tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post1653121737214390870..comments2024-01-06T18:34:30.188-08:00Comments on I Witness: Rock It, Willy!IWitnessEdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-24690937045962536292011-04-13T14:13:30.868-07:002011-04-13T14:13:30.868-07:00D'accord with your film reviews. I was actuall...D'accord with your film reviews. I was actually willing to see GBOF twice...Feature film fails miserably with jazz.Steve Provizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757505876939504133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-48787633730156536332011-04-12T14:15:20.975-07:002011-04-12T14:15:20.975-07:00Capsule reviews: 1) La Bamba was easiest because f...Capsule reviews: 1) La Bamba was easiest because few viewers had any knowledge of Richie or East L.A. life--and with Los Lobos providing the music, nothing else mattered! 2) The Buddy Holly Story made the least impression; Gary Busey is too in-your-face as an actor, and Holly too retiring a personality, so for me the flick didn't jell. And how cheerful could it be knowing the hero dies in a plane crash? 3) Great Balls of Fire--well, that part was right, Lewis's dangerous daring and frack-it attitude well met in the young, rakish-handsome, reckless Dennis Quaid. And with sex, guns, and real Rockabilly, both attitude and tunes (Breathless, Mean Woman Blues, Milkshake Mademoiselle, Lewis Boogie, Pumpin' Piano Rock, Down the Line, High School Confidential, and a couple hundred more Killer tracks, the moviemakers could choose any tune and there'd be what Alan ended comment #1 with--A.W.L.S.G.O., ga-rone-teed. <br /><br />(Bonus preview while exiting: Kurt Russell made a decent Elvis way back when in some made-for-TV thing--I think it was m-f-t anyway--not quick and dirty, but stripped-down and fine-tuned.)IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-84373366039192112522011-04-12T10:48:26.082-07:002011-04-12T10:48:26.082-07:00I'm suggesting a personal Rockabilly film fest...I'm suggesting a personal Rockabilly film festival followed by reviews...Steve Provizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757505876939504133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-34837122052945995742011-04-12T09:32:46.152-07:002011-04-12T09:32:46.152-07:00Steve, I'm not quite following you--who are &q...Steve, I'm not quite following you--who are "these guys"? those of biopics done, or the little-knowns I wrote about? Are you suggesting I do a sort-of Rockabilly movies analysis? or that I somehow push candidates/treatments for new ones? All things are possible in this most perfect of Rockabilly worlds!IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-48786514278772035672011-04-12T09:13:09.164-07:002011-04-12T09:13:09.164-07:00Thanks for the thoughts and generous words. Your r...Thanks for the thoughts and generous words. Your remark about the Fifties makes me wonder... did the end of McCarthy and the HUAC era somehow allow the world/US to breathe easier and break loose? Did the teenage revolution come from all that attempted repression? And why Down South, so conflicted by surliness, segregation, and Southern manners? (Am I spouting nonsense or new sense?)IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-65662793053706926422011-04-12T08:31:29.292-07:002011-04-12T08:31:29.292-07:00An exploration of the bio-pics of these guys might...An exploration of the bio-pics of these guys might be in order. I know they've done Jerry Lee, Buddy H., RIchie Valens (maybe not right in the genre)...Steve Provizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757505876939504133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-60358840075847544842011-04-12T04:00:58.632-07:002011-04-12T04:00:58.632-07:00Beautifully written, Ed. Unlike you, when I was 12...Beautifully written, Ed. Unlike you, when I was 12-13, living in Pennsylvania, I was totally put off by the latest releases on local radio stations. Already a diehard jazz fan, I was appalled by the lack of sophistication in doo-wop, rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, etc. I looked down on it as moron music.<br /><br />Eventually, though, I opened my ears and became less of a snob, realizing that the unskilled primitiveness that offended my esthetic sense was a virtue, not a vice. As you point out, many of those records were junk then and remain so today. But the good ones had boundless energy, originality and wit.<br /><br />Plus they speak volumes about what it was like to be a teenager back then. The 1950s have gotten a bum rap as being stodgy and conformist; yet just scratch the surface and you'll find a whole lotta shakin' goin' on.Alan Kurtzhttp://www.amazon.com/Stereotypes-Black-Music-African-American-Compromise/dp/1453853669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291054567&sr=1-1noreply@blogger.com