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Ross (3282 KP) rated All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology by Jerry Lee Lewis in Music
Jun 1, 2020
Rolling Stone's 245th greatest album of all time
Unsettling collection of songs from one of the stars of rock and roll. While his big hits are all here, there is a jarring change in style throughout the album as it includes some of his later country music releases. Not a great listen due to its inconsistency, it is hard to see how any fans of either style would be satisfied.
Blaine Harrison recommended track Morning by Beck in Morning Phase by Beck in Music (curated)
Erika (17788 KP) rated Yellow Rose (2019) in Movies
Oct 18, 2020 (Updated Oct 18, 2020)
Luckily, I had a free ticket for another theater chain, so I was able to see this in theaters (I was the only one there).
My initial interest in the film stemmed from it being filmed in Austin, where I live. The story is about a teenage, Filipino girl and her mother, both of whom are undocumented. When customs and immigration pick up Rose's mother, she escapes to Austin from Bastrop (EW). Rose dreams of being a country singer, and ends up making music with Dale Watson, who's a well known Texas Country artist.
That's basically the story, and yes, perfectible, it ends the exact way you imagine it to end. The music is good, and Eva Noblezada, the actress that plays Rose, has an amazing singing voice.
To answer the question as to what the title means - yes, it's racist, and a nickname Rose got when she initially sang at school. BTW, the myth of the 'Yellow Rose' is one from history, supposedly, a woman was sent in as a spy by the Texas army during the revolution, and she... distracted Santa Anna, the general of the Mexican army. There's no actual evidence, but it's incredibly believable.
Anyway, this was a great movie, with good music, and a tight running time.
My initial interest in the film stemmed from it being filmed in Austin, where I live. The story is about a teenage, Filipino girl and her mother, both of whom are undocumented. When customs and immigration pick up Rose's mother, she escapes to Austin from Bastrop (EW). Rose dreams of being a country singer, and ends up making music with Dale Watson, who's a well known Texas Country artist.
That's basically the story, and yes, perfectible, it ends the exact way you imagine it to end. The music is good, and Eva Noblezada, the actress that plays Rose, has an amazing singing voice.
To answer the question as to what the title means - yes, it's racist, and a nickname Rose got when she initially sang at school. BTW, the myth of the 'Yellow Rose' is one from history, supposedly, a woman was sent in as a spy by the Texas army during the revolution, and she... distracted Santa Anna, the general of the Mexican army. There's no actual evidence, but it's incredibly believable.
Anyway, this was a great movie, with good music, and a tight running time.
Niten. NR (75 KP) rated Crazy Heart (2009) in Movies
Jul 30, 2017
Jeff Bridges (4 more)
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Coin Farrell
Robert Duvall
Soundtrack (Ryan Bingham's song especially)
"This ain't no place for the weary kind"
What an amazing film, superb acting from Jeff Bridges but, also from Gyllenhaal, Farrell and Duvall. The soundtrack to this film was ever so important and it goes a long way to help to make the film so special.
Bridges plays Bad Blake, a down on his luck country music legend, Bad is in a drunken, dark and lonely place but lucky for us, we get to see a transformation, and one that I can't see anyone else, other than Jeff Bridges pulling off so well.
Go all country and watch Crazy Heart you hear? You'll not regret it!
Bridges plays Bad Blake, a down on his luck country music legend, Bad is in a drunken, dark and lonely place but lucky for us, we get to see a transformation, and one that I can't see anyone else, other than Jeff Bridges pulling off so well.
Go all country and watch Crazy Heart you hear? You'll not regret it!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Wild Rose (2018) in Movies
Apr 16, 2019 (Updated Apr 16, 2019)
A Star is Paroled, More Like
Scottish-set take on the same kind of material as A Star is Born features a terrific performance (both acting and musical) from Jessie Buckley, and much less material about people falling in love or weeing themselves on stage. Talented but off-the-rails young woman comes out of prison, tries to reconnect with her mother and children, plans (not very realistically) to go to Nashville and become a country star. (The point is repeatedly made that country music is not the same as country and western music, but this is possibly not the venue to be pedantic in.) Features a cameo by Whispering Bob Harris, who gives an oddly unconvincing performance even though he's playing himself.
Buckley is tremendous, as noted, but Julie Walters is equally good as her disapproving mum (no singing from Walters, though); the film plays engagingly with audience expectations and - to its credit - resists the temptation to suggest there are easy answers to life's questions. It works really hard to earn its moments of triumph and joy: there is some real heartbreak along the way, and the film suggests that while being dedicated to your dreams is all very well, it can also make you a horrible person to be around. Cheats a bit at the very end, but has earned the right to by that point, I would say.
