Wednesday, January 04, 2006

"And it burns, burns, burns..."

Like a Quentin Tarantino flick, multiple plot lines have converged to create this post (as well as the non-VD-related title above).

1. On Monday night, my parents and I spent some quality time having dinner together and watching "Walk The Line", the biopic about Johnny Cash.
2. This morning, I tried to turn on my 2.5-year-old iPod only to have it crap out on me.
3. What was I trying to add to the iPod? The soundtrack to "Walk The Line".

Not being able to listen to 15GB of music burns, burns, burns ... now back to the movie:

It was a fantastic film, even better than Ray, which dragged on a bit too long and attempted to cover Charles' life too haphazardly at the end. However, "Walk The Line" focuses mostly on a younger Johnny Cash, and his volatile relationship with his future wife June Carter. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon turn in excellent performances of the country sensations, and extra kudos go to Reese for stealing the show, so to speak. Her June Carter is filled with such sass, and her singing is incredible, far better than the singing of the actual June herself (though June always did claim that she wasn't much of a singer). Which brings me to the most impressive thing about the film: the actors sang their own parts. The renditions are not meant to mimic the originals, but Phoenix, Witherspoon, and a slew of others (playing Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and Waylon Jennings) show off their respective pipes in covering some great tunes. The showstoppers end up being some of the duets between Phoenix and Witherspoon, like "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Jackson", as well as Cash's "Cocaine Blues" during his historic performance at Folsom County Prison in 1968. And I'd just like to reiterate that Reese Witherspoon really blew me away. I've sorta hated her as an actress, since Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde, but I've changed my tune now after seeing this film. Ryan Phillippe is an undeserving bastard.








Now the ultimate question: Video iPod, iPod Mini, or Nano?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your iPod crapped out already? I guess mine is due soon too then, I've had it over 2 years.

January 05, 2006 11:36 AM  
Blogger Gerald San Jose said...

I like the Nano, but if you get it, make sure you get the extended AppleCare warranty.

But you also have a massive movie and mp3 collection, so maybe the video one will work better.

Have you tried reformatting your kaput iPod?

January 05, 2006 11:44 AM  

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