The Man in Blah
After seemingly endless glowing reviews and an Acadamy Award nomination, I expected greatness from "Walk the Line" but was sorely disappointed. I thought the film makers missed the most important elements of the story. In fact, it was more like a made-for-tv movie than an artistic rendering of one of the great romances of our time. I got more from hearing the real Johnny and June singing together over the closing credits than from the rest of the movie.
If you know me, you know that I don't seek out a good romance at the video store, but after hearing Sarah Vowell's take on Johnny and June Carter Cash (third act of NPR's "This American Life") I was actually excited about this movie. She conveyed in just a few minutes what the feature length movie never touched. Check out "Ray" or the "Buddy Holly Story" or "Eight Mile" or "Hustle and Flow" (etc.) if you want a rags-to-riches music story.
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20 comments:
Eight Mile?
Really?
Now you're just being silly.
;-)
ps- i shall have a different profile soon and stop jumping your train. so much fun, though!
I liked 8 Mile -- alot, actually (blush).
Cash, like so many other artists (Lennon, Presley, etc.), always get a free pass from the biographers for their boorish, emotionally damaging behaviors, from adultery to drug addiction. Sorry, but the people you ran over on the way to the top (inconvenient wives and children) are people too, and these movies treat them like roadkill. Spare us the career highlights, show me the fallible person behind the fame. I'll offer up two of my personal faves, 'Sid and Nancy' and 'Coal Miner's Daughter'. Heck, even 'Amadeus'.
I'm a huge Cash fan, but really didn't like that movie.
Swaff's right, whitewashing a person's history kills the whole thing.
I'd add Immortal Beloved (also starring Gary Oldman) to the list of good 'unfiltered' bio-pics, even though it took HUGE historical liberties in the interest of story.
I'm with Josh. Any movie with Isabella Rossellini in it is aces in my book. She gives me the vapors!
I really liked the performances in the Cash movie but the story was a little flat. I would have rather it been a concert of Live at Folsom interspersed with commentary from friends and relatives. Can we get that movie made?
Cash live at San Quentin was on a couple weeks ago on CMT, Mike. Late 60's or early 70's I think. Pretty good. It was spliced with interviews of murderers and thieves, some remorseful, some not.
I nevver watch CMT on account of it is usually "bad country" like Kenny Chesney and line dancing shows. I'll see if I can find it in Netflix. Thanks!
That's why I love Tivo.
Around the time that they were pushing toward the DVD release of "WtL" I did a Tivo search for Cash and got a ton of good stuff (including the Folsom & San Quentin shows).
I liked the movie. I don't think that it glossed over his wickedness. Just like real life, people do bad things and you can still find reasons to like them. The story story rightly emphasized his struggle for redemption.
I like Eight Mile, too.
I remember Dennis' wife Alissa talking about being on a plane with him back in the 80's. Black clothes hide physical imperfections well, but it sure doesn't conceal Bolivian marching powder. Her story, not mine.
I'm glad I decided Walk the Line wasn't worth my time before I even knew anything about it.
My least favorite biopic? Man in the Moon - on the Moon whatever. They gave Andy Kaufmann a girlfriend. He wrestled women...he didn't date them. And anything besides One Flew Over...by Milos(sp?) Whatever-man...keep it. Even tho I loved the performances of Wooody H and Courtney Love in The People vs. Larry Flint - Foremn really thinks that Larry Flint is a free speech advocate and almost a hero. They can both suck it as far as I'm concerned. If Larry Flint is a worthy defender of free speech then somebody better grant me my magnum cum loudly for writing Show Me our Tits and Lick Me Where I Stink. Until I get the Grammy's for those pieces of shit, fuck Milos Foreman, fuck Man in the Moon, and fuck Walk the Line.
See, I'm still fighting for free speech.
Great title to this blog entry CHrisB. I'm glad you had the guts to say this shit. I had to tell my beloved wife that I just wasn't interested in seeing Walk the Line no matter how good the performances were. I like Kim's taste in movies - but even if it was the best movie in the world...I was working at hhe the other day listening to (what now appears to be the penultimate) American Recordings record...Danny Boy came on my iPod and I had to sneak away to the bathrooom so no one saw the tears rolling down my face. No matter how good River Phoenix or Spoonie McGhee are in this movie...they can't match that.
Oh, and "Ray" totally sucked ass. Jamie Fox is, was and always will be a hack.
After watching Baby Snakes a week ago, this flick was pretty f'n boring.
Heh - "Bolivian marching powder." My friend Bill (not William T.) used to call it "booger sugar". (Never touched the stuff, myself, but I'm enamored with the vernacular...)
Happy Birthday Frank Zappa!
Ed, OF COURSE THEY CAN'T MATCH THAT! I would never expect (or want) them to. Once I got past the first 15 minutes of thinking, "He doesn't sound or even look like Johnny Cash!", I was able to enjoy it for what it was, a flick that was a little treatment of a rough estimate of some of the things that might have been significant after cutting out much of what went into the thing that really made us love the guy - his music.
baby snakes is killer.
i'm going to this next month:
http://www.zappa.com/cheezoid/whatsnew/zpz/
yeah, dweezil's dressing as frank but i'm going pretty much for the vai/bozzio/Brock show...and i got free tickets.
OD, by the way - I'm not knocking anyone who likes the film either you or my wife. I think both of you have a sense of what a good story and/or good performances are.
Cash's music just sort of dominates everything for me, uh, when it comes to Cash himself. It's just so big I don't think I'm interested in seeing much else or I don't know how this tangential stuff could affect or interest me. I've missed a lot of good movies in my life - biopics of people I am already a fan of to the list of things I can miss.
That's sort of all I am saying.
OD - listen to your own review of the movie: "a little treatment of a rough estimate of some of the things that might have been significant". I just wish I would have read it before I rented the movie!
ChrisB, did you just review a review because now that's getting surreal
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