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Kurt & Courtney

Kurt & Courtney

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Dominated by Shoddy Journalism and Poor Structure
Review: The director can't seem to ask follow-up questions that would buttress his poorly developed "theories" about Kurt's death. He does little to establish a factual basis concerning Courtney's involvement in Kurt's death, including not asking various reliable witnesses to offer more than superficial reasonings behind their theories.

Mainly he asks his subjects to speculate about how Courtney or Kurt may have been feeling, said speculations being almost worthless. There were many times when he was in an interview situation with a less-than-credible source and wouldn't ask necessary follow-up questions.

The movie hints at startling physical evidence surrounding Kurt's suicide, including a lack of fingerprints on the weapon, and two different forms of handwriting on the note. However, he doesn't pursue any interviews with local police authorities, nor does he consult any criminoligists or experts to confirm or deny such evidence, or to speculate on what the evidence may or may not mean. Instead, he chose to interview Kurt and Courtney's doped up junkie friends who are not credible.

One prime example of his poor journalistic techniques: while interviewing a man who claimed Courtney offered him 50,000dollars to kill Kurt, Broomfield failed to ask the subject to explain the exact circumstance of the arrangement, including when and how the arrangement was organized, when it was supposed to happen, and where he met and talked with Courtney. He could have used those facts to trace Courtney's whereabouts etc. etc. etc. Instead he asked the subject the initial question "Did Courtney Love offer you 50,000 dollars to kill Kurt Cobain?" without any follow-up. The subject says "Yes." and that's the interview. Huh????

During the final half hour the movie totally falls apart as he changes course from pursuing the mysteries surrounding Kurt's death and his awful relationship with Courtney Love to a poorly executed indictment of Courtney's treatment of journalists. These interviews, and Courtney's taped threats, rantings etc., were compelling, but not well integrated into any larger thesis.

Broomfield seemed content to speculate without any real investigation. He also seemed terrified of talking to Courtney Love, which is strange considering his intense interview with an imprisoned Shug Knight in Biggie and Tupac. So in that sense that movie succeeded: Broomfield does construct a world in which Courtney's spectre looms large and intimidating, but when you make a movie about Cobain's death, and don't even include interviews with his Nirvana bandmates, his musical peers, etc., it's bound to fall flat. Especially if you can't ask logical follow-up questions to the people you DID interview.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: i liked it, but im biased...
Review: it was okay, but i would suggest the book 'come as you are' by micheal azzerad over this DVD the book will give you better info straight from Kurt himself,
like i said i liked it but, i also hate courtney love.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ''those atrocious green checkered pants!''
Review: ok,sure this is not the most competant film ever made,and at times it even seems staged.but i think it is an insight into the real Courtney Love.it's not just Love's father(who obviously has an agenda) or the intoxicated El Duce who indict her character.it's also Cobain's old friends who talk about attempts Love(and her people) have made to shut them up.and it says something about her that she refused to help tell the story about her late huspand, any story.it just comes across to me anyway that she is defensive and has something to hide
what Love's old boyfriend(who is the funniest part of the film)says about her believing it is a male dominated world and that the only way she was going to make it was through a man is telling.now i don't really believe that she had Cobain killed,but i definately believe she didn't care if he killed himself or not. she certainly was able to cash in.
also the director getting booed off the stage at the ACLU awards,and Love up there talking about free speech are hilarious ironies.overall the film is clumsy and seems fake at times,but it is something all fans of Courtney Love,who has become a movie star now that she doesn't have Cobain around to write her songs for her anymore,should see.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: oh no hes trying to get his courage up buying a soda
Review: its worth it to see
a. the battery die
b. buying a soda to get his courage up
c. 'i was overwhelmed by her beauty'
d. sputtering out the word 'death' incoherently in an attempt
to get to the subject.
e. the great instrumental music that they play while they
have a car shot in the rain. dunno who it is but its worth
buying.
f. oh yeah, the dylan guy talking like the kid in the shining.
'no mrs torence dont go in the greenhouse.' i like that guy.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What A Waist Of Time and Energy Watching This Movie
Review: I rented this documentary last night and made me angry. This guy from the BBC interviewed a bunch of unreliable junkies to try and make Courtney look guilty or killing Kurt. Most of these ..... interviewed said that they were scared of coming out and telling the truth about Courtney, fearing that she would invoke physical harm upon them. Let me just say if Courtney Love physically attacked one of them, it would be the best thing that ever happen to their lives (with all the blood ....lawyers out there looking for a free dollar). There is not enough evidence to support that there was a conspiracy involved in Kurt's suicide. And for that deadbeat father of hers, what a jerk, no wonder she had so many problems growing up. Another thing that I had a problem with is all the whining this BBC guy did about how the funding for this documentary was in jeopardy. How much money did he really need to make this piece of junk? I made better films for school projects when I was 13. The best thing in this movie was the BBC guy getting told to shut up at the ACLU awards. I wish I could give this movie a negative 10 but I cant so 1 star will have to do.
Evan Bowen
Albany, NY

