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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Boyhood is a remarkable feat of filmmaking. This is a coming-of-age drama set and shot over the course of 12 years. Director Richard Linklater followed his cast, filming for a few weeks for 12 summers. Boyhood stars Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as the parents and casts unknown Elar Coltrane as Mason and Linklater's daughter Lorelei as the children. The film follows Mason from ages 6 to 18 as he grows up in Arlington Texas with his sister and single mom. As with most coming of age films this film hits all the typical milestones but Linklater really does deliver. My only comment is that (particularly for Texas) this film was lacking in diversity. Otherwise, this is a great coming-of-age family drama about growing up in the US in the 2000s. If you are interested in films that were shot over long periods of time you might like to check out Micheal Apted documentary series Up, that began following a group of British children at age 7 (7 Up) and has followed them every 7 years. There are now 8 installments, the most recent was 56 Up. Also, Micheal Winterbottom directed a film starring Shirley Henderson, called Everyday. Everyday follows an Irish family (mom and 4 kids) while their father is in prison. The film was shot over 5 years using 4 real life siblings as the children. Boyhood 4/5 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 |
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