...That's the two categories. The horrible are like, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. And the miserable is everyone else. So you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's very lucky, to be miserable."
The above quote is from the film Annie Hall, Woody Allen says it to Diane Keaton when they first start going out. It always stuck with me for some reason. Anyway, it came to my mind last night for some strange reason. As you can probably gather from the fact I use Blogger, I have a Facebook and a Twitter account. It's strange reading other people's musings and thoughts sometimes. For me, Facebook is a bit of fun really. I would never publish my deepest feelings on there. Yet it seems some people use it as a form of therapy or an outlet for their frustrations or something. There's one particular person on there, now I'm not going to name names as that is really unfair but it seems to me from this person's status updates that they are always in the midst of some sort of drama or crisis. I sometimes imagine what it must be like living your life going from one disaster to another. Or having the sort of life that is so depressing you feel the need to regale your cyber friends with your tales of woe constantly. But one thing strikes me as strange. If your life was really that much of a mess, with things going wrong left, right and centre, would you really have the time or energy to sit on facebook for hours? It seems to me that you really should be sorting your life out and not wasting time sat on a social networking site. Which made me think that maybe some people crave attention, even from people they barely know. Now, from this person's account I see that they are married, they have a job, they go out a lot (judging from their photos of nights out), they have a wide circle of friends. What is there to be so depressed out all the time? One of their favourite subjects to moan about on Facebook is their job and how shit it is. I have to rein in the urge to reply "at least you have a fucking job." I sometimes think how my boyfriend would react if I was constantly moaning about my depressing life on Facebook. It doesn't say much for their relationship with their spouse really if they are constantly moaning about how terrible their life is.
Now to counteract all this and to provide a bit of balance, I have another Facebook friend who I know personally. This person has had cancer twice and has recently come out of another session of chemotherapy. You could not hope to meet a more positive, happy person. They never leave depressing, negative comments on Facebook, they never mention it when you see them out unless you ask them. Now, to me this person has a right to be negative and angry. But they never are. They are always happy and smiling and laughing. It always seems to be the people who have no real reason to be miserable who are. I mean, sure everyone gets down and depressed sometimes and I'm not in any way belittling people who do suffer from depression as it has affected members of my own family. But people who just sit and bitch and moan on Facebook all day about their shit jobs and their stupid insignificant lives really piss me off!! Be thankful for the positive things in your life which other, less fortunate people don't have. Count yourself tremendously lucky that you are only miserable! Rant over!
Sunday 30 January 2011
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Maddox Brothers and Rose - I salute you
It seems ages since I last posted, I guess with Christmas and New Year things have been pretty hectic. Also, my time has been taken up with job hunting (not very exciting) and planning a trip to America with my fella (much more exciting). It won't be the much longed for road trip I want to go on, but will be more a two week break taking in as much as we can. Anyway, I've always wanted to visit America mainly because it's where all my favourite music was recorded. I want to go to places like Memphis, New Orleans, St Louis and Kentucky and actually see the places that have been conjured up in my mind by Rockabilly, Bluegrass, Blues, Rock 'n' Roll etc.
Which leads me succintly on to the real subject of this post, one of my favourite bands - Maddox Brothers and Rose. There consisted of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don and their sister Rose. Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by another brother, Henry. They hailed from Boaz, Alabama but hitchhiked to California during the Great Depression. They began performing on the radio in the late 1930s and entered a hillbilly band competition in 1939. They shocked the audience with their rollicking performance of 'Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down'. During the 1940s their popularity (or notoriety) grew and they were known as "America's Most Colorful Hillbilly band" and it's pretty easy to understand why. Their music is a pre-rock 'n' roll riot of fiddles, banjos, harmonicas, electric guitars, whoops, hollers and cattle calls all held together by Rose's unmistakable voice. Their lyrics, too, covered the darker, gothic, often seamier side of life; they tended to aschew more traditional religious/salvation themes, although they did record an album of Sacred songs in the late '50s, but they'd gone off the boil at this point in my opinion.
