Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Released 2004
Directed by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

Documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky had unprecedented access to Metallica while the rockers recorded their 2003 album, "St. Anger." And the filmmakers were in the right place at the right (or perhaps wrong) time when lead singer James Hetfield spent five months in rehab. They also recorded the fallout when bassist Jason Newstad was replaced with Robert Trujillo and were on hand during the group's no-holds-barred therapy sessions.

Summary from www.netflix.com

I'm a casual Metallica fan, but I'm a big fan of this movie because rarely do you get access to a band's creative process like this. It's also very rare for someone to try such a creative process. Every band has their song writers who bring material to the group, and Metallica was no different. For some reason, though, they wanted to change this and try a collaborative process. In my experience, music begins with personal expression. Jam sessions are fun, but they mostly lead to jams instead of songs. For a band like Metallica that runs on anger and aggression, I think you want to let James struggle individually with his demons. I think that's what they were discovering until he unexpectedly went into rehab. Wow, what a surprise that was for everyone. Right in the middle of a record he went into rehab for months and months, and the bigger surprise was when he came out he was like a metal version of Stuart Smalley.

My very favorite moment of the entire film was when Lars finally blew up at James and let him have it for being so self-absorbed. This was when he shouted my favorite line, "This is rock and roll--I don't want any rules!" This was in response to James' insistence that they only work 4 hours a day, and that no one could work when he wasn't there. Lars and Kirk had been very patient with his rules, especially given they had waited a year for sessions to begin again, but there was only so much they could take. Of course, Kirk's patience wasn't near an end, but Lars had finally had it. It was about time someone said it. You might have expected their therapist, Phil Towle, to broach the subject earlier in a more constructive manner, but then again, maybe not. I'm not willing to say he was completely useless, because I think he did help Lars and James work together, but they could have found someone (anyone?) better. Personally, I think I could have done a much better job, and I wouldn't have charged $40,000 per month! --Bill Alward, February 20, 2005