As you can see from the clip, that's Cate Blanchett as Bobby Z, a bit of casting (five other actors play the Voice of His Generation at some point in the film) that has caused a lot of critical thumbsucking and fan frothing.
Glenn's take (short version):
Me, I think Blanchett's a great actress as well as a talented mimic, and that she manages to let an eager, literature-loving kid from Hibbing emerge from behind the shades here. But for Christ's sake, people. It's a two minute clip from an uncompleted film. Imagine if you had never seen Citizen Kane. Imagine, then, if I showed you a rough version of the scene between William Alland and Paul Stewart near the end of the picture ("Sentimental fellow, huh?" "Maybe yes, maybe no.") Imagine if, after that, I asked you to form an opinion of the entire film based on that. If you had any kind of modesty or decency as a person—we're not even getting to the area of critical acumen—you would demure.
As todays kids would have it -- right on, right on.
PS: Miss Havisham of Wingnuttia Ann Althouse had a long thread about this up today, and in a display of blithering idiocy remarkable even by her
Here's the link in case you think I made that last up.
BTW -- if you aren't reading Glenn's blog on a regular basis you're missing something special. Although the ostensible focus of it is merely films and flicks, Glenn's a brilliant writer with eclectic and wideranging interests; as far as I'm concerned the only guy on the web who's his peer is James Wolcott.
14 comments:
Hey, Steverino, speaking of the Blithering Misogynist Idiot, did you see her latest where she goes mano-a-mano with Lee "Sockpuppet" Siegel?
Two of the most pathetic, joked-about figures on the internet, battling it out. Does it get any better than this?
Hmmm, what Bob song is closest to Power Pop?
Trey
"Gin up" a connection. That's funny 'cos it's true!
"Hmmm, what Bob song is closest to Power Pop?"
"Idiot Wind."
Now, we're still waiting for Simels to return to "Wingnuttia." We know he's dying to come back. And it's terribly obvious that he wishes he could have seen how connect Bob Dylan to "Love that Bob" and find an old YouTube clip that had Dobie Gillis in it.
I was thinking more along the lines of "Gotta Serve Somebody." I know it is too blues based, and I know it is really not at all power pop, but it is as close as I can figure with my limited Zimmy knowledge.
Trey
Oh god.
Look what followed us home.
"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" -- the version with the Hawks -- may not be powerpop, but it's garage rock heaven and close enough.
I'd also nominate "She's Your Lover Now" which is as haunted and eerie as you could want, and the studio version of "Visions of Johanna" with the Hawks -- ditto.
One of Bob's best vocal performances, I might add.
"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" -- the version with the Hawks -- may not be powerpop, but it's garage rock heaven and close enough.
I'd also nominate "She's Your Lover Now" which is as haunted and eerie as you could want, and the studio version of "Visions of Johanna" with the Hawks -- ditto.
One of Bob's best vocal performances, I might add.
How 'bout Mouse and the Traps' "Public Execution"? Not actually Dylan, but one of the best Like a Rolling Stone" knockoffs (of which there were many!)
Cate Blanchard is just fine in my book.
What bothered me most about the clip were the strung-together lines taken from the outtakes of Eat the Document and Dylan interviews. (That, and the image of Ginsburg driving up to the limo on a motorcycle, which required too hefty a suspension of disbelief for me.)
If that is, however, an accurate taste of the movie, it seems destined to leave audiences totally bewildered and hardcore Dylan fans absolutely horrified.
Oh, and Dylan's PowerPop song is "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar."
I'll go with the obvious: Knocking on Heaven's Door sounds like Dylan mining the Byrds for a change.
Bob never really clicked with me, have seen him before, he's a religious experience to the aged. Old men long beards and white hair throw crutches away when he sings, they announce again feeling young.
Joan Baez was warmer on that day(saw both on the same stage in one day). I prefer Diamonds.
Perhaps older people prefer rust.
Play Hendrix doing a Dylan cover, you got something there. Slice the old ones in half and count the age rings to their core...
The tree of understanding bears bittersweet fruit.
What Bob song is closest to power pop? How about "Spanish Harlem Incident"? Maybe a double-time version of "Please Crawl Out Your Window."
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