They were one of the true originators of Rockabilly, although they have never received the credit they deserved. They are yet another band who were light years ahead of their time yet mention their name to most people and they won't have a clue who they are. Songs such as 'Hangover Blues' laments too much drink the night before - "I came in last night about half past ten, that man of mine wouldn't let me in. I had to go and lose those mean hangover blues", 'Pay Me Alimony' tackles the taboo subject of divorce - these were uncommon themes for female singers in the late '40s. Another of their songs was entitled the 'Mean and Wicked Boogie', as opposed to the feel-good, upbeat sort that was more popular at that time. Of course, they did cover more traditional material - they did some great covers of Hank Williams songs - they turn 'Honky Tonkin' into a rabble rousing humourous ditty - "Here comes that honky tonkin' donkey!" although it somehow manages to sound more raucous and primitive than Williams' own version.
an early shot of the Maddoxes taken in 1938. Rose must have only been a teenager.
Despite its sombre title, this was in fact a joke recording of Elvis/Ray Charles' I Got Woman. The Maddoxes stated if this ever became a hit for them it would indeed be the death of rock 'n' roll.
One of my favourite songs of theirs is 'South'. It starts off as an intrumental in their usual colourful, riotous sound but halfway through Rose begins singing to a somewhat abstract rhythm. There are no verses, no chorus, no basic melody. It's more of a feeling than a song; a celebration of their homeland.
Down below that old Dixon line, there's a place that really is fine.
Don't you know what I'm talking about,
If you wanna find out then take a trip with me down below that old Dixon line
Where the sun is happy to shine.
Where a friendly face is common to see, that's where I'm longing to be.
Where the folks are happy and gay and the easy way is the right way.
Where the bees make honey all day
Don't you know you're right next to heaven down south...
The other thing I love about their music is that Mexicana/south of the border feel that runs throughout all their songs. This is best typified in songs such as Cocquita of Lareodo, On Mexico's Beautiful Shores, Cherokee Maiden and Texas Guitar Stomp.
They looked pretty darn cool as well but I guess some people take one look at this photo and think they were just another jolly hillbilly/country band. But they so much more than that. Their early songs in particular are some of the rawest that have ever been put on record. Granted, they became much more mainstream as rock 'n' roll started kicking in the early '50s but those 1940s recordings are like gold dust. They have influenced so many artists - Elvis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and current artists like Gillian Welch. Give them a listen if you get a chance, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Which leads me succintly on to the real subject of this post, one of my favourite bands - Maddox Brothers and Rose. There consisted of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don and their sister Rose. Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by another brother, Henry. They hailed from Boaz, Alabama but hitchhiked to California during the Great Depression. They began performing on the radio in the late 1930s and entered a hillbilly band competition in 1939. They shocked the audience with their rollicking performance of 'Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down'. During the 1940s their popularity (or notoriety) grew and they were known as "America's Most Colorful Hillbilly band" and it's pretty easy to understand why. Their music is a pre-rock 'n' roll riot of fiddles, banjos, harmonicas, electric guitars, whoops, hollers and cattle calls all held together by Rose's unmistakable voice. Their lyrics, too, covered the darker, gothic, often seamier side of life; they tended to aschew more traditional religious/salvation themes, although they did record an album of Sacred songs in the late '50s, but they'd gone off the boil at this point in my opinion.
They were one of the true originators of Rockabilly, although they have never received the credit they deserved. They are yet another band who were light years ahead of their time yet mention their name to most people and they won't have a clue who they are. Songs such as 'Hangover Blues' laments too much drink the night before - "I came in last night about half past ten, that man of mine wouldn't let me in. I had to go and lose those mean hangover blues", 'Pay Me Alimony' tackles the taboo subject of divorce - these were uncommon themes for female singers in the late '40s. Another of their songs was entitled the 'Mean and Wicked Boogie', as opposed to the feel-good, upbeat sort that was more popular at that time. Of course, they did cover more traditional material - they did some great covers of Hank Williams songs - they turn 'Honky Tonkin' into a rabble rousing humourous ditty - "Here comes that honky tonkin' donkey!" although it somehow manages to sound more raucous and primitive than Williams' own version.
an early shot of the Maddoxes taken in 1938. Rose must have only been a teenager.
Despite its sombre title, this was in fact a joke recording of Elvis/Ray Charles' I Got Woman. The Maddoxes stated if this ever became a hit for them it would indeed be the death of rock 'n' roll.
One of my favourite songs of theirs is 'South'. It starts off as an intrumental in their usual colourful, riotous sound but halfway through Rose begins singing to a somewhat abstract rhythm. There are no verses, no chorus, no basic melody. It's more of a feeling than a song; a celebration of their homeland.
Down below that old Dixon line, there's a place that really is fine.
