Don't you love it when two of your favorite leisure pursuits, hobbies or passions coincide? I get this buzz all the time because music is a frequent subject in film.
Which movies about music have moved you? Before it was made into a great film, I recall how moved my wife was when she saw "Amadeus" on Broadway; just her description of the language in the play stirred me. I've suggested "The Rose" & "The Fabulous Baker Boys" to my daughter. As an aspiring actress who sings, these are films I think she must see. Great performance of a single song in an otherwise non-musical movie? Tossup - Meryl Streep (yes, she sings well too, damn her) doing "You Don't Know Me" in "Postcards From The Edge" or Dooley Wilson singing "As Time Goes By" in "Casablanca".
For the unadorned joy pop music brings to life, "That Thing You Do" has few equals. Musical biopic? Not my favorite category, but I'd start with "Bird" then onto "Ray". Documentary? "Straight, No Chaser". Mockumentary? "This is Spinal Tap". Beatles story? "Backbeat". Comedy? That could be the easiest choice - "A Mighty Wind". Jazz film? "Round Midnight". Country? "Tender Mercies". Folk? Back to "A Mighty Wind". Opera? Not qualified to answer except, "Amadeus" got to me just as it did my wife. R&B? Coming up dry; sorry. Most recent? Probably "Nowhere Boy" but remember I'm a Beatles geek. Oldest? Hedging my bets - "The Wizard of Oz" is not a movie about music. But it is a musical featuring one of the greatest songs of the 20th century sung by one of the finest singers of the era ("Over The Rainbow" - Judy Garland) and it also has "If I Only Had A Brain" so 1939 is as far back as I'm going.
It's not easy to get two for the price of one but I stand by all of the above as examples of both the music & the movie working. I know this post is longer than usual but come on, movies & music - what did you expect? Do me a favor, weigh in - I need your help with a great R&B movie and since the only movie I've ever liked that featured rap starred a white guy (!), i.e. Eminem in "8 Mile", I really need help there.
About Me
- Pat Barton
- My most recent single release - "My True North" - is now available on Bandcamp. Open my profile and click on "audio clip".
another R&B might be the movie Notorious (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472198/) chroniclng the life and death of Christopher Wallce, aka Notorious BIG or Big Poppa. The battle of East coast rap vs West coast rap went too far in early to mid 90s resulting in the deaths of Tupac and Biggie.
ReplyDeleteI am by no means a "rap" fan but did watch the movie as many of the songs were popular during my time in college.
Thanks for the lead Chris; I will definitely check it out - documentary, I presume?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 20 yrs old I saw "Tommy" at a student union film society screening. 16mm print sitting 10 feet from the screen with some wonderful speaker system after inhaling something from Mexico (pre-Nixon crop destruction which some argue touched off our current infatuation with...well that's another blog, I'm sure.) Yikes! One of the few times in my life when I felf totally absorbed by the images and sound. What's not to like, Daltrey, Clapton, Tina, Elton...glorius. Thanks to the late great Ken Russell for vision and crazy determination to turn a great LP into something vibrant and unforgettable.
ReplyDeleteNow you've whetted my appetite since I never saw "Tommy" as a film, only a stage play. And Ken Russell was a visionary, if not a total lunatic. Thanks for the idea Steve.
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