Musical Artist Movie Hall of Fame

Sweet Dreams

Story of Country singer Patsy Cline played with fire by Jessica Lange. The movie centers around meeting her second husband, Charlie Dicks starring Ed Harris in the mid 50's through her rise and tragic death in an airplane in the early sixties.

My actual knowledge of Patsy Cline's personal history is very near non-existent so I cannot comment directly on what they got right, what they got wrong, but as far as the movie goes; d@mn good.

I am a fan of both Lange and Harris and both had chemistry and heated passion that quite easily brought you into their lives as well as the secondary characters were very well done. I definitely enjoyed Lange's strong-willed fiery portrayal of Cline. It was a wonderful peek behind the Country singer, who, for me, had such a haunting nuance to her songs which I do remember, as a kid, (and forgive the cliche), but they really plucked at my heartstrings so much I had a very hard time listening to her as a young kid.

Songs like "Crazy" "You're Cheating Heart" "I Fall To Pieces" "She's Got You" always linger like tears that refuse to go - no matter how many times you wipe them away.

Welcome to this HoF Gideon and thanks for this nomination

and thank you Patsy

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Sweet Dreams was the 1985 film biography of country and western singing legend Patsy Cline, magnificently portrayed by Jessica Lange, who delivers one of her most charismatic performances as the singing legend who rose from humble beginnings to become a country and western legend.

Lange imbues a fire and spirit into Cline that is quite endearing and allows us a perhaps partly speculative look at the fire that drove Patsy to become what she did. There is a great moment when Patsy is meeting with a record producer (David Clennon) and she is describing the kind of career she wants and he says, "Oh you want to be Kitty Wells?" and Patsy replies, "Hell no, I wanna be Hank Williams!"

According to this film, Patsy didn't want to be a country singer, she wanted to BE country music. I also love the scene where Patsy is introduced to the song "Crazy" and says she can't sing this man's song and the producer explains, "Sing it the way you always do, Patsy...your way...let the words tell the story." Patsy slows the tempo, does it her way, and it became her signature song.

Lange not only delivers a wonderful performance in this film, but she does one of the best jobs I have ever seen on screen of an actor lip-synching to another voice. Her lip-synching to Cline's voice is practically flawless. If it weren't for the fact that I know exactly what Cline's recordings sounded like, it would have been hard to tell that Lange was not doing her own singing here. Lange delivers such a charismatic performance here that, despite the fact that her singing is dubbed, Lange still received an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Lange also gets solid support from Ed Harris as Patsy husband, Charlie Dick and from Ann Wedgeworth as Patsy's mom. I don't know why this has always bothered me but I noticed that in COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, Patsy seemed to be a major character in Loretta Lynn's story but Loretta is not even mentioned in this film. Nevertheless, this is a warm and entertaining film, definitely a notch above the average film biography, thanks mostly to an extraordinary performance by Jessica Lange.

Walk the Line is the 2005 biopic tracing the roots of country music legend Johnny Cash, as well as his relationship with second wife, June Carter. As someone who has, if nothing else, a vague recollection of Cash, I found him to be a refreshing topic for a film biography. Since his son's name is one of the names credited to the screenplay, I would think that it is probably pretty accurate as far as the facts are concerned, but that doesn't make it necessarily a great film.

Joaquin Phoenix is electrifying as Johnny Cash and totally nails the darkness and intensity of the character in a performance that I now think should have won him the Oscar. Phoenix completely loses himself in this character and turns in one of the greatest screen creations of a real life person ever. Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for her work as June Carter, but I was not nearly as impressed with her work as I was with Phoenix. It's a solid performance but Oscar-worthy? I don't know. Other than an amazing performance by Phoenix, what we get here is just another show biz biography with all the same tired scenes we've seen in every show biz biography, from the "My daddy was mean to me when I was a kid" scene to the "I don't really have a drug problem, I'm just misunderstood" scene.

Ginnifer Goodwin plays Johnny's first wife, who is drawn as such a total b*tch here you have to wonder why Johnny stayed with her. What makes this film worth seeing and what earned it this reviewer's rating is the breathtaking performance by Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash.

Sissy Spacek's Oscar winning performance is the centerpiece of 1980's Coal Miner's Daughter, an entertaining and apparently factually accurate film biography of country music superstar Loretta Lynn, who loved Spacek's performance and publicly endorsed the film.