Don't you know what I'm talking about,
If you wanna find out then take a trip with me down below that old Dixon line
Where the sun is happy to shine.
Where a friendly face is common to see, that's where I'm longing to be.
Where the folks are happy and gay and the easy way is the right way.
Where the bees make honey all day
Don't you know you're right next to heaven down south...
The other thing I love about their music is that Mexicana/south of the border feel that runs throughout all their songs. This is best typified in songs such as Cocquita of Lareodo, On Mexico's Beautiful Shores, Cherokee Maiden and Texas Guitar Stomp.
They looked pretty darn cool as well but I guess some people take one look at this photo and think they were just another jolly hillbilly/country band. But they so much more than that. Their early songs in particular are some of the rawest that have ever been put on record. Granted, they became much more mainstream as rock 'n' roll started kicking in the early '50s but those 1940s recordings are like gold dust. They have influenced so many artists - Elvis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and current artists like Gillian Welch. Give them a listen if you get a chance, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Saturday 11 December 2010
Friday 10 December 2010
I've been putting off discussing my next film choice as it's a film so dear to my heart and one that has had such a huge effect on me that I've had to build up to it really. It's Ghost World... I've seen it so many times I know the dialogue off by heart. Not hard as it has some of the best lines going, which I will get on to later. This film is a complete revelation, an oddball, a curiosity completely out of leftfield. The structure is pretty ordinary - two teenage girls hang out and annoy people. It's been done in other films, but its usually male characters. The fact that Enid (the main character, played brilliantly by Thora Birch) is a somewhat geeky yet clued up music and comic book nut further makes this film so extraordinary. In most teen comedies the girls are cheerleaders without much substance. Enid is a heroine. I've pretty much based my whole life on her to a certain extent. I even tried to dress like her at one point so taken with her was I.
The other reason for watching this film is Steve Buscemi. He plays lonely, middle aged "loser" Seymour who Enid and her friend Rebecca (a sarcastic Scarlett Johansson) meet through dubious circumstances. They notice an ad in the lonely hearts placed by Seymour and respond jokingly to the add by leaving a fake message on his answerphone pretending to be an older woman. They set up a date and go and wait for him to show up. When he arrives, Enid immediately feels guilty. They decide to follow him and a few days later go back to his house, where he and his flatmate are having a "yard" sale. Seymour is selling records, which Enid finds interesting. She buys one from him and this kick starts a friendship based on mutual cynicism and feeling like an outcast. Rebecca, meanwhile, drifts apart from Enid as she pursues a more conventional route of work and moving out her parents and into her own apartment. Enid continues to live with her Dad and, because she failed her high school tests, has to take a remedial summer art class. Some of the best scenes in the film take place in the art room. Illeana Douglas plays the stereotypical art teacher to perfection and some of the other students attempts at art are frankly, hilarious. Enid submits her comic book diary which is dismissed by the teacher as "amusing" but not real art.
It's one of those films that celebrates absurdity and finding respite in the obscure. It is very similar in its themes to the equally fantastic American Splendor. I completely identify with that whole urge to seek out non-mainstream culture. Seymour collects original jazz and blues 78s, but this obsession has cost him a meaningful relationship. He finds it hard to connect with ordinary people. This is most apparent when he and Enid go to a local bar to see an original blues guitarist play. Drunken idiots play pool and watch football and Seymour has to leave. On the way home, he tells Enid:
"I'm not even on the same planet as those creatures back there. It's easy for everyone else - you give 'em a pair of Nikes and a Big mac and they're happy. I can't relate to 99.9 per cent of humanity!"
Again, it's the details in this film that make it so wonderful to watch. It's a whole intricate universe. The side characters, like Enid's dad, the comic book shopowner, Josh (the boy that both Enid and Rebecca fantasize about), the crazy guy who hangs around the shop where Josh works. Then there's all the other details like the history of Cook's Chicken, music by Skip James, Memphis Minnie and Lionel Belasco, the 50s diner Wowsville, Enid's clothes, the opening sequence with the Indian dancers from the 60s etc etc, it's a gold mine of curiosities.
