I heartily recomment the new documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten. I saw it yesterday afternoon and loved it. The live footage of the Clash is electrifying and worth the price of admission alone. But even if you’re not a big Clash fan (and if not, well, what’s wrong with you?), the movie is a fascinating portait of Strummer, who went from privileged child of an English civil servant, to hippie squatter, to punk icon, to disillusioned rock star and apparent has-been, but who was able to find a new lease on life toward the end with his new band the Mescaleros.

Here’s an interview with the filmmaker, Julian Temple, a longtime friend of Strummer’s (he also made the notorious Sex Pistols film the Great Rock And Roll Swindle).

“White Riot”:

“Tommy Gun”:

“English Civil War” (live):

“White Man in Hammersmith Palais” (live in Tokyo):

“Coma Girl” (with the Mescaleros):