An Artist's Cove That's Paved with Tunes and Booze | SF DocFest 2026
Dear Moviegoers,
Recalling my days working in a pizza kitchen, there was a guy - an ex-army guy - who would occasionally, usually when inebriated, talk about alien existence being covered up and, more interestingly to me, the idea of emotional sensations living long after circumstance in a particular place. Haunted houses are real, essentially. He was cool and all, leading roundtable chats over beer and alley cats that would wander around, purring and looking for food scraps. Still, however memorable these conversations were...
...they were over drinks, after all. And, likely, other potent chemicals were at play.
This is what I thought about when watching If These Walls Could Rock , a film about the apartment hotel known as the Sunset Marquis in Los Angeles. This was and still is, to some degree, the kind of place where artists - typically musicians - would come to when on tour, after local concerts, or whenever, to stay for small or extended periods of time, and party their f***ing bodies off. Described as making "Caligula look like the Pope," the Sunset Marquis represents what was wanted by the owners - a plaza for creatives to converse - and what the rockstars did.
The film doesn't make this establishment out to be a slimy, seedy, gross haunted house (though it might just be), but more like a time capsule of emotional memory. Interviews with Billy Bob Thornton - who insists he's a musician and not an actor - and Slash reveal how the Sunset Marquis made for good times, bad times, and revelatory experiences. Almost spiritual, in fact.
What resonated the most here was the thought and the feeling that places are as alive as people, that memories are tangible, and while time passes us by, it can still exist, in some way, stuck to a person's reverence or disgust. Or both.
What is a drawback of the film is that the sentimentality it tries to convey in the end doesn't come off as natural when compared to the stories of debauchery and decadence that make up the whole picture. If These Walls Could Rock is fairly standard documentary fare that has enough flair to flash, but could've balanced the flavor that it ultimately forced. I got more from the stars talking about their own hangups than from the information about the cultural importance of their cute and very lived-in bungalows.
I have all the time allotted for any movie that comes my way, but little patience for unused talent and opportunity. If These Walls Could Rock fulfills more than disappoints, utilizing some lovely animated cartoon reenactments and lovelier editorial juxtapositions, not to mention the composition and production design of the interview settings themselves, from bars to junky rooms. Alas, I nitpick. Alas, I wanted more or, maybe, less. Shave or grow, I guess.
There were many tales to spin, the ones about rough and rowdy rockers of privilege, making life hell for hotel employees, and some ideas about the power that a time and place have in a man's mind and soul. Many, yet only some.
Is it a shame that I've lived sober for so long? Should I talk more about supernatural interdimensional space creature conspiracies? Maybe if I had a crummy but wild place to explore. Until then, I'll stick to my dusty yet comfortable office. 3/5
If These Walls Could Rock is coming to the 25th SF Documentary Festival. Click on the banner below for more information.
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