I could quote it all day long, some of the best lines
"This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again"
"I'm taking a remedial high school art class for fuck ups and retards"
"I just hate all these extroverted, obnoxious pseudo-bohemian losers"
"I think only stupid people have good relationships"
Enid: "I would kill to have stuff like this"
Seymour: "Please go ahead and kill me"
"Let the machine get it. I have no desire to talk to anyone who might be calling me"
The whole movie is a comment on the decline of American culture I guess. This is best typified by a scene in which a man in a video rental store asks the clerk if they have the film 8 1/2. The clerk looks puzzled, types in the name and comes up with 9 1/2 weeks. The man explains that's not the film, he's after 8 1/2, the Fellini classic. The clerk just looks at him baffled. This film is a celebration of all things weird and obscure and lost. It's a complete attack on conformity and commercialism and you don't often get that in films today.
The other reason for watching this film is Steve Buscemi. He plays lonely, middle aged "loser" Seymour who Enid and her friend Rebecca (a sarcastic Scarlett Johansson) meet through dubious circumstances. They notice an ad in the lonely hearts placed by Seymour and respond jokingly to the add by leaving a fake message on his answerphone pretending to be an older woman. They set up a date and go and wait for him to show up. When he arrives, Enid immediately feels guilty. They decide to follow him and a few days later go back to his house, where he and his flatmate are having a "yard" sale. Seymour is selling records, which Enid finds interesting. She buys one from him and this kick starts a friendship based on mutual cynicism and feeling like an outcast. Rebecca, meanwhile, drifts apart from Enid as she pursues a more conventional route of work and moving out her parents and into her own apartment. Enid continues to live with her Dad and, because she failed her high school tests, has to take a remedial summer art class. Some of the best scenes in the film take place in the art room. Illeana Douglas plays the stereotypical art teacher to perfection and some of the other students attempts at art are frankly, hilarious. Enid submits her comic book diary which is dismissed by the teacher as "amusing" but not real art.
It's one of those films that celebrates absurdity and finding respite in the obscure. It is very similar in its themes to the equally fantastic American Splendor. I completely identify with that whole urge to seek out non-mainstream culture. Seymour collects original jazz and blues 78s, but this obsession has cost him a meaningful relationship. He finds it hard to connect with ordinary people. This is most apparent when he and Enid go to a local bar to see an original blues guitarist play. Drunken idiots play pool and watch football and Seymour has to leave. On the way home, he tells Enid:
"I'm not even on the same planet as those creatures back there. It's easy for everyone else - you give 'em a pair of Nikes and a Big mac and they're happy. I can't relate to 99.9 per cent of humanity!"
Again, it's the details in this film that make it so wonderful to watch. It's a whole intricate universe. The side characters, like Enid's dad, the comic book shopowner, Josh (the boy that both Enid and Rebecca fantasize about), the crazy guy who hangs around the shop where Josh works. Then there's all the other details like the history of Cook's Chicken, music by Skip James, Memphis Minnie and Lionel Belasco, the 50s diner Wowsville, Enid's clothes, the opening sequence with the Indian dancers from the 60s etc etc, it's a gold mine of curiosities.
I could quote it all day long, some of the best lines
"This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again"
"I'm taking a remedial high school art class for fuck ups and retards"
"I just hate all these extroverted, obnoxious pseudo-bohemian losers"
"I think only stupid people have good relationships"
Enid: "I would kill to have stuff like this"
Seymour: "Please go ahead and kill me"
"Let the machine get it. I have no desire to talk to anyone who might be calling me"
The whole movie is a comment on the decline of American culture I guess. This is best typified by a scene in which a man in a video rental store asks the clerk if they have the film 8 1/2. The clerk looks puzzled, types in the name and comes up with 9 1/2 weeks. The man explains that's not the film, he's after 8 1/2, the Fellini classic. The clerk just looks at him baffled. This film is a celebration of all things weird and obscure and lost. It's a complete attack on conformity and commercialism and you don't often get that in films today.
Monday 6 December 2010
Sunday night at the movies...
Ok, my favourite movie blog is going to morph slightly into a film review for this post. Last night I watched The Killer Inside Me. I read the original novel by Jim Thompson a few years ago and found it compelling . However, the film is something else. And I don't mean in a good way. If you are not familiar with the story, here goes: In the West Texas of the early 50s, a young deputy sherriff named Lou Ford is a pillar of the small community he serves. His father was a well respected doctor and the local townspeople (bar tenders, newspapermen and construction workers) all treat him with respect and admiration. But little do they know he is, in fact, a violent schizophrenic psychopath who manages to conceal this beneath a veneer of respectability. It all starts when he encounters a prostitute named Joyce who he falls into a complicated, violent affair with. Between them they come up with a plan to blackmail the son of a local construction magnate called Chester Conway who was responsible for Lou's brothers death a few years earlier. Joyce is also sleeping with Conway's son. They bribe him but when he arrives, Lou kills both him and Joyce and takes the money. Anyway, things escalate further, more murders are carried out and eventually Lou is found out.
