Meanderings

It's been a rough couple of months for me and mine. I've been out of work for the last 8 weeks, which is frustrating and tiring and this morning I got yet another rejection and I'm feeling not so good.

But enough of the shitty stuff.

One of my friends took me out to the movies last week (I haven't been to see anything other than Serenity in such a long time that it felt a bit weird seeing something else on the big screen!!) and we saw Walk the Line.

Oh.My.Giddy.Aunt.

So fucking good.

I haven't heard that much Johnny Cash, though TheAmerican did put a couple of songs on a mixed CD he made for me (Cocaine Blues is a firecracker of a song, people. Just brilliant). However, knowing the little that I did, and having read about the Man in Black in various music magazines, I was well primed for the movie.

Holy shit.

Both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon owned their roles. It's always interesting seeing Joaquin Phoenix being interviewed - he's still got this childlike shyness about him. So his intense, terrifying, talented and ultimately redeemable Johnny Cash was a revelation - though there was the hint of childlike innocence to the characterisation.

And Reese Witherspoon went all out - I'd never seen or heard June Carter, but I never had the feeling that I was watching Reese Witherspoon impersonating someone, actively "acting".

And that's the thing about the whole movie. Ain't noone doin' it like it's an impersonation, or a tribute. Joaquin is living, breathing, channeling Johnny Cash - when he looks out, when he begins to sing, when he's desperate and clawing and sweating for his pills - that's all real, baby. Fucking real.

And the singing by the two leads is just phenomenal - both of them do their own vocals, and both inhabit their characters so thoroughly that the stage performances are electric.

Of course, with the critical and box office success of this film, and the Oscar buzz around both Reese and Joaquin, interest in Johnny Cash is hittin' an all time high. All those people who've never listened to him or June Carter, buying "Best Of" CDs, and getting into this amazing music. And yeah, I'm one of them. Wanna make something of it?

If you haven't already, see this movie. It's mesmerising, moving, exciting, emotionally wrenching, the performances are pure and brilliant and spot on, and the music rocks like you're seventeen again, rebellious and timid and horny, and you know you're never going to die.