First Thoughts on 'The Grateful Dead Movie'
A podcast about the great movie years.
When I emailed this week’s guest, Jordan Hoffman, to get his top five list for 1977, his response was candid and to the point. After listing the paired combos of Star Wars/Close Encounters (sci-fi, baby!) and Annie Hall/Saturday Night Fever (NYC, baby!), he asked, simply, “And finally .... well, part of me wants to pick Stroszek ... but would you hate me if I picked ‘The Grateful Dead Movie’?”
“Jordan,” I replied, “of course I'll hate you for picking that, but it's your top five! And we'll happily watch it and enjoy hearing you talk about why you love it. How could it be your episode if you didn't pick that?” I’ve known Jordan for a while, you see, and not just from critics’ screenings and NYFCC meetings; we both frequent a film critic Slack, where he takes great delight in sharing his insights and links to his favorite jam bands (specifically, Phish and the Dead). Picking The Grateful Dead Movie, a film whose very existence is mostly only known to Dead-heads, for his top five list is an extremely Jordan Hoffman move, and I applaud it.
Of course, that meant I now had to watch The Grateful Dead Movie.