The film covers Loretta Webb's humble beginnings as the sheltered and terribly shy daughter of a domineering coal miner in Butcher Holler, Kentucky and her marriage to Doolittle Lynn at the age of 13. According to the film, Loretta's singing was initially a tool Loretta used to keep her children quiet, but it was Doolittle who recognized a genuine gift in Loretta and pushed her to pursue to it, starting with a car trip from which Loretta awakens to see their car sitting in front of the Grand Ol' Opry.

The movie has all the scenes you expect to see in a film like this, but it is Spacek's sincerely and vividly real performance that makes this movie so special. I love the scene when Loretta is being interviewed on the radio and innocently starts talking about her sex life with Doolittle. it's such a funny and completely believable moment that Spacek totally nails. Tommy Lee Jones matches Spacek scene for scene as Doo, the devoted husband and father who supported his wife's talent completely and didn't seem to mind being Mr. Loretta Lynn, whether or not this is true, only the real Doolittle knows and I have never read any of his thoughts about this film. There are also effective supporting performances from country singer Levon Helm as Loretta's insensitive father and Beverly D'Angelo as Patsy Cline, who, according to this film, was Loretta's mentor and one of her best friends. Oddly enough, in the Jessica Lange biography of Patsy Cline, Sweet Dreams, Loretta Lynn isn't even mentioned.

Still, the film is grand entertainment where Spacek commands the screen (even though I still think that Oscar should have gone to Mary Tyler Moore, but I think I'm the only one) and any biopic that has the stamp of approval from its subject, has to be worth seeing.

Jonah Hill's impeccable comic timing is possibly the one thing that might make a 2010 comedy called Get Him to the Greek worth checking out.

This outrageously expensive and over the top comedy stars Russell Brand as Aldous Snow, a burnt out rock star who was actually introduced to movie audiences two years earlier in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Aldous hasn't cut an album in three years since the release of an album he made called "African Child" which was a commercial and critical disaster. But the tenth anniversary of a legendary concert he did at the Greek Theater is approaching and Hill, playing a record company employee named Aaron, has the idea to do a 10th anniversary concert, preceded by an appearance on The Today Show. Aaron's boss (Sean "Puffy" Combs) sends Aaron to London to persuade Snow to do the concert and then to get him on The Today Show and to the Greek Theater on schedule, which turns out to be a monumental task.

The basic plot of this film actually resembles a comedy from 1982 called My Favorite Year, but instead of 1950's live television, sex, drugs, and rock and roll are the now the canvas for this story. The progression of events are pretty much the same though...Aaron has to get Aldous away from the clubs, drugs, and women long enough to get him on a plane back to the states, complicated by Snow's messed up marriage to a trampy rock star named Jackie Q (Rose Byrne) and Aaron's girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss), a serious-minded doctor who wants Aaron to quit his job and move to Seattle with her where she wants to do her residency.

Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, the creative team behind The Five Year Engagement have apparently been given an unlimited budget for this film because there is money all over the place here...the film features expensive on location filming in London, Las Vegas, and Manhattan, not to mention a large cast of well-known actors, some in leading roles and some in cameos, but Segel and Stoller seem to have the juice to attract serious talent and budget for their work.

Don't get me wrong, the film definitely provides laughs, but a lot of them are kind of cheap and uninspired...there's this running joke of Jonah Hill's Aaron vomiting throughout the film that gets very old very quickly, but Hill really is the one thing that makes this film worth sitting through. Russell Brand is pretty much Russell Brand in every movie he makes and Sean Combs is annoying, but what I didn't get is why have Brand play a character from another movie, that Hill also appeared in but have Hill play a different character? The film features a plethora of pointless cameos from a lot of stars, including Brand's leading lady in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Kristen Bell, but it's all for naught. This film is a hot mess but hardcore Jonah Hill fans might enjoy it.

Great review, Gideon. The funny thing is, I love Hill, but Brand, and Combs are both bigger standouts to me in comparison to his performance in the movie. It's probably due to the fact I've been impressed by Hill's comedy already in the past, but I still needed to be proven the other two could be equally as funny.

How did you like the music? I really dig the tracks made for it. I like how they're funny, but never too over the top, and obvious with the humor, and connections to the plot that makes for good listening outside of the film.

