Recently I had an opportunity to watch Cadillac Records.  I enjoyed the movie as it covers a genre of music that speaks to me and there is one scene from the movie that has continued to stick with me for both the song and the cinematography.

What movie moment has haunted you?

Just because Cadillac Records is already older then a year. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the source….Chicago

And follow the beat in a time where sex had a sound…

Cadillac Records tells the tale of the formation of Chess Records; the groundbreaking 1950’s Chicago record label that brought the blues from the porches of the Mississippi Delta to the radio waves. The story follows Chess Records’ founder Leonard Chess (Adrian Brody) as he struggles to ascend from night club owner to become a legendary record mogul. In the process, Chess encounters and signs some of the most fabled musicians of the 20^th Century, including Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Etta James (Beyonce’ Knowles), and Chuck Berry (Mos Def). With this all-star roster, Chess Records leads the way in turning the blues from “race music” into something marketable to all; paving the way for future black musicians and leaving an irrevocable stamp on pop music.

 The acting in this movie is superb from top to bottom. The weakest performance belongs to Mos Def. Although there is a striking resemblance to Chuck Berry, Mos Def failed to convince me, especially when compared to the other performances (He couldn’t pull off a passable duck walk). Adrian Brody nails it as the ambitious Chess. Gabrielle Union turns in one of her best performances as Geneva Wade, the love interest of Muddy Waters. Cedric the Entertainer surprisingly delivers as Willie Dixon, who narrates the film. Beyonce’ shows remarkable depth as Etta James; and her stirring renditions of James’s classics are sure to leave you with goose bumps. With all of these fine performances, Jeffrey Wright steals the show as Muddy Waters. Wright draws you in with his aloof Mississippi charm, then forces you to feel the pain of the much troubled bluesman.

 The story itself leaves something to be desired. It seems to jump around as it attempts to condense two decades of content into a movie lasting less than two hours. It puts the primary focus on character development, while omitting details necessary to put the movie in its proper historical context. The result is a sloppy storyline; but the performances by the actors more than make up for it. In fact, you wind up caring so much about the individual characters that the story of Chess Records itself is nearly lost. It’s almost as if the writers sought to intertwine several musical biopics into one.

 Bottom Line: See it if you love character depth and/or the individual artists of Chess Records. Don’t see it if you’re looking for something historically faithful.

 Main Acting: 8/10

Supporting Acting: 9/10

Direction: 8/10 

Casting: 10/10  

Style: 5/10         

Originality: 4/10 

Plot: 4/10            

Script: 8/10         

Soundtrack: 8/10   

Rewatchability: 4/10

Total: 68/100

Cadillac Records (Darnell Martin, 2008)

** ½

This movie had a lot of singing.  I like singing.  But there was also a lot of arguing.  I did not like that they stopped singing and argued about money.  Beyonce was Etta James, and I really like both Beyonce and Etta James.  I fussed and fidgeted a lot when there was arguing, but I when Beyonce/Etta James was singing, I got really calm.  Mos Def played Chuck Berry, and he did a good job of acting silly.  Mom giggled a lot when there was arguing, and Dad complained that they left out Phil Chess.

Muddy Waters had baby in this movie, but it didn’t have a name and was only there to be argued about.

Adrian Brody smirks after winning a bet with Jeffrey Wright.

(TriStar) Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Beyonce Knowles, Gabrielle Union, Cedric the Entertainer, Columbus Short, Emmanuelle Chriqui. Directed by Darnell Martin

Once in a great while, fortune and talent come together in a great confluence that allows the most unlikely of people to join together to become legends.

Leonard Chess (Brody), a Polish émigré to Chicago, has grand ambitions. Hoping to marry the love of his life Revetta (Chriqui), he opens a bar on the predominantly African-American South Side of Chicago. Hoping to draw in the local crowd, he hires local talent to play his stage. One of the first guys he finds is a gifted guitarist who goes by the name of Muddy Waters (Wright).

Muddy had been a Mississippi sharecropper before being “discovered” by Smithsonian-Folkways recording archivists, and being prompted to move to Chicago to play the Blues. His wife Geneva (Union) puts up with the rough living conditions and the late nights, turning a blind eye to his many infidelities.

So impressive is Muddy’s prowess that Chess buys a recording studio and founds a recording company he names after himself. However, Muddy’s career really goes into overdrive when he finds gifted harmonica player Little Walter (Short). Walter has a unique style that employs electric amplification, something only just coming into style back then. However, his abrasive personality and drinking problem leads him to be fired from Muddy’s band, although they still record together. Walter’s solo career, however, takes off on its own.

With songwriter/engineer Willie Dixon (Cedric) in the house, Chess has assembled a winning team which only gets better with the arrival of Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker) and the great Chuck Berry (Mos Def). Berry’s unique blend of blues, country and r&b creates a bastard child that can only be labeled “rock and roll.” His music begins to cross over lines to white audiences and becomes Chess Records’ most successful artist.

