Dylan Mythology Dissected Magnificently

"It has chaos, clocks, watermelons...you know what I'm sayin'...it's everything."
- Jude (CATE BLANCHETT)

I'M NOT THERE (Dir. Todd Haynes, 2007) It's funny that the upcoming WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (the Judd Apatow written and produced comic mock epic with John C. Reilly as the lead) proposes to set fire to the tried and true clichés of modern music bio-pics because after the exciting experimental experience that is I'M NOT THERE those worn methods are already ashes. As most reading this know well by now Bob Dylan is portrayed by 6 different actors (Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw) who embody the man in different distinct eras and incarnations. Each has a different name, a different attitude, and of course, a different aesthetic. It may seem weird or even a bit pretentious in concept to cast a young black kid as a box-car hopping tall-tale telling pre-fame Dylan or an Australian Academy Award winning woman to play his Bobness at the height of his amphetamine-fueled rock star glory but the way it's played out here is mindboggling in its magnificence.

The finger-pointing protesting period provides the always up to the task Christian Bale with the Bob with most conscience through separate eras one - political and one intensely religious. Gere's Billy The Kid hiding from society persona seems to be the Dylan who is the most free - or at least pretending to be. Seemingly drawn from a tapestry woven from words spoken in every Dylan interview, every song in Dylan's catalogue being official or bootleg, and every single photograph or footage of the real man, some of the most affecting moments are the quietest. When Gere's Billy-variation-on-Bob surveys the vast unpopulated wilderness beneath him from a high mountain trail a notion of what Greil Marcus called the "Invisible Republic" can be sensed. That however is the musing of a Dylanologist like myself - someone who can't quote Bob chapter and verse may find that and other sequences slow and hard to decipher. Man, I pity those people.

Cate Blanchet as Jude has the most amusing and electric (yep, I went there) material and her presence in the black and white as-if-filmed-by-Fellini mid-60's montages never falters. As many have remarked she may look and act the most like Dylan - at that particular time that is. She has obviously studied DON'T LOOK BACK so she has every mannerism perfected -right down to the handling of a cigarette and the frantic on-stage flailing of arms. Blanchett's Jude is the most hostile and cornered of all the Dylans. If you've seen NO DIRECTION HOME or have at least heard the leering lyrical equivalent to acid being thrown into a former lover's face ditty "Positively 4th Street" - you may have an inkling why.Ben Whishaw as Arthur is the Bob with the least impact and screen-time. He simply recites carefully chosen media-taunting cryptic one liners from the public record. While the quotes are good - he's my vote for the weakest link here. Ledger's section (or sections as the structure gets broken up quite frequently) in which he plays an actor playing Bob (or actually Jack - Christian Bale's character) has a lot of merit with its discomforting domestic bliss breakdown and break-up intertwined with a Vietnam war time-frame but it's not as well visualized and vital as Blanchett's or even Gere's portions. Marcus Carl Franklin's bits are achingly sweet and for the youngest player here - his assured poise transcends any thought of gimmick casting. Other than the Dylans, the supporting cast is splendid - David Cross as Allen Ginsberg, Julianne Moore wonderfully mimics Joan Baez, and Bruce Greenword beautifully personifies the over-educated but still clueless interviewer / interrogator Mr. Jones from Dylan's classic "Ballad Of A Thin Man".

Filled with mostly Bob originals and a number of great sharp covers, the soundtrack * is spectacular but that's far from surprising. What is surprising is how this perverse take on the bio-pic formula works so damn well and how hypnotic its effect is. One shouldn't go see it to make sense of the myths or to put into any concrete cinematic context the life of Bob Dylan (director/writer Todd Haynes knew going in that that's impossible) but if one views it like a piece of modern art - where you have to squint to make certain parts focus and you have to open your eyes wide to see how distorted the details really are - they are certain to get more than just mere glimpses at greatness.

