A rare track recorded by, but not written by, Randy Newman for the 1968 Donald Cammell / Nicholas Roeg film “Performance.” Some really great blues vocals by Newman and some wonderful nasty slide guitar by Ry Cooder.
One of the best (and saddest) documentaries I’ve seen in the past year is Jonathan Furmanski’s documentary on XXX-rated soul singer / rapper Blowfly. Blowfly is the alter ego of legendary R&B singer-songwriter Clarence Reid, who achieved greater success (and notoriety) doing XXX-rated parodies of popular soul/R&B tunes in the persona of Blowfly. A really terrific portrayal of a complex and talented artist.
Arguably, the most famous cover of Tim Buckley’s most famous song. Director David Lynch apparently wanted to use this for “Blue Velvet,” but because he couldn’t afford the rights had to make do with the Angelo Badalamenti-Julee Cruise song “Mysteries of Love” (not a bad substitute by any means, in my opinion). Lynch eventually got to use this in 1996’s “Lost Highway” and it also appeared in director Peter Jackson’s 2009 film adaptation of “The Lovely Bones.” Comedian Patton Oswalt made mention of this during his famous KFC Famous Bowls routine.
Scenes from one of my favorite films of the last decade. Directed by the man who made the brilliant documentary “Crumb” and the wonderfully rancid Christmas movie “Bad Santa.”
The ending to director Robert Altman’s funny, brutal, bone-chilling satire from 1975, “Nashville,” one the greatest movies of all time. The scene starts right after the assassination of a Loretta Lynn-inspired Country singer and a wannabe singer played by Barbara Harris is given the mic to restore order and peace in the wake of a horrific tragedy. Some critics have opined that this scene is a cynical statement on celebrity, but I see it as something more profound. When tragedies happen, whether they be celebrity assassinations (i.e. John Lennon) or something substantially more catastrophic (9/11), people need hope. People need to know that things are going to be OK. It’s too easy to sneer and snicker that the world is a horrible place, that humans are horrible motherfu–ers who only look after themselves. The notion and belief that there is a better way is way ballsier, in my mind. If you feel this is a Pollyanna-esque view, I disagree and feel sorry for you. Making the decision to believe in something is not a fool’s errand. If you’ve done your homework and take a stand, it’s the most courageous thing you can do.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Andy Griffith … as Satan! One of the most frighteningly intense performances of all-time by one of America’s favorite “nice guys.” As much as I love “The Andy Griffith Show,” this performance makes me wish he had gone an edgier route in his career. He certainly had the chops for it. Seriously, as great as Burt Lancaster was in “Elmer Gantry,” could you imagine Griffith tearing it up? Regardless, this is the performance of a lifetime and of course, was ignored by every major film awards society and group back in the day.
One of the most ferocious performances I have ever seen on film is Bogosian’s turn as talk radio host Barry Champlain in Oliver Stone’s film “Talk Radio.” Like Andy Griffith’s performance in Elia Kazan’s “A Face in the Crowd” and Ryan Gosling’s performance in Henry Bean’s “The Believer,” these are performances so frighteningly intense that they seem to come from another planet. Tellingly, none of these performances were ever nominated for any major awards.
Unfortunately, all I’m able to post here is the original trailer. The stunning monologue / freak-out Bogosian does near the end of the film that I originally posted has since been taken down by YouTube. To be fair to this trailer, this was one of the first uses of George Thoroughgood’s “Bad to the Bone” in a film (after its use in John Carpenter’s “Christine” and a film called “Slayground” from the mid-1980s) before it got overused during the 1990s.
Why Bogosian never became a bigger star is beyond my comprehension. If you ever have the chance to see him live, do yourself a favor and go. I saw him in 2001 in Albany, NY and it was one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. Also recommended, his performance film “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.”
Patton Oswalt’s hilarious monologue about a forgotten and since found film “classic.” Lots of bad language on this one, so not safe for work or your kids.
Yes, at its worst, I realize this looks like a Gen-X version of “Thirtysomething” with a few f-bombs thrown in. However, I really think it’s going to be much better than that. Apatow is a great, astute writer and despite his popularity, is unfairly dismissed by many folks as the guy who popularized “d–k jokes with heart.” I’m a huge fan of Apatow’s … loved not only all of his films, but also two of the TV shows he had a hand in (“Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared.”) Paul Rudd’s and Leslie Mann’s characters were the best part of Apatow’s “Knocked Up” and I’m very pleased to see Apatow made a follow-up exploring those characters’ lives.
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