Musical Artist Movie Hall of Fame

Amadeus

I'm not much of a fan of classical music, so I didn't recognize most of the music in this movie, but I enjoyed the music anyway. The story however was only okay for me.

I think the big problem for me was that I didn't like any of the characters, so I had no emotional attachment to what was going on in their lives. I expected Mozart to be likable, but instead he was just a musical genius who was crude and obnoxious. And I hated his laugh.

And Salieri wasn't a good person either, so I didn't like him, but at least he was a more interesting character.

The story seems so far-fetched, about how Salieri's jealousy caused the downfall of both himself and Mozart, that I can't imagine that much of this movie is historically accurate, but I guess if you like Mozart's music maybe this movie has enough to hold your interest.

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Once

This is another movie that seemed to have so much potential, but it didn't live up to what it could have been. It feels like it wants to be a romance, but the characters never pulled me in enough to care if they got together, and the more they talked, the more obvious it seemed that they might not even belong together.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the characters, and I liked watching them spend time together and get to know each other, but even with all the time they were spending together, they didn't seem to be two people who were meant to be together. The actors both seemed to lack charisma, so maybe that was part of the problem.

I'd heard good things about this movie (and the play) previously, so I expected to be blown away by the music in this movie, but with the exception of the song "Falling Slowly", I thought most of the songs were okay, but they were also pretty forgettable.

Gideon needs help finding links to The Idolmaker and The Buddy Holly Story. If anyone could help him out, that would be great.

Thanks.

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This is my nom, my other one is The Buddy Holly Story. Both movies tell the tale of, 'the day the music died'...That fateful day, February 3 1959, was the day that a plane crash took the lives of three of the great 1950's Rock n Rollers: Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.

I really enjoyed this film. It pulled me into the story of the Valenzuela family, and I cared about what happened to them. The story of the hardworking mom and her two sons: the older troubled brother and the younger brother, who dreamed of making music and escaping poverty was a powerful story.

I watched a mini-documentary about the making of La Bamba and the director of the movie worked very closely with Ritchie Valens family, the Valenzuela's who were usually on the set during shooting. The movie is faithful to the actual events of 17 year old Ritchie Valens life. I never knew much about him or his music and this movie really gave me a new appreciation for his music.

@Citizen Rules
How do you feel about Lou Diamond Phillips playing the part of Ritchie Valens? From what you know now of him, do you think he was a good choice?

I will be getting to my re-watch of this movie this week. I have seen it so many times that it is kind of pointless to re-watch it (and all it does is depress me), but it is just one of those movies that I can never avoid watching. If I watched it for the HoF, and it would be on a week later, I would probably watch it again. It seems to have the same "power" over me like Dirty Dancing and The Shawshank Redemption. I just can't avoid any of them.

I liked Lou Diamond Phillips in the movie, I thought he made a good Ritchie Valens. The only thing I know of him is that he played in Young Guns. Other than that I have no clue about him. Not seen or heard much about him. Is there something I should now?

Do you mean you want a movie recommendation with him in the film? I can think of a couple, if you're interested.

No, I just meant that I don't know if he is the best choice for Valens. I think he is very good in the film, but looks wise, he didn't really fit the role, I don't think. For one thing, LDP is kind of too thin to be Ritchie Valens. Also, I don't think they look that much alike. But then again, I am just nit-picking right now, I suppose. He was good enough in the film to overlook the lack of resembling him. But maybe it is just me who doesn't see any sort of resemblance.

Glad you enjoyed the film...I think it's one of Lange's best performances.

Personally, I thought Phoenix was brilliant but did not feel Witherspoon at all as June Carter...can't believe she won an Oscar for this.

And I don't remember the name of the actor, but I loved the actor who played Elvis.

I'm a big fan of Lange and she really did an excellent portrayal in this.