* As I suspected the bulk of the covers that make up the 2 disc so-called soundtrack (previously reviewed - Film Babble Blog 11/10/07 I'M NOT THERE Soundtrack Is Where It's At) are not featured in the movie. The amount of original Dylan recordings used could make up a nice alternate/actually accurate soundtrack - hey, now there's an idea for a great CDR comp!

More later...

I'M NOT THERE Soundtrack Is Where It's At

"There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice.
I don't remember who I was or where I was bound."
- Bob Dylan (from "Brownsville Girl" - Knock Out Loaded, 1986)

So with less 2 weeks to go til one of the most anticipated movies of year (at least by me), I'M NOT THERE comes to my area (it's released here Nov. 21st) I thought I'd post a review of the spectacular soundtrack to this film which is largely known by the masses as the film in which Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan (see above pic). It seemingly has a lot more to offer than just that - from this soundtrack alone it appears to have something for everybody. So hey ho - let's go:

I'm Not There (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack produced by Randall Poster, Jim Dunbarm and Todd Haynes) Dylan covers (and collections of such) have been commonplace ever since the era when he first became a household name. Some are the product of a an artist or a band showing off their hipster literary chops (Judy Collins, Bryan Ferry, The Byrds, The Hollies, Odetta, etc.), some are of various artists under a genre categorization (Is It Rolling Bob?: – A Reggae Tribute, Tangled Up In Bluegrass: A Tribute To Dylan, and Dylan Country), and some are artists not content just to cover a single song – they cover full albums like Mary Lee’s Corvette’s version of Blood On The Tracks or they cover entire concerts – like Robyn Hitchcock’s faithful re-recreation of the incredible 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert. So what’s so special about the new soundtrack from I’M NOT THERE? Well, it has great new renditions of Bob classics from modern as well as old timey acts that form a narrative over the 2 disc collection seemingly inspired by the film, it has Bob’s approval, and most importantly it has Bob himself on the 40 year-old never before released title track. But more about that song later.

This new batch of Dylan interpretations features a veritable who’s-who of the recent respected rock scene - Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth, Calexico, Cat Power, Iron & Wine, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, the Black Keys, and so on. From the old guard – Roger McGuinn, Richie Havens, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Willie Nelson show their hands on the table admirably and perform alongside their younger counter-parts fluidly (Nelson and McGuinn are backed by Calexico). John Doe from the legendary L.A. punk band X has one of the collection's most show-stopping numbers – “Pressing On”. One of Dylan’s most overlooked Gospel era songs is presented with such soulful gruff conviction that it is sure to elevate the scene in which Christian Bale lip-syncs it (I’ve seen the clip and it does).

Film babble favorites Yo La Tengo put in a rowdy blazing take on “I Wanna Be Your Lover” and a plantive pretty “Fourth Time Around” as well. Stephen Malkmus of Pavement has 3 songs (including the subtlety-on-fire “Ballad Of A Thin Man”) with the soundtrack house band ( The Million Dollar Bashers *) - all of which sound more relaxed and rocking than he has in years. Mason Jennings, a young folk singer from Bob’s home state of Minnesota, does 2 Bob songs, one of which has been covered to death – “The Times They Are A Changing” but it doesn’t seem so when he sings it. Just about everyone else (including Los Lobos, Mark Lanegen, Charlotte Gainesbourg, and The Hold Steady) clock in with nice Bob tributes. Only one or two miss the mark like Eddie Vedder’s “All Along The Watchtower” (talk about overdone !) which has him repeating the last lines over and over in such an unnecessary fashion - to be fair Neil Young and Chrissie Hynde have done the same thing in their covers of the song but it's just more obnoxious when Vedder does it!

* The Million Dollar Bashers feature Steve Shelley, Tony Ganier (long-time Dylan bassist), John Medeski, Tom Verlaine, Lee Ranaldo, Smokey Hormel, and Nels Cline.