The book is a gripping, suspenseful, tightly coiled work of pulp fiction. The reason it works is because you are never sure whether what Lou is describing has actually happened. The chapters flit between his normal, exterior personality and his deranged one. It's similar to both Psycho and American Psycho - you're never completely sure if the protagonist is actually committing the murders. The film does away with all that mystery and shows Lou (a steely, calculated performance by Casey Affleck) killing his victims so you know that it's him. Toward the end of the film, when he finally gets arrested, there's no sense of shock or surprise. It's a bit of an anti-climax.
The film is also mysogynistic beyond words. I've never seen a film show such gruesome, horrific violence towards women. The scene where Lou beats Joyce to a pulp is unwatchable. It goes on for what seems an eternity, he just keeps repeatedly punching her until her face no longer looks human. Similarly, when he kills his wife Amy, the violence is shocking. He kicks her in the stomach twice and then leaves her in agony on the floor. He covers her face with her dress so he doesn't have to see her pained expression. It's truely distressing, yet there doesn't seem to be any explanation behind any of it. The scenes showing violence against women last longer than any of the scenes where men are killed or beaten. The men are shot once and are dead. The women are beaten cruelly and lengthily. I've never seen a film like it and nor should I wish to.
If you take away the violence, there's still nothing in it that would make you want to watch it again. It is so bleak, so empty of any kind of direction or meaning. If I were going to make a film out of this book, I would have made it as if it had been made in the '50s, when the book was written. The whole contemporary, modern atmosphere does it no favours at all.
It's also bizarre to me that the two women are played by Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson - who are both most well known for starring in mainstream romantic comedies. I understand that Reese Witherspoon and Maggie Gyllenhaal were pencilled in originally. I can understand why they refused - they are both intelligent and fine actresses who I can't imagine would have agreed to star in such submissive roles. Neither of the women in the film are ever shown outside of the bedroom. They exist purely as Lou's sexual slaves. When Lou beats Joyce before making love to her, she enjoys it. Even at the end, after surviving the beating, she still tells him she loves him. The representation of women in this film is abhorrent.
The only good thing about this film is the music - a great hillbilly soundtrack featuring Shame on You by Spade Cooley, which plays during the closing scene. Everything else is utterly forgettable.
The book is a gripping, suspenseful, tightly coiled work of pulp fiction. The reason it works is because you are never sure whether what Lou is describing has actually happened. The chapters flit between his normal, exterior personality and his deranged one. It's similar to both Psycho and American Psycho - you're never completely sure if the protagonist is actually committing the murders. The film does away with all that mystery and shows Lou (a steely, calculated performance by Casey Affleck) killing his victims so you know that it's him. Toward the end of the film, when he finally gets arrested, there's no sense of shock or surprise. It's a bit of an anti-climax.
The film is also mysogynistic beyond words. I've never seen a film show such gruesome, horrific violence towards women. The scene where Lou beats Joyce to a pulp is unwatchable. It goes on for what seems an eternity, he just keeps repeatedly punching her until her face no longer looks human. Similarly, when he kills his wife Amy, the violence is shocking. He kicks her in the stomach twice and then leaves her in agony on the floor. He covers her face with her dress so he doesn't have to see her pained expression. It's truely distressing, yet there doesn't seem to be any explanation behind any of it. The scenes showing violence against women last longer than any of the scenes where men are killed or beaten. The men are shot once and are dead. The women are beaten cruelly and lengthily. I've never seen a film like it and nor should I wish to.
If you take away the violence, there's still nothing in it that would make you want to watch it again. It is so bleak, so empty of any kind of direction or meaning. If I were going to make a film out of this book, I would have made it as if it had been made in the '50s, when the book was written. The whole contemporary, modern atmosphere does it no favours at all.
It's also bizarre to me that the two women are played by Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson - who are both most well known for starring in mainstream romantic comedies. I understand that Reese Witherspoon and Maggie Gyllenhaal were pencilled in originally. I can understand why they refused - they are both intelligent and fine actresses who I can't imagine would have agreed to star in such submissive roles. Neither of the women in the film are ever shown outside of the bedroom. They exist purely as Lou's sexual slaves. When Lou beats Joyce before making love to her, she enjoys it. Even at the end, after surviving the beating, she still tells him she loves him. The representation of women in this film is abhorrent.
