Let’s Spend the Night Together

(Hal Ashby, US 1982, 95 min., 35mm)

Iconoclastic director Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Shampoo) takes on iconoclastic rock legends the Rolling Stones in this concert movie, centering on two separate 1981 Stones performances in Arizona and New Jersey. The Stones’ litany of definitive songs is  rolled out in absorbing fashion, notably including “Under My Thumb,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Beast of Burden,” and “Brown Sugar,” while Mick Jagger’s onstage sashaying assumes a whole new level of visual satisfaction. This is essential viewing for the ever-growing legion of Stones die-hards.