Half Japanese--The Band That Would Be King

1993 documentary



Rating: 12/20



Plot: Traces chunks of the history of indie rock 'n' roll superstars Half Japanese.



Lotsa gushing in this one, including gushing from the always-bulbous Penn Jillette. There was some nifty video footage, but it didn't seem to come from a variety of sources. Highly enjoyable seeing how much fun Jad Fair seems to be having as he performs, however, and there was great footage from a performance at a nursing home in which an old guy whips out a harmonica, stumbles onto the stage, and starts playing with the band. That is rock 'n' roll! Love the quote about how the band wrote only two kinds of songs--love songs and monster songs. The documentary was a little uneven, but I did learn a couple of things:

1) That it's easy to play the guitar. The thin strings make higher sounds while the thicker ones make lower sounds. You can also move your hand up and down the thing to change the sound.

2) Jad Fair has come "very close a few times" to reaching his goal of writing the most popular song in history.

My sister was asleep in the room. She later called the music "terrible" and the movie a "stupid thing" and accused me of having the television at too high a volume. I'm sure her rating would have been lower. My wife was asleep on the couch and can sleep through things that are terrible.

No picture was taken of me watching Half Japanese--The Band That Would Be King.