OK folks, I GOT DIBS here-- I actually saw the movie last night!

It was a "showing" at an uptown Ottawa cinema. Warner Bros distributed a bunch of free passes to the music bizzes in town and I scored one from Rasputins.

First, sorry Rick, I don't think there'll be anything here that only you get.

Second, yes, it is REALLY FUCKING FUNNY!!!!!! Maybe there are in-jokes, but there are some showbiz types that are universally recognizable (overly self-impressed know-nothing "producers" trying to tell the actual stage crew, TV techs etc how to do their jobs).

Third, it was SO FUNNY that I continually embarrassed my better half by making snorting and gurglling noises. I was glad I didn't get a Coke, it would have all gone out my nose.

Fourth, it ain't going to do any "Oh Brother Where ARt Thou"...cause this movie has nothing to do with actual folk music, doesn't go to sources AT ALL. In short, the music sucks. It focuses exclusively on the schlocky commercialization whitebread stuff, the Kingston Trio knockoff here (the FOlksmen) make the actual Kingston Trio look like Doc Watson and Gaither Carlson in comparison. The three acts--who are hastily reassembling for a reunion concert in memory of a NY folk-record label maven "Irving Steinbloom)--have no emotional or real connection to the pseudo-folk schlock music they are performing. ("Never Did No Wandering" is an aptly titled song, pretty much sums it up.) The "Mitch and Mickey", although visually resembling Ian and Sylvia (actually only she does, dead ringer with the autoharp and all, well we only really hear one full song from them. There is no scene where they sit around and talk about their influences. Apparently they had none! There's even a Media voiceover that talks about "folk music, from its humble beginnings in the 50's..." like that was when it all started. (Yeah, yeah, I know it's satire). Nobody ever talks about Doc Watson, or Leadbelly, or Woody Guthrie, or Pete Seeger, ANYONE REAL.

Ever play in some multi-act show and were backstage and heard the band before you playing your opening number? That part rang true for me!

Definitely go see it. Controversy will rage in these pages. Is this good or bad? I think it will be a mixed blessing, but it will be nailing the coffin shut on the term "folk music" (which is still on my business card) by narrowing further the general (North American) public perception about what that was, or is. One thought that makes me shudder, is in the near future if you call yourself a folksinger, you are going to get requests to sing "A Mighty Wind" and "Never Did No Wandering." Kind of like for the theme of "Gilligan's Island". (Apparently the same guy co-wrote Gilligans and the Brady Bunch theme, and still gets a tidy 60 grand/year in royalties on those tunes...but I digress.

Punchline giveaway: The title song ends...


....


...

"There's a mighty wind that's blowing,



Blowing you and me!!!!!

(snort)
W-O