Adventures of Power
Encyclopedia
Adventures of Power is an American
feature film
written and directed by Ari Gold
, starring Ari Gold, Michael McKean
, Jane Lynch
, Shoshannah Stern
, Chiu Chi Ling
, and Adrian Grenier
and featuring Steven Williams
, Jimmy Jean-Louis
, Annie Golden
and Nick Kroll
, with a cameo performance by Rush
drummer
Neil Peart
. The soundtrack includes original songs by Ethan Gold and hits by Rush
, Mr. Mister
, Judas Priest
, Phil Collins
, Dazz Band
, Loverboy
, Bow Wow Wow
and Woody Guthrie
. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
and made its Europe
an debut at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
. It was released theatrically in 2009 by Variance Films
and on DVD/VOD by Phase 4 Films
.
Official selection, Karlovy-Vary Film Festival
Jury Prize, Best Feature, Fort Collins TriMedia Festival
Audience Award, Narrative Feature, Memphis Indie Film Festival
Audience Award, Best Feature, Vail Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize, San Antonio Film Festival
Best Comedy, Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
“Platinum level!” Chicago Sun-Times
“An enthusiastic drums up!…Totally awesome.” LA Times
“Crazy, hilarious, bizarre, insane…And in all the best ways possible.” Ain't It Cool News
“The best rock movie in many a year” Neil Peart, drummer, Rush
“A huggable bit of indie fearlessness.” TimeOut New York
“Hilarious. Universally entertaining.” UGO.com
“Rowdy response to 'Power's' midnight unspooling at Sundance establishes the pic's cult-movie cred. Gold's a gifted comedian.” Variety
“Audience Award winning film Adventures of Power took the Vail Film Festival by storm.” Real Vail Magazine
“Spinal Tap caliber! Writer-director Ari Gold (real name) stars as Power, whose compulsive air-drumming to classic rock makes him village idiot of a New Mexico copper town beset by labor strife. Fired from the mine and estranged from his union-leader father (Michael McKean), he sets out to conquer big-league air-drumming in New Jersey. Imaginative sight gags and laugh lines are timed like Neil Peart solo, but the film also inexplicably succeeds as a melodrama and a heartfelt pro-labor statement. The wonderful cast includes the sublime Jane Lynch (Best in Show) and a raft of people we should have heard of already.” The Chicago Reader (Pick of the Week)
“Optimism is making a comeback, but perhaps not as big a comeback as air-drumming after audiences see Adventures of Power....Perhaps the most hilarious opening to an indie comedy ever....Without apologies or irony, this is the kind of earnest go-for-your-dream movie that might have been made in the 1980s like Flashdance or Karate Kid. And thats what works so well about Adventures of Power, it is simultaneously hilarious and heartfelt and better yet, it all feels real. This film will single-handedly bring newfound respect for the art of air-drumming and dreamers everywhere.” Chris Gore, ChinaShop Magazine
“Adventures of Power gets it right....Gold's vision is fully realized in a movie that blends place and theme, and a wicked ass soundtrack, wonderfully.” Christopher Stipp, Quick Stop Entertainment
DVD extras include
Exclusive interview and drum-off with Rush drummer Neil Peart
Music video starring Adrian Grenier (Entourage) as Dallas H.
Deleted scenes - featuring Jane Lynch (Glee) and more
Postcards from the Set
Fan videos
Short films by Ari Gold
Trailers and commentary
The Adventures of Power original motion picture soundtrack contains the original songs by Ethan Gold that appear in the film. It also contains the Adventures of Power Story, 36 digital postcards that describe the making of the film.
The soundtrack was released on December 25, 2010, by Gold Records.
Track listing:
1. “The Beat of Our Mama's Heart”
2. “New Jersey Nights”
3. “Impossible Fantasy”
4. “No Drums”
5. “A Little Like You”
6. “Rainwalk”
7. “Dream Drum Solo”
8. “Crib Hip Hop Mashup”
9. “Trains”
10. “Cerealismo”
11. “Bring the Hammer Down / Blanda y Mojada”
12. “Hospital Lullaby”
13. “Tabla Conga Kit Workout”
14. “No Hands”
15. “Nahnu Wahad”
16. “Impossible Love”
17. “The Kiss”
18. “The People Want Peas”
19. “The Call”
20. “Lovin' Tonight”
21. “We Can't Beat Them”
22. “We Got a Job to Do”
23. “The Docks”
24. “The Drums of Bakir”
25. “I Can Feel You”
26. “The Dance Floor”
27. “Ecscape, Supposably”
28. “Showtunes”
29. “The Armpit of the Nation”
30. “Union Local 832”
31. “Memory”
32. “Bugle Call / Impossible Rainwalk”
33. “Who I Really Am”
34. “A Golden Sound”
35. “Grunge”
36. “Cap Medley”
37. “Possible Fantasy”
38. “New Jersey Nights / Tabla Breakdown”
39. “Impossible Fantasy Ballad”
40. “We Are Power”
Bonus: Digital Booklet--the Adventures of Power Story
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
written and directed by Ari Gold
Ari Gold (filmmaker)
Ari Gold is an American filmmaker, actor and musician. His short film Helicopter, about the aftermath of his mother's death, won him a Student Oscar. His feature debut Adventures of Power premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and made its European debut at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International...