Buckley is tremendous, as noted, but Julie Walters is equally good as her disapproving mum (no singing from Walters, though); the film plays engagingly with audience expectations and - to its credit - resists the temptation to suggest there are easy answers to life's questions. It works really hard to earn its moments of triumph and joy: there is some real heartbreak along the way, and the film suggests that while being dedicated to your dreams is all very well, it can also make you a horrible person to be around. Cheats a bit at the very end, but has earned the right to by that point, I would say.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You'd Be Mine in Books
Apr 4, 2019
I was so excited to read this book, because I love country music with all my heart, especially some of the older music that Hahn weaves into this book. I read this on the heels of WHEN IT'S REAL and couldn't help but compare the two. I fell hard for REAL. My reaction for MINE varied, though I still enjoyed it a lot; for sure, the two--while romances--are very dissimilar in many ways.
This book has some really dark tones to it, and both Clay and Annie are struggling with some major demons. Each have dealt with some major sadness in their lives, and Annie's past with her parents is honestly just awful. As a result, this isn't a light, fluffy romance, and it has some surprising emotional depth to it and its characters. Annie, especially, is really easy to like and to root for.
"Everything in me speaks music with a fluent tongue. Surely it's genetic, but my parents certainly haven't done me any favors. If anything, their deaths nearly killed the music in my soul."
As I said, I quite enjoyed the music aspect of the book. Not just the country music part, but the overall fact that the book is centered around a tour. It's really fun to get glimpses into tour life--especially since everyone is so young. Pretty crazy how much responsibility and freedom they all have. There's also a lot of songwriting and emotions displayed through songwriting, which I loved. (Side note: As a child, I always dreamed of being a country singer-songwriter. This was probably due to my intense love of Mary Chapin Carpenter, which lives on to this day. Alas, I cannot carry a tune or read music, so this dream has yet to come to fruition.)
"That's the glorious thing about music. It speaks to the very heart of things in the most absolute and obtrusive way."
The one hard thing for me was that the book got rather repetitive in the middle with both Clay and Annie going on about how they were wrong for each other. It seemed to stall the plot for a while, as I felt like we were waiting for a bit for something to happen. Yes, we realize each was damaged, but it seemed like the book hit on that just a little too much/too often for a while.
Still, this was a really good read. It's very emotional and honestly heartbreaking at times. If you're a music buff, I think you'll enjoy it even more, because of all the musical scenes and songs woven into the book. The characters are very real and go through a lot. There's no insta-romance, and you will root for Annie and Clay, even though you'll want things to move along a bit in the middle. I totally cried at the end, which is a major sign that Hahn did a good job. 3.75 stars, rounded to 4.
This book has some really dark tones to it, and both Clay and Annie are struggling with some major demons. Each have dealt with some major sadness in their lives, and Annie's past with her parents is honestly just awful. As a result, this isn't a light, fluffy romance, and it has some surprising emotional depth to it and its characters. Annie, especially, is really easy to like and to root for.
"Everything in me speaks music with a fluent tongue. Surely it's genetic, but my parents certainly haven't done me any favors. If anything, their deaths nearly killed the music in my soul."
As I said, I quite enjoyed the music aspect of the book. Not just the country music part, but the overall fact that the book is centered around a tour. It's really fun to get glimpses into tour life--especially since everyone is so young. Pretty crazy how much responsibility and freedom they all have. There's also a lot of songwriting and emotions displayed through songwriting, which I loved. (Side note: As a child, I always dreamed of being a country singer-songwriter. This was probably due to my intense love of Mary Chapin Carpenter, which lives on to this day. Alas, I cannot carry a tune or read music, so this dream has yet to come to fruition.)
"That's the glorious thing about music. It speaks to the very heart of things in the most absolute and obtrusive way."
The one hard thing for me was that the book got rather repetitive in the middle with both Clay and Annie going on about how they were wrong for each other. It seemed to stall the plot for a while, as I felt like we were waiting for a bit for something to happen. Yes, we realize each was damaged, but it seemed like the book hit on that just a little too much/too often for a while.
Still, this was a really good read. It's very emotional and honestly heartbreaking at times. If you're a music buff, I think you'll enjoy it even more, because of all the musical scenes and songs woven into the book. The characters are very real and go through a lot. There's no insta-romance, and you will root for Annie and Clay, even though you'll want things to move along a bit in the middle. I totally cried at the end, which is a major sign that Hahn did a good job. 3.75 stars, rounded to 4.