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Pink Floyd - The Wall

I saw this movie a few times back in my college days, but I never understood it. I watched it twice for this HoF. The first time I watched it with Hubby, and I kept asking him questions about what was happening in the movie, but he was no help. (Basically his answer was that he doesn't understand it, but he likes the movie for the music. ) Then I watched it alone, but I had the Wikipedia page for this movie open as a reference. I read the plot before I watched the movie again, and sometimes while I was watching the movie, but I still don't understand this movie.

All I really got out of this movie was that the main guy was a rock star who was depressed because his life sucks. His father died in the war when he was a kid, so he didn't have a father figure around, and he didn't like his mother. His girlfriend cheated on him, and he was going to cheat on her, but he got angry and trashed the room instead. His manager drugged him to get him to perform, and something about kids rebelling in school.

Maybe it's true, and the only way to understand this movie is to watch it while you're stoned, but I'll never know if that's true or not.

And unfortunately I don't have Hubby's advantage of just watching this movie for the music, because I didn't like most of the music. For some reason, when people nominate Pink Floyd songs in the song tournaments, I usually like them, but for some reason, they never sound like the music that I heard in this movie.

Hopefully other people will have a better experience watching this movie than I did because it's just not for me. I've seen movies that I didn't understand before, but I usually watch them again to try to figure out what I missed about the movie, but this movie is just too depressing for me to watch again just to figure it out.

Walk The Line (2005)

My new favorite movie in this Hof! I would have rated this highly even in the general Hof. I'd seen it once before, like 5 years ago and had forgotten much of it. But I knew it was a really good movie, and on a second watch I'm more convinced of that than ever.

I though Joaquin Phoenix gave a fine performance as a young Johnny Cash. Did he look just like him, no...and that doesn't matter. What does matter is he nailed the body language and vocal inflictions of Johnny Cash. I believed he was the man in black! And Joaquin sang his own songs, impressive! He sounded good and a lot like Cash.

Reese Witherspoon I also really liked her in this. I have no idea what June Carter Cash looks like or even sounds like, and it doesn't matter to me if Reese doesn't look just like her. She captured this lively spirit and convinced me she was June. And she sang her own songs too! And could Reese be any more cutter than in the start of this movie! Especially in the 1954 scenes at the Grand Old Opry, she was perkily, adorable. I think every Hof should have a Reese Witherspoon movie.

What an amazing story, that was told so well that I held my breath for much of the movie...That means I was intently focused on the story, and that doesn't happen with many movies. The sets, and the way it was filmed told me this was a professionally made movie. I don't like country music, and yet I still liked hearing the songs performed live...and that says a lot about the quality of the movie too.

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There's an actual plot to the movie?!

I don't know why. I don't know if it is the way it was worded, but I got a good chuckle out of this line that you wrote.

THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
Despite some cliched musical biopic plotting, 1978's The Buddy Holly Story is totally winning entertainment, thanks primarily to an amazing marriage of actor and character that absolutely makes this biopic work.

It is Lubbock Texas in 1956 where we meet Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holly, the front man for a three piece rock and roll band who appear on a weekly radio program broadcast from a local roller rink, whose devil-worshiping rock and roll upsets Lubbock residents but attracts the attention of a record producer in Nashville, who likes Buddy's sound, but wants to put a hillbilly beat behind it, which Buddy is not feeling at all. Almost simultaneously, Buddy learns that his roller rink producer sent a tape of his music to a New York record producer who wants to sign Buddy's band and agrees to let Buddy do his music his way.

Director Steve Rash and writer Alan Swyer, who adapted the screenplay from a book by John Goldrosen, have mounted a musical biopic in the most classic sense of the term. providing all the expected scenes that the genre implies...we see Buddy's humble beginnings where he is ridiculed and told that he will never be able to make a living from his passion, which most dismiss as a "hobby" to the initial conflict with bigwigs who want to put their own spin on the sound Buddy hears in his head, to the eventual control of his own career which unfortunately manifests the expected tension between Buddy and his band, when Buddy's fame elevates him to the point where he doesn't really need his drummer and bass player anymore, not to mentioned the obligatory love story with a secretary at the record label. We even get to see a set of theater marquees where we actually witness Buddy's name at the bottom of the marquee at the beginning of the story and inch its way up to the top for his final concert appearance.