Add into this mix the incredibly talented (and incredibly troubled) Etta James (Knowles) and you have a recipe for game-changing music, as well as for ego-driven conflicts. As the ‘60s dawn and musical tastes begin to change, the influence of the Chess artists becomes apparent even as their record sales begin to dwindle. Not everybody, sadly, will make it out alive.

Martin has a cinematic love letter to an era and to a record label in particular. Music underwent a profound change in the 1950s, and Chess and Sun Records were both at the forefront of that change – the birth of rock and roll out of country (Sun Records with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins) and the blues (Chess Records). Only Motown Records in the ‘60s would have the same kind of effect on the musical landscape that these two labels did.

Leonard Chess actually co-founded the label with his brother Phillip, who for some odd reason is not even mentioned here. In any case, Brody gives a solid performance as the label head, who gave his artists Cadillacs when they completed their first record, but who may have played fast and loose with royalty payments.

Knowles, who has shown some real acting skills in Dreamgirls and Austin Powers: Goldmember, continues to impress with a powerful portrayal as Etta James. She captures the artists’ outer bravura as well as her inner fears and demons. Short, similarly, captures the larger-than-life aspects of an artist who burned brightly and was snuffed out all too soon.

It’s a shame that in a movie about Chess Records, little of the original music from these artists was used. Instead, the producers chose to have the songs re-recorded (Knowles does her own vocals on James’ hits ”At Last” and “I’d Rather Be Blind”), mostly by the actors playing the artists. While it’s admirable that the actors did their own singing, I’d rather have heard the original versions by Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

The filmmakers obviously have a reverence for Chess Records and its legacy. They gathered a strong cast and gave them some strong material to work with. This is a movie that helps illustrate the development of modern music, which is of more than passing interest to anyone who loves it. While the movie didn’t fare particularly well on its theatrical run, it is more than worth checking out. Yes, it’s an imperfect glimpse into the past but ultimately, a satisfying tribute to a label and the people on it who, together, changed music forever.

WHY RENT THIS: The story of Chess Records is an important historical event in the history of modern music and the movie covers it respectfully. Solid performances from an impressive cast, especially Knowles and Short.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The movie plays a little fast and loose with the facts, and oddly, doesn’t use the music from the actual performers and instead recreates these iconic songs with the actors lending their voices.

FAMILY VALUES: Lots of sex and sexual situations, as well as drug use and some racially-motivated violence. Not for small fries.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The part of Leonard Chess was originally to have been played by Matt Dillon, but he had to bow up due to scheduling conflicts. Adrien Brody wound up taking the part.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: The Blu-Ray includes an interactive playlist maker that allows you to create and share playlists of the songs in the movie.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: Zombieland

Just finished watching Rain Man, first time I have watched it for several years yet it still hits home and must surely have been one of Dustin Hoffman’s finest performances.

To buy the DVD of Rain Man click HERE

What I never realised before is that during the dance lesson scene the music used is  “At Last” performed by the great Etta James

This was one of our key wedding songs and was an all time favourite of Fiona’s.

I have posted the MP3 of the song before so here is Beyonceseeking to replicate the magic in the film “Cadillac Records”

To buy the music of Etta James click HERE

To buy Cadillac Records on DVD click HERE

Darnell Martin’s Cadillac Records takes a look at the music industry from the 1940s to the 1960s, following Leonard Chess and his Chess Records in a fictionalized account of what things were like when the game was changing rapidly in Chicago. The movie is ensemble style, using a rather large and famous cast to put some truly remarkable legends of music on screen.

Martin, who was the first African-American woman to direct and produce a film for a major studio with 1994’s I Like It Like That, handles the subjects ably but sometimes things feel a little too crowded and hard to follow. That doesn’t take away from the fact that there are some really solid performances in this motion picture, however, and the music is just flat-out fantastic.

Adrien Brody stars as Leonard Chess, the co-founder of 1950s record label Chess Records. Located in Chicago, Chess Records would become the iconic record company of such stars as Etta James (Beyoncé Knowles), Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Little Walter (Columbus Short), and other top stars of the era.

Cadillac Records deals with the launching of the record company and the various relationships and entanglements in its operation, following the rise and fall of some truly great musicians along the way. It also does well to highlight the rise of black music at the time and the reluctance of some DJs and clubs to play it. There are also some interesting dynamics, such as the relationship between Chess and Waters, that help give the movie more substance.

At the end of the day, though, it’s hard to say that Cadillac Records is more than just another musical biopic. Knowles is the movie’s best performer and her Etta James is fantastic. She delivers a performance of grit and heartache, proving that she is a consummate performer with the will to deliver with the very best in the biz. Her covers of a few James songs are also great, nearly topping her work in the excellent Dreamgirls.

The problems with Cadillac Records largely arise with its full cast and in maintaining interest in all the various supporting characters. While Knowles does bump up the energy when she turns up as James, her role adds more unnecessary complexity to the already crowded plot and gives us one more thing to be concerned with. It becomes less about the music and the history of Chess Records and more about the relationships and near-relationships behind-the-scenes.

