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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Phil Cooper Date: 30 Mar 16 - 06:42 AM I liked the movie and read the book. What bothered me about the book was its lack of quotation marks to denote dialogue. I'd be reading along and then realize the character was speaking, which can change how your perceive the action. This thread has been hit heavily by spammers, and today's spammer had a great line that would work for a song "Keep your baby warm this winter" - though they were selling fuzzy sleepers, not sexy or sleepy cuddles, etc. :-) This thread is closed because of the spam, ask a moderator if you have something you want to add and it will be reopened. ---mudelf
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: SINSULL Date: 22 Jan 07 - 04:52 PM Movie is on TV today. Bought the book earlier. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Riginslinger Date: 22 Jan 07 - 10:44 AM I read the book and could never understand why it won the National Book Award. Thought the movie was better. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: bill kennedy Date: 22 Jan 07 - 10:15 AM to Kim C way back at the beginning of the thread - thanks for the suggestion of 'Black Flower' by Howard Bahr, what a great book and what a beautiful writer. I've now read all three of his novels, and I'd say the second, 'Year of Jubilo' did not really do it for me (did not at all understand what was happening at the end) but I also very much enjoyed his third and most recent work, 'The Judas Field' which I thought was equal to the 'Black Flower' in its power and content. I agree also that they might make good movies, can't believe someone is working on that already. Highly recommend that the rest of you read him, especially the first and third books, as I mentioned |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Scoville Date: 10 Jan 07 - 09:30 AM Damn, I went home and looked for it but my brother apparently took his copy with him when he moved out. I'll have to get back to you. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Cruiser Date: 09 Jan 07 - 03:58 PM The music is simply excellent. Gotta love that fiddle music! |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GLoux Date: 09 Jan 07 - 01:36 PM From what I understand, it was Charles Frazier's first book and he won the National Book Award with it and got the movie deal. Not bad, IMHO. I do share the same opinion with you about using bluegrass musicians and others outside of the old-time realm for the music, but I was real glad to see Riley and Dirk involved. The musical references in the book are inaccurate, too. Specifically, what musical references in the book are inaccurate? -Greg |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Scoville Date: 09 Jan 07 - 12:03 PM The musical references in the book are inaccurate, too. Not as inaccurate as "Sitting On Top of the World", but still off. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: open mike Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:56 AM info about Tim Ericksen teaching shape note singing workshops https://mail.prairienet.org/pipermail/ciecd-l/2005-November/000093.html he has been musical consultant for several films...and works with T-Bone Burnett. he is also in a group called Cordelia's Dad check out his web site here http://www.timeriksen.net and here http://www.timeriksen.net/news.html see also T-Bone Burnett http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122439/ |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: SouthernCelt Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:29 AM quoting: Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Slag - PM Date: 08 Jan 07 - 02:40 AM I read about half the book. It was cumbersome and tedious in places. I don't know if this was a first book but it seemed like it was. Sorry, I didn't have enough interest to find out. Believe it or not a very conservative preacher loaned it to me with his recommendation! I need to get it back to him. Since the movie I doubt seriously that I will ever finish the book. With regards to the movie it was a work of art in it's own right. I'd go **1/2 but not ***. The music was probably the best part. end quote I agree. I got to about the same point in the book. Not only did I find it tedious, I also got tired of the repeated proselytizing about "fighting for slavery". Very few soldiers on either side fought because of the issue of slavery; I could go on for pages about the real causes but I'll leave that for another day and other boards. quoting: Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Scoville - PM Date: 08 Jan 07 - 09:42 AM I just went back and listened to the soundtrack. 1) Who thought that "Sitting on Top of the World" was Civil War era? end quote It wasn't and anyone that knows anything about music of the era or even listens closely to the song can tell it doesn't "fit" the mid-19th century. I don't know why they put that in unless it was something Jack White convinced them to do. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Scrump Date: 09 Jan 07 - 04:48 AM I've seen (more than) enough of Nicole K Is that possible?! :-) |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Slag Date: 09 Jan 07 - 03:46 AM Yeah, they should have dug some up. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Scoville Date: 08 Jan 07 - 09:42 AM I just went back and listened to the soundtrack. 1) Who thought that "Sitting on Top of the World" was Civil War era? 2) Alison Krauss and Jack White are just too modern for this kind of thing. 