I was intrigued by the reveal that most of the attention that Buddy and the Crickets originally received came from the fact that when most people in the music business heard their music, it was assumed that they were black, climaxed by their historical appearance as the first Caucasian band to appear at the Apollo and how the band won the all-block audience over pretty quickly.

The production team brought a real musical authenticity to the story by having the actors record the music live and perform the songs onscreen as they were being filmed and anyone who has ever watched a musical with prerecorded music will immediately be able to tell the difference, giving complete respect to Buddy's music with a realistic sound that really makes the musical segments of the film come alive. And as large chunk of Buddy's most memorable songs are reproduced here, including "That'll be the Day", "Oh Boy" "Maybe Baby" "True Love Ways", and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore."

But most of all, what this movie has is a dazzling starring performance from Gary Busey in the title role, a genuine movie star turn that earned the actor his first and only Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. I have never enjoyed Busey onscreen more (with the possible exception of Mr. Joshua) and his vocal work producing the Holly sound was surprisingly impressive. The vocals produced by Busey and Charles Martin Smith (so memorable as Toad in American Graffiti), who playes Ray Bob, Buddy's bass player and back-up singer are on the money and Don Stroud, a bold and intense actor who never had the career he deserved, is properly moody as Buddy's drummer. The relationship between these three guys forms the heart of this movie and it's distressing when Buddy's fame starts to tear them apart, but it is nothing out of the realm of show business reality. Conrad Janis also scores as Buddy's New York producer and there are fun cameos by standup Paul Rooney as Sam Cooke and impressionist Fred Travelena as a manic disc jockey. Fans of musical biopics and of Gary Busey should eat this one up.

I pretty much knew this was NOT gonna work for you, gbg and truly felt bad when you joined and that I had already submitted this one.

If I could double rep you for actually trying to watch this TWICE?! I happily would.
So, serious kudos for trying gbg!! THANK YOU

Also, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy Amadeus. The initial plot is a bit far-fetched and is based (if I remember correctly) on a stage production and definitely not on historical fact.

@Citizen Rules it's been a while since seeing Walk The Line so it should be pretty cool to check it out again for this.
And great lil write up on La Bamba. From what I remember, I do remember liking Philips' acting chops in this one.

@Gideon58 ALWAYS a pleasure to read your tidbits in your reviews. I do remember how it was Busey and the others actually playing and I do remember, as a kid, how Buddy Holly, when he first started playing, surprised quite a few audiences when they saw this scrawny, bespectacled white boy walk out on stage.
Great review.

Don't feel bad about nominating movies that I didn't like. I have very unique taste in movies, (and music), so there are always a few movies in these HoFs that just aren't my type of movies. I knew that before I joined. That's what these HoFs are all about, watching new movies, and maybe finding some new favorites. Hopefully the rest of the people who joined will love your noms.

The Jazz Singer (1980)

I know some say Neil Diamond wasn't the greatest actor in this. But I liked him. He had this honest quality about him and I believed he was his character. The Jazz Singer, is a good story that gives us a lot of insight into Orthodox Judaism. It's not a splashy movie, it seems more sincere, than showy. The best part was Neil Diamond's music and he has a lot of great songs featured in the movie.

I didn't know Laurence Olivier was in this until I seen his name in the opening credits. But...I didn't see him in the movie! Until I realized he was playing the old Jewish-Polish immigrant who was a Cantor. Wow! what a performance. I would have never guessed that was Olivier if I hadn't seen his name first.

As much as I liked Neil Diamond in this, I couldn't stand his love interest, Lucie Arnaz. Even when I was a teen I couldn't stand her. She grates on my nerves, which didn't help the love scenes any! No!....Neil don't do it! don't kiss her, yuck!