Some of the performances are less than good, too, starting with Brody as Leonard Chess. While I am normally impressed with his work on screen, Brody doesn’t do much here. His character is bland and boring, for the most part, He doesn’t do much with the role, which was originally designed as a Matt Dillon part before scheduling complications prevented the casting from taking place.

Even so, Cadillac Records is still worth a look and a listen for a relatively entertaining look at the time when music changed. Chess Records represents an important part in music history in America and Martin’s look at the subject, while incomplete, is convincing and enjoyable enough to check out. Plus, Knowles is just awesome.

5.6/10

Trailer:

Cadillac Records – Music From The Motion Picture, the critically-acclaimed Music World/Columbia Records soundtrack album, has proven the year’s biggest success on America’s Blues Albums charts.

Propelled by Beyonce’s emotional rendering of “At Last,” the song she performed at the 2009 Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s first dance as First Couple, Cadillac Records – Music From The Motion Picture has ruled the Billboard Blues Albums chart since its release on December 2, 2008, spending more than six months (27 weeks) at #1 and 37 consecutive weeks in the chart’s Top 10 (or better).

Created as the musical accompaniment to “Cadillac Records,” the film chronicling the history of Chicago’s Chess Records starring Adrien Brody and Beyonce Knowles, the film’s soundtrack introduced a whole new generation of music fans to classic American blues through classic rhythm & blues covers and new soul sounds performed by Beyonce, Solange, Jeffrey Wright, Raphael Saadiq, Mos Def and others.

Cadillac Records – Music From The Motion Picture is produced by multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/drummer Steve Jordan (Eric Clapton, John Mayer Trio, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards) and Executive Produced by Mathew Knowles for Music World Entertainment, Inc. Marshall Chess, the son and nephew of the original Chess Records founders, served as Executive Music Producer for the soundtrack.

Cadillac Records – Music From The Motion Picture is available in both a standard and a deluxe two-disk edition.

Cadillac Records – Music From The Motion Picture – tracklisting

Standard Edition

1. I’m A Man (Jeffrey Wright)

2. At Last (Beyonce)

3. No Particular Place To Go (Mos Def)

4. I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Jeffrey Wright)

5. Once In A Lifetime (Beyonce)

6. Let’s Take A Walk (Raphael Saadiq)

7. 6 O’Clock Blues (Solange)

8. Nadine (Mos Def)

9. The Sound (Mary Mary)

10. Last Night (Little Walter)

11. I’d Rather Go Blind (Beyonce)

12. My Babe (Columbus Short)

13. Bridging The Gap (Nas featuring Olu Dara)

Deluxe Edition

Disc One

1. I’m A Man (Jeffrey Wright)

2. At Last (Beyonce)

3. No Particular Place To Go (Mos Def)

4. I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Jeffrey Wright)

5. Once In A Lifetime (Beyonce)

6. Let’s Take A Walk (Raphael Saadiq)

7. 6 O’Clock Blues (Solange)

8. Nadine (Mos Def)

9. The Sound (Mary Mary)

10. Last Night (Little Walter)

11. I’d Rather Go Blind (Beyonce)

12. My Babe (Columbus Short)

13. Bridging The Gap (Nas featuring Olu Dara)

Disc Two

1. Maybelline (Mos Def)

2. Forty Days and Forty Nights (Buddy guy)

3. Trust In Me (Beyonce)

4. Juke (Soul 7 featuring Kim Wilson)

5. Smokestack Lightnin’ (Eamonn Walker)

6. Promised Land (Mos Def)

7. All I Could Do Was Cry (Beyonce)

8. My Babe (Elvis Presley)

9. Come On (Mos Def)

10. Country Blues (Jeffrey Wright & Bill Sims JR.)

11. Evolution Of A Man ( Q-Tip ft. Al Kapone)

12. Radio Station ( Terence Blanchard)

Written and directed by Darnell Martin, “Cadillac Records” chronicles the history of Chess Records, the pre-eminent blues label of the 1950s and 1960s co-founded by Leonard Chess (played by Adrien Brody) and his brother Phil (Shiloh Fernandez). A powerful saga of sex, violence, race and rock & roll set in 1950s Chicago, “Cadillac Records” follows the turbulent lives of the American musical legends who recorded for Chess: Etta James (played by Beyonce Knowles), Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker) and more. The film tracks the story of Chess Records, from the time the Chess brothers sold the label’s first recordings from the trunk of their Cadillac through the company’s emergence as the greatest repository of black American music — blues, gospel, and the electric blues that became rock & roll — in the mid-20th century.

www.musicworldent.com

www.columbiarecords.com

Short feature I wrote.
Published in Independent Weekly August 5, 2009 issue.

