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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Sonita is a very powerful documentary about a teenage girl living illegally as an Afghan refugee in Iran who is facing being sold into marriage. Instead, she breaks the law (women cannot sing) and she becomes a Hip Hop artist. Sonita's bravery is astonishing. I'm a big fan of Iranian cinema and this is no different. I'm a fan. This is an excellent documentary. Show your sons and daughters. 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 |
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