What makes this disc worth buying alone is the original 1967 title track originally named “I’m Not There (1956)”. It has been available only to the connoisseurs of bootleg Dylan – it came from The Basement Tapes – the informal demos Bob made with the Band in Saugerties, NY while he was supposedly recovering from his alleged motorcycle accident. To be honest the sound quality on this first official release of the song is not that much better than the bootlegs I’ve heard over the years - seems like some of those hardcore Bob fanatics know a little about re-mastering. This is despite that this new mix comes from the master - long hoarded by Neil Young on his ranch since the time of tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming. It’s ballsy for Todd Haynes to title his unconventional biopic after an unreleased song only known to mostly hardcore Dylan fans - even ballsier to name it after such an unfinished unreleased song. That’s right – there are lines in which Bob hums or inserts what he later called “dummy lyrics” – line fillers until the real line was worked out but as history tells us - that never happened. It doesn’t matter though – the song, even unfinished, is as mystic and enveloping as any in his catalogue. A series of murky declarations set against a hazy bar-room organ background it seems at first listen to be impenetrable; every further listen renders it sublime.

It’s funny - Sonic Youth usually deconstruct musical norms, but here in their cover of the title track “I’m Not There” (yes, it appears twice here - in Dylan’s original and in this cover) they reconstruct an unfinished song as best as they can and like Malkmus’s tracks it’s one of their most recent likable efforts. As the booklet for the seminal Scorsese doc NO DIRECTION HOME said “this is not a soundtrack in the traditional sense” - this is an amazing amalgam of many diverse styles to form one big picture and that bodes very well for this reportedly grand but off kilter biopic. One of the only true to the soundtrack sense-of-being renderings is Marcus Carl Franklin’s (known among the 7 actors playing Dylan as the little black kid) magnificent “When The Ship Comes In.” Since by all reports the film is full of Bob originals this soundtrack appears to be more of a ‘inspired by’ compilation but I can’t vouch for that until I actually see it. When I do – you’ll be the first to know.

This post is dedicated to Norman Mailer (January 31, 1923-November 10, 2007). Yesterday on Wikipedia it said that among the literary highlights of his illustrious career he had co-written episodes of the 70's buddy cop show Starsky And Hutch. This is unconfirmed by IMDb and yeah, I know the changing nature of the Wiki-reliability. Turns out it was somebody's joke as that tidbit is gone today. Whew! That's a relief - the thought that the author of The Naked And The Dead wrote dialogue for Huggy Bear would take a lot to process.

Another funny thing recently removed from Wikipedia (on the grounds that it was too trivial) - "In the film SLEEPER Woody Allen is shown a picture of Mailer, Allen confirms his identity and states that Mailer donated his ego to the Harvard Medical School."

R.I.P. Mr. Mailer.

More later...

The Sopranos - GOODFELLAS: The TV Show?

A few days ago I finally caught up with the 12 million Americans who watched the series finale of The Sopranos last July. It was hard to avoid hearing how it ended because it became a part of the National dialogue - I mean even Hillary Clinton spoofed it in a campaign ad!



For those of you who like me don't have HBO and held out from downloading it from torrent sites and haven't gotten the DVD set that was released last week - don't worry. I won't give anything away about the controversial last scene except that Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) can't parallel park to save her life and the Soprano family (Tony, Carmella, and A.J.) devour their onion rings whole rather than taking small bites. No surprise there. 



What was surprising is how much the scene left on the table and angered a lot of people because of it. I loved it though - the beautiful manipulation of the cutting and the use of Journey (quoted above) were glorious touches.





It's well known that The Sopranos owes a lot (maybe everything) to Martin Scorsese's amazing mob movie classic GOODFELLAS (1990). Creator David Chase once said that "GOODFELLAS was the Qur'ān for me". Even the opening credits are done in the same style. Ray Liotta was reportedly offered the role of Tony Soprano but thankfully he turned it down. It's difficult to imagine anyone else but James Gandofini playing the part and that connection may have been too much. Still, the connection is too strong to deny especially with Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico and Vincent Pastore being just 4 out of the over 2 dozen actors who have been in both GOODFELLAS and The Sopranos (See below). 