Raleigh
Hubert Sumlin and Bob Margolin with Cadillac Records
NCMA – Written and directed by Darnell Martin, Cadillac Records chronicles the life of Leonard Chess and the artists – like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and Etta James – that he recorded on his label, Chess Records. The film explores the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll from the 1940s to 1960s, as well as the issues of race, sex and violence that accompanied it. Starring Academy Award winner Adrien Brody as Chess and Grammy award-winning singer Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, the film boasts a great ensemble cast. Prior to the film, guitarists Hubert Sumlin (a former Howlin’ Wolf sideman) and Bob Margolin (who played with Muddy Waters) will perform. The guitarists rock at 7 p.m., with the film screening after dark. General admission is $15, members $12, children 7-12 $7.50, and children under 6 enter free. For more information visit www.ncartmuseum.org. –Belem Destefani

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The boys reconvene for a discussion of the sex and drugs marathon that is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. They go on for a rant on the re-casting of Futurama voices, dive into the world of Roald Dahl and Wes Anderson and then have a think about movie lengths and what difference these make. They follow this with a talk about the third season of Dexter, the Blade Series and Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, before concluding with a talk about the very best book adaptations the movie world has to offer.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 27

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Como es habitual durante este mes de julio, siguen siendo poco numerosas las novedades en DVD que nos llegan.

Esta semana se producen los lanzamientos de “Cadillac Records” con Adrien Brody y Beyoncé Knowles; “Clean” de Oliver Assayas con Maggie Cheung (Mejor Actriz en Cannes 2004) y Nick Nolte; el thriller “Fuera de control” y “Negocios de guerra” con John Cusack (también coguionista de la película). Sin embargo, son tres los estrenos más detacados: el docudrama sobre el mundo educativo “La clase” que se alzó con la Palma de Oro en el Festival de Cannes 2008; “Un cuento de navidad” de Arnaud Desplechin con la estupenda Catherine Deneuve y el subproducto nacional “Mentiras y gordas” en cuyo guión participó la ministra González-Sinde demostrándonos su escaso nivel cultural.

En la sección DOCUMENTALES podemos encontrar dos interesantes cintas. Por un lado “El sueño” (dirigida por Christophe Farnarier, director de fotografía de “Honor de cavalleria”) que nos relata el día a día de uno de los últimos pastores trashumantes; y “Lou Reed Berlin” que, de la mano de Julian Schnabel, nos presenta el concierto que en 2006 realizó Lou Reed.

Para terminar,”The Acid House” (con guión del autor de la novela en la que se basó “Trainspotting”) conforma la única propuesta de CINE DE SIEMPRE.

LARGOMETRAJES

CADILLAC RECORDS (21/07)

Título Original: Cadillac Records

Nacionalidad: USA

Año: 2008

Duración: 109 min.

Director: Darnell Martin

Guión: Darnell Martin

Reparto: Adrien Brody, Beyoncé Knowles, Jeffrey Wright, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Gabrielle Union, Norman Reedus, Columbus Short, Cedric the Entertainer, Mos Def, Jay O. Sanders.

Adrien Brody interpeta a Leonard Chess y Beyoncé Knowles da vida a la legendaria cantante estadounidense de soul y R&B Etta James. Chess fundador del sello discográfico de Chicago Aristocrat Records y quien tenía la particularidad de recorrer clubes de blues y firmar contratos en el asiento trasero de su Cadillac, incorporó en 1948 a Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), quien habría de ser su principal “cazatalentos”, y por él cambiaron el nombre de la empresa por el de Chess Records. A partir de ahí fue subiendo en prestigio hasta ser promotor de algunos de los artistas fundamentales del blues urbano como Robert Nighthawk, Isaiah Ross y Bobby Bland. Pero a pesar de que con esas ventas creciera más todavía el sello discográfico, la promoción de esos artistas se vio afectada por grandes problemas financieros.

CLEAN (22/07)

Título Original: Clean

Nacionalidad: Francia

Año: 2004

Duración: 110 min.

Director: Olivier Assayas

Guión: Olivier Assayas

Reparto: Maggie Cheung, Béatrice Dalle, Nick Nolte, Don McKellar, Laura Smet, Jeanne Balibar, Ian Brown, Tricky, Paolo Cascardo, Patrick Fabian.

Después de varios años viviendo juntos, Lee Hauser (James Johnston) y Emily Wang (Mag-gie Cheung) están acabados. Lee es un mítico músico de los años 80 y el dinero fácil y la fa-ma les ha llevado a la ruina, a dejar un hijo ba-jo los cuidados de los padres de éste y a la droga. Cuando Lee aparece muerto por sobredosis en un motel, Emily es arrestada por posesión de drogas y encarcelada. Seis meses después es puesta en libertad y decide ir a París, donde una vez vivió, y empezar de nuevo. Pero todo ha cambiado y lo único con lo que se siente ligada es con su hijo, Jay (James Dennis). Pero si quiere volver a ver a su hijo debe encontrar un trabajo y dejar la metadona que empezó a tomar en prisión.

FUERA DE CONTROL (22/07)

Título Original: Outlaw

Nacionalidad: Gran Bretaña

Año: 2007

Duración: 103 min.

