Okay...
So Friday night, Melissa and Luc abducted me to their apartment in the swanky part of New West, for Burrito's, copious amounts of 151 rum, (for them anyways, not myself) a movie, numerous topless photographs, and some HTML coding.
An interesting combination, I know.
Moving right along...
The movie we watched that evening, was "Ray!" the story of Ray Charles. Jamie Foxx, is nothing less than spectacular as the part of Ray Charles, and numerous actors and actresses from various flicks have guest spots in this in depth movie about the first 35 years of Ray Charles' life. I hesitate to do movie reviews, mainly because I don't want to spoil it for the people reading it, so here's my Disclaimer. If you haven't seen it yet, and don't want to know about it until you actually DO see it, then get the heck outta here and read another post of mine.
Yes, this movie is phenominal. Yes, Ray Charles was the epitome of musical genius. However, that being said, this was an excellent NEGATIVE portrayal of his life, (IE. his addiction to heroin for the majority of the beginning of his career, His cheatin' ways.) and I must admit, I lost a little bit of respect for the boy that at the beginning of the movie, was charming, and innocent (well, for the most part, he does TOTALLY con the bus driver.) that got so horribly addicted to drugs to hide from the frightening things that happened to him as a child.
Luc even went so far as to say that the scriptwriters in this particular flick must have really disliked Ray Charles, because of how they focussed on the negative aspects of his career. I somewhat agree. Perhaps if they had also focussed on the amazing things that he achieved after the scene where they show Ray recieving acceptance back into the state of Georgia, replete with them announcing that "Georgia On My Mind" would become the state anthem for Georgia (in 1979.) I'm pissed that they mentioned barely anything regarding all of the charitable funding he did for the blind and deaf, for African-American emancipation, and so much more... I feel a little bit angry at the way this was pushed aside. Perhaps I'm just overly sensitive regarding it, but they were major achievements that remained basically unrecognized in this film. I feel that they snubbed Ray Charles in a way by not mentioning his contribution to society other than a brief flash of scripting at the very end before the credits. That is why I respected, (and still do) everything that Ray Charles has put out, despite his rather sketchy past. He overcame that adversity, and built something out of his life to make up for his mistakes.
I finished watching this movie, feeling disgruntled. Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic picture, and Jamie Foxx deserved the Oscar for Best Actor beyond a shadow of a doubt, his performance was damned nigh flawless.
Remarkably enough, the only other complaints I would have other than previously mentioned, is that his wife, DOESN'T age. Holy Gawd. She looks pretty much exactly the fuckin same at the beginning, as she does 20 years down the road. I want the number of the doctor that did HER surgery. The only difference, is the style of clothing, and the way she's done her hair. Perhaps it's a way of expressing the inherent goodness in her soul, being that God-fearin' woman that she was portrayed as, and how incredibly forgiving she seemed to be.
The other complaint I have, is something more technical regarding the music. The lip synching was a little off, in some parts. That's all fine and dandy if you're not close up to the actor while they are "singing", but some scenes, the lip synching was SO off, that I was reminded of a few performances of the Drag Queens Lay-girl show at the Dufferin on Tuesday and Thursday nights ala "Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert." A minor irk of course, but one I noticed nonetheless.
That being said, I DID enjoy watching the way they performed "Hit The Road, Jack!" beautifully done, you could SEE the anger in the sneer on Mary-Anne's face when she was growling the female solo part. I felt like applauding her at the skills she showed exuding that much anger /frustration on film. While I found her character to be an enormous slut in the flick, I also sympathized with her character to a huge degree, because you can't control WHO you fall in love with or how much you love someone. Granted, she was trying to get ahead in her career, and fucking the bossman proved to be the only option she was willing to take to get where she wanted to go. That works for some, I suppose, but it's not the most respectable way to get ahead in life.
A very entertaining night at Melissa and Luc's, and dinner, as usual was fabulous. Thanks you guys!!
I do recommend watching this movie. You'll laugh, you'll cry (I did, and boy howdy, did I EVER get razzed *grumbles*) You'll shout out for more! (More positive remarks about the dude, anyways.)
Out of a Glamazon Shoe Rating of 5 shoes, I give "Ray!" 4/5 shoes.
(I give Jamie Foxx's acting a 5/5 shoes.)
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