, starring Ari Gold, Michael McKean
Michael McKean
Michael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St...
, Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
, Shoshannah Stern
Shoshannah Stern
-Life:She was born in Walnut Creek, California into an observant Jewish and fourth-generation deaf family. One of her grandmothers is a Holocaust survivor. Her hometown is Fremont, California, where she attended the California School for the Deaf, Fremont....
, Chiu Chi Ling
Chiu Chi Ling
Chiu Chi Ling is an actor that appears mostly in Kung Fu style movies produced in Hong Kong. He also teaches Hung Gar Kung Fu at Chiu Chi Ling Hung Gar Kung Fu Association, a San Francisco-based martial arts school he founded, and at the old Chiu Family Kwoon in Hong Kong...
, and Adrian Grenier
Adrian Grenier
Adrian Grenier is an American actor, musician and director. He is best known for his lead role on the HBO original series, Entourage, as Vincent Chase.-Early life:...
and featuring Steven Williams
Steven Williams
Steven Williams is an American actor of films and television.Williams was born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Chicago. He is known for his role as Captain Adam Fuller on the Fox Network's hit TV series 21 Jump Street from 1987-91.He played Lt. Burnett on the CBS drama series The Equalizer in...
, Jimmy Jean-Louis
Jimmy Jean-Louis
Jimmy Jean-Louis is a Haitian actor and model best known for his role as The Haitian on the NBC television series Heroes. Born in Pétionville, he moved to Paris at a young age to pursue a modeling career. His early roles were in French musical theatre and television commercials...
, Annie Golden
Annie Golden
-Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 1990s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo. They released three albums,Fire in Newtown, Toxic Emotion, and Back for More. She then returned to The Shirts...
and Nick Kroll
Nick Kroll
Nick Kroll is an American actor and comedian best known for appearing in television shows such as Best Week Ever, Cavemen and Sit Down, Shut Up. He co-stars in the shows The Life & Times of Tim and The League....
, with a cameo performance by Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...
. The soundtrack includes original songs by Ethan Gold and hits by Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister is an American pop rock band most popular in the 1980s. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report album called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That", and eventually selected "Mr. Mister." Mr. Mister may be considered as...
, Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Dazz Band
Dazz Band
The Dazz Band is an American funk music band that was most popular in the early 1980s. Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include the Grammy Award-winning "Let It Whip" , "Joystick" , and "Let It All Blow"...
, Loverboy
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
, Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...
and Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.-Films:...
and made its Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an debut at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
. It was released theatrically in 2009 by Variance Films
Variance Films
Variance Films is a privately held film distribution company founded in 2008 that uses an innovative model of self-distribution combined with select elements of traditional theatrical distribution to allow filmmakers to achieve quality theatrical releases for their films...
and on DVD/VOD by Phase 4 Films
Phase 4 Films
Phase 4 Films is a Canadian film distribution company.Founded in 1996 as Telegenic Entertainment, the Company was then renamed KaBOOM! Entertainment in 2000. In 2006 kaBOOM! Entertainment Inc. was sold to Peace Arch Entertainment Group and was subsequently renamed Peace Arch Home Entertainment,...
.
