I'm a huge fan of the late country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. I could listen to him everyday, all day. A lot of people I know appreciate Townes, but they tell me he's too sad to listen to for very long...I disagree. Well, if you love Townes, or even just appreciate him, or if you are interested in country music, or specifically the Texas Outlaw Country scene of the 1970s and 80s, you will probably quite enjoy Blaze. Blaze is a new film from actor/director Ethan Hawke. It's about the late country singer-songwriter Blaze Foley, a lesser known contemporary and close friend of Townes. Not a heck of a lot is known about Blaze so the film only loosely considers itself a "sort-of" biopic. It's really just creates a feeling and gives an impression that is rich and authentic. To achieve this, a good deal of the film is devoted to telling stories about Blaze, rarely allowing the audience in on Blaze's own perspective. The film dedicates itself to blatant myth building, using the spot-on incredible Charlie Sexton as Townes spinning yarns as Townes was well-known to do. It's explicit that we're being told about Blaze and Blaze is not speaking for himself. The film leaves large gaps instead of trying to fill in every aspect of Blaze's life, history, and experience. We tend to be always watching him while he's often making a spectacle of himself. A word on the casting: Hawke did very well here, using real musicians who are not actors in two of the three lead roles. Musician Ben Dickey is absolutely astonishing in his first role, as Blaze. I heard him explain in an online interview that he for the role he learned Blaze's entire 60-ish song catalogue and indeed played live on set throughout the film--most notably in the sections devoted to the entire performance and recording of Live At The Austin Outhouse album, including all the banter. Meanwhile, musician Charlie Sexton is incredible as Townes. It's uncanny; he nails Marie, and it is so exactly perfectly Townes. Alia Shawkat is terrific and rounds out and grounds the film as Sybil Rosen, Blaze's one known, longtime girlfriend whose memoir 'Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley' inspired a large portion of the film. I highly recommend this raw, beautiful sort-of, kind-of biopic. 5/5 |
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Crazy Moon is a mid-80s NFB/Canadian Teen Romantic Comedy starring a very young Kiefer Sutherland. This movie is pretty charming and I remember loving it as a kid when it first made its rounds on TV. Crazy Moon is about Brooks, an offbeat young guy from a rich family who has his eccentricities--such as dressing from the 1930s and only listening to big band jazz, riding his motorcycle with a mannequin in the side car, and photographing dog shit (read: he's manic depressive)--who meets and falls in love with a deaf girl Anne. Anne is played by a young Vanessa Vaugh who is actually deaf. Other than seeing Crazy Moon on Canadian TV it's been pretty hard to find, I was delighted to catch it on the Sundance channel. Copies are now readily via Amazon and through the NFB itself. I'm not saying this is an earth shattering film, but it is a very charming Harold-and-Maudesque coming-of-age romantic comedy. 3.5/5 The Seven Five is a documentary film about two corrupt cops running amok in New York's 75th Precinct, once considered the most dangerous precinct in the Unites States. Mike "The Cop" Dowd and Kenny Eurell led a gang of crooked cops during the crack cocaine years of the 1980s and 1990s. They eventually got caught but a plan to get them out of the country while out on bail leads Eurell to turn on Dowd, sending Dowd to prison for 12 years (in 1992). Eurell never served a day. This all led to the 1992 Mollen Commission's investigation into police corruption in the New York Police Department at which Dowd testified. This is the kind of story that could easily be made into some kind of Scorsese/Johnny Depp mobster thing. It's the story we've all seen, but better. This is a gritty and raw film that Dowd and Eurell actively participate along with many of their accomplices, criminals and cops alike, as talking heads recounting their version of events. 4/5 Barfly is some kind of masterpiece. A thing of legends. Charles Bukowski wrote the screenplay. He wanted Sean Penn to star but Penn insisted Dennis Hopper direct it, and eventually it was sent to Barbet Schroeder. I've seen Barfly 3 times, but I finally saw a good clean copy and it made 900 million worlds of difference. It's rather ridiculously difficult to find due to North American licensing. For the first time, I was able to appreciate Robby Mueller's cinematography (that was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award). His work is all but lost on ancient VHS rips; you miss all the drunken swooping and swaying. Meanwhile, Schroeder is an interesting director who's made some very impressive documentary films including one on Koko the gorilla, and one on Idi Amin. He also made Single White Female... In terms of performances, WOW. Mickey Rourke at the height of his career--not long after Rumble Fish--and Faye Dunway at the moment her career is beginning to wane--this is many moons after Chinatown and Bonnie and Clyde. She was nominated for a Golden Globe. Rourke fully inhabits the slithery salty Henry with such zeal. But, don't get me started on Bukowski (the key figure in a documentary also by Schroeder), I find him problematic at best. 5/5 Dear god, stop everything and take some time to enjoy Sherman's March. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea but Sherman's March is utterly excellent. I forgot how good; it's been a while. Sherman's March is a documentary about a young man attempting to make a documentary about General William Tecumseh Sherman's March on the South during the civil war, but instead gets continually sidetracked by various women. This is a laugh out loud, poignant, funny, silly, ironic film. It's also 155 minutes, but it breezes by. I promise. Sherman's March won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in 1987. 5/5 There's a lot to say about Colors. Colors is a mid-80s, Pre-Rodney King LA, gang-themed police procedural starring Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Don Cheadle, and Damon Wayans. Wayans is playing it all In Living Color against Cheadle's earnest portrayal of Rocket, leader of the Crips. Super weird. Colors is also Dennis Hopper's return to directing after being blackballed twice in Hollywood. This is his first film since Out of the Blue (1980). This is a very stylized movie, expertly shot by Haskell Wexler. I fully appreciated the use of South Central LA's murals, the rawness of the hand held camera shooting on the streets, and all the real people crammed into the frames--Hopper hired real gang members and non-actor residents as extras. Two of the gang members were shot dead, during the course of filming in 1987. I wasn't sure what to expect and thought this would be pretty cheesy and dated. It is dated, but it also is a fascinating movie. It's slightly quaint in it's depiction of the relationship between gang members and the cops. There is a surprising sub-plot where a white cop accidentally shoots and kills an unarmed black man. It's treated quite seriously. Of course, I think it's prudent to take this in context as pre-Rodney King LA. I was also surprised by all the scenes Hopper gives to the two gangs apart from the two cops. While the Herbie Hancock synth score is one of the more dated aspects of the film, the pared down use of score, especially in the scenes where you might expect the score to play heavily, was stunning and well-played. Instead of empathic score buttressing the emotions, Hopper offers sirens and dogs barking. Check it out. 4/5 Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris, US, 1983) Suburbia is a low-budget independent film by Penelope Spheeris (Decline of Western Civilization, Wayne's World). Suburbia is about a group of homeless punk kids in LA who are squatting in an abandoned suburban housing development. This is a stellar film about chosen family, community, punk ethos, poverty, and abuse. There are some terrific live performances throughout including TSOL and The Vandals. Keep your eyes open for baby Mike B "Flea". 5/5 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (US, 1989) Yes, this is one of my all-time favorite films. First of all, the message of the film is "Be Excellent to Each Other" and subsequently "Party On." I cannot disagree with this. Secondly, I have to admire that the simple fact that all of the historical personages represented speak in their proper languages makes the movie all the more brilliant. Socrates speaks Greek, Freud speaks German and English, Joan of Arc speaks French, and so on... This is a wholly enjoyable time for all ages. I have yet to get sick of this one. I've seen it hundreds of times. Bill and Ted are both exceptionally loveable and while their kinda dummies, there isn't a mean bone in this movie. Also, I love the dialogue. Bill and Ted tend to use big words in deliciously correct ways. This is a very fun, funny, warm, and kind-hearted film. 5/5. True Stories (David Byrne, US, 1986) True Stories is a musical comedy written and directed by Talking Head's David Byrne. An unnamed visitor (played by Byrne) visits small-town Virgil Texas for its sesquicentennial celebration. Along the way he meets the towns' colorful characters, he visits Virgil's brand new shopping mall, attends a surreal fashion show, and finally a big talent show. This film has great music, sung by the actors, including numbers by Pop Staples and John Goodman. Lastly, this is a truly quirky and strange, 100% enjoyable film. Here's a piece of trivia: there are over 50 pairs of twins in the film! 5/5 Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola, US, 1983) Rumble Fish is one of Coppola's lesser-known films. Rumble Fish was written during days off while shooting The Outsiders in Tulsa Oklahoma and was shot in the weeks following The Outsiders. Both films are adaptations of books by SE Hinton, about young people growing up in the early 1960s. While The Outsiders is a more straightforward adaptation, Rumble Fish has been described (by Coppola himself) as an art film for kids. As a result, the film is crammed with symbolism and literary references. Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, and Dennis Hopper make this film. Keep your eyes peeled for a baby Nick Cage and Vincent Spano, and Tom Waits. The heavy percussive score by Stewart Copeland is intense. This is truly a masterpiece shot in glorious black and white. 5/5 |
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