Director: Nick Love

Guión: Nick Love

Reparto: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Bob Hoskins, Rupert Friend, Tom Hardy, Lennie James.

Un grupo de personas que se consideran traicionadas por su gobierno, deciden formar un grupo justiciero, yendo más allá de las leyes limpiando todo lo que consideran una lacra para la sociedad, tomándose la justicia por su mano.

LA CLASE (22/07)

Título Original: Entre les murs

Nacionalidad: Francia

Año: 2008

Duración: 128 min.

Director: Laurent Cantet

Guión: François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo y Laurent Cantet (basado en la novela homónima de François Bégaudeau)

Reparto: François Bégaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Juliette Demaille.

François es un joven profesor de lengua francesa en un instituto difícil, situado en un barrio conflictivo. Sus alumnos tienen entre 14 y 15 años. No duda en enfrentarse a Esmeralda, a Souleymane, a Khoumba y a los demás en estimulantes batallas verbales, como si la lengua estuviera en juego. Pero el aprendizaje de la democracia puede implicar auténticos riesgos. François (el propio Bégaudeau) y los demás profesores se preparan para enfrentarse a un nuevo curso. Llenos de buenas intenciones, deseosos de aportar la mejor educación a sus alumnos, se arman contra el desaliento. Pero las culturas y las actitudes se enfrentan en el aula, microcosmos de la Francia contemporánea. Por muy divertidos y estimulantes que sean los adolescentes, sus comportamientos pueden cortar de raíz el entusiasmo de un profesor que no cobra bastante. La tremenda franqueza de François sorprende a sus alumnos, pero su estricto sentido de la ética se tambalea cuando los jóvenes empiezan a no aceptar sus métodos.

MENTIRAS Y GORDAS (22/07)

Título Original: Mentiras y gordas

Nacionalidad: España

Año: 2009

Duración: 107 min.

Director: Alfonso Albacete y David Menkes

Guión: Alfonso Albacete, David Menkes y Ángeles González Sinde

Reparto: Mario Casas, Ana de Armas, Hugo Silva, Alejo Sauras, Asier Etxeandia, Miriam Giovanelli, Esmeralda Moya, Ana María Polvorosa, Yon González, Maxi Iglesias.

Un grupo de jóvenes se prepara para lo que va a ser el verano de su vida, entre secretos, mentiras, sexo, confusión, noche y fiesta. No son conscientes que en ese viaje iniciático una vez comenzado no se puede dar marcha atrás, que las mentiras se van haciendo cada vez más grandes y que amar significa hacer daño.

NEGOCIOS DE GUERRA (22/07)

Título Original: War, Inc.

Nacionalidad: USA

Año: 2008

Duración: 107 min.

Director: Joshua Seftel

Guión: Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser y John Cusack

Reparto: John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, Ned Bellamy, Velizar Binev, Shirly Brener, Marc Casabani, Ben Cross, Doug Dearth.

Sátira política que se ambienta en el futuro, en una guerra. Un país desértico del Medio Oriente llamado Turaguistán, es desgarrado por un motín gubernamental, después de que una corporación privada, propiedad del ex presidente de los Estados Unidos, se ha hecho cargo del Estado. John Cusack interpreta a un asesino asignado a matar al ministro de una corporación llamada CEO, pero todo cambiará cuando el despiadado asesino en serie se enamore de una cantante pop local.

UN CUENTO DE NAVIDAD (22/07)

Título Original: Un conte de Noël

Nacionalidad: Francia

Año: 2008

Duración: 150 min.

Director: Arnaud Desplechin

Guión: Arnaud Desplechin y Emmanuel Bourdieu

Reparto: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuelle Devos, Chiara Mastroianni.

Abel y Junon Vuillard tienen dos hijos, Joseph y Elizabeth. Afectado por una extraña enfermedad genética, Joseph necesita un trasplante de médula ósea. Elizabeth no es compatible y entonces sus padres deciden tener un tercer hijo, Henri, con la esperanza de poder salvar a Joseph. Pero tampoco es compatible, y Joseph muere a los siete años. Después nacerá Ivan, su cuarto y último hijo.

Pasan los años, y Elizabeth se convierte en autora teatral en París; Henri va de negocios de éxito a quiebras fraudulentas, e Ivan, con una adolescencia muy problemática, se ha convertido en el padre casi razonable de dos niños un poco raros. Un día, Elizabeth, exasperada por los excesos de su hermano Henri, decide excluirlo de cualquier relación con la familia. Nadie sabe exactamente qué ha pasado ni por qué. Henri ha desaparecido y la familia parece disuelta.