PINK FLOYD: THE WALL
A well-worn cinematic premise is given new life thanks to some arresting and unsettling live action and animated visual images and the iconic rock album that forms the soundtrack making 1982's Pink Floyd: The Wall a viewing experience that, despite obvious influences from other films, establishes its own credentials as a unique acid trip of a movie that might startle, confuse, and repel, but riveted this viewer to the screen.

The film introduces us to Pink (Bob Geldof), a burnt out rock star who has begun a methodical descent into complete madness, a madness that has found Pink building a symbolic wall around him that is shutting him off from the rest of humanity, who want to save him but haven't a clue as exactly how to break through.

Our story flashes back and forth revealing a troubled childhood for Pink,which included the boy's inability to deal with the loss of his father during the war and an emasculating mother who had some unhealthy influences on the boy. This somewhat disturbing character study reveals the central character's obsession with blood, violence, and destruction and it is all so effectively melded together that sometimes we're not sure what is real and what is a manifestation of this guy's shredded mental capacities where heavy drug use have to be a factor. And just when things start to become a little more cohesive, a truly unsettling political bent enters the story which hints at facism and its possible connection to being our hero's savior.

Originally, it seemed my unfamiliarity with the music of Pink Floyd might have had something to do with my initial confusion regarding this absurdist musical vision; however, as the film progressed, I realized that this was not the case, as the music framing every sick and bizarre image presented here was a perfect fit, so perfect that there were moments in this story, particularly the beginning images of young Pink during his demented school days, I actually found myself tapping my feet, the music having become a natural part of my experience.

Director Alan Parker, whose resume as a director follows no rhyme or reason, is no stranger to mounting musical stories. He directed the 1980 musical Fame and the 1996 film version of the Broadway musical Evita and has a proven track record of combining music and visuals to maximum effect and even though Roger Waters is credited as both composer and screenwriter, making this cinematic vision had to be a completely collaborative effort because the video and audio here had to be conceived simultaneously for maximum effect, even if that effect is confusing and disturbing.

Parker and Waters have spared no expense here, the film is rich with impressive production values, including some unbelievable animation, which produces some of the film's most stomach-churning moments. If I had one technical quibble and I'm not sure if it was the film itself or the print that I was watching, but there are sections of the film where I really had trouble hearing the audio which was really a major faux pas for a film based on a record album, but I never took my eyes off the screen and never checked my watch. Not for all tastes, but fans of the 1975 Ken Russell film Tommy will have a head start here.

The music served the story as it should.

THANK YOU!!!
I have been feeling this way ever since I first saw the film.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

OMG, I thought I was the only one...that Oscar should have gone to Felicity Huffman for Transamerica.

solid reviews all the way through.
Was curious to see how you fared with The Wall; I would guess that it was the version that had some audio issues. You did a splendid job expressing the "experience" of watching it. Very cool.

I felt the same with with Jessica Lange playing Patsy Cline in regards to "fire".

I also feel the same about Witherspoon as June Carter. She WAS very good, but not necessarily Oscar good.

As I stated before, have not seen Coal Miner's Daughter and looking forward to it. I also wondered about Loretta Lynn, or, really, anyone in the country music world in Sweet Dreams. It seemed to be about the marriage and their relationship than about her career which seemed to get passed over to conversations between the two of them.
Perhaps this was due to Charles Dicks' and her family's personal interactions being the focal point or the appearance of the main focus of the story.
This is, in no way a criticism, just simply an observation.

I think the reason why Patsy Cline is a major character in Loretta Lynn's movie Coal Miner's Daughter, but Loretta Lynn isn't even mentioned in Patsy Cline's movie Sweet Dreams might be because Patsy Cline was a big influence in Loretta Lynn's career, but Loretta Lynn was friends with Patsy Cline, but she had little influence on her career.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

THE COMMITMENTS
Dazzling entertainment from opening to closing credits, 1991's The Commitments not only takes a classic show business story and delightfully turns it on its ear, but earns its cinematic credentials by setting the story on foreign soil and providing a story rich with something you don't find in a lot of musicals...stark, in-your-face-realism.

