New York Doll

Tonight, Leah, Alison and I went to see the movie New York Doll in Pasadena.

This was an absolutely moving film for me, I started crying about half-way through, and pretty much did not stop crying till the end. Leah tells me that it’s pretty much how I am when I go to (Catholic) Church. So the film was some form of religious exultation and spiritual meditation for me.

The film is about a member of the New York Dolls, Arthur “Killer” Kane, who was a drinker, went to hell and back, and in 1989 converted to Mormonism after calling for a Book of Mormon from an ad in TV Guide.

Fifteen years later Morrissey is part of many forces allied to produce a Dolls reunion. The reunion comes off, it kicks butt. Arthur returns home to L.A., returns to his work in the Geneology Library near the Los Angeles Mormon temple, and is dead less than a month later. His life’s obsession was complete, the reunion he had dreaded and pined for for decades came true, and he died soon after.

Today I worked to improve the Arthur Kane wikipedia page, because it needed some work. It still needs work, but at least it includes links to the movie site and the IMDB page for the film.

If you get a chance to see this film, see it.

I can’t guarantee that you will have an experience like mine though. The film tickles many of my buttons. Redemption, obsession, music, fandom, punk rock, Morrissey, Mormonism, hating Jethro Tull, rock history, music trivia, anonymous support groups, religious conversion and the importance of family, the transient nature of life, hopes, and dreams.

I laughed, I cried.

What else do you want from a movie?