Unlike THE GODFATHER series which is referred to so many times that the characters mention the movies by their Roman numerals (I, II, III obviously) and watch bootlegs of the series in the days before Paramount released it on DVD, The Sopranos appears to take place in the same universe as GOODFELLAS. This is despite the fact that the film is name-checked by Christopher (Michael Imperioli) who lists it as one of his screenwriting inspirations when he's taking a acting class. To my recollection that is the only time it's mentioned. 



If I'm wrong - that's what the Comments below are for.

If GOODFELLAS is the Qur'ān then Martin Scorsese is God which is what I've been saying on this blog the whole time! The second episode "46 Long" (1999) has Scorsese played by Anthony Caso (who was in GOODFELLAS as a truck hi-jacker) going into a club. From the crowd on the sidelines Christopher yells out "Hey! KUNDUN! I liked it!" 



One of all time favorite moments in the series. Christopher tries to show off that he's a hardcore fan by loudly acknowledging one of the man's least appreciated and little seen works. Kind of like if I saw Bob Dylan and yelled at him "Hey! "Knocked Out Loaded"! I didn't think it sucked!" Scorsese is mentioned usually by first name throughout the series as when Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) muses in one of the last episodes about Christopher's slasher movie-within-a-TV-show "Cleaver" - "Christopher was the last person I'd confuse with Marty but it wasn't bad."

So to really get a hold on this whole thing we gotta take a good look at the players - 



The GOODFELLAS/Sopranos Master Crossover Cast List:





"GOODFELLAS spawned The Sopranos - you know, the Mob can be quirky and funny and real and accessible. If you look at the main cast of The Sopranos about half of those you can see in GOODFELLAS."
- Director Joe Carnahan (BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS AND OCTANE) from the featurette MADE MEN - THE GOODFELLAS LEGACY on the GOODFELLAS Special Edition DVD - 2005. 



Yep, there are a lot of familiar faces in said film/TV show though as you'll see many of them appear only in the background of nightclubs or in crowd scenes at receptions and restaurants.






Frank Adonis: (pictured on the left) A veteran of many Mob-related movies (KING OF NEW YORK, GHOST DOG, FIND ME GUILTY, etc.) usually playing a guy named Frank, Adonis played Anthony Stabile in GOODFELLAS (GF) and Guest #1 (see what I mean?) on the episode "House Arrest" (2000) of The Sopranos (TS). 



Frank Albanese: Played Mob Lawyer in GF and Uncle Pat Bludetto in four episodes from 2004 to 2007 on TS. 




Anthony Alessandro: This unlucky backgrounder was never given a name - he's just part of Henry's 60's crew in GF and a waiter in TS! Poor bastard. 




Vito Antuofermo: Prizefighter in GF and Bobby Zanone on 2 TS episodes - 2000-2001.






Tobin Bell: Jigsaw from the SAW movies! Yep, this guy's credits are extensive and impressive - he's always the heavy or a crucial creep (He even played Ted Kaczynski in a TV movie!). He's a Parole Officer in GF and Major Zwingli on TS. I also fondly remember him as Ron - the record store owner who refuses Kramer and Newman's business on Seinfeld ("The Old Man" - 1993).







Lorraine Bracco: Like Liotta turned down the Role of Tony, Bracco turned down the part of Carmella Soprano because she felt it was too similar to the character of housewife Karen Hill in GF. She took instead Dr. Jennifer Melfi - the psychiatrist that attempts to treat Tony throughout the show's run. Though Dr. Melfi does very much have a different dynamic to Karen - the motions that she goes through - her dropping him and taking him back as a patient again and again seems definitely rooted in that seminal scene in GF in which Henry Hill hands Karen a bloody gun. Karen: "I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn't. I've got to admit the truth. It turned me on." 



