Finally saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford the other night. Not only does it have a long name (which I like) it's a long fucken movie (160 minutes.) And it feels long. It's a good movie, but it could have used a bit of paring down, though I don't want to say that they shoulda 86ed the scenery cos it was gorgeous. Maybe some of the sitting in the dark and staring at nothing.
They've collected a great cast, plus Nick Cave, made Bob Ford into a tragic, tormented stalker/glory-seeker and Jesse into an unstable tragic martyr. So, another mythic film to add to the Jesse James film canon. Rounding out the cast are Sam Shepard (for like 10 minutes), Garret Dillahunt, and Sam Rockwell. I spent the whole movie staring at him trying to figure out who he was. Sam Rockwell. Duh. Nick & Warren continue to prove that they have a great sense of timing and atmosphere, though I wasn't as violently in love with the music as I am with their Proposition work. (Link from Sept is still working.)
I was hoping the soundtrack would include Nick singing "Jesse James" but I don't think it does. So here are a few Jesse James songs that I found on my computer. Clubland thinks he's the rudest rude boy of them all. . . The Pogues version is the folk song that you hear Nick Cave singing. You can hear Bruce Springsteen singing it at the excellent Honey, Where You been So Long? You can grab the Soundtrack from Stupid & Contagious.
Of course I watched the movie with a kid who thinks Nick Cave is a dick and doesn't listen to him, which I always find odd because this kid should, looking at him, like Nick Cave's stuff. I'm doing my best to get this kid to see The Proposition, which has become one of my essential movies, even if Caitlin did have to drag me to see it.
- Jesse James by the Pogues [Rum, Sodomy & the Lash]
- Jesse James by Clubland [Ska Wars: Ska Giants]
- Jesse James by Woody Guthrie [This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings]
1 comment:
hey b -
HOW DARE YOU PUT TOGETHER A COMPILATION OF FABULOUS MALE/FEMALE DUETS AND NOT INCLUDE...oh...nevermind.
This is the best jazz vocal album EVER, my Grandpa would play it every morning as he got ready for work - great memories!
Your Gen/Dis comp is great, I love the format and the commentary for each song is spot-on - standouts for me are the Millers (all of their stuff is incredible), Johnny and June (you know what I think about these two folks), and She & Him(this whole record is really good, a nice surprise!)... There were three other songs that came to mind after listening to the mix: X - Los Angeles (the interplay of John and Excene's voices was revolutionary at the time the song was released), Carrie Rodriguez and Chip Taylor - Keep Your Hat on Jenny (Their voices are so different, I'm not quite sure why their collaborations work - but they sure do), and the Gougers - Baby (They have the BEST harmonies since Gram and Emmylou)...here are the three songs in case you don't have them already -
http://www.gigasize.com/
get.php?d=xzxty2pxnvb ...
I haven't watched Jesse James yet, but it's laying on the kitchen table at the farm, so we should get to it pretty soon - the soundtrack has been in pretty heavy rotation for the past couple of weeks...you need to force-feed your wayward friend on Nick's album Murder Ballads - if that doesn't work, I'm afraid he may be beyond redemption...
I'm glad your enjoying Nanci, her live shows are something special...here's a link for a live set recorded in London...my favorite piece is the story for the song "There's a Light Beyond These Woods" - I laugh out loud every time I hear it -
http://www.divshare.com/
download/4016639-919 ...
I like divshare, zshare doesn't always make it through the firewall...
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Gen/Dis installment - you set the bar pretty high last week.
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