The only good thing about this film is the music - a great hillbilly soundtrack featuring Shame on You by Spade Cooley, which plays during the closing scene. Everything else is utterly forgettable.
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Saturday night at the movies part III
Right, time to discuss another celluloid favourite. This time I've opted for an American indie film from the late 1980s - Mystery Train. Jim Jarmusch has got to be one of my favourite directors and this in my opinion is his best film. I've watched it about 15 times now. I first saw it years ago late one night on Channel 4, when Channel 4 used to show interesting programmes instead of non stop Big Brother. I dropped into it a quarter of the way through so missed the first part. I then spent months tracking it down in vhs (the days before dvds eh) to no avail. Then one day, quite by chance I happened upon it in my local library. I must have rented it out 6 or 7 times. The librarians must have thought I was a bit nuts keep renting the same film over and over. Anyway when I finally got up to speed with modern life, I bought it on DVD. I've since converted my boyfriend over to its charms. There are many things to love about this film. The music, for starters. Countless Elvis references. Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Joe Strummer (who is so unbelievably sexy in it, its beyond a joke). Steve Buscemi (always a good reason to watch a film). Tom Waits' voice. It's just too much for someone like me. It's like all my favourite things in one film.
So, its basically three stories set around an Elvis-themed motel in Memphis. As the film progresses you see how all the characters are connected. For instance, the first segment follows a Japanese Rockabilly couple, Mitsuko and Jun, on their pilgrimage to America. They check into said hotel and are later seen making love in bed. In the second segment, an Italian woman named Luisa checks into the hotel with an American woman, Dee Dee, and the two hear the Japanese couple making love through the wall. Then, in the third segment, Johnny (Strummer) Charlie (Buscemi) and Will hide in the hotel after shooting a liquor shop owner. You soon realise that Dee Dee is Johnny's estranged wife. When Mitsuko and Jun leave in the morning they hear a gunshot. Later in the film this turns out to be fired by Johnny... and so on and soforth.
Mitsuko and Jun gazing at a statue of Elvis in Memphis
The three stooges, l-r - Johnny (Joe Strummer), Charlie (Steve Buscemi) and Will (Rick Aviles)
As with most films I like, its the details that make this film so special. The Japanese plum that Mitsuko gives to the bellboy in the motel instead of money; the DJ on the radio (voiced by Tom Waits); the many T shirts that Mitsuko has in her suitcase; references to the TV programme Lost in Space; the allusions to Elvis that appear everywhere, he even appears as a ghost at one stage; the way that both versions of the song 'Mystery Train' (Junior Parker's version and Elvis' later one) are played. They are used at the beginning and end of the film as Mitsuko and Jen arrive and leave Memphis by train. So that the song literally becomes the sountrack to their journey by train, as they travel further and further into the enigma that is America.
'Mystery Train' as recorded by Junior Parker in 1953 and later by Elvis in 1955, plays as Mitsuko and Jen travel across America by train.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins as the motel owner and Cinque Lee as the bellboy. The object on the right is the Japanese plum, a gift from Mitsuko as she doesn't understand the custom of tipping hotel staff.
The moment where Elvis appears as a ghost to Luisa.
It's one of those films that has just the right mixture of comedy, drama and sadness. The theme music is very mournful. In the hotel room, Mitsuko lies in bed while Jun looks out the window at Memphis and says how cool it is to be young and in America. There are some very funny moments, but its very subtle humour. Screamin' Jay Hawkins is a revelation as the stern but outlandish hotel manager. In another great scene, Johnny plays pool in a local bar. The regulars call him Elvis because of his quiffed, greased hair much to his annoyance. He turns around to the mostly black clientele and says "I don't call them Sam and Dave do I?" to which one of them replies "hey man, my name is Dave." Such a simple line but such a howler.
Steve Buscemi is on top form here as well. This is an earlier incarnation of his usual hapless, blue collar loser who never seems to have anything go right for him. It's a character he's perfected in other films such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski and Trees Lounge. In terms of predictability its up there with Woody Allen's Jewish neurotic, but much the same as Allen, it always works. In Mystery Train he plays a barber who maintains a tolerable relationship with his brother-in-law Johnny (who he later finds out isn't his brother-in-law as Johnny and Dee Dee aren't married). Johnny reveals this revelation after accidentally shooting Charlie in the foot (the same gunshot Mitsuko and Jun hear as they leave their room). To which Charlie replies: "I don't believe this. You're not even my brother-in-law and now you've f***ing shot me!"