Plot summary
When hard times hit his small mining town, Power doesn’t wish for riches; he only wishes he’d learned to play drums. But his father could never afford to buy him a drum set, so Power has embraced the next best thing: air drumming. Tired of the constant ridicule, with nothing but a few dollars, some breakfast cereal and the support of his Aunt Joanie, Power sets off across the country to the “paradise” of Newark, where an underground air drumming crew has invited him to join their team. But as the big air drumming competition looms, so does a rival multi-millionaire drummer Dallas H., who thinks air drumming is an abomination and seeks to destroy Power and his crew. More than just a rock’n’roll comedy, Adventures of Power is a fable about the American Dream--about making something out of nothing, and trusting in your own heartbeat as a way of changing the world.Awards
Official selection, Sundance Film FestivalOfficial selection, Karlovy-Vary Film Festival
Jury Prize, Best Feature, Fort Collins TriMedia Festival
Audience Award, Narrative Feature, Memphis Indie Film Festival
Audience Award, Best Feature, Vail Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize, San Antonio Film Festival
Best Comedy, Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
Reception
“One of the funniest films in recent years” New York Magazine“Platinum level!” Chicago Sun-Times
“An enthusiastic drums up!…Totally awesome.” LA Times
“Crazy, hilarious, bizarre, insane…And in all the best ways possible.” Ain't It Cool News
“The best rock movie in many a year” Neil Peart, drummer, Rush
“A huggable bit of indie fearlessness.” TimeOut New York
“Hilarious. Universally entertaining.” UGO.com
“Rowdy response to 'Power's' midnight unspooling at Sundance establishes the pic's cult-movie cred. Gold's a gifted comedian.” Variety
“Audience Award winning film Adventures of Power took the Vail Film Festival by storm.” Real Vail Magazine
“Spinal Tap caliber! Writer-director Ari Gold (real name) stars as Power, whose compulsive air-drumming to classic rock makes him village idiot of a New Mexico copper town beset by labor strife. Fired from the mine and estranged from his union-leader father (Michael McKean), he sets out to conquer big-league air-drumming in New Jersey. Imaginative sight gags and laugh lines are timed like Neil Peart solo, but the film also inexplicably succeeds as a melodrama and a heartfelt pro-labor statement. The wonderful cast includes the sublime Jane Lynch (Best in Show) and a raft of people we should have heard of already.” The Chicago Reader (Pick of the Week)
“Optimism is making a comeback, but perhaps not as big a comeback as air-drumming after audiences see Adventures of Power....Perhaps the most hilarious opening to an indie comedy ever....Without apologies or irony, this is the kind of earnest go-for-your-dream movie that might have been made in the 1980s like Flashdance or Karate Kid. And thats what works so well about Adventures of Power, it is simultaneously hilarious and heartfelt and better yet, it all feels real. This film will single-handedly bring newfound respect for the art of air-drumming and dreamers everywhere.” Chris Gore, ChinaShop Magazine
“Adventures of Power gets it right....Gold's vision is fully realized in a movie that blends place and theme, and a wicked ass soundtrack, wonderfully.” Christopher Stipp, Quick Stop Entertainment
DVD release
Adventures of Power was released on DVD in the United States on January 25, 2010, by Phase 4 Films.DVD extras include
Exclusive interview and drum-off with Rush drummer Neil Peart
Music video starring Adrian Grenier (Entourage) as Dallas H.
Deleted scenes - featuring Jane Lynch (Glee) and more
Postcards from the Set
Fan videos
Short films by Ari Gold
Trailers and commentary
Soundtrack
The film features original songs by Ethan Gold and hits by Rush, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, Phil Collins, Dazz Band, Loverboy, Bow Wow Wow and Woody Guthrie.The Adventures of Power original motion picture soundtrack contains the original songs by Ethan Gold that appear in the film. It also contains the Adventures of Power Story, 36 digital postcards that describe the making of the film.
The soundtrack was released on December 25, 2010, by Gold Records.
Track listing:
1. “The Beat of Our Mama's Heart”
2. “New Jersey Nights”
3. “Impossible Fantasy”
4. “No Drums”
5. “A Little Like You”
6. “Rainwalk”
7. “Dream Drum Solo”
8. “Crib Hip Hop Mashup”
9. “Trains”
10. “Cerealismo”
11. “Bring the Hammer Down / Blanda y Mojada”
12. “Hospital Lullaby”
13. “Tabla Conga Kit Workout”
14. “No Hands”
15. “Nahnu Wahad”
16. “Impossible Love”
17. “The Kiss”
18. “The People Want Peas”
19. “The Call”
20. “Lovin' Tonight”
21. “We Can't Beat Them”
22. “We Got a Job to Do”
23. “The Docks”
24. “The Drums of Bakir”
25. “I Can Feel You”
26. “The Dance Floor”
27. “Ecscape, Supposably”
28. “Showtunes”
29. “The Armpit of the Nation”
30. “Union Local 832”
31. “Memory”
32. “Bugle Call / Impossible Rainwalk”
33. “Who I Really Am”
34. “A Golden Sound”
35. “Grunge”
36. “Cap Medley”
37. “Possible Fantasy”
38. “New Jersey Nights / Tabla Breakdown”
39. “Impossible Fantasy Ballad”
40. “We Are Power”
Bonus: Digital Booklet--the Adventures of Power Story