rodney left Mountain View, California, for Hollywood in the early 1960s and never really left. Quickly making himself at home on the Sunset Strip scene, Rodney surrounded himself with every kind of celebrity, especially from the music industry. One interviewee after another comments on his Andy Warhol-like blank demeanor that allows the famous and talented to see reflections of themselves. But there is also an eternally childlike innocence to him that was quickly picked up on: Cher, who practically adopted Rodney for a time with Sonny, talks about how you could just tell that Rodney never wanted anything from you, just to be there and absorb the glittery experience was enough. There's a sense of a kid trying to make up for his own fractured past with a famous family, and also just looking for someone to take care of him.

Continue reading: Mayor Of The Sunset Strip Review

Michael Des Barres

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Michael Des Barres Movies

Inside Metal: The Pioneers Of Los Angeles Hard Rock And Metal Trailer