Nicole Burdette: Carbone's girlfriend (that's her actual credit) in GF is given a name - Barbara Giglione and a nice 5 episode run on TS - 2000-2001. 



Gene Canfield: Plays a prison guard in GF and a cop in TS. A look at his filmography on IMDb shows that "Detective" comes up the most. Nice that he stays on the right side of the law, isn't it? 



Anthony Caso: Like I wrote above this guy oddly portrayed Scorsese on an early episode of TS. I thought it was Scorsese for years but from what I've read he's barely seen the show. Maybe he has too strong a "been there, done that" feeling.
 



Nancy Cassaro: Joanne Moltisanti was a incidental female family member (seen mostly only at occasions like weddings and funerals) on TS played by 2 different GOODFELLAS actresses. See also Marriane Leone. 



John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia: One of Batts' Crew (credited as #1 to be precise) in GF, Ciarcia played Albie Cianflone - Phil Leotardo's (Frank Vincent) 1st hand man in the last season of TS. 



Victor Colicchio: Another guy on the sidelines - one more of Henry's 60's crew in GF and a guy named Joe in an early TS episode. 



Daniel P. Conte: I gotta like this guy because he almost always plays characters named Dan - Dr. Dan in both GF and CASINO, and Danny in THE DELI. However on TS for 3 episodes in the final season he was Faustino 'Doc' Santoro.






Tony Darrow: (pictured on the right) As restauranter Sonny Bunz, Darrow has one of my favorite lines in GF - "he looked at me like I was half a fag or something!" He parlays that same kind of charm (or lack of it) into Larry Boy Barase on 14 episodes of TS (1999-2007). 



Joseph Gannascoli: Uncredited but listed on IMDb as "Guy who walks downstairs at Paulie's house" in GF. Got a much more substantial role as Vito Spatafore in 40 episodes of TS 1999-2006. 



Paul Herman:  Just a Dealer in GF but got named as Beansie Gaeta in 5 episodes of TS - 2000-2007.






Michael Imperioli: (Pictured on the left) Probably the most connected cast member here because his small but piviotal part as young lackey 'Spider' is one of the most memorable characters in GF. Spider gets shot in the foot then later whacked by Tommy (Joe Pesci) in one of the most powerful scenes in the picture. As Christopher Moltisanti on TS, Imperioli is able to pay homage to his former personage - in an early episode he shoots a young guy at the bakery in the foot and the guy yells "you shot me in the foot!" Chris: "it happens." 



Marianne Leone: see Nancy Cassaro. 



Gaetano LoGiudice: Talk about incidental - yet another member of Henry's '60s crew in GF and only listed as Bada Bing Patron, Guest at Wake, and VIP Room Guest on TS. 



Chuck Low: Annoying wig salesman Morrie Kessler in GF and Hasidic hotel owner Shlomo Teitlemann in TS. 



Vincent Pastore: Credited as "Man w/Coatrack" in GF - Think I'll have to watch it again. Don't remember seeing him. As Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero in 30 episodes of TS, 1999-2007 he's unmissable. 



Frank Pellegrino: Johnny Dio in GF, Agent Frank Cubitosi - 12 episodes, 1999-2004. 



Angela Pietropinto: Paulie's Wife in GF, Helen Barone - 1 episode of TS (2006)





Suzanne Shepherd: Karen's mother in GF, Mary De Angelis in 20 episodes of TS - 2000-2007)






Tony Sirico: (Pictured on the right) Another major connection. Though he has a very small part only in the opening sequence as Tony Stacks in GF it's such a glaring smiling mug he has that it resonates through to his immaculate performance of Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in 82 eipsodes of TS. A real hood back in the day, Sirico has carved quite a career out of his post Wise guy life. Nobody can scowl quite like him.