The setting is contemporary Dublin where we meet an unemployed, aspiring music impressario named Jimmy Rabbitte who decides to put together a band but has a very specific vision for the band that we really don't expect from a young Irishman. Jimmy has decided that the secret to his band is the Motown sound...James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, etc. Starting with nothing but his vision, Jimmy places an ad in a local paper and holds auditions for the band from his home and as hopefuls arrive, before they even perform, the only thing Jimmy wants to know is who their musical influences are, if they name anyone Caucasian, he slams the door in their face. Once he has found the exact combination of musicians he wants, some completely by accident, he goes about making his vision a reality and finds the road is not an easy one, but Jimmy knows this well-traveled road and never takes his eye off the prize...the first Irish soul band.

This film, is more than anything, a testament to the genius that is director Alan Parker, no stranger to directing musicals (Fame, Evita) bringing what he learned in the mounting of those films and putting a fresh and delicious gloss that thoroughly entertains without ever leaving the realm of reality. Except for one brief scene on a subway train, there is no random bursting into song and dance on crowded streets here...this is a story of a man with a serious vision about the kind of band he wants and also keenly aware of the delicate egos of musicians and knows exactly how to deal with them. As an outsider looking in on this story, we think we are chains our being yanked when Jimmy's vision is presented, but we realize he is dead serious when we see him sit some of the band members down and have them watch a video of James Brown and when we see the confused looks on the band members' faces, we know we are not heading into your typical backstage musical.

Parker and screenwriter Dick Clement (based on a novel by Roddy Doyle) have created a story rich with characters that are nothing like what we expect from the premise. I love that the lead singer Jimmy hires is an overweight, sexist pig who can't eat a pastry without getting it all over his face. I love that the only band member who understands Jimmy's vision from jump is a trumpet player old enough to be his father who is instantly made a member of the band when he brags about jamming with BB King. I loved that the guy who Jimmy originally hired to be security eventually ends up being his drummer. But what I loved most about this story is that this band, as terrific as they are, do not become an instant success and their debut gig has more than its share of hiccups, as does their second...and third.

In addition to Parker's sparkling direction, credit must be given to Wilson Pickett for his sensational musical arrangements of the Motown classics recreated here, which never attempt to duplicate the original recordings but completely respect this one of a kind musical sound that reinvented music in the late 50's and early 60's and watching a bunch of white Irish guys doing it, just adds to this story's entertainment. The film also features terrific art direction, sound mixing (obviously) and Oscar-nominated film editing. ''

Parker wisely chose not to populate the film with a lot of stars, utilizing a hand-picked cast who serve the story, even if complete attention is required due to the heavy Irish brogues and slang employed, but attention is rewarded in spades here. There is standout work from Robert Arkins as Jimmy, Andrew Strong as the slovenly lead singer, and Johnny Murphy as the veteran trumpet player. Mention should also be made of Colm Feore, the biggest "name" in the cast, playing Jimmy's dad who thinks Elvis is God. A one-of-a-kind movie experience that will have you tapping you toes and dusting off your Motown collection.

Ray is the riveting and richly entertaining film biography of blind musical icon Ray Charles, from his more than humble beginnings in rural Mississippi to his eventual super stardom as one of the leading R&B artists of this century.

Lovingly directed by Taylor Hackford, this film paints Charles as a man who, from childbirth had it instilled in him that he was not to allow his blindness to be a roadblock in achieving anything that he wanted to achieve and that remaining independent in spirit would get him where he wanted to be and would take away the liability of his handicap.

Taylor Hackford has always been a very self-indulgent director whose work (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, WHITE KNIGHTS, DELORES CLAIBORNE, etc.)has always been meticulous in detail to the point where a 90 minute movie ends up being two and a half hours, and this movie is no exception. Almost two hours into the story, the film has only reached the year 1958, but interest is sustained due to some extraordinary performances, mainly the dazzling Oscar-winning performance by Jamie Foxx in the title role.

Foxx is nothing short of miraculous in his interpretation of Charles, a brilliant melding of acting genius and impersonation that is positively haunting in its accuracy for those of us who grew up with Ray. The elements of impersonation never become mimicry and Foxx's work in this role is nothing short of extraordinary...some of Ray's music is dubbed with Charles' voice and Jamie does some singing too but Foxx's performance is so precise, it's hard to tell when Ray is singing and when Foxx is.

