Kris Kristofferson

Your little brother knows him only as Whistler, the old fart who supplies Wesley Snipes with anti-vampire weaponry in the Blade movies. The rest of us know him for who he is, Kris Kristofferson, the esteemed singer-songwriter whose inebriated ramblings at the podium make for the only worthwhile viewing at any given country music awards telecast. This DVD captures Kristofferson in 1981 – grizzled, in good spirits, a plastered grin – with a few choice asides tossed in for good measure, some of them even sewn into his lyrics. Witness “The Pilgrim”: “He's a poet, (he's a picker) / He's a prophet, (he's a pusher) / He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned.” Long before Jack White croaked on about having a brain that felt like pancake batter, Kris was there to tell us all he’d smoked his brain the night before (“Sunday Morning Coming Down”). The only thing missing is “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” – not the Wilco tune, kids, but a snapshot of life on the road in a travelling band, with all its accordant pitfalls, in Kristofferson’s case, “bombing in Birmingham.” If they had any sense at all, Metallica would have remade this song instead of the Bob Seger weenie “Turn the Page,” but they were too busy scrounging up 40 grand a month to give to their therapist. He’s a drunk, he gets stoned, and he withstood collaboration with Barbra Streisand – Whistler is a ski resort, little brother. This is Kris Kristofferson.