Frank Vincent: As Billy Bats in GF he gave the world a great catch-phrase - "why don't you go home and get your shine-box!" in his tension-teasing taunting of Tommy (Pesci). His character of Phil Leotardo on TS seems rooted in Bats' ballsiness. Of course looking at his other gruff work in DO THE RIGHT THING, COP LAND, and other Scorsese works like CASINO and RAGING BULL (in which his character's name was Salvy Batts by the way) that may just be all Vincent. 



I won't go into detail on the music angle because I wrote a piece last year on the use of music in the movies of Martin Scorsese: Exile On Mean Street (Oct. 22, 2006). It was mostly from a Stones angle but touched on the scorching soundtrack selections that enhance his oeuvre overall. 



The Sopranos builds on this by also featuring impeccable taste with an amazing synching of situations with the most perfect song. From Nick Lowe's "The Beast In Me" in the pilot through the retro-lounge replayings of Sinatra and the moralizing of Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" to the final cryptic but gorgeously overwrought Journey anthem quoted above every choice was dead on. 



Ultimately, though I felt it would make a good blog post heading, to label The Sopranos as GOODFELLAS: The TV Show would be a gross simplification. While certainly built on Scorsese's blueprint it has established its own identity and presented sometimes a deeper context to the consequences and the mundanity of the daily routines,  the show certainly spent a lot more time in hospitals than the fast paced world of GOODFELLAS allowed. 



I'm just thankful to The Sopranos because it gave us room to spend more time with those themes and some of the same people whether at the breakfast table in the morning or at the clubs at night. 



Since like many I loved GOODFELLAS so much I was sorry to see it end and with The Sopranos it felt like it didn't have to.



Now that we've got both the special edition GOODFELLAS (have you heard the commentary the real Henry Hill did with former FBI Agent Edward McDonald? It's awesome T!) and the 86 episodes of The Sopranos on the shelve we can just focus on the good times. So don't stop... (cut to black) 



More later...

The Magnificent Andy-Clones

“Andy Warhol looks a scream, hang him on my wall. Andy Warhol, Silver Screen, Can't tell them apart at all.” - David Bowie (“Andy Warhol" off the album Hunky Dory - 1971)

Pop-art pioneer (and filmmaker - though the worth of his cinematic output is highly debatable) Andy Warhol has been portrayed by a host of notable actors since his death in 1987. The latest was Guy Pearce earlier this year in the Edie Sedgwick bio-pic FACTORY GIRL (newly released on DVD and reviewed below). How does Pearce rate compared to the other Andys? Well, let's see...we'll start off with:



Crispin Glover in THE DOORS (Dir. Oliver Stone, 1991) Definitely the best Andy though the next contender comes close, Glover scores because he is in real life almost as eccentric and creepy as Warhol was. Appearing very briefly in an extremely caricaturized version of the Factory scene Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer) in his usual stoned haze stumbles upon Andy holding court and fondling a gold telephone - "Somebody gave me this telephone... I think it was Edie... yeah it was Edie... and she said I could talk to God with it, but uh... I don't have anything to say... so here...this is for you...now you can talk to God." Morrison takes the phone but doesn't make an attempt to speak to the Grand Deity - perhaps he knew he'd get his chance soon enough.



David Bowie in BASQUIAT (Dir. Julian Schnabel, 1996) With his incredibly informed interpretation (he even wore some of Andy's actual wigs) of Warhol's mannerisms Bowie benefited from actually personally knowing the man. Though from everything I've ever read possibly nobody really personally ever knew the man. Bowie's performance is all verbal ticks and unctuous posing framed by a laid-back lackadaisical hands-off approach. Warhol reportedly hated Bowie's song "Andy Warhol" (quoted at the top of this blog post) but something tells me he would've been honored by this depiction. He probably would've thought Bowie made him look fabulous.