Un tiempo después Junon descubre que tiene la misma enfermedad que sufría Joseph. Hay que encontrar un donante entre los miembros de su familia, y Paul, el hijo de Elizabeth, un adolescente problemático, parece ser el candidato más apropiado. Se acerca la Navidad. Toda la familia se reúne para pasar tres días en la casa de Roubaix. Convencido por Paul, Henri ha aceptado la invitación y llega acompañado por su nuevo amor: Faunia. Es el momento de ajustar cuentas…

DOCUMENTALES

EL SUEÑO (22/07)

Título Original: El somni

Nacionalidad: España

Año: 2008

Duración: 77 min.

Director: Christophe Farnarier

Guión: Christophe Farnarier y Roger Biosca

Desde la noche de los tiempos, un hombre camina delante de su rebaño al ritmo de las estaciones. El pastor trashumante pertenece a nuestro imaginario colectivo. Joan “Pipa” es uno de los últimos representantes de una tradición milenaria. Lo acompañamos en su último viaje trashumante hacia los Pirineos catalanes. Día tras día compartimos con él su intimidad, descubrimos el pasado y el presente de un hombre que ama su oficio y que respira la alegria de convivir libremente con la naturaleza. Pero el abandono de la tierra, la industrialización y el crecimiento desenfrenados, la fiebre urbanística, la multiplicación de nuevas infraestructuras y ahora el cambio climático ponen fin al sueño y nos conducen a un futuro incierto.

LOU REED BERLIN (22/07)

Título Original: Lou Reed’s Berlin

Nacionalidad: USA

Año: 2007

Duración: 80 min.

Director: Julian Schnabel

Guión: Julian Schnabel

Lou Reed llevó a cabo a finales de 2006 en Nueva York la intepretación en directo, por primera vez en su integridad, de su mítico álbum Berlín, acompañado por una treintena de músicos y voces, entre los que se encontraban el guitarrista original del disco, Steve Hunter, e invitados como el cantante Antony. Julian Schnabel, que se encargó de la puesta en escena de los conciertos, filmó el acontecimiento.

CINE DE SIEMPRE

THE ACID HOUSE (22/07) Paul McGuigan, 1999

“Acid house” se compone de tres historias ambientadas en Escocia. La primera de ellas, “La causa de Granton Star”, es una comedia negra sobre venganza, fútbol y religión. La segunda, “Un blandengue”, es una historia de amor y traición con un protagonista al que manipulan fácilmente los que le rodean. La tercera, titulada “Acid House”, es un relato cómico que se aproxima a lo surreal acerca del matrimonio, los niños y el consumo desmesurado de ácido.

-

Briony  

Beyoncé presents Michael Jackson with a humanitarian award at the 2003 Radio Music Awards; image taken from ChronicleLive

Today in The Root, Dayo Olopade posited that the pop star set to inherit Michael Jackson’s mantle as the King of Pop is Beyoncé Knowles. And my girl Kristen (who of course pointed me to the article in the first place) asked for people’s thoughts on this assertion. Here now is my effort.

Obviously, no opinion can be reached without mention of how important Michael Jackson was to people. While I can be snide and agree with others that he hadn’t made a good album since 1987’s Bad, I also won’t pretend to know how deep an impact he made on generations of African Americans and what it was like to see a young black man launch into that kind of mythology. Even if you’re Chuck D and you made the point that having MTV air the music video for “Billie Jean” in 1983 nearly 20 years after Jackson broke into the mainstream as part of The Jackson 5 was an achievement for white America (a point Chuck makes in The History of Rock and Roll) I don’t know if you can qualify how particularly and specifically important Michael Jackson is to generations of African Americans. And Beyoncé was born in 1981. Indeed, she didn’t exist before Michael. So I definitely think his impact on her — along with several other African American pop stars – is monumental and different from their white counterparts. Thus, I’m absolutely fine with Cord Jefferson’s assertion that Justin Timberlake cannot inherit Jackson’s legacy. Let Beyoncé wear the damn military jacket.

Rock that jacket, B!

Yet, while I feel that the Beyoncé as successor story is really compelling in theory, I wonder if it works. As many people have argued, including Olopade, we may have witnessed, with the death of Michael Jackson, the end of superstardom. And while others might disagree, I think this is a good thing, as I feel that a life lived in quotes, italics, and all caps only ends up ruining the body and mind living the persona(e). It may be captivating, or even aspirational to the general public, but it also seems hollow, empty, lonely, and unfulling to the person. It also seems too taxing to keep up. Listen to Jackson’s songs, as his lyrics became increasingly paranoid. Look at Neverland. Look at the increasingly desperate music videos that could never replicate the magic of “Thriller.” Witness the body in a constant state of mutation, decay, whitening, and plasticity. As Michael aged, the man in the mirror must have become more alien to himself. Absenting a larger discussion about looming rumors of child molestation and a confirmed history of child abuse and exhausting work conditions administered by his father, Joe, I cannot help but view what happened to Michael as a perilous lesson at how cruel and unfulfilling that level of fame is. The high price is assuredly the self.