Kerry Washington turns in a vivid performance as Ray's devoted wife, a patient church-loving woman who puts up with a lot (downplayed in this screenplay)but remains loyal to the man. Clifton Powell is very good as the leader of Ray's band and there is a powerhouse turn by Regina King, in a performance that should have earned her a Supporting Actress nomination, as one of Ray's back-up singers, who Ray has an affair with and gets pregnant. King has not been seen to such good advantage since JERRY MAGUIRE. There is also a mesmerizing and heartbreaking performance by Sharon Warren as Ray's no-nonsense mother.

Yes, the movie is about 30 minutes too long and the screenplay downplays and/or glosses over the downside of Ray's life, his drug abuse and womanizing in particular (the film portrays Ray as fathering one illegitimate child even though IRL he fathered about six I believe), but I think this was out of respect to the subject, who was still alive at the time this film was being made.

And there is plenty of Ray's music to revel in like "What I Say?", "Hit the Road Jack", "Georgia on my Mind", and "I Can't Stop Loving You". I love the scene where Ray is recording a new song and he's sent the backup singers home already and records all the back-up vocals himself. It's a little long and rambling, but still one of the best biopics of a real life showbiz figure to be mounted in years.

Once

A lovely transient tale revolving around some rather lovely music.

A street performing guitarist in Dublin crosses paths with a pianist and the two eventually decide to write music together and record it.
Insofar as their names are: Guy and Girl, bringing an almost anonymous persona that does not take away from this very serendipitous scenario.

This is an endearing story that truly does revolve around the creativity of the music between two strangers who's accompaniment through their solitary life's ups and downs and musical ability create something quite beautiful.

The truly beautiful aspect is that this could easily run the usual tropes and dramas but it does not. There are the understandable troubles of regular life but, again, we get to follow along as the music blooms, grows and becomes something as the recording process comes into play instead of relying on drama and/or trauma to carry the film.

And the music is, like the story, rather beautiful. While there is a sadness to the words and, in correspondence, the music; it is never depressing or a letdown.
In fact, I was quite uplifted by it all. From the very get go to the very end.


A great lil nom ShopkeeperTriumph!

I sort of hate that there's so many of these I do not own. Especially when you consider how many freakin' movies I own. Thousands damn-it, I say thousands. Hmmmmmmm!!! I need to figure out how to do this. I've always had a rule, in my life of collecting movies. I do not rent. I just don't. Which is why I have so many. Don't worry. I'm not bailing. I just need to figure this out.

The Buddy Holly Story ~ Watched, but do not own.
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny ~ Never watched, and do not own.
Pink Floyd – The Wall ~ Watched, but do not own.
Walk the Line ~ Own, but haven't watched.
Once ~ Never watched, and do not own.
Eddie and the Cruisers ~ I own it, and I've watched this baby a lot!
The Idolmaker ~ Never watched, and do not own.
La Bamba ~ Watched, and own.
School of Rock ~ Never watched, and do not own.
Amadeus ~ Never watched, and do not own.
The Commitments ~ Never watched, and do not own.
Get Him to the Greek ~ Never watched, and do not own.
Coal Miner’s Daughter ~ Watched many times, and own.
Ray ~ Own, but haven't watched.
The Jazz Singer ~ Watched many times, and own. I was hoping someone would nominate this film. I love Neil Diamond.

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I just looked this up, and both Amazon's and Best Buy's web sites show The Idolmaker is available on Blu-Ray for $14.99

https://www.amazon.com/Idolmaker-Blu...ords=idolmaker

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/the-idol...skuId=21508533


I almost didn't nominate The Jazz Singer because Neil Diamond's songs don't do well in the song tournaments, so I thought everyone might hate this movie. I'm glad to see that I was wrong about that.

Wow, that's not good. I don't do blu ray, and the other DVD is 80.00 dollars.

Oh yes, I've loved that film since I was around 13 - 16 years old. Unless I end up loving the hell out of a bunch of these, it'll be high up on my list. More than likely, it will be.

Here it is on dvd for 35 dollars, or used for 20 - https://www.amazon.com/Idolmaker-Ray...=the+idolmaker

Agreed though that's still really steep, just letting you know.

If people are having a problem finding The Idolmaker, my offer still stands for me to change my nom. I don't want to make anyone jump through hoops to find the movie. These HoFs are supposed to be fun, not stressful.

This is the original post where I offered to change my nom to a movie that's on YouTube.

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...43#post1662043

Or I can pick a different movie if nobody wants to watch that movie.