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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Bright Lights is a documentary from Fisher Stevens about the incredible mother-daughter relationship between Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. This doc provides unprecedented access to the behind the scenes lives of the two screen legends as Debbie battles some health issues in her old age. Carrie Fisher is my idol -- for her books and being a brave face of Bipolar disorder and less for Star Wars, though Leia is a legendary badass -- so this was very exciting for me to see Carrie in action after reading all of her books. One aspect that I knew very little about was Carrie as a singer and part of her mothers nightclub act. Fascinating, entertaining, touching, fun, and funny! 5/5 Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary is a new film that explores the life and music of famed jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. While the subject matter, footage, and interviews make for a fascinating look at Coltrane it is also fairly standard, by-the-book documentary that formally has nothing new or interesting to deliver. That said, the film itself is a compelling watch. 3/5 The Devil's Horn is a Canadian documentary about the surprisingly fascinating history of the (possibly cursed) Saxophone, based on the book of the same title. The film details the history of the instrument from its invention in Adolphe Sax's workshop to present day, and looks at several different current contemporary saxophonists. Director Larry Weinstein delivers an in-depth and entertaining look at various different musicians who play the sax across a variety of musical genres including gospel, jazz, classical, rock, and traditional Roma music from the Balkans. 4.5/5 Crescendo!: The Power of Music is an American documentary focused on a worldwide music education program, El Sistema, as it expands to the United States. The film focuses on three youth orchestras; one in Harlem New York and two in West Philadelphia. This is an excellent documentary about the power of music in the lives of inner city youth. 5/5 Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the film adaptation of the musical play of the same name written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. This is the story of transperson, Hedwig Schmidt Robinson (internationally ignored song stylist), her escape from Communist East Berlin, her failed marriage to an American GI, her broken heart, and her desire for recognition when it comes to the success for her protege Tommy Gnosis. This is a very fun ride! If you haven't Hedwigged you need to GET ON THAT BANDWAGON!!! 5/5 I often have a tough time with "Cripspiration" and stories of human triumph over illness. There's nothing really quite as dismissive than hearing from someone "Ooooh! You're soooo strong! You've been through so much! What a hero! What an inspiration!" No one is sick to inspire you. You're not a hero for having a chronic illness, that's just part of your daily life. It's heroic to be sick. That said, I quite enjoyed "Miss Sharon Jones!" the new music documentary from Barbara Kopple. Miss Sharon Jones! is about the soul singer Sharon Jones of the Dap Kings, focusing on a year in the life of Jones as she struggles to beat pancreatic cancer at the peak of her career. The cancer forced Dap Kings to delay their tour and record album Give Them What They Want in 2014. Jones was roughly 40 years old and a wedding singer when the Dap Kings started in the late 1990s, and she was nominated for her first Grammy for GTPWTW in 2014 at the age of 58. 4/5 I am the Blues is a new music documentary from Daniel Cross that focuses on a group of octogenarian blues musicians in the South. I am the Blues is a musical journey through the Mississippi Delta and the Louisiana Bayou to the home of the blues where the last few remaining original blues musicians live and are still playing. This is a rare glimpse at these players such as Lazy Lester, Barbara Lynn, Little Freddie King, Carol Fran, and Bobby Rush to name a few. This is a fascinating doc that asks the question, when these folks are gone who will continue the tradition? Who will sing the blues? 3/5 I tend to shy away from biopics because of all the fictionalizing, romanticizing, and fabricating. Greetings from Tim Buckley is a solid biopic in that it preoccupies it's time by mainly focusing on one major event, the 1991 Greetings from Tim Buckley tribute concert at St Anna's Church in New York which marked son Jeff Buckley's first public performance in memory of the father he only met twice. Focusing on this one event dispels with unnecessarily dramatizing the back story and isolates the flashbacks to a fictionalized account of father Tim's philandering and wild ways. Penn Bagley holds his own, especially given that he sang live and Jeff's range and style are wide, tricky, and nuanced. 3/5 |
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