The moment where Johnny shoots Charlie in the foot, while Will looks on in shock.
In a very small, subtle way it's the sort of film that makes you feel glad to be alive. I guess in part because of the details but also just the fact that a movie like this has actually been made. It sounds bizarre but it is such an an intricate, specific film, one which would only have limited appeal to a certain amount of people. Every time I watch it, I just smile inside that it exists.
Ah what the hell, another shot of Strummer for good measure.
So, its basically three stories set around an Elvis-themed motel in Memphis. As the film progresses you see how all the characters are connected. For instance, the first segment follows a Japanese Rockabilly couple, Mitsuko and Jun, on their pilgrimage to America. They check into said hotel and are later seen making love in bed. In the second segment, an Italian woman named Luisa checks into the hotel with an American woman, Dee Dee, and the two hear the Japanese couple making love through the wall. Then, in the third segment, Johnny (Strummer) Charlie (Buscemi) and Will hide in the hotel after shooting a liquor shop owner. You soon realise that Dee Dee is Johnny's estranged wife. When Mitsuko and Jun leave in the morning they hear a gunshot. Later in the film this turns out to be fired by Johnny... and so on and soforth.
The three stooges, l-r - Johnny (Joe Strummer), Charlie (Steve Buscemi) and Will (Rick Aviles)
As with most films I like, its the details that make this film so special. The Japanese plum that Mitsuko gives to the bellboy in the motel instead of money; the DJ on the radio (voiced by Tom Waits); the many T shirts that Mitsuko has in her suitcase; references to the TV programme Lost in Space; the allusions to Elvis that appear everywhere, he even appears as a ghost at one stage; the way that both versions of the song 'Mystery Train' (Junior Parker's version and Elvis' later one) are played. They are used at the beginning and end of the film as Mitsuko and Jen arrive and leave Memphis by train. So that the song literally becomes the sountrack to their journey by train, as they travel further and further into the enigma that is America.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins as the motel owner and Cinque Lee as the bellboy. The object on the right is the Japanese plum, a gift from Mitsuko as she doesn't understand the custom of tipping hotel staff.
The moment where Elvis appears as a ghost to Luisa.
It's one of those films that has just the right mixture of comedy, drama and sadness. The theme music is very mournful. In the hotel room, Mitsuko lies in bed while Jun looks out the window at Memphis and says how cool it is to be young and in America. There are some very funny moments, but its very subtle humour. Screamin' Jay Hawkins is a revelation as the stern but outlandish hotel manager. In another great scene, Johnny plays pool in a local bar. The regulars call him Elvis because of his quiffed, greased hair much to his annoyance. He turns around to the mostly black clientele and says "I don't call them Sam and Dave do I?" to which one of them replies "hey man, my name is Dave." Such a simple line but such a howler.
Steve Buscemi is on top form here as well. This is an earlier incarnation of his usual hapless, blue collar loser who never seems to have anything go right for him. It's a character he's perfected in other films such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski and Trees Lounge. In terms of predictability its up there with Woody Allen's Jewish neurotic, but much the same as Allen, it always works. In Mystery Train he plays a barber who maintains a tolerable relationship with his brother-in-law Johnny (who he later finds out isn't his brother-in-law as Johnny and Dee Dee aren't married). Johnny reveals this revelation after accidentally shooting Charlie in the foot (the same gunshot Mitsuko and Jun hear as they leave their room). To which Charlie replies: "I don't believe this. You're not even my brother-in-law and now you've f***ing shot me!"
In a very small, subtle way it's the sort of film that makes you feel glad to be alive. I guess in part because of the details but also just the fact that a movie like this has actually been made. It sounds bizarre but it is such an an intricate, specific film, one which would only have limited appeal to a certain amount of people. Every time I watch it, I just smile inside that it exists.
Ah what the hell, another shot of Strummer for good measure.