Luckily she's a small part of the movie and I did enjoy the story, except the part where Neil breaks up with his wife and starts a new romance. It was all so sudden...They needed to show him grieving about the break up some. As the way it was shown, he breaks up and then immediately hops into the arms of Lucie. His wife instead should have been a childhood sweetheart that he was engaged to, but clearly incompatible with. It just seemed so cold heartened the way the wife ends up.

The film is based on a stage play (which I have also seen - probably one of the best plays that I have ever seen), and I am just going to assume that it is safe to assume that the idea for that play maybe came about because Alexander Pushkin had written a play about the two of them. And I think that is where the idea of Salieri having a hand in Mozart's death came about.

I personally love the film. I will wait to say what I have to say about it, though, because I might go on for awhile. So we will save my opinions for later.


I actually really like Lucie Arnaz. Always have. I have always actually liked her a hell of a lot better than her mother.

I couldn't stand the wife. I was perfectly fine with the way that it ended up because...well...I just didn't like her. But he actually liked Lucie Arnaz before the breakup of the marriage. In reality, I didn't care how it played out. But that could be because I just didn't like the wife. Truthfully, that "added" to the story, I guess (to have Olivier have his hissy fit), but the film could've done without the wife altogether.

EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS
Though the film has earned a cult following over the years, I'm at a loss to figure out why 1983's Eddie and the Cruisers has any fans at all. This pretentious and snore-inducing drama with music suffers due to a swiss cheese story (plot holes as far as the eye can see), some really cliched dialogue, and some overripe performances.

This is the story of a magazine writer (Ellen Barkin) who is researching a small rock and roll group from the 60's whose charismatic front man, Eddie Wilson (Michael Pare) apparently drove his car off a bridge in March of 1964. The reporter reveals that at the time of his "death", Eddie was working on a new album called "A Season in Hell" and that some tapes were made of early recording sessions disappeared the day after Eddie's death. The reporter has decided she wants to locate these tapes as well as investigate the possibility that Eddie might still be alive, since his body was never found.

We are then introduced to former members of the band who the reporter approaches in her quest for the truth. Frank Ridgeway (Tom Berenger) was the keyboard player and lyricist for the group who is now a teacher and seems to want to forget his entire past with Eddie. We also meet Doc (Joe Pantoliano), Sal (Matthew Laurance) and Joann (Helen Schneider) who, along with Frank, all have their homes ransacked as it becomes clear that someone is serious about getting their hands on these tapes and the popular theory is that the only person these tapes could be this important to is Eddie himself.

Director and co-screenwriter Martin Davidson has concocted a convoluted and confusing story that, despite its flashing back and forth between the present and the past, moves at a snails pace and really doesn't endear us to any of these people, most of whom have one foot stuck in the past and trying to blame this moron Eddie for the mess their lives have become. We never really learn who broke into these people's homes and the eventual reveal regarding the tapes is uninspired and was not worthy of the ninety minutes of my life I'll never get back.

This movie was rough going, requiring toothpicks on the eyelids to sustain interest until the end. Davidson had an OK idea here, which allegedly was based on a real musician named Eddie Wilson, but there's so much silly stuff going on here. Even the musical sequences came off as canned and unconvincing, bringing up another glaring oversight that I couldn't get past...John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band provided the vocals for the movie, including the fabulous "On the Dark Side", which became a top 40 hit. The onscreen group featured Joann, a female singing her heart out as part of the group, but there was not even a hint of a female voice on the audio track. That's just sloppy film making and the performances aren't much better. Berenger is sincere as Frank, but Michael Pare is just dreadful as the title character, a performance that's part Fonzie and part John Milne, part Danny Zuko, but not enough Eddie. Even the usually reliable Joe Pantoliano stunk up the place. I've heard great things about this movie over the years, but it did not live up to its reputation.