I disagree, I think Blues Brothers is way better then Cadillac Records & Crossroads. Also, Black Snake Moan has a blues soundtrack & some music playing scenes but its not about making blues music like the others you named. So would any movie with a blues music soundtrack be a blues movie?
well black snake moan even has little footage of son house talkin. plus all the music that sam jackson played. an the movie is about what the blues is about. "a good man feelin bad thinkin about the woman he once was with". blues brothers is just an over hyped trendy movie that had nothin to do with the blues, an it gives people a sterotype about what a blueman should look like. an the movie is a comedy.
I recently rented a blues movie called Honeydripper. It stars Danny Glover as the owner of a southern juke joint struggling to suvive. Delta bluesman Arthur Williams has a small role as the harp player in Eddie Shaw's band. Some people might find the movie slow but I really enjoyed it.
Last Edited by on Apr 04, 2009 9:19 AM
Has anyone seen "Sweet and Lowdown" it's not a blues movie, but it's a really cool movie about a musician. Sean penn's character has the most interesting attitude! especially of how he feels about himself (and woman)
You hate Blues Brothers? Well, now I feel like I ought to have picked a different handle for myself...
I thought it was all in the spirit of good fun, myself. I crack up every time I hear that line from the Redneck bar owner who tells the band, "We got both kinds of music: Country AND Western..."
By the way, I join oda in recommending 'Sweet and Lowdown' -- Woody Allen's period flick about a no-good son of a bitch who's gotta live with being the *second* greatest guitarist in the world (it's set in the time of Django Rheinhardt). But take this from a guy who's got a soft spot for the Blues Brothers...
ok well i dont "hate" blues brothers. it does have some funny parts to it, i just dont realy consider it a blues movie. an i dont like how when people think of the blues they think of two white guys dressed like agent smith + a hat.
check out "lightning in a bottle", if you havent seen it yet. it's a filmed concert on the history of the blues, Kim Wilson makes an appearance but otherwise not much harp content, having said that it is a damn good movie and worth every penny http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-in-a-Bottle/dp/B000TVJ4VQ ---------- My granddad gave me some sound advice on his deathbed. "It's worth spending money on good speakers," he told me.
"The Commitments". It ain't about the blues--it's about Soul (or a particular resurgance of Soul, more accurately)--but I love that movie... IMO, one of the best "music" movies out there.
I also just watch that Motown movie about The Temptations. It was on cable while I was at a hotel for a conference. It was pretty good, but perhaps not quite as enjoyable as Cadillac Records was for me.
Debbie does Dallas, Deep Throat, Shaving Ryan's Privates,
The list is endless....I know thousands of Blue Movies. The music is pretty bad in most of them though and the only instrument I can see being played is the pink oboe.
"Honey Dripper". This is a really good semi-recent movie about a struggling juke joint. Danny Glover is the lead. I don't recall any harp in it, but excellent guitar, and it's a good story.
The Martin Scorsese(sp?) series is also good. I threw the money for it and it's worth it.
"The Last Waltz" by The Band has an appearance by Muddy Waters. Otherwise, it's just great music by a great band with many other special guests (Dylan, etc.).
The Scorsese Documentaries are awesome, I'm sure you can get cheaper than $150 - I paid £15 for the box-set in the UK.
O' Brother Where Art Thou had some bluesey moments and is a wonderful movie.
Charlie Musselwhite and his missus have a cameo in a horror film called "Pig Hunt", but I think the film-makers are still looking for a distribution deal. There's a trailer online. Looks very violent and very silly, but nothing to do with the blues.
Last Edited by on Apr 06, 2009 11:02 AM
Also not a film in the theatrical sense. But, "Gunsmoke Blues" is a kind of documentary about blues musicians. George Smith, Muddy, Big Mama Thornton and Big Joe Turner. Actually, as documentaries go, it isn't so much one of those as a series of performance shots and footage from some live gigs from 1971.
Anyway, it's far better entertainment than anything Britney can put out with her panties on.
Crossroads is a great film seriously diminished by the casting of that wooden twat from the karate kid, The story line is great fun and the rest of the cast take a brilliant part but wood boy buggers it all to hell and back, (Actually that's a quite appropriate place for the film to go given the whole Robert Johnson story line),The film also features a cameo by the late great Frank Frost recently Honoured by Bushman with there Delta Frost harp. It's a great film flawed by one bad performance but the music is spot on and the guitar work (all of which is done by Steve Vie) makes it a must see movie
Last Edited by on Apr 06, 2009 3:23 PM
I totally agree, Geordie--could have been a really great movie--then they go put a creep in the lead role. Saying that wood boy made a bad film is the same thing as saying that wood boy made a film.
I'm sure you all know about "Pocket Full of Soul" that is supposed to come out soon - BUT WHEN. If not, it is a movie about the harmonica with several name artists like Kim Wilson. It is narrated by Huey Lewis. I think it is at pocketfullofsoul.com.
Sometimes the blues brothers gets a bad rap from blues purists. Probably because of the comedy aspect. Seems to me it's almost viewed as too commercialised to be real blues. That's now, but when it was made they thought it was going to flop because of the largely black cast which they didn't think was going to appeal to white audiences. The movie's songs are definitely blues tunes with some sang by true blues artists. The blues brothers band are some world class musicians and although dan ackroyd and john belushi don't have the best voices in the world, blues music is probably one of the best genres in the world where is more about the music than the quality of the singing voice. Some blues legends have voices that are pretty bloody awful. Besides which ackroyd and belushi are actors not musicians but ackroyd was a big blues fan and certainly gave the harp playing a good go. How many of these other movies have done so much to put a spotlight on blues music.. Although admittedly they should be shot for blues brothers 2000. What the hell was that all about?
I know the thread is about blues movie. But if you guys are interested in Mickey Rouke's "Angel Heart" there is a scene with Sugar Blue playing the harp (correct me if Im wrong though)