Friday 19 November 2010
Saturday night at the movies Part II
Ok well it's time to get back to my film blog. I've thought long and hard about which films deserve to be included, I have so many to choose from but I've decided to go for ones that I really do feel are verging on my definition of perfection. So I've chosen a film from my favourite era - the 1950s. Now as you can imagine a lot of my favourites were made in the 1950s so it was hard to choose which one to write about first but I have chosen Niagara. If you've not seen this film, you really should. It's a complete marvel. I only saw it a couple of years ago and it so intrigued me it's now in my top ten list. I've watched it a couple of times since but I don't think it had the same effect on me as when I first saw it. It was made in 1953 by Henry Hathaway. It stars Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis and Joseph Cotten as her husband George. It's a sort of Hitchcockian thriller, made before people described things as "Hitchcockian". It is such a strange film with such a bizarre atmosphere that in some ways it feels ahead of its time. But in another way it is completely of the 1950s.
It starts off innocuosly enough, a young, suburban just married couple Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter and a fantastic Jean Peters) turn up at Niagara for their honeymoon only to find another couple (Monroe and Cotten) occupying their cabin. It is clear from the start that things are not what they seem between the Loomis'. Rose is young and glamorous but George appears older and troubled. It is implied that he was in an Army mental hospital. As the film goes on you realise that Rose is having an affair with another man, she is seen with him by Polly on a rain swept bridge overlooking the falls. Polly then becomes intrigued with the Loomis' and after George goes missing, comes to the conclusion that Rose is responsible for his death.
What makes this film such a revelation is Monroe. Everyone, even myself to some extent, never really believed she could act. It's quite energising to watch one of her films and see how fantastic she really was. For me, in Niagara, she's a rebel. As much as Brando and Dean were. Remember, this film came out in '53 - two years before rock 'n' roll fully impacted on American culture. Yet here is Monroe, dressed in a skin tight irridescent bright pink dress, showing just the right amount of cleavage; her bleached blonde hair cut in that famous short style, completely oozing attitude. The world had just come out of the dark days of the 1940s and to some, those years were still a potent memory. And then along strides (or wiggles) Monroe and tears down all that traditionalism and drabness with one killer dress and a smirk of the lips. It is completely phenomenal that she even did it yet alone got away with it. That's what really hits me about this film. It is so modern.
It starts off innocuosly enough, a young, suburban just married couple Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter and a fantastic Jean Peters) turn up at Niagara for their honeymoon only to find another couple (Monroe and Cotten) occupying their cabin. It is clear from the start that things are not what they seem between the Loomis'. Rose is young and glamorous but George appears older and troubled. It is implied that he was in an Army mental hospital. As the film goes on you realise that Rose is having an affair with another man, she is seen with him by Polly on a rain swept bridge overlooking the falls. Polly then becomes intrigued with the Loomis' and after George goes missing, comes to the conclusion that Rose is responsible for his death.
What makes this film such a revelation is Monroe. Everyone, even myself to some extent, never really believed she could act. It's quite energising to watch one of her films and see how fantastic she really was. For me, in Niagara, she's a rebel. As much as Brando and Dean were. Remember, this film came out in '53 - two years before rock 'n' roll fully impacted on American culture. Yet here is Monroe, dressed in a skin tight irridescent bright pink dress, showing just the right amount of cleavage; her bleached blonde hair cut in that famous short style, completely oozing attitude. The world had just come out of the dark days of the 1940s and to some, those years were still a potent memory. And then along strides (or wiggles) Monroe and tears down all that traditionalism and drabness with one killer dress and a smirk of the lips. It is completely phenomenal that she even did it yet alone got away with it. That's what really hits me about this film. It is so modern.
In the above scene, a local "DJ" plays records outside the cabins for couples to dance to. This is when you first notice how wildly different Rose is from everyone else. For instance, Polly, the archetypal girl next door reacts with fear yet curiosity at the sight of Rose. Polly in her sneakers and alice bands is a world away from the exotic, slightly dangerous Rose. The men seem equally scared of her. Monroe in this film is the archetypal male character. George is weak and remote. Ray is jolly yet vacant. Monroe really has the edge in this film, yet she knows when to play down the attitude and play the sweet, innocent girl.
The music is also very strange. There is a bell tower that features in some of the scenes and the sound it produces is ominous, almost sad. It really gives the film an atmosphere. Also the lighting and the shots of Niagara falls itself are outstanding. There are used as a backdrop to a lot of the most highly charged scenes; the dramatic imagery mirroring the tension of the characters.
Anyway I urge you to watch it, if only for Monroe.
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