so has anyone seen THE TERMINAL yet

[Guest ariceffron]

bg's in the movie and talks and plays-- whats that like, for those who have viewed it

[jazzbo]

Lasts about sixty seconds. Benny looks more and more like Bean in the last decade. . . he did a great job, played about ten seconds of tenor; it's a brief bit.

If you go see the movie, bring a date.

[GregK]

what's this have to do with music?

[couw]

I merely wonder why this queation isn't simply posted here

Edited June 20, 2004 by couw

[JSngry]

what's this have to do with music?

Uh, Benny Golson is a musician (an icon in some circles, in fact, as I'm sure you know), he does play himself in the movie (i.e. - he appears as a musician), and he does actually play music in the movie, albeit briefly.

"Miscellaneous Music" seems reasonable enough to me, as does the preexistent thread in "Miscellaneous - Non-Political" that John points out.

Now, the question is - what does THIS have to do with music?

[couw]

Now, the question is - what does THIS have to do with music?

and: what witty remark can I make about THAT question? hmmm :rsly:

[Bright Moments]

I saw BG live in february. he was superb, playing I Remember Clifford!

B)

[JSngry]

Now, the question is - what does THIS have to do with music?         

and: what witty remark can I make about THAT question? hmmm :rsly:

Something involving post counts, perhaps?

[jazzbo]

It's an okay movie. BG does a nice, brief job. The photograph and autograph theme is well played: hinted at, displayed, resolved at a nice pace. Acting is very good in this movie. I would fault it with nit picks about casting. . . or script editing. There are characters who have "quirks" in the script that . . . well I don't think they picked a person for that role that one would believe has those quirks. . . . But hey if one of them is Catherine Zeta Jones, well, she did a lot for the movie with her charisma. . . . And a few of the scenes are so over the top they are Olympian over the top moments. But they're fairly consistent with the tone of the movie.

A date movie, bring someone that you can put your arm around if you can.

Edited June 20, 2004 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

...bring someone that you can put your arm around if you can.

And if you can't, it's ok. There's other ways to show your love. Holding hands, for instance.

[JSngry]

But at least clean up first!

[bertrand]

Do they explain in the film how Tom Hanks was able to track down Gigi Gryce and get his autograph between 1958 (date of the photo) and 1963 (date of Gigi Gryce's dropping out from the music business). I very much doubt that he tracked him down during his 'post-jazz' career.

Bertrand.

[BruceH]

Do they explain in the film how Tom Hanks was able to track down Gigi Gryce and get his autograph between 1958 (date of the photo) and 1963 (date of Gigi Gryce's dropping out from the music business).  I very much doubt that he tracked him down during his 'post-jazz' career.

Bertrand.

No, they don't.

I saw the film yesterday, yes, just for Benny Golson, and sure enough, he's only on screen for about one minute. The rest of the movie wasn't horrible, but certainly wasn't worth $9.50. In the flick, Hank's character, Victor Navorsky, explains that his father was the one who was impressed by the Esquire photo, and who then started patiently collecting the signature of every figure in the picture. He died before securing Golson's signature, so Victor (Hanks) tries to get it as a sentimental tribute to his father. Jazz as sentimental macguffin. Still, when the deskman at the hotel said, "Are you a jazz fan?" that kinda got me (sniff) right here. (Excuse me...I'm a little yclempt...)

Edited June 22, 2004 by BruceH

[jazzbo]

Really, you need to try to go see movies as matinees Bruce! Hardly any are worth 9.50! Maybe none!

Bertrand, the jazz element is just plain fantasy added to show Hanks' characters resolve to honor a promise made to his dying father. They really don't explore or explain anything other than his father had tried to secure all the autographs and failed to get Golson's before dying. . . . No one in the movie cared beyond that except perhaps Hanks' character though even that is not clear.

Don't expect jazz history, real or fake, in this flick!

[Chuck Nessa]

Have not seen the film, not a "Schbielburg" fan and I think the film MUST suck for a jazz fan. B)

Golson has to be one of the easier autographs from the picture.

Gotta love the "marketing" for the photo! America at it's "best/worst". Shit, they even have a website or two.

[wesbed]

I saw 'The Terminal' on Friday night, at the 10:00 showing. I had the theater to myself, me and a female friend. We sat on the row where you can place your feet on the rail in front of you.

I didn't know the film had any relation to jazz till I saw the film. I like Hanks most of the time and Spielberg some of the time. I wanted to see the film mainly for the nice sets I've read about. The sets were good and the film was good (although not 'great').