3) Shove that Pig's Foot a Little Further in the Fire! Could they seriously not find any genuine old-time musicians for this? Why was it necessary to hire commercial bluegrass artists and then have them play the yokel? The Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus, Cassie Franklin, and shape-note stuff is a lot better. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Slag Date: 08 Jan 07 - 02:40 AM I read about half the book. It was cumbersome and tedious in places. I don't know if this was a first book but it seemed like it was. Sorry, I didn't have enough interest to find out. Believe it or not a very conservative preacher loaned it to me with his recommendation! I need to get it back to him. Since the movie I doubt seriously that I will ever finish the book. With regards to the movie it was a work of art in it's own right. I'd go **1/2 but not ***. The music was probably the best part. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,magpie Date: 04 Apr 06 - 12:41 AM "A massacre with singing!!" I was blown away by this opening scene. I went home and started digging around to find out more about the song. I found the name, Idumea... then I went looking for what "Idumea" meant. It's, of course, biblical and refers to a place. But then I found this: The meaning of Idumea Origin: Biblical Meaning: Red, earthy, bloody. woah... a very appropriate connection to that battle where all participants are caught up in a soup of mud and blood. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Gray D Date: 03 Apr 06 - 07:24 PM Captain Slog supplemental:- UK Shape Note info is here Gray D |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Gray D Date: 03 Apr 06 - 07:20 PM Note for effsee and dave the gnome, it was Shape Note - go here to find out more. Sounds like you might be in the UK and a lot of it goes on here but it is not exactly mainstream so if you're intrigued have a hunt around, find a "sing" and go along. It is pretty stirring stuff to experience live - particularly if you are a singer. Gray D |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Declan Date: 02 Apr 06 - 07:12 PM Personally speaking' I enjoyed the film a lot. I haven't read the book and while I like a lot of American folk music I wouldn't understand the subtlety of the difference between Old Timey and bluegrass or the various fiddle styles. Brendan Gleeson is from near where I come from in Dublin and I have known him as a fiddle player for many years. I thought the casting decision was great in terms of the availability of a name known in Hollywood and the US in general who could actually play the fiddle. I doubt if there would be may alternatives available. He also put his fiddle playing talent to good use in "Gangs of New York". I'd be interested in hearing opinions as to how well his fiddle playing worked given that his native Irish style would be quite different to the old timey style required in the film. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Strollin' Johnny Date: 02 Apr 06 - 06:10 AM Read the book. Beats the shit out of the film. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Snuffy Date: 31 Mar 06 - 07:04 AM A massacre with singing!! Was it the killers or the victims who sang?or everyone? |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 30 Mar 06 - 08:44 PM Accents change over time too. There's no particular reason to think that acents in Noryh Carolina back in the 1860s were particularly similar to accents these days. If I think about the way people talk in the places I have lived, that has certainly changed radically in all kind of ways just in the time I've been around. Scenery was indeed amazing. Romanian scenery I gather. Looks like a good place to visit some time. Pretty good film. A shame they had Nicola Kidman. Renée Zellweiger was a bit reminiscent of Doris Day in Calamity Jane which perhaps wasn't quite right (though I always liked Doris Day in Calamity Jane - if they wever do a remake I hope Renée gets cast.) Wouldn't mind seeing it again. I might come in a few minutes late, so as to miss that massacre - though that'd mean missing the singing as well, which would be a pity. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,bbc at work Date: 30 Mar 06 - 11:17 AM In regard to the shape note singing, if their arms are moving up & down, they're counting the timing of the songs. bbc |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Effsee Date: 30 Mar 06 - 09:41 AM Davetg, it's known as Shape Note singing I believe, but just exactly what that is I'm not awfully sure. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Den Date: 30 Mar 06 - 09:33 AM "I wish my baby", sounds a lot like "the butcher boy", is that where it comes from. I have the soundtrack and enjoy it very much. I find these threads are so useful for so many reasons. Someone above, may have been Kim recommended the book "The Black Flower". I work in a library so I searched our catalogue for it. It was checked out but I found a reader's advisory for another book of the period called, "The Killer Angels" and I'm really enjoying it. Thanks again catters. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Dave the Gnome Date: 30 Mar 06 - 08:35 AM Oh - and what were the hand actions in the church all about? |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Dave the Gnome Date: 30 Mar 06 - 08:34 AM Resurrected rather than start a new thread! I saw it for the first time last night. Seemed OK from an outsiders POV. Kept expecting Ray Winstone to break into Cockney but at least his part was in keeping:-) Couldn't figure out what Bridget Jones did in it. Where did the native American looking guy fit in? Music was good. Scenery was stunning. I think Mrs G would have enjoyed it more than me but she fell asleep - Not a slight on the film, understand. She just does! Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,SmileHabitat Date: 08 Aug 05 - 11:45 AM Indeed, the accents do change as you move around the region. My wife's father is from the Asheville area and her mother is from Raleigh, where they live and my wife grew up. We don't hear much of the coastal accent when we are in the Outer Banks, though. More NY accents! Ironic isn't it, when an American actor plays a British/Scottish/Irish role and they complain about mangled accents, yet when it comes to regional accents from the US, few seem to pay the regional accents any mind. I remember being so impressed with Frances McDormand's accent in "Fargo". William H Macy's attempt at the NoDak accent was OK, but sounded too forced. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,Arkie Date: 08 Aug 05 - 11:02 AM It has been a lot of years since I was in North Carolina but I spent a summer in the western part of the state and a summer on Harker's Island amongst the Hoigh Toiders as well as other coastal folk. The accents were quite different. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: bbc Date: 08 Aug 05 - 07:49 AM Yup, I liked the book better, too, but I liked Sheila Kay Adams' book w/ a similar theme--My Old True Love--even better. You can order it at her website-- Sheila Kay Adams and, if you like Civil War era music, that's her husband's speciality. best, bbc |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: SmileHabitat Date: 08 Aug 05 - 01:15 AM I think I enjoyed reading this old thread more than the movie! I just watched it on DVD last night. But I have to say, I am shocked no one mentioned how very, very bad the actors' North Carolina accents were in this film! I have family from the area and vacation in the Outer Banks area often. I didn't read the book, but listened to it driving through the area on my way there for a vacation. Those accents were so pitiful, I couldn't suspend disbelief about much in this film--I could barely understand Jude Law, who seemed to be talking with marbles in his mouth! To me the actors were badly miscast, and the director didn't get the essence of the book, the country, or the people. Of course, he was British. As is Jude Law. And Nicole Kidman, Aussie. Brendan Gleeson, Irish. Shot in Romania. Much lost in translation in this one! However, the film looked mahvelous! Just like a completely implausible Hollywood period love story should look! Beautiful sets, costumes, cinematography, and the soundtrack was first rate. The screenplay, very pedestrian--definitely second rate. I had imagined Inman as a Sam Shepard in his prime sort of character, and thought someone like Robert Downey Jr would have been good in the part. I imagineda Winona Ryder or Reese Witherspoon in the Ada role, and a Mary Louise Parker or Lauren Graham type in the Ruby role. Rene Zellweger is always over the top IMO, so nothing new here. I actually thought the best acting in the film came from Natalie Portman. The screenplay was truly awful though. What a mess the film was! I watched it with two friends who hadn't read the book, and they had a hard time figuring it all out. Random characters appearing and disappearing that didn't move the plot along, that sort of thing. And it isn't like the director/writer isn't up to the challenge--he wrote the screenplays for The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley. But hey--based upon peoples' recommendations in these Cold Mountain threads (what I stopped in for today), I'll definitely track down the soundtrack. I truly enjoyed the music & second what was said about the Elvis Costello song. Let's hope the Prairie Home Companion movie turns out better than this! |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 21 Sep 04 - 11:23 AM all of you people defending Nicole Kidman's 'beauty' in the film obviously have not read the book. her character is described as being notably plain, but with exceptionally dark hair. so, personal tastes aside, that is not Nicole Kidman, who would wear a false nose for a role, but not a dark wig? so many things wrong with this movie, when it could have been quite good. I stand by my earlier post |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: black walnut Date: 21 Sep 04 - 11:14 AM I thought it was a really good movie. There, I said it. And I agree with McGrath too. ~b.w. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,Lauren_B_Cannon@rl.gov Date: 21 Sep 04 - 10:58 AM Hey, all this talk about the singing but does anyone know what kind of hat Nicole was wearing? The black one, specifically. I know, how superficial, but what can I say, I liked the hat! |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: katlaughing Date: 08 Aug 04 - 10:03 AM Bill Kennedy, I think you've about got it right. We rented the dvd last night and tried watching it. Turned it off after the old lady killed her goat. Our sound system isn't the best, but I had a hard time hearing much of the music over all of the gratuitious violence and I wasn't the only one who thought the violence was over the top. (Yes, I know it showed what it is really like in war, but contrast that to war scenes in something like "Legends of the Fall" and you'll know what I mean.) I guess not being able to stand Alison Krause's voice and rendition of songs didn't help, but I really was looking forward to seeing this and was sorely disappointed. kat |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: greg stephens Date: 24 Feb 04 - 06:59 PM Well it's a while since I saw it but I keep remembering how stunning the "And am I born to die" hymn singing was, over the massacre at the beginning. