I choose not to decide who's right here.
belbein: you are most certainly entitled to your opinion and I may very well differ with you, but I do want to thank you for speaking up. If nothing else, I will be thinking of your comments as I watch this film, possibly this weekend. There is a lot of room for multiple opinions in this world and I like to think I have a relatively open mind to hear and understand where others who differ or even agree with me are coming from.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Watched the 2 trailers above. Heard an interview with the main actor on NPR yesterday. How can I not watch it?
I will wait for net flix, and a quiet mood sturdy enough to withstand the fictitious reality thrown against my delicate disposition.
No matter where I go, there I am...Unless I'm running a little late.
Gosh, I am reluctant to discuss art.
True, it is a mandolin forum...I sometimes forget that
This is the sort of film I want to see on the big screen, if only to see a re-creation of '60s NYC and the Greenwich Village scene back then before NYC got all Disneyfied. (I also regret not seeing Pacific Rim on the big screen, because ... giant robots vs. giant monsters, obviously.)
As for art, well ... everyone's entitled to my opinion.
Well, the best comment I have seen so far is from Old Sausage:
"You sure? This certainly reminds me of my life. "
The lead actor on this movie was on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! today
Oscar Isaac in well... not really an interview.
Oh yeah, interesting cat stories!
Last edited by dang; Dec-14-2013 at 12:25pm. Reason: Cats...
I should be pickin' rather than postin'
Some of you might find this review from Dave Von Ronk's former wife/manager interesting:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/...ewyn_davis.php
BTW, Dave van Ronk's book, Mayor of MacDougal Street, is a very fun read.
Yep, I recall reading it about a year ago ... I hadn't even heard of von Ronk before and did not know what a central role he played in that little scene at the time. He actually did hitchhike from NYC to Chicago one time in an effort to audition for Albert Grossman (then Dylan's manager), to no avail; the event is depicted in the movie (in somewhat fictionalized form.)
Film, like music and art is subjective and there's something for everybody. Who cares if someone doesn't like what you like ... unless someone's itchin' for a tussle 'cause that's their mood. Can't stand lots of music that others consider from the celestial realm itself. If my cup of tea isn't someone else's ~ fine with me. That being said ... if one "doth protest too much" about something they dislike... others tend to jump in and the mosh pit begins.
I've experienced folks going absolutely postal if I dared to criticize or not like their favorite musicians or films. They'd be relentless trying to change my mind. Please. That's not the case here, but it's kinda relevant. There's room for everybody's taste ..... or is there?
I lived the 60's beat/folk scene of the SF Bay Area as a wife, girlfriend and mother. My husband and later relationships were with those I suspect the Cohen brothers are attempting to portray in their new film. As great as the music was back then, can't say I'd ever want to hang out with any of those lads today. I certainly wouldn't tolerate the degree of narcissism, irresponsibility and vapidness I considered "normal" when I was young and naive. I saw a lot of men walk away from children they bore, for example. A few, very few, of those good musicians went on to develop into fine human beings. The rest, well, not so much. Those (now) old guys can still sing, write and/or play well ... a few became pretty famous and still tour. Happy to say I can separate from their personalities and enjoy their music. Good music is good music for me.
I'll definitely see the film knowing that I can focus on the music if it's awful. I've liked about 2/3 of the Cohen Brothers films. Trying really hard to be edgy can work out very well, as in "Fargo", or can really suck (don't feel like arguing, so I'll keep the sucky films to myself). Sounds like this film might have been a total crap shoot if not for the music.
Just visiting.
1923 Gibson A jr Paddlehead mandolin
Newish Muddy M-4 Mandolin
New Deering Goodtime Special open back 17 Fret Tenor Banjo
Yes, but then this was the SF Bay area. We were pioneers in many areas. The only other place where men began to bear children was in NYC .... in the beginning of the drag queen days. Ah, those were the days! The fad wore off and it was back to the women doing all the heavy lifting, sigh.
Just visiting.
1923 Gibson A jr Paddlehead mandolin
Newish Muddy M-4 Mandolin
New Deering Goodtime Special open back 17 Fret Tenor Banjo
Yes, quite--and this is the forum for that (opining). What I meant was--offering such a critique (based upon such narrow ["traditional"] criteria) has little utility (in art criticism) -- equivalent to the oft-remarked "trad bluegrass is the way it should be" is to music criticism, etc. Having certain preferences is fine--just of limited utility in the exercise of criticism
Just visiting.
1923 Gibson A jr Paddlehead mandolin
Newish Muddy M-4 Mandolin
New Deering Goodtime Special open back 17 Fret Tenor Banjo
belbein
The bad news is that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The good news is that what kills us makes it no longer our problem
This is a very curious comment and I'd like you to expand on it. Understand, I'm really interested in your thinking, I'm really not trying to be argumentative. I'm very interested in aesthetics and in the process of criticism.
I don't understand what you mean about classical yardsticks not being useful, because I don't know how you could possibly do criticism without a standard against which to judge the work. So classical criticism might compare a work of art to Aristotle's Poetics' principles, or to the work of some acknowledged expert (like Shakespeare). Freudian criticism against the work of Freud. Marxist against the principles of Marxism. Feminist criticism against ... well, God knows what. Etc. So perhaps you're saying that you disagree with my choice of yardsticks, not about a lack of utility. Maybe you think that classical criticism or classical principles are no longer relevant in today's world. In which case we disagree, but I understand you.
The problem with small-b bluegrass that you reference seems similar but is actually different. The problem is not that people compare New Grass with Bluegrass and condemn it for not being identical with iconic capital-B Bluegrass: it's valid (if narrowminded) to use Bluegrass to judge bluegrass. The problem is really that people who use Bluegrass as a standard don't understand that they're using Bluegrass as a standard, and that a person could choose other standards against which to judge the music. Or to put it another way, they don't understand that it's music, not Holy Writ. Which gets back to my point about your disagreeing with my standard, I think.
belbein
The bad news is that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The good news is that what kills us makes it no longer our problem
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