Film Review - PORTRAIT OF GENIUS, PAINTED IN MUSIC
Dr. Jai Maharaj
By A. O. Scott
The New York Times
Friday, October 29, 2004
WHEN Ray Charles died in June, he had ascended to the
most rarefied level of fame; no longer merely a
celebrity, he had become an institution. There is no
doubt that he deserved this status, or that he enjoyed
it, but universal esteem is not always a blessing for an
artist. Some of Charles's music has become so familiar
that we risk growing deaf to the audacity and innovation
that made it great in the first place. The opening bars
of ''Hit the Road Jack'' can be heard at every ballpark
in the land, whenever a hapless pitcher heads for the
showers -- a clever enough joke the first hundred times
you hear it but a curious fate for a song that crackles
with so much high-spirited sexual drama. In ''Ray,'' the
new film biography directed by Taylor Hackford, some of
that drama is restored, and you hear some of Charles's
best music -- the signature R&B hits of the mid-1950's,
the astonishing forays into orchestral pop and country-
and-western of the early 60's -- as if for the first
time. In the movie's account, ''Hit the Road Jack''
emerges almost spontaneously from a hotel-room lovers'
quarrel between Ray (Jamie Foxx) and Margie Hendricks
(Regina King), one of his backup singers. This episode
may be apocryphal, and is no doubt embellished, but
''Ray'' succeeds, to an unusual extent for a movie of
this kind, in presenting a vivid, convincing portrait of
an artist.
If it falls into some of the lacquered conventions that
bedevil so many biopics, it also has some of the sly
candor that makes Charles's memoir, ''Brother Ray''
(written with David Ritz), such a delight to read.
More at:
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=287477
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I purchased RAY on DVD last night. It is a recently
released movie starring Jamie Fox as the late Ray
Charles. I encourage everyone to see it. It did not take
long for me to realize while watching it that in no other
country in the world could produce a Ray Charles. In fact
ask yourself, why is it that only in America do we see
disabled artists thriving. Other countries subsidize the
arts ten fold more than we do in America, but with a few
exceptions only America produces artists like RAy Charles
because we provide an environment of freedom which
cultivates artistic expression. It baffles me to explain
why the liberal left is so unwilling to promote the cause
of libery and freedom abroad. It was not easy being Ray
Charles, in fact he endured the usual hardships of being
black, but the movie tells the story of how a young blind
black boy in the south grew up to be not only independent
and self sufficient but able to fullfill his dream.
Only in America, no other other country could this have
happened. Think about the millions of people set free in
the world over the past ten years. How many are now
fullfilling their dreams or at least attempting?
I welcome the views of others on this movie and whom you
believe will win the oscars. I think AVIATOR will win
best picture, although my favorite film last year was
SIDEWAYS. Jamie Fox gives a first rate performance and
should win best actor. Leonardo De Caprio surprises you
in the depth of the character Howard Hughes that he plays
in AVIATOR.
nikos vlachos
Posted on 02/08/2005 12:47:00 PM PST by nikos1121
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End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
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The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
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Dr. Jai Maharaj
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- To: nikos1121
> I think AVIATOR will win best picture, although my
> favorite film last year was SIDEWAYS. Jamie Fox gives a
> first rate performance and should win best actor.
> Leonardo De Caprio surprises you in the depth of the
> character Howard Hughes that he plays in AVIATOR.
Agree on all points except Sideways, which I thought was
ok, pretty well acted, but grossly overrated and
overhyped. Paul Giamatti is a fine actor, though.
Posted on 02/08/2005 12:52:39 PM PST by Hank Rearden
(Never allow anyone who could only get a government
job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
Dr. Jai Maharaj
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-To: nikos1121
Saw Vera Drake last night. Man, that movie defines the
word "dreary" from beginning to end. Not a bad movie, but
stifling and dreary.
Posted on 02/08/2005 12:56:40 PM PST by Hank Rearden
Dr. Jai Maharaj
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-To: nikos1121
It's the one movie I'd really like to see. I guess Jamie
Foxx's performance is exceptional.
Posted on 02/08/2005 1:00:45 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
Dr. Jai Maharaj
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-To: nikos1121
Thanks for the review! I look forward to seeing RAY.
Posted on 02/08/2005 1:01:56 PM PST by cloud8