To me, if we want to go with a model for how Michael’s fame warped any semblance of a personal life and informed his music, the more accurate analog is Britney Spears, a young woman formed into a hologram for our society’s distorted desires, started rebelling and making commentary on her fame, who we watched collapse, villified and mocked for making poor decisions, took offense to the havoc the stress of fame and vanity wreaked on her body, and whose untimely death will assuredly be met by a dumbfounded mass. She may live past 27, but I’m not sure that her attempts at normalcy and privacy won’t be as ill-informed and unfortunate as Jackson’s were. 

Beyoncé, on the other hand, seems to carve out an autonomous private life for herself as best she can. To that end, I actually think she has more in common with Michael’s sister, Janet, Miss Jackson if you’re nasty. While both have suffered speculation and public battles with body image and weight fluctuation, I also think they were aware of their popularity, reticent to embrace it as a result of their shyness and self-possession, and made an effort to keep some of themselves to themselves. Beyoncé may collaborate with her husband Jay-Z, but they rarely disclose any personal information beyond the occasional outing to a Knicks’ or a Nets’ game or reference to their relationship in song (I seem to remember the mid-2000s being a hard time for the power couple to balance love with work — they seem to have made it to the other side without us knowing too much about their private goings-on).

Jay and B, courtside

Likewise, Jackson has taken privacy to perhaps necessary extremes, hiding her entire marriage to René Elizondo from the public until she announced their divorce in 1999. She’s since been in a long-term relationship with rapper-mogul Jermaine Dupri which may or may not culminate in marriage. I kind of like that I don’t know. Maybe it’s the Protestant in me, but I’m not as interested in their personal lives as I am with their work. Of course, how one informs the other is tremendously useful and important to me. But I like that both women have given themselves the space not to have the factoids of their love lives be common knowledge.

These women’s effort to separate the public from private life is reflected in their music. While Olopade states that Beyoncé asserts the confidence that Michael lacked, I don’t think you have to look any further than Janet to find similarities. Thus, I think that while Michael’s influence as a pop star is not to be ignored, neither can his sister’s. As assuredly as Michael’s innovative music, kinetic movements, and larger-than-life persona inspired Beyoncé, I get the feeling that Janet’s no-nonsense, pro-woman, and at times politically charged anthems left quite an impression as well.

Another point I’d like to challenge is the idea that Michael Jackson was born a monolithic pop star and was the first of his kind. He evolved into a pop star over time. To that end, he also modeled himself on other pop stars, icons, and musicians. As Madonna did with Mae West and Marilyn Monroe, as Tina Turner did with Mick Jagger, and as many after them will continue to do, Michael modeled himself after pop stars of his time. Obviously, Motown, the birthplace of his career, left quite an impression on him. Diana Ross, specifically, became his mentor and model for how to be a pop star. While some catty folks may argue that Michael took the admiration too far, in effect trying to turn himself into her, “whitening” his features and taking on her soft voice, I don’t think we can discuss how assimilable Michael Jackson or Diana Ross (or Motown in the 1960s) was without getting into a larger discussion about the control predominantly white people in positions of power in the culture industries have in enforcing what supposedly white perceptions of what popular music should look and sound like.

Michael Jackson with Diana Ross; image from PopCrunch.com

Beyoncé has had to face similar instances of institutional racism and assimiliation. She often bleaches and straightens her hair, has witnessed multiple magazines Photoshop inches off her curves, and has shed pounds  for movie roles. Beyoncé is also clearly inspired by Ross. Her first group, Destiny’s Child, were clear heiresses to The Supremes’ girl-group legacy. Similar to Ross, Beyoncé broke out on her own, becoming a definitive diva for her era. And adding another layer, Beyoncé played Ross’s avatar in Dreamgirls (for which she lost a considerable amount of weight). 

We could then argue, via the Jackson-inspired dance break in the music video for Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylious,” that Beyoncé is placing herself in a continuum between Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. 

Like Michael and Ross, Beyoncé has worked in movies. And while some people may want to scoff at her film career, I think the range and variety of Beyoncé’s filmography is interesting and helps open up what a pop star can do. She’s been in summer blockbusters like Austin Powers in Goldmember. She’s been in campy, racially charged suspense thrillers like Obsessed (which I haven’t seen, but dear God I hope she cuts that white girl). She’s also been in Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records, playing either fictionalized or real female musicians. (Note: She got to put on weight when she played Etta James in Cadillac Records, a movie I’m sorry to have missed in the theaters but expect a later post about it — gotta support African American female directors like Darnell Martin). But she isn’t only playing the singer.

Beyoncé’s foray into acting, coupled with her recent stint as The Gloved One 2.0 (aka Sasha Fierce) also speaks to her ability to self-fragment, using this tactic to showcase multiple, often contradictory versions of the female self.  Which I think speaks to her feminist camp potential as well. Her music videos are sexy and provocative, but always with a wink, always tongue-in-cheek, whether she’s referencing Basic Instinct, riding a mechanical bull, rolling a hula hoop, or channeling Robert Palmer.

