Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Over the holiday weekend I went and saw the new movie Walk the Line about Johnny & June Carter Cash. I enjoyed it! The music sounded GREAT and Reese Witherspoon & Joaquin Phoenix were fantastic, I thought.

My only gripe: Luther Perkins, who was responsible for Johnny's great "boom-chika-boom-chika" guitar backup, got very little attention.

Anybody else see this flick?

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

[This message was edited by Walter Stettner on 28 November 2005 at 10:22 AM.]

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Emmons S/D-10, 3/5, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

A very good, but I wouldn't say great movie. Joaquin and Reese were excellent.

I think the thing ended in 1968 because the rest of John's career would make a good movie, though not so controversial.

Look for a sequel in a couple of years.

I thought that the movie was very well done. I read where the director was not looking for a "Johnny Cash impersonator" to play the role of Cash. Joaquin does a great job but is not a "dead ringer". I am glad he wasn't actually. I see it like this. When you read a book your mind is responsible for creating the images in your head. I think that the idea here is to use what Joaquin Phoenix does on screen allows your mind to do just that but takes it about 1/2 a step further. I feel that he was able to convey the spirit and soul of JC. I don't know if that makes any sense but it is my way of saying that I felt like I was experiencing Johnny Cash on the screen with out being over critical of how he was singing the songs as I remember hearing them on the recordings.

As far as the portrayal of Elvis, Jerry Lee, Roy Orbison goes. I understand that the guy that plays Elvis (Tyler Hilton) was not a dead on ringer for the King. If he was I feel that that may have been a distraction to the Johnny Cash character. I saw Hilton’s performance merely as an acknowledgement that Elvis was around, on the Sun tour with Johnny, and a friend of his.

As far as continuity of musical instruments for the era ..Overall it was excellent. The blue Epiphone Bass that Marshall Grant used was dead on. The Fender Esquire that Luther played…Excellent! The Fender amps..Excellent!! Though, something tells me that there was “something” that didn’t match up… I can’t remember what it is. After I see it for a second time, I will hopefully notice it again and I will edit this posting.

I highly recommend this movie. If you grew up with Johnny’s music..it WILL speak to your heart and soul.

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The actors are chewing the scenery, going for the Academy Award, and you're counting screws on a Telecaster.

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Olli Haavisto,
Finland

The one scene that I question though is the scene of Waylon and Cash in the apartment. Suppose to be the mid-60's but Shooter looks like his dad of the late 70's. The earlier scene of June throwing the beer bottles where Luther and Waylon are picking I think was a more accurate look for Waylon at the time.

Another liberty was that the film gives you the impression June wrote Ring of Fire by herself and some of the time-line seemed a bit off.

We have to remember too that the film is about the love affair between John and June and how June resisted because of John's drug abuse. To go into to detail about all of Cash's various influences and all the significant events of his career would turn the film into a mini-series.

I think some of the best music ever produced was in that wonderful gray area when country, rockabilly, blues, R&B and rock and roll were all sort of the same thing. A lot of great stuff was put out before everyone figured out the "rules" of the genres.

[This message was edited by John Poston on 29 November 2005 at 01:18 PM.]

Funny, I sort of skipped down the thread and saw someone write how Reese and Joaquin did such a good job and the first thing I thought to myself was "how did Reese Anderson and Murph get into this movie". 8-)

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I would have preferred a little less of the love affair and drugs, and a little more about the music.

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Dave: the love affair and the drugs were mostly responsible for the music. I am afraid you couldn't have had the truth without all of it.

Knowing more of the "story" explained to me more about the music.