Thursday Movie Picks: Verbal Altercations

In the 17th week of 2020 for Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We venture into the subject of verbal altercations where two people go at each other verbally as they argue and sometimes lead to really intense moments. Here are my three picks as they’re all from documentary films:

1. Year of the Horse

Jim Jarmusch’s documentary about Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse during their 1996 tour with footage of their past shows and tours in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. It’s a film that showcases the highs and lows of touring and collaboration where they can have fun at times but there are also times when things aren’t fun as Jarmusch uses archival footage to show the band in some bad moments. Notably a scene in the 1980s where Young and bassist Billy Talbot have an argument over an arrangement that wasn’t played as it’s intense but shows that brotherhood among band members can get shaky as Young’s backing band do stand their ground as they continue to play on-and-off since.

2. My Best Fiend




Considered among one of the greatest collaborations in the history of film, the relationship between filmmaker Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinski is also one of the most intense as there’s a love-hate relationship between the two in the five films they’ve made from 1972’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God to 1987’s Cobra Verde. Herzog’s 1999 documentary film about this collaboration showcases the relationship that at times can be fruitful but most of the time is often intense and chaotic. Most notably during an infamous scene during the making of the 1982 film Fitzcarraldo where Kinski is having an argument with one of the production figures on the film as it’s shot by documentary filmmaker Les Blank for his own documentary on the making of the film entitled Burden of Dreams. For anyone who had seen various meltdowns and arguments that occur during film shoots will realize that no one holds a candle to the ferocity and terror that is Klaus Kinski.

3. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s 2004 documentary film about the making of Metallica’s eighth full-length studio album St. Anger is a sobering documentary about a band trying to make a comeback after a period of immense commercial success but also fan backlash over claims that they’ve sold out as well as their fight against the music file-sharing program Napster that made them lose favor with a lot of fans. Also adding to the turmoil was the departure of longtime bassist Jason Newstead as the band tried to make the album with longtime producer Bob Rock who fills in on bass as the film features moments where its two co-founders in vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummers Lars Ulrich argue constantly. Most notably a scene early in the film where Hetfield is in a bad mood as he doesn’t like what’s been recorded and he gets into a serious argument with Ulrich as he would walk out of the band for nearly a year to undergo treatment for alcoholism. Yet, the fighting didn’t stop as there’s another famous argument during a therapy session where Ulrich is upset over Hetfield as it looks like he wants to kill him.

© thevoid99 2020