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great Dvd for the avid Nirvana fan
Review: This is a great dvd. It has so many different facts and unknown things about Kurt. I kinda loved how it gave you some ideas on how Kurt might have met his demise..

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: beautiful kurt
Review: the theories presented are very lame, but what saves this film is the breathtaking shots of kurt. his aunt is pretty cool and sincere, so is his friend dylan. otherwise, courtney's dad is very annoying, and so are the other characters. overall, it's worth a watch. you won't be disappointed if you don't expect a great piece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What an interesting array of characters!
Review: This is one of those things you'll just stare at in morbid fascination. El Duce the "rape rock" pioneer is definitely my favorite of all the strange people who make an appearance in this film. The way he very matter-of-factly states that Courtney Love offered him money to kill Kurt Cobain always makes me laugh. I honestly don't know whether to take anyone in this film seriously, and I don't claim to know the truth behind Kurt Cobain's death, but this is one entertaining film nevertheless.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not amazing, but necessary
Review: I don't think the documentary is great, nor do I think Broomfield is a good filmmaker or interviewer. Still, I think it was necessary to make a film that interviewed people close to Cobain or Courtney to get more information on the mysterious death of Cobain. It has become apparent over the years that his "suicide" is not such an open-and-shut case that people were told, and this film finally gives some interviews that expose some inconsistencies and what kind of a person Courtney really was (and is). Don't expect greatness, but I gave this 5 stars because I think it is necessary for anyone interested in Cobain to learn the truth about his death. While not a compiled array of organized information, this is one way to learn a little more and start learning the truth about what really happened.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I liked the footage of Portland, Oregon. And that's about it
Review: I think you can learn something from just about anything, and I think there is something interesting in just about everything that is published or released, etc. So, in writing this review, I wanted to mention those things that I found interesting, and this is about all I can come up with: this video contains nice shots of Portland, Oregon. It has shots of the area I used to live in, in North East Portland. So, I enjoyed that. It also has shots of other places in the beautiful Northwest, i.e., Oregon and Washington state. Now, that aside, I found little else interesting in KURT AND COURTNEY. I actually saw KURT AND COURTNEY in a theater, and halfway through I was frustrated enough to want my money back. I figured that would be impossible, so I stayed for the whole thing.

The main problem with KURT AND COURTNEY is that the filmmaker seems to lack focus and clear premise. He includes footage of events that should have never even been filmed to begin with, the greatest example being the lady who claimed to have babysat for Kurt and Courtney. This lady is given at least 15 minutes of space on this documentary, and yet the lead goes absolutely nowhere because it turns out she was lying and never even knew the Cobains. I also found it morally reprehensible that Nick Broomfield suggests that Courtney Love plotted her husband's murder, this is because he has so little evidence; I believe that such a terrible accusation should be backed up with at least a shred of tangible evidence. If you interview people who don't like Courtney (Courtney's father is interviewed in this video, and it is well known that the two of them had a falling out years ago), what conclusion are you going to get? I guess what I'm saying, then, is that KURT AND COURTNEY is very lopsided: all negative about Courtney, and it portrays Mr. Cobain as "St. Kurt, the Unambitious." Surprisingly, it is Kurt Cobain's aunt who offers a respite from the Courtney-bashing, saying that she does not think that Kurt was murdered, noting that violence and suicide run in the Cobain family; she even says that Kurt was writing songs about suicide when he was only a pre-teen.

Nick Broomfield comes across as an amateur, albeit a star-struck amateur verging on stalker of Courtney Love. The whole thing is just a little ridiculous and seems more like a comedy or spoof of a documentary (along the lines of MEDUSA: DARE TO BE TRUTHFUL, Julie Brown's spoof of Madonna's documentary TRUTH OR DARE) rather than the real thing. I found it hard to believe that someone would release KURT AND COURTNEY as a finished product.


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