Jarred Harris in I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (Dir. Mary Hurrin, 1996) This movie perhaps has the most accurate, or at least most believable, simulation of the Factory scene. Extra points for casting indeliable indie-rockers Yo La Tengo to play The Velvet Underground too. Harris has quite a bit more energy than the others in his characterization of Warhol but it's convincing and captivating at the same time. Dealing with the odd assassination attempt by radical feminist and sociopath Valerie Solanas (played by Lili Taylor) the film, despite a non-endorsement from Lou Reed, made quite a case for how Warhol's smug indifference to the violent nature of the turbulent times could be deadly.



Gregory Sullivan in 54 (Dir. Michael Christopher, 1998) This isn't really a performance - more like a costume party likeness. That is almost any pale skinny bloke can don the glasses and astronaut-silver wig and pull off a Warhol impression. Especially in the crowd scenes that dominate this empty as Hell misreading of historical decadence.



Mark Bringleson - AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (Dir. Jay Roach, 1997) Ditto. It's a throwaway fake cameo - nothing more.



And the rest : Warhol was also played by Bob Swain in DEATH BECOMES HER (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1992), Sergio De Beukelaer in ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS (Dir. Tom Barman, 2003), Todd Boyco in DRUG-TAKING AND THE ARTS (Dir. Strom Thorgerson, 1994), and Allen Midgette in CALDO SOFFOCANTE (translation - SUFFOCATING HEAT - Dir. Giovanna Gagliardo, 1991) which I haven't seen but the guy was in actual Warhol movies like LONESOME COWBOYS (1968) so maybe it's worth a look.



So again, how does the new guy Guy Pearce rate as Warhol? Let's take a look at the evidence:





FACTORY GIRL (Dir. George Hickenlooper, 2006) "You're the boss, apple sauce" Pearce as Warhol says early on to Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) and that stands as some of the only believable dialogue in this glossy mess of a movie. Sedgwick was indeed a sad victim of 60's excess and her story could make an engrossing and profound film - but this sure isn't it. Despite the use of period methods like split screen and tilted angles - the aesthetic is purely TV movie quality and we're never convinced that we're anywhere but the current day with actors playing dress up.



The basic story is this - ambitious girl comes to the big city and falls into the wrong crowd and dies because of it. Got it? 'Cause there's nothing else going on here. I mean, the only artistic analogy this film tries to make is that Edie is like one of Andy's silver pillow balloons that floated away from his fragile Factory scene. This is displayed in a none too subtle shot of one of said balloons drifting upwards in the New York sky. Is that all you got in your bag of tricks, Hickenlooper?



Bob Dylan lobbied against this movie and wouldn't allow his name or music to be used so we have Hayden Christensen playing a character only billed as "musician" and referred to as "Billy Quinn" though a shot of a newspaper article has him called "Tommy Quinn". That's just one of the many things this film gets wrong. Dylan was right to protest (was he ever wrong to protest?) - the dialogue Christensen spouts is embarrassing and unfathomable that Dylan ever said such garbage : case in point - "Lady, you don't know shit about shit."



I get and appreciate that the premise is that Dylan offered a way out of the Warhol dungeon that Edie stupidly refused and that led to her downfall. It's just that it's such a simplistic dumbing down of their legacy that it leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth. But wait, what about Pearce as Warhol - the conceit of this entire blog-post? He's very good - maybe the saving grace of the entire project. I'd rate him between Bowie and Jarred Harris. He obviously did his homework. But back to the film - as Miller (who does more than a passable performance - the film's failings are far from her fault) as Sedgewick says at one point in the film "Andy took ordinary objects and made them iconic" - FACTORY GIRL, a misguided attempt to make a pop-art ALL ABOUT EVE, takes icons (Sedgwick, Warhol, Dylan) and makes them ordinary. Before seeing it I would have thought that would be impossible. I stand corrected.



Postnotes : I can't leave without mentioning that Warhol actually appeared in some films (always as himself) - in DYNAMITE CHICKEN (Dir. Ernest Pintoff, 1972) with Richard Pryor, TOOTSIE (Dir. Sydney Pollack, 1982), and BLANK GENERATION (Dir. Ulli Lommel, 1980) to name a few. As for television he did a fair share of guest shots - he even did an episode of The Love Boat for Christ sakes!



