79
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistKimber MyersThe PlaylistKimber MyersThroughout the documentary, infectious joy leaps off the screen with the same energy the color-guard teams display.
- 88Rolling StoneDavid FearRolling StoneDavid FearThis may be one of the few rockumentaries since Stop Making Sense to tap the cinematic potential of sound and vision in a way that feels genuinely collaborative and borderline transcendental.
- 83The Film StageNick NewmanThe Film StageNick NewmanIn its formal inventiveness and compassion, Contemporary Color moves well past the boundaries of “concert movie.”
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThroughout the film, a talent-rich gang of cinematographers (many doc-makers in their own right, like Approaching the Elephant's Amanda Rose Wilder and Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo's Jessica Oreck) favor that intimacy over the big picture.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThe Rosses share David Byrne’s interest in the minutiae of habitats and the comforting enclosure they provide along with the discomfiting constriction of anonymity.
- 75RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzRogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzYou could call it a musical performance documentary and not be wrong, but it's trying to do other things too, some expertly and others not so well; but there's never a point where you quite get a handle on it because it keeps changing in front of your eyes.
- 70Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlThe approach is experiential, a you-are-there-and-overwhelmed dazzlement, rather than a definitive record of each squad's big moment.
- 60The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyOver all, this movie is less “you are there” than “you had to be there.”
- 50ConsequenceBlake GobleConsequenceBlake GobleA passion project from the sing-talk god David Byrne, Contemporary Color is a concert film, but a finicky one, unstable and unfocused.