RING OF FIRE

 · 
October 10, 2011

I feel a little guilty.

I'm not writing about anything that has to do with film--especially not about anything regarding progress on one of my own.

There is progress but it would only be of interest to those who get excited by watching snails race up a long, dry sidewalk.

I can say this though. I did go to the movies this weekend. And I had two distinct experiences at the theatre.

1. Sitting through the half-hour of trailers and ads was like having a giant sewage plant spewing a million gallons of shit right in your face. You look at these brutal, horrific and horrifically stupid films and and wonder who the idiots are; the people that think anyone wants to watch them or the ones that actually do.

This thought so depressed me I was tempted to slide out of my seat and collapse on the hard, sticky floor.

2. The film I saw was Moneyball. I recommend it. Brad Pitt is pretty phenomenal in it. There is a great little scene that just about crushed me halfway through the film where Brad's young daughter hesitantly sings him a small fragment of a song she's written.

She really sings it. And she really plays the guitar. It is an astonishing moment for both of them.

Which brings me to what I've been doing for the past month.

 

The Black & Blue Orkestre has finished another track, Ring Of Fire. This is our version of the classic Johnny Cash song (written by June Carter and Merle Haggard). Let's just say we honored the power of the original and added some of our own.

Grog wrote and played bass, as well as singing some extended background and trading verses with me. Will Crewdson wrote and performed a mere 99% of the luscious guitars.

It may not be filmmaking but I've got to tell you it's the closest thing to it and right now it is saving my soul.

Comments
Rai Mechem
Hey Tom,
Funny you should go see Moneyball. That’s the one film I’ve made the effort to see at the theatre in about a year. I love baseball & I’d read the book and the trailers looked good. I wasn’t disappointed. But SO true about the pre-movie crap. If I see one more promo for a 3-D, CGI piece of garbage, I’ll scream. Three Musketeers is a good example. Alexander Dumas is spinning. 3-D in general pisses me off. Unless you’re in the 1950’s and watching Revenge of the Forest Creatures, 3-D doesn’t make sense to me.
All the best,
Rai
Sam
Oh man, I´ve had the urge so many times to scream out loud in the theater, but never really having had the balls to actually do it. I´m sure americans do it more than swedes. And you are so right about the audience being submissive.
Haha, that youtube-thing is a great idea, I just might do it one day.
Cool, I do feel like I need to warn you though; there are a lot of talking heads in PJ20. But having been a die hard fan for 20 years of the worlds most media shy band, I loved even the talking heads. Those guys are really funny too.
Best,
Sam
Sam
Boy, that was such a great way of describing what going to the movies can feel like these days. I could totally relate. Producers have completely lost grasp on what people want to see in movie theaters. And the people, well, they are too busy looking at their latest facebook updates to even notice what they are in fact watching.
Anyway, your blog posts always have an extremely uplifting effect on me. Thank you for that. The fact that there is progress with your next film is great, I am looking at that snail and I like it.
Have you seen Cameron Crowe´s “Pearl Jam Twenty” yet? It is beautiful.
Best,
Sam
Tom
Hey Sam,
It’s crazy, people at the theatre just sat there, staring at the screen like they were beaten into submission. After one particularly inane trailer I could not help exclaiming out loud, “Are you fucking kidding?!”
Groups of people turned to look at me in amazement, like “Wow, he said something. He said these things were stupid. I didn’t know we were allowed to say that.”
Whatever. I have not seen Pearl Jam Twenty. I will put it in a priority position now. I like Crowe and I like his musical sensibility.
Sam, bring a friend with a video camera into your local theatre and film yourself screaming at the trailers. Get reactions from the audience and put it up on youTube. Instant karma if not instant viral.
bet,
Tom
brittney
I couldn’t agree more with you about the films and wanting to fall on the floor like that. ugh.
Renata
Hi Tom,
What a great, interesting version! I love it. I am a Johnny Cash fan and this was really fun to hear. I liked “A Girl like You” a lot too, just a bit difficult to find time to write these days so I did not comment on it.
What you wrote about the trailers: exactly!!
Were trailers always this stupid and I just forgot it or are they getting worse? They seem worse than ever to me, so boring, predictable. Maybe time just makes us forget the crap. I don’t know.
I think I will try to visualize a snail race next time I try to meditate!:)
All the best,
Renata
Hey Tom,
Great new song! I’d seen the note on Facebook and then noticed you had a new blog up.
Man, I agree w/you on the trailers lately. Most of them I’m saying to myself, “no, no, nope, not that one, well, maybe this one out of seven looks okay, no, etc.” It’s depressing out there.
Interesting info on Moneyball. I saw it opening weekend and agree, that scene was beautiful and Brad Pitt did a great performance. I was actually going to recommend this one to you and just hadn’t gotten around to it. Glad you got to see it 🙂
Keep on making music. Creativity and viewing the world in new and expressive ways saves our souls. Seriously.
Elaine

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TOM DICILLO

Independent Filmmaker & Musician