Pirate Radio Floats

Question...

What do you get when you place Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy in a boat in the North Sea with the soul purpose of making sure rock and roll is heard across the airwaves in the 1960's?

The answer is this week's movie, Pirate Radio.

Pirate Radio. Ever since I saw the preview many, many months ago, I was looking forward to this film. What an interesting subject. England in the 1960's when they didn't allow radio stations to play rock and roll music, and what members of society do to make sure that it continues. This was a funny, creative and interesting film. The writing was smart and the acting was great. The whole movie looked like a lot of fun to make and I can tell you first hand it was a lot of fun to watch.

The film is filled with great british actors, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branaugh, Nick Frost to name a few...and a special cameo with Emma Thompson. Funny lines, delivered by funny people. It was an exciting movie from start to finish. We were sitting in the movie theatre tonight and everyone enjoyed themselves...you know that feeling. When people are openly laughing and smiling and genuinely happy. I really liked this movie. It was filled with quirky characters, hippy dudes who were all there to listen to rock and roll and make sure that it was available to the masses and of course those groovy ladies who love them. The great Phillip Seymour Hoffman was wonderful as one of the disc jockeys. He fit right in as an American who is really just there for the music. That was the great thing about the movie, it really was all about the music. And there was music. The movie was filled with original, classic rock and roll, and I loved it.

I know that when my parents were young, rock and roll was not only frowned upon, it stirred up a fair amount of controversy. Now in 2009, the situation is completely opposite. If you took all the radio stations in the world and counted how many played rock instead of classical, rock would top them all. Now that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy a decent classical piece every now and then, and Pachelbel's Canon is one of my personal faves but people and society have changed. Look at how people adjusted when rap and hip hop first came on the scene.

I wonder what movie my children will watch about the trials and tribulations of hip hop music in the next 30-40 years...I wonder if it will be as well written and funny as Pirate Radio. Only time will tell.