I was surprised when the jazz picture was revealed. Of course, that picture has much meaning to me but, I'm sure, was lost on most people. The film showed a short still of the picture with some close-ups of signatures. If I recall correctly, there was a close up of Monk with 'T. S. Monk' signed across it. The average person in the theater, and it was mostly empty at 10:00PM, hadn't a clue about the people in the photograph or about Thelonious Monk. There is a very short clip near the end showing Golson playing his saxophone. Even 'I' thought Golson was dead till seeing him in the movie.

It's too bad Spielberg didn't make the movie about the Tom Hanks character getting through the airport on schedule and adventuring around the jazz history of New York City for two hours. Hanks could have experienced American culture, learned to appreciate jazz the way his father had. In the end, after Hanks meets Golson, he would have returned to his own country a new man, full of excitement and understanding of his father, his father's appreciation for jazz, why the music meant so much to his father, and the Golson signature. This would have been a much more meaningful movie than having Hanks play his 'Cast Away' roll, again, in an airport.

Edited June 21, 2004 by wesbed

[jazzbo]

Wes. . . NO ONE would have made THAT movie. And even fewer people would have gone to see it!

[wesbed]

Wes. . . NO ONE would have made THAT movie.  And even fewer people  would have gone to see it!

I know my idea won't be made into a movie. However, it could be and could be quite good. Clint Eastwood made 'Bird' with the intention of it being a movie for the general public to see.

The movie wouldn't have to be jazz based but could still be about jazz. Use the same leading characters as in 'The Terminal.' Tom Hanks as a 'Cast Away' in New York City... who meets Catherine Z-Jones. Maybe she is a waitress in a restaurant, maybe she is a hooker, maybe she is a late-night policewoman... she could be anything. The two characters meet at random times as Hanks ventures around New York City... meeting interesting people, eating in good restaurants, being puzzeled by the New York under-life, getting lost in the subway, being seen with Z-Jones in a few jazz clubs... coming to an understanding of who certain jazz greats were in their day... finally, meeting Golson, getting the girl, and traveling back home. The movie would be a love story about two people lost in the New York City bustle. Jazz would be the backdrop for and the point of NYC adventures. The male and female would meet, find love in each other and love with the art form of jazz. The two characters discover, through each other and their relationship with jazz, that they have been 'lost' but now feel 'found' because they are together and share an interest in jazz music. I picture Tom Hanks in his 'Cast Away' role, but with a bit of an edge such as the character played by Nicolas Cage in 'Leaving Las Vegas.'

My point: this type of move COULD work and WOULD work if done the right way. I think of it the same as a war movie. A war movie isn't always about the war, rather, about people who happen to live during a time of war. A jazz movie doesn't have to be about jazz, rather, about people who live and breath in a time of jazz discovery.

Edited June 21, 2004 by wesbed

[jazzbo]

I'm not downgrading the validity of your idea, but I just don't believe that this movie would get any investors and end up being produced. . . . I'm glad to be wrong.

[wesbed]

I'm glad to be wrong.

I know what you mean in this situation. -_-

[Guest ariceffron]

what does Benny say to tom hanks

[jazzbo]

Benny is discussing tunes with the other quartet members as the scene opens and Hanks asks him "Are you Benny Golson". . . Benny agrees and Hanks tells him about his father. Benny says "So your dad was a jazz fan? That's great! Wonderful, yeah I'll sign that but not right now we're about to start playing, in a few minutes" (paraphrased) and he starts playing "Killer Joe" and they fade out from the scene. . . and we see Hanks hail a cab in the next scene and he has a Ramada inn handout with Golson on it and his signature.

[Soulstation1]

he said, "you gots my money jungle, punk!"

ss1

[Dan Gould]

Benny is discussing tunes with the other quartet members as the scene opens and Hanks asks him "Are you Benny Golson". . . Benny agrees and Hanks tells him about his father. Benny says "So your dad was a jazz fan? That's great! Wonderful, yeah I'll sign that but not right now we're about to start playing, in a few minutes" (paraphrased) and he starts playing "Killer Joe" and they fade out from the scene. . . and we see Hanks hail a cab in the next scene and he has a Ramada inn handout with Golson on it and his signature.

While I doubt wesbed's pitch would be green-lighted in a million years, I am disapointed in Jazzbo's description of Benny's scene. Killer Joe is a funky enough tune that it sounds like the least they could do is let him play more and show Hanks at a table, bopping his head. Or even looking bored while the rest of the crowd is popping its fingers. Something, anything, to show why his character's father might care about jazz or getting these autographs.

[couw]

he said, "you gots my money jungle, punk!"

dessfunnee