The first review of "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" (formerly "Wreckage Of My Past"), the much-anticipated "intimate" documentary that delves deep into the life of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne, can be found at Entertainment Weekly. "What could have been a glossy, fawning tribute to the most visible face in heavy metal music history — especially considering it was co-produced by his son, Jack — actually turned out to be a remarkably evenhanded look at Ozzy's monumental musical influence as well as his less exemplary life as an addict and often-absent father," Joseph Brannigan writes.
Read the entire review at this location
"God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" premiered at the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from April 20 to May 1 in New York City.
Remaining screening times:
* Sunday, April 24 at 6:00 p.m. - BMCC Tribeca PAC
* Thursday, Apr 28 at 9:30 p.m. - SVA Theater 1 Silas
* Saturday, Apr 30 at 1:00 p.m. - AMC Loews Village 7 - 2
A trailers for the film can be viewed below.
Description of the film, provided by the festival's organizers, appears below.
"God Bless Ozzy Osbourne", directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli. Produced by Jack Osbourne, Marc Weingarten and Jordan Tappis. (United States) – World Premiere, Documentary. Ozzy. For four decades, the name has been synonymous not just with a singular brand of blistering heavy metal, but also with a life lived to the extreme. Made for fans and the uninitiated alike, this definitive portrait of a troubled star — told in part through the eyes of his family — relives Ozzy's artistic triumphs while chronicling his arduous journey to sobriety and peace.
"God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" is the first release from Jacko Productions, a company started by Ozzy's son Jack Osbourne.
"It's something that came from our hearts," Sharon told Hollyscoop.com about the film. "It's about my husband, Jack's father. We [took on] the project with great passion and we feel that Jack managed to get a different side of Ozzy on film, somebody where it's not really Ozzy Osbourne, it's really the father on film."
When asked what parts of Ozzy's life he was trying to highlight in the documentary, Jack said, "We go back to him being a school boy, all the way up to... He got sober about five years ago, and it's all about everything kind of culminating up to that moment when he decided that... enough of the partying and let's see what life has to offer in a kind of a sober realm. So it's very much about him coming to terms with the fact that you can't keep going at that level for so long; eventually you've gotta get sober."
Ozzy's four-decade track record as a culturally relevant artist is unprecedented, but his personal struggles have been shrouded in myth and secrecy. Featuring never-before seen footage uncovered from the archives and interviews with Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee and others, "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" is the first documentary to take viewers inside the complex mind of rock's great icon.
Emerging from a working class family in war-torn England, Osbourne and his neighborhood friends formed BLACK SABBATH and invented heavy metal. Plagued by self-doubt, Osbourne the solo superstar went on an epic binge that lasted 40 years. "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" relives the highs of his artistic triumphs as well as his fraught journey to sobriety, which Ozzy regards as his greatest accomplishment.
Filming for "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" began in January 2008. The documentary includes interviews with all the principal members of BLACK SABBATH, the various incarnations of Ozzy's solo band, family and friends.
Ozzy said in a recent interview that he was hoping the film would include footage showing the singer in "a bad mood" — so fans can see Ozzy's real personality. "I said to [my son], 'Jack it can't be how wonderful I am all the time because I'm not that way all the time, everybody wakes up in a bad mood, everybody is a bit of a dick sometimes and everybody has a good day,'" he explained. "I'm human, you know.
"I'm hoping he's put a bit of sweet and sour in there," Ozzy added, "A documentary about my life is great but for every good thing there's a bad thing you know. When I was out there drinking and doing drugs I don't suppose I was Mister Charming."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jack stated about the movie, "The hard thing is getting people to be honest and not have it be a fluff piece, because that's not what we're trying to do. I'm trying to paint a realistic picture of who my father is. I think 'The Osbournes', to a degree, tarnished the public's perception of my dad as a bit of a senile, funny, bumbling guy. Yeah, my dad can be that guy, but it's not him. I think that almost discredited who he is as an artist. My dad's not an idiot — he's nothing short of a genius, in my opinion. He does have huge flaws, and we're trying to really paint an honest picture of that."
According to Variety, Jack Osbourne filmed several of his father's concerts, compiled early archive footage, and was hoping to secure an interview with Ozzy's first wife. He was planning to put the footage together with Piscitelli and Tappis before talking to distributors.
"I want people to see John Osbourne as the guy I grew up with, the tormented, complex musician whose personal demons manifest themselves in so many crazy, unique ways," Osbourne said. "He's agreed to it but is putting up his guard, massively afraid of putting his true self out there on display for people to see."
source : here
