L7: Pretend We're Dead (2017)

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Love L7. Such an eye opener into the 90s culture, especially around these ladies who properly thrashed! Seems like the mainstream media were expecting Joan Jett to turn up and got a bit of a shock. Though I did think it was cute when they mentioned their appearance on the Word on UK TVs Channel 4, as if it was something shocking. I used to watch the Word and trust me a lady getting her foof out on live TV was probably the least shocking thing I saw on that program!

Rockers L7 were a band made up of four talented female musicians. But in a world where people attempt to peg every act out there they were known first as an all-female band rather than just a rock band, something they weren't fond of. Who's to blame them? I mean how many all-male bands are designated that way? And yet that sort of labeling continues to this day.I was unfamiliar with the band so looked forward to learning about them via this documentary, a film that takes a look at the band from formation to their current status. Formed by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, the band played a heavy grunge style metal music that found fans around the world. The band was not the typical all girl band though the labelers tried to give them that identity. Instead they rocked out with the best of them.The movie takes us to the meeting of the two, their fast friendship and love of metal music and their formation of the band. It moves forward from there to the time they spent on the road, living that hard lifestyle so familiar to fans of rock and roll. Touring began in small vehicles and never really extended to that huge mega private jet that most band shoot for. Instead this band kept it real, kept it tight and kept playing.But the perks of mega-stardom come hand in hand with album sales and sell out concert halls. While the band was popular with a select crowd it never peaked at the level that was required to push them to that point. Music videos helped as did numerous appearances on shows, mainly on MTV back when they actually played music on the channel. But something always seemed to keep them just from that top notch.Eventually the band succumbed to the tried and true issues that all bands seem to. Burn out, agitating atmospheres and the grind of daily travel and performing for smaller crowds in smaller venues took its toll on the band. One by one some were replaced with the leaders of the band tiring at some point as well. While their popularity in some countries was high in the states it never did as much. Eventually the group disbanded in 2001.Now they have a chance to be rediscovered with this documentary. Considered a huge influence on female rockers to have attempted that role in the heavy music world the band gets the recognition long deserved with this film. Compiled with over 100 hours of home movies taken by the band over the years it shows us life on the road for them from the start. We get to see the highs and the lows, the places played and the crowds that embraced them. We get to hear the music they made, music that once heard will make you want to pursue finding it in digital or disc format.The movie pretty much follows the usual method of showing us a band in various stages as well as interviews. It breaks no real new boundaries in style but that's not what we came here for to begin with. Those of us not familiar come to the movie to learn about the band. Those who were fans come to celebrate the band that they loved. And along the way new fans will be made and perhaps, one day, we'll see the band opening for major acts again. Who knows, it might just lead to their finally hitting that pinnacle all bands aspire to.