But while it might suggest a commonality with Madonna (one of the few pop stars to rival Michael Jackson’s stardom in the 1980s), I think Beyoncé’s campiness is singular. Principally, she channels her camp through humor. She’s really funny. Not a lot of pop stars get to be (or allow themselves to be) truly funny. A song like “Irreplaceble” stings with so much camp wit, and there are many others (the woman has her own vocabulary and phraseology). And, ever the shrewd businesswoman, she can use any song to its full synergistic potential. The guy in “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” is holding her tighter than her Deréon jeans, after all.

House of Deréon advertisement; Beyoncé with her mother and business partner, Tina Knowles

So, while it’s important to think about Michael Jackson and Beyoncé, I see their cultural relationship less as an issue of successorship than as an instance of continuum and evolution. Because while I’m stoked that Beyoncé is on par with Michael Jackson and am excited about watching her career evolve, I think of it as her career. In time, I hope that we think of this shy Houstonian playing the brazen pop goddess for all the world not as the next anything. Rather, I think of her in dialogue with the past, looking to pop history as a means of defining Beyoncé.

I enjoy movies about singers. But this one I found more difficult to watch as out of the people this movie was about the only one I had heard of before the movie was Etta James. I thought Beyonce singing “At Last” was very good, seductive and how it was meant to sound. It sounded very similar to Etta’s original version of the song.

From watching a lot of movies like this, it is rather sad how much drugs and violence seem to be around singers lives. (Ray Charles: Ray, Bobby Darin: Beyond the Sea etc). I guess with movies like this it does not really matter if you already knew about the events that occured as they would be changed quite a bit for the case of having it on the screen.

I wish Beyonce as Etta James had been in the movie longer though, as I think they could have put more time into her character explaining more about her background and how she “went off the rails”. As I thought Beyonce was very good in the small screen time in which she had.

Adrien Brody never really seems to do any wrong, he always seems to have a strong character in which ever role he is in. However, I still cannot get the images from “The Pianst” out of my head that movie was just so haunting.

But overall Cadillac records is not the best and is not a movie I would highly recommend, it is easy enough to watch but nothing really new. Unless of course you can remember this era?

Ya podemos conseguir en Colombia la versión en DVD de “Cadillac Records”, la versión original, porque pirata se conseguía desde finales del año pasado, con un aviso cada 10 minutos de película que decía “For your consideration”

Esta película, dirigida por el veterano director de televisión Darnell Martin, documenta la historia de Chess, el sello discográfico que ayudó al mundo a descubrir a artistas legendarios del blues como Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter y Chuck Berry.

Fue fundado en 1950 por Leonard Chess, personaje interpretado por Adrien Brody (El pianista), y rápidamente ganó reputación en Chicago por ser la casa de los más talentosos músicos del momento, ya que les dio la oportunidad de poner por primera vez los pies en un estudio de grabación. Pero, además, permitir que estos músicos llevaran su música al mundo entero no fue una tarea fácil, porque a lo largo del camino había tres cosas que en ese momento eran factor primordial para la vida de muchos artistas: sexo, drogas y rock’n’roll.

La cinta presenta a Jeffrey Wright como Muddy Waters, Gabrielle Union como Geneva Wade, Beyoncé Knowles en el papel de Etta James, Mos Def interpretando a Chuck Berry, Cedric the Entertainer como Willie Dixon, y Eamonn Walker representando a Howlin’ Wolf.

Ken Lombardo de CBSNews.com dijo acerca de esta película: “¡Cadillac Records es un éxito de primer nivel! Finalmente, una película que relata los orígenes reales del rock and roll”.

La edición en DVD trae material extra, como el comentario del director Darnell Martin, escenas eliminadas, la realización de la película y su diseño. Además está hablada en español, portugués, inglés y tailandés con subtítulos en los mismos idiomas más chino y coreano.

JB’s Weekend Movie- Cadillac Records (2008)

Directed by Darnell Martin

Screenplay by Darnell Martin

Starring Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Gabrielle Union, Mos Def, Beyonce Knowles

Awards:
Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Black Reel Award for Best Film

Black Real Award for Best Supporting Actor- Jeffrey Wright

Image Award for Best Supporting Actor- Columbus Short

Cadillac Records follows the rise and fall of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess (Brody). Chess played a major roll in the early Chicago blues movement. He also was the one to discover and sign the true “King of Rock & Roll”, Chuck Berry (Mos Def). But blues legend Muddy Waters was his first and most successful early act. The first thing you notice about this movie is Jeffrey Wright as Muddy. He learned to play the guitar for the roll, and the dedication paid off. The authenticity of his roll shines through all the rest. Beyonce’s performance as the amazing Etta James was really only notable for her singing, but god damn if it doesn’t make you pissed like me to see that she can sing songs like that, yet chooses to resort to her “Sasha Fierce” image. (I just threw up a little bit) She could probably single handedly bring great soul music back if she’d get her head out of her ass. Anyway, as for Adrien Brody, well, he’s always great. Also, watch for Columbus Short as Little Walter. He turns in a great, overlooked performance.

JB