If the Eras Tour documentary just isn’t doing it for you, you’ll be glad to know that A24 has decided to re-release Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense, in theaters on September 29. The Talking Heads concert film, which was first released 40 years ago this month, is a surreal blend of minimalism and maximalism that has the look of an art school year-end project but the finesse of a world tour. David Byrne moves with the loose energy of a drunk teenager at a bar mitzvah, his strobe-like dance moves miraculously falling into place at just the right moments. The 88-minute, 19-song hit parade works its way up to a rolling boil, and by the end you’ll have all sorts of questions. Why isn’t Byrne sweating more? How can anyone sing that well while moving like a jackhammer? Why is this a third as long as Barbie but three times the fun? And most of all: Where do I get myself a giant suit? None of it makes sense, but it feels right. —Nathan King
The Arts Intel Report
Stop Making Sense
David Byrne in the 1984 film Stop Making Sense.
Photo: Jordan Cronenweth/courtesy of A24