Also I have to mention that Hank Azaria voiced Warhol in a brief surreal dream bit on The Simpsons. I doubt when Warhol conceived his famous quote "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes" he factored in the effect that a few seconds on the pop-culture juggernaut that is The Simpsons could have. To be fair he later amended the line to "In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous." Today that line is more apt.



More later...

Subterranean Homesick Redux Blues

"If you want to laugh at a movie, may I recommend A DAY AT THE RACES starring the Marx Brothers, ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN starring Frankenstein, THE THIN MAN - William Powell and Myrna Loy, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, BORN YESTERDAY - Broderick Crawford and Judy Holliday, Billy Wilder's cross dressing classic SOME LIKE IT HOT and of course we can't leave out Ben Stiller in ZOOLANDER. I hear they're making a sequel." - Bob Dylan on his Theme Time Radio Hour - Laughter Edition (broadcast: 2/7/07)

Nice to have some comedy movie recommendations from Bob, isn't it? On the occasion of a release of a new Special Edition DVD of DON'T LOOK BACK, D.A. Pennebaker's ground breaking documentary of Dylan's UK solo tour in 1965, I thought it was a good time to pay tribute to it's immortal opening scene with a piece I call:




Subterranean Homesick Redux Blues

Here are 5 homages/parodies/rip-offs of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” short film (some call the first music video ever, but I’m not going there) with it’s card dropping, back alley in the broad-daylight basking, indifferent i.e. ‘cool’ posing put-offing, and funny word playing is a major pop-point of reference as evidenced here: 




1. BOB ROBERTS (Dir. Tim Robbins, 1992)




In many ways, Right-wing folk-singing Senatorial candidate Bob Roberts's career obviously apes Bob's (for example albums titled "The Freewheelin' Bob Roberts" and "The Times Are Changin' Back") so it's no surprise that the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" scene is satirized. Re-casting it as a glitzy pro-'80s corporate greed spectacle complete with Robert Palmer dancing girls and business men carrying bags of money is pure genius though. It's the kind of song you could imagine Gordon Gekko rocking out to.



2. Weird Al Yankovic: “Bob” (Music Video, 003) 

At first glance this is like any old parody of black & white Ginsberg-era Dylan but when you realize that every card contains a palindrome it’s quite a clever treat. Some are quite funny - “Lisa Bonet ate no basil", "a dog a panic in a pagoda", "do nine men interpret? nine men I nod" and "oozy rat in a sanitary zoo". Click on the the highlighted title and enjoy before YouTube removes it.



3. INXS: “Need You Tonight/Mediate” (Music video - 1987) 



In the “Mediate” bit of this double song video Michael Hutchence and fellow band members take turns tossing off stacks of cards with the mostly one-word lines to the song with the backdrop of some industrial lot on an overcast day. 



The ‘60s revival of the '80s was in full swing - witness the peace symbol t-shirt worn by Kirk Pengilly when he comes in to give a saxophone solo at the end.




4. Curiousity Killed the Cat: “Misfit” (Music video, 1986) Couldn’t find this on YouTube but pop-art God Andy Warhol himself fills Bob’s shoes and lends his particular brand of indifference to the card-dropping shtick. This time though in the popiest-artsiest sense the cards are blank! Maybe it’s pay-back for the time Warhol gave Dylan one of his paintings and Bob traded it for a couch. Ooops!

5. LOVE ACTUALLY 
(Dir. Richard Curtis, 2003) Yep, even a rom com got in on the act. Mark (Andrew Lincoln) declares his hidden feelings for Juliet (Keira Knightley) by holding up and of course dropping cards that line-by-line (with some pictures) form a love letter. Okay, so - it’s not that subterranean…

More later...