Jump to content

Update on the Miles Davis movie.


Hardbopjazz

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 78
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Roger was wrong. 

It must be the Paul Williams songs you like. :o:(

In the context of the film, the Williams songs were supposed to be lame, terrible songs IIRC -- musical banana peels to show how lame and terrible the Beatty-Hoffmann duo was. You wanted them to be good songs? Ish Kabibble should look like Cary Grant? Marjorie Main should fit into a bikini? Prof. Irwin Corey should speak like John Gielgud?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roger was wrong. 

It must be the Paul Williams songs you like. :o:(

In the context of the film, the Williams songs were supposed to be lame, terrible songs IIRC -- musical banana peels to show how lame and terrible the Beatty-Hoffmann duo was. You wanted them to be good songs? Ish Kabibble should look like Cary Grant? Marjorie Main should fit into a bikini? Prof. Irwin Corey should speak like John Gielgud?

If that's the case (lame & terrible) they (the songs) were a success. Did Williams write them that way on purpose or was that the best he could do??

I guess the movie then becomes a cynical success. I just never could give it that much credit. I'll stick with Ebert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roger was wrong. 

It must be the Paul Williams songs you like. :o:(

In the context of the film, the Williams songs were supposed to be lame, terrible songs IIRC -- musical banana peels to show how lame and terrible the Beatty-Hoffmann duo was. You wanted them to be good songs? Ish Kabibble should look like Cary Grant? Marjorie Main should fit into a bikini? Prof. Irwin Corey should speak like John Gielgud?

If that's the case (lame & terrible) they (the songs) were a success. Did Williams write them that way on purpose or was that the best he could do??

I guess the movie then becomes a cynical success. I just never could give it that much credit. I'll stick with Ebert.

The movie was a comedy (some would say would-be comedy) that revolved around the premise that the quintessentially innocent and hopeful Beatty-Hoffman folk-song duo (who are sent to or wind up in Ishtar, I don't recall which right now) was a uniquely inept act but that they themselves didn't know this. Thus the songs they sang had to fit that concept. Mr. Williams, for a fee, obliged.

As for ther "cynical success" notion, if Williams had written good songs for the Beatty-Hoffman duo to sing, he would have failed in his assignment. Again, it was a comedy about two innocent, insanely optimistic nudnicks who stumble into all sorts of goofy trouble in a fictional Arab country. The songs should have been at the level of "Porgy and Bess"?

Edited by Larry Kart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could he (Williams) have written "good songs".

 

Probably not by your standards or mine, but here is one of the songs Williams wrote for Beatty and Hoffman to sing in "Ishtar." Can you not tell that it's deliberately ludicrous?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiN3SL7SZ-Q

Compare that to two of Williams' more iconic efforts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VQX2Xn7tI

 

Edited by Larry Kart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could he (Williams) have written "good songs".

 

Probably not by your standards or mine, but here is one of the songs Williams wrote for Beatty and Hoffman to sing in "Ishtar." Can you not tell that it's deliberately ludicrous? ***

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiN3SL7SZ-Q

Compare that to two of Williams' more iconic efforts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VQX2Xn7tI

 

*** The  Beatty-Hoffman song above has these lyrics: 

"Life is the way/we audition for God/Let us pray/that we all/get the job."

Edited by Larry Kart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to actually watch the movie before proclaiming it a disaster.  This whole cynical pre-reviewing (or ESP film criticism) of films based on no more information than short studio blurbs, casting notices and sometimes a teaser trailer seems to be rampant on the internet these days.  Suddenly via social media there are millions of movie critics that can see into the future and write their reviews before seeing the film.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...