Saw Walk the Line tonight

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and I liked it. Maybe I'm crassly commercial, but I bought into it - the harsh country life and the developing relationships - big time. Maybe it's because I lived in West Virginia for years and knew these kinds of people. Doing reporting work in the sticks makes you realize a few things - for one thing, the personal flaws are bigger and less understood. Johnny's father? A total, real neighbor of mine. And if there's one thing that this movie shows, it's a lack of introspection on many levels parts.
One thing I don't get - why did Reese get the Oscar, and Joaquin didn't? He was soo good. And they did their own singing! She was good, but he was really good. It's like when Gwynneth got the award for Shakespeare, and Fiennes got nuthin.

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[nq:1]One thing I don't get - why did Reese get the Oscar, and Joaquin didn't? He was soo good. And ... was good, but he was really good. It's like when Gwynneth got the award for Shakespeare, and Fiennes got nuthin.[/nq]
I agree with this. He was far more deserving than she was. But... he got done in by PSH, who was yet more deserving I think. Inasmuch as I can think right now I'm all sleepy from the insomnia. Going to bed. Will think wonderful thoughts.

A woman can be anything the man who loves her would have her be. James M. Barrie

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I loved the film too, but over at the country music forum they will point out a list of inaccuracies. Oh well, it's still a great film and captures the essence of Johnny and June. One odd thing, Johnny wrote "I Walk the Line" for his first wife, Vivien. I agree that Joaquin was amazing, but then I haven't seen Capote and think Phillip Seymour Hoffman was born to play him. How many leading man roles will Hoffman get? This was his shot at the Oscars, and I'm happy for him.

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[nq:1]Oh well, it's still a great film and captures the essence of Johnny and June.[/nq]
I really disagree.
There was one really interesting fact I learned from the film: that June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire."
That's an incredibly dark song, one of the darkest Cash did. And it's diametrically opposed to June's public persona.
And yet the movie really made no attempt to dig beneath that persona to show the sort of thing going on with June which would lead her to write a song like that. It didn't dig, and that's a shame, because there must have been interesting stuff going on beneath the surface there.

-Ron

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[nq:1]I really disagree. There was one really interesting fact I learned from the film: that June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire." That's an incredibly dark song, one of the darkest Cash did. And it's diametrically opposed to June's public persona.[/nq]
It never seemed dark to me I always thought of it as kind of a straight forward love song. Lovers engulfed by the fire of passion sort of thing.
[nq:1]And yet the movie really made no attempt to dig beneath that persona to show the sort of thing going ... It didn't dig, and that's a shame, because there must have been interesting stuff going on beneath the surface there.[/nq]
According to this site, here's the story:
~~
The story of the writing of (Love's) Ring Of Fire is much better known than the title by which it was originally recorded. June Carter went on her first tour with Johnny Cash in 1962; also on that tour was singer- songwriter Merle Kilgore. On the tour and afterwards they worked on writing songs. The two lived only about four blocks apart in the Nashville suburb of Madison, and would meet each day in the late morning to write together. As Kilgore calls it ''we were grinding out songs then.'' Before (Love's) Ring Of Fire, Kilgore says several of their joint compositions "were recorded but no big hits."
June had a book of Elizabethan poetry that had been her uncle A.P.'s. and had noticed that he had underlined the words "Love is like a burning ring of fire." She explained to Kilgore that her uncle would often write songs from such phrases, and suggested they try to get a song out of it. They started on the song but couldn't finish it. Kilgore's mind was on supper and they lost their creative direction. While he was on the way home, Anita (Carter) called from the studio and told June that she needed another another song for the session.

June called Kilgore and told him to come back quickly so they could finish the song. Within 15 minutes of his return, they had finished it and it was promptly recorded (Nov 1962). Billboard magazine accorded the record a spotlight pick in its country section, describing it as follows: "a most unusual tune is sold in winning fashion by the thrush who shows off her own individual and exciting style here, supported by blue grass guitar work. Could go pop, too."
Johnny Cash heard Anita's record and awoke one morning from a dream in which he had heard Mexican horns on the record. He told Anita "I'll give you about five or six more months, and if you don't hit with it, I'm gonna record it the way I feel it." In fact, he recorded it in March 1963 (with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters singing harmony) and it became an international hit for him, starting in June
1963.

