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Author Topic: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017  (Read 14973 times)

1SO

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #20 on: May 01, 2017, 08:15:19 PM »
This month is going to be a scramble. I've struck out twice with many of my choices. I didn't expect this since I'm focusing on my usual gang of singers, but I guess I'm looking too deep into the well now. I'm still going to have my month, but it doesn't look like it will be as many as I'm used to.



I don't have high hopes for this particular box, but inside it are these films,

Waikiki Wedding
Double or Nothing
East Side of Heaven
If I had My Way
Here Come the Waves

I know this box. Mostly pleasant, with the bonuses of Joan Blondell, Betty Hutton and Andy Devine. Jared went through most of these in 2015, so you can refer to that Marathon for some extra encouragement.

1SO

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #21 on: May 01, 2017, 11:20:45 PM »
Montery Pop (1968)
* * * - Okay
Sometimes I miss feisty Martin, and he expresses my general problem with concert films. They're a playlist of songs I'm overly familiar with and ones I've never heard for good reason. The best concert films (The Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense) don't just capture moments in time, they film the performances in a way that give them fresh life, a definitive experience. D. A. Pennebaker doesn't come close, but he does have some great music.

The biggest surprise for me was Otis Redding, with two songs opposite in temperament ("Shake" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long"), both captivating even though the ballad is one of those I never feel the desire to listen to. It was also curious to hear The Animals perform "Paint it Black", which I always attribute to The Rolling Stones. The rest is exactly what I described, which made me wish there was more footage of the people attending the concert, not that what was shown was stellar. I was just more curious in the event itself, the people who pulled it all together, and which acts went over best with the crowd.

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2017, 11:44:14 PM »
Bookmarked.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #23 on: May 01, 2017, 11:58:13 PM »
The biggest surprise for me was Otis Redding, with two songs opposite in temperament ("Shake" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long"), both captivating
For sure. Otis, Jimi and Ravi Shankar the only performances memorable as performances in the film.

1SO

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #24 on: May 02, 2017, 12:19:49 AM »
The biggest surprise for me was Otis Redding, with two songs opposite in temperament ("Shake" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long"), both captivating
For sure. Otis, Jimi and Ravi Shankar the only performances memorable as performances in the film.
I don't get Ravi Shankar. Totally respect that he's a legend and he had a great partnership with Satyajit Ray, but I was never into his style of music and there's little to my ears that makes it stand out as superior sitar work. I view him much like Zamfir, master of the pan flute.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #25 on: May 02, 2017, 12:42:58 AM »
Listening to his music on its doesn't do much for me either, it's pleasant but not earth shattering. But in the context of film, I thought the performance really stood out with an energy and style that contrasted with what comes before it yet somehow felt like a seamless and fitting conclusion to it. To me what those three performances have going for them isn't just the music, but the fact that they reflect something a little more complex about the relationship between the performers, the performance, the music and the audience. Otis in his suit speaks to the past, Jimi with his energy reflects the future and Ravi reflects the world outside of the little bubble of 60s hippies, yet at the same time all three are clearly a part of that world and culture.  It's been 8 years and those are the only three performances I remember from the film (admittedly I've rewatched the Jimi and Otis shorts in the intervening years but they got their own films for a reason, I'd say).

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #26 on: May 02, 2017, 06:10:50 AM »
I also have a small box set of Crosby films I'd love to go through.
What's in the Box?

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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #27 on: May 02, 2017, 06:53:10 AM »
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

One of the most enjoyable aspects of cinema of the era was the creativity that screenwriters had to employ to make dirty jokes without using the dirty words. It is all tackled at the level of innuendo and subtext. While Lorelei plays the prim and proper gal to woo classy gentlemen, Dorothy has a more hedonistic approach to pursuing pleasure. Even as they play different types, they are both entering the realm of taboo.  It feels very progressive for its time in its gender commentary on the gold digger type, which certainly has a much more negative connotation than the shallow rich man seeking a trophy wife. This commentary that hides silently beneath the surface for much of the film breaks through with a boom at the end in pretty satisfying fashion. This is definitely an early candidate for my 2017 Discoveries list.

I didn't find the movie very funny or the musical numbers very good when I watched it a few months ago, but that paragraph is spot on. I loved how it navigated double entendre and how well it implied everything it needed to. It was fabulous and, for the time, deliciously risqué. I am glad we're less stuck up nowadays, but the unfortunate drawback to that is that this sort of thing is simply not possible anymore.
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Sandy

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #28 on: May 02, 2017, 11:41:08 AM »
I know this box. Mostly pleasant, with the bonuses of Joan Blondell, Betty Hutton and Andy Devine. Jared went through most of these in 2015, so you can refer to that Marathon for some extra encouragement.

Your endorsement is encouraging! And so is some added commentary from Jared. Thanks for letting me know! Good luck with your choices this month! Looking forward to what you can find.



Cool gif, DarkeningHumour! :)

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2017
« Reply #29 on: May 02, 2017, 11:59:45 AM »
They should remake that into a musical.
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