Movie A Day! 121-125: Lightnin' Vermeer Burns
Posted on April 16, 2015 by Ruz-El
It's late and I need to go to bed. So not much of an intro this post. It's a Thursday night, the wind is trying to bring in the rain. Saturday is Record Store Day, a typical day of panic for me but this year I'm not feeling it. I'll probably go, but I'm not sure I'm going to line up before the store opens in an obsessed fever. I'll see how I feel on the day.
Another weird mix, but I feel a documentary film jag coming on, so that should balance the odd porno review that typically sully the blog and keeps readers away.
121 04-12 The 2015 MTV Movie Awards (2015) 3/5
A bunch of people I never heard of from movies I haven't seen won some awards I don't care about. It was hosted by Amy Schumer, and she's the best and as good a reason to watch anything.
122 04-15 Powder Burns (1971) 2/5
Vinegar Syndrome dug deep on their latest Peekarma release of Alex deRenzy films. This one, billed as a "Meta-Western", was so rare I think it was once disputed to exist at all. Anyway, I believe this one is future porn auteur deRenzy's first attempt at a narrative film after concentrating on documentaries and loops. It's a total mess. It want's to be a wonky Russ Meyer romp, but it never get's going with the amateur acting and what not. Plus it does go hardcore right at the end, so it was never going to play like a Russ Meyers film. Which is too bad, because despite the heavy print damage, the thing is actually made really good. Some of the shots of the cowboys out on their horses look really good and the idea isn't a bad one, it just never quite works despite how much you might wish it did.
123 04-15 Tim's Vermeer (2013) 4/5
Such a simple premise for a documentary. Johannes Vermeer was one of the Dutch Masters and known for painting photo realistic paintings. Penn & Teller's inventor friend Tim is interested in figuring out how he did it. To say Tim is mildly obsessed is being polite, but he's just the right amount of bonkers to be pleasant to watch on his journey to see if he can replicate the techniques, with no background in oil painting. It makes for a great documentary that reminded me of the smaller pictures that Errol Morris made focusing on individuals. The biggest surprise is that there are no tricks, with Penn & Teller attached, it's directed by Teller, I kept expecting an Orson Welle's type hoax to pop up and thankfully it never does. Good stuff, and worth your time.
124 04-16 The Blues Accordin' To Lightnin' Hopkins (1969) 4/5
125 04-16 The Suns Going to Shine (1969) 3.5
This is a pair of documentary short films by Les Blank featuring blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins. They're quite brilliant. The first is the main film, and mostly captures Hopkins in his hometown in Texas playing the blues and capturing the community around him. It's spellbinding. There's a long sequence where Hopkins "explains the blues" via a song he's making up on the spot. You wish the movie was three hours long, the less than 40 minute running time isn't long enough. THE SUNS GOING TO SHINE is a second film made at the same time (probably an outtake), detailing the story of Hopkins leaving home at the age of eight to escape the cotton fields to become a musician. This is part of the Criterion Collection's LES BLANK: ALWAYS FOR PLEASURE, so there are actually a couple more little shorts included on Hopkins, and it's STILL NOT ENOUGH! (Also, watch the movie LOUIE BLUIE while you're at it.)
One of the weird things that struck me watching Lightnin' Hopkins tonight is the realization that the form of country blues he played is pretty much a dead form now. Anyone playing like that now would probably be labeled a poseur, and as far as a Black cultural thing, Hip Hop has taken it's place as a form of speaking of the current Black experience. What Chuck D called "The News" for Black America. It makes one appreciate films like this even more. It's truly a record of what is now lost. I'm sure there are people paying tribute to this music, but that seems different than creating it. Watching Hopkins play, the music flows out of him, the art being as effortless as breathing. A sign of the time and the years he put into it's craft, art isn't effortless to anyone if they care about it. Not a tribute of what others did, but the only music he is capable of creating. It's a blessing that Blank was able to capture a piece of it. Hopkins didn't want to do the film, Blank won him over finally over a card game. Hopkins made up a song about beating Blank at cards as a joke. Natural brilliance that can't be helped.
Off to bed.
This entry was posted in Movies and tagged Alex deRenzy, Amy Schumer, criterion collection, Documentary, Johannes Vermeer, Les Blank, Les Blank Always For Pleasure, Lightnin' Hopkins, movie, Movie A Day, Movie Awards, Mtv, Penn & Teller, porn, porno, Powder Burns, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins, Tim's Vermeer, Vinegar Syndrome by Ruz-El. Bookmark the permalink.