Otto Kitsinger, liner notes for "Anita Carter Ring of Fire" (Bear Family Records BCD 15434, 1989)
~~
http://www.bobdylanroots.com/ringfire.html

RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"

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[nq:1]and I liked it. Maybe I'm crassly commercial, but I bought into it - the harsh country life and the ... of mine. And if there's one thing that this movie shows, it's a lack of introspection on many levels parts.[/nq]
Most people I've heard have set they prefer Johnny Cash's music to Ray Charles's music, but prefer "Ray" to "Walk the Line". I'm the exact opposite. I'll take Ray Charles over Johnny Cash any day of the week and twice on Sundays, but I thought "Walk the Line" was the better movie. "Ray" was good, but heavily flawed, while I think "Walk the Line" was much more graceful in its storytelling. And while both had lame sequences showing the development of well-known tunes, it was much less prevalent and much less distracting in "Walk the Line".
[nq:1]One thing I don't get - why did Reese get the Oscar, and Joaquin didn't? He was soo good. And ... was good, but he was really good. It's like when Gwynneth got the award for Shakespeare, and Fiennes got nuthin.[/nq]
Well, the problem is A) there was stiffer competition in the Actor category this year than in the Actress category (atleast as far as leads are concerned) and B) I don't think Reese Witherspoon really deserved the award in the first place. It seemed like it might've been a consolation prize for a movie that people really liked but that didn't get a Best Picture or Director nod.

Stephen Mack
"Nobody's smart enough to be wrong all the time." -Ken Wilber

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I thought it was okay - but kind of surface oriented. Conflicts were resolved in a cut - like his substance abuse problems. I really wanted to dig deeper into the character. I thought a major problem was that they tried to tell his whole life story instead of focusing on one portion (which would allow them to go deeper into that portion). The part of the story that really fascinated me the most was the Sun Records tour - all of those HUGE acts traveling together! You could have made a whole movie about that tour!
- Bill

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[nq:1]Most people I've heard have set they prefer Johnny Cash's music to Ray Charles's music, but prefer "Ray" to "Walk ... Cash any day of the week and twice on Sundays, but I thought "Walk the Line" was the better movie.[/nq]
I'm glad I don't have to choose, but I'll say this:

The music scenes in Ray were much more interestingly shot than the ones in WTL. ****, the music scenes in WTL were repetitive!

-Ron

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[nq:2]Most people I've heard have set they prefer Johnny Cash's ... but I thought "Walk the Line" was the better movie.[/nq]
[nq:1]I'm glad I don't have to choose, but I'll say this: The music scenes in Ray were much more interestingly shot than the ones in WTL. ****, the music scenes in WTL were repetitive![/nq]
I'd actually agree with that, as far as the performances themselves go. What I hated about "Ray" was the scenes where we are supposedly witnessing the creation of a well-known song. I've been a musician since I was ten years old, and I've witnessed the spontaneous collective creation of many pieces. It's often pretty impressive what people can improvise together. But one thing you won't see is the drummer hitting his cue right on time, the backup singers popping in at the chorus in harmony with each other, everyone hitting the bridge in unison and ending right on cue, etc. In "Back To the Future", I'll give such silliness a pass, but "Ray" made itself out to be something more serious.

And then there was one of the most terrible moments I've seen in the movies recently, as one of Ray's girlfriends is crying her eyes out and ready to walk out the door while Ray comes up with "Hit the Road, Jack," and then this emotional wreck of a woman decides to join in with him like she's Liza Minelli or something.

Stephen Mack
"Nobody's smart enough to be wrong all the time." -Ken Wilber

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[nq:2]I'm glad I don't have to choose, but I'll say ... in WTL. ****, the music scenes in WTL were repetitive![/nq]
[nq:1]I'd actually agree with that, as far as the performances themselves go. What I hated about "Ray" was the scenes ... and then this emotional wreck of a woman decides to join in with him like she's Liza Minelli or something.[/nq]
Well, considering all the heroin, maybe it happened. ;-)

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[nq:1]I'd actually agree with that, as far as the performances themselves go. What I hated about "Ray" was the scenes ... "Back To the Future", I'll give such silliness a pass, but "Ray" made itself out to be something more serious.[/nq]
I agree that it was over-the-top, on the other hand that story is a part of the Ray Charles legend. While I agree it couldn't have been anywhere near that polished, I was able to suspend my disbelief because the scene was fun.
I completely understand why others had trouble with it, though.

-Ron

Saw Walk the Line tonight

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