I recently caught two documentaries on rock music, or as the cool kids say, rockumentaries, on two of the best bands of the past few decades.

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (2003) documents the making of Wilco's critically-acclaimed album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. In the process the band loses its drummer Ken Coomer, guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter/nerd Jay Bennett, and its record label, Reprise. One is supposed to come away damning the corporate mentality that led Warner Brothers's Reprise to drop Wilco, but the fact that they paid for the making of their record, and the irony that another subsidiary of Warner Brothers, Nonesuch, eventually signed Wilco for more money and released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, leaves viewers rebelling against the director's intentions. The corporation that leaves the viewer with a bad taste is Wilco. Band leader Jeff Tweedy's dismissal of Bennett raises the question if Wilco itself is a more heartless institution than the corporate lords who dropped them. The Bennett-less follow-up to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born, proves that not all downsizing pays dividends.

In contrast to cult-darlings Wilco, The Police were the rock band that everybody knew. In their short, five-album, seven-year career, they briefly carried the banner biggest-rock-band-in-the-world before they retired on top after their Syncronicity album. Throughout the climb from obscurity to stardom, drummer Stewart Copeland caught it all on film. More than two decades later, he's showing off his home movies through Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (2006). The film, getting airplay on Showtime, details that climb, but not the summit, that the trio enjoyed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From low-budget video shoots, to dodgy train rides, to tour-stops in Egypt, Japan, and points beyond, Everyone Stares documents a club band becoming an enormodome band and, as the title instructs, everyone stares. By leaving on top, the Police abided by rule number one of show business wisdom: leave your audience wanting more. The documentary leaves the audience wanting more, but not in the good way that The Police did. Conspicuous in its absence is any hint of the legendary friction between Sting and Stewart Copeland. Copeland certainly annoyed Sting more than Jay Bennett annoyed Jeff Tweedy, but no lineup changes ensued there (On the other hand, The Police broke up and Wilco hasn't.). As a drummer, Copeland has few peers. As a filmmaker, Copeland has many. Diehard Police fans, however, won't be disappointed. Any dull moments in the film are made up for by the concert clips, which demonstrate the trio at the height of their live prowess.

The Police ruled the world in the early 1980s but gets memorialized through Super-8. Wilco struggles to get radio play but receives an artsy, black-and-white, high-quality film treatment. Go figure.

It's all about the music, isn't it? The Police were pretty good and people are interested in them. Who the hell is Wilco?

BTW: I know a few guys, who know a few guys, who know a few guys who have met the Police. To a person, they say Sting is a conceited a-hole with few redeeming qualities.

The Wilco movie played in theaters, while The Police documentary, I believe, went straight to Showtime--so some people are obviously interested in Wilco. With regard to your point about Sting, that seemed to be Stewart Copeland's problem with him. There's a great clip, I believe from backstage at Live Aid, where Copeland throws a glass of water in Sting's face (or was it vice versa). Also, one can hear Copeland interrupt and talk over Sting when he's speaking to the audience during their live shows. You get the feeling that the two disliked each other, but Copeland's brother Miles remains Sting's manager to this day.

Woke up this morning and was flicking between MTV and VH1 whilst trying to gain complete consciousness. Made me think of how old I was getting and how much I miss "the good old days" when music was good and videos made sense.

One video by a band named "OK go" featured bad music accompanied by bad video which had the four band members doing dancing and gymnasitic moves on a series of treadmills.

Ay carumba!!!?? Made me want for the days of Police videos.