Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne walks on stage with a ghetto blaster and kicks off this exhilarating 1984 concert film with the edgy rhythm and hypnotic lyrics of “Psycho Killer.” During the next 90 minutes, the ingenious songwriter/guitarist and his New Wave conspirators steam through the most energetically performed if not original and clever rock ever captured on celluloid. Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme and Blade Runner cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth judiciously keep their cameras focused on the band at hand (which expands to nine members at times) and ignore such stale rockumentary staples as backstage interviews, crowd shots and rapid-fire editing. The result is a contact high that at times embraces the strange contours of a David Lynch fantasy.