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Burke Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:24 PM Here's the word from someone else who will be there. The Academy Awards will air live from 5:30 to 8:30 Pacific time. The Sacred Harp singers will perform approximately an hour into the show. They are billed as "Sacred Harp Singers of Liberty Church" because Liberty Church in Henager, Alabama is where the recording session for Cold Mountain took place. There will be @37 singers from Georgia, Alabama, Texas, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. They will be singing two numbers on the show. The first is the Elvis Costello song "The Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain. Allison Krauss will be singing the song as she did on the soundtrack. Right after that, the Sacred Harp singers will be singing Liberty, pg 137. (not on the soundtrack) |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 21 Feb 04 - 03:16 PM It always puzzles me the way people dash out of the cinema, as if somehow it's unlucky to see the credits. And this time that meant they missed Elvis Costello's song, which is one of the best things in the film, maybe the best. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,Nickp Date: 21 Feb 04 - 01:08 PM Saw it during the week. OK so it's not filmed in my favourite holiday area of western NC (big shame) and some of the music leaves much to be desired and I'm not convinced by Nicole K. but the rest of it was impressive and reasonably true to the book. Listening to Jude and Renee talk, someone had done a great job on voice coaching. Glad I saw it and will buy the video (still too old fashioned for dvd yet!). It was strange sitting in an empty cinema at the end just to Riley's name... |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 20 Feb 04 - 03:53 PM I can't say that Nicole Kidman has ever really registered much. She just doesn't stick in my memory. I probably wouldn't recognise her if I saw her walking down the street. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Desert Dancer Date: 19 Feb 04 - 11:32 PM I hear thru the Sacred Harp grapevine that there will be shape note singing at the Oscars! One of our Tucson singers has a Dallas friend who has been invited to be in the group that does it. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Compton Date: 19 Feb 04 - 07:46 PM Just as I was going off Rene Zellweger, she looks good in this!. Is it me though that thinks every time Rene smiles, she looks like she's swallowed a wasp! |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: 8_Pints Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:53 PM BAFTA awards(UK) results: Best actress in a supporting role Renee Zellweger - Cold Mountain Best Music - Cold Mountain Congratulations to Riley Baugus, et al. Definitely agree with the verdict for once!!! Bob vG |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Teresa Date: 26 Jan 04 - 11:16 PM It never occurred to me to check out a Sacred Harp group here, but I'll follow that pointer you provided, Burke. Thanks for remembering my Vegas move. I have not found much in the way of events there, but will keep trying, and listen to various things on the web. PoppaGator, thanks for the comments. I am still hemming and hawing about seeing the movie. Is it possible that some people are using the word "beautiful" when they actually mean "glamourous?" Maybe some feel Kidman is too glamorous for the role? I think there is a distinction to be made, but I also take your point, PG, that she might well represent the character she played. Anyhow, I was all over the map here, but there you have it. :) Teresa |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: PoppaGator Date: 26 Jan 04 - 09:36 PM It's been almost a month since I saw the film, and at least a week or two since I last read this thread. I've been thinking about my reponse off and on, and now I guess it's about time I chipped in my two-cents. I read the book when it became available at the public library (i.e., well after it had become a best-seller), and did not particularly enjoy it. The various horrendous events were just *so* overwhelming that I felt that, as a reader, I was being manipulated. That melodramatic quality, coupled with the romantic aspect of the story, made me regard the whole enterprise as a bit of a soap opera -- "Bridges of Madison County" for history buffs. I suppose I just couldn't manage the necessary suspension of disbelief that any work of art requires. To me, the movie worked better than the book because both the horrible battle scenes and the lyrical/sentimental scenes were right up in my face. I had less choice about whether I wanted to take them seriously -- I had to go along with the author's (and the director's) intentions. I liked the music well enough, although I expected more (or more prominent) music. I was most impressed by the "Sacred Harp" hymn singing -- I have heard *about* this particular genre for years, but never actually heard the singing. As far as I'm concerned, it was great, a real revelation. Anyone who criticizes it because they've heard better . . . well, I envy you for what you've been able to listen to. I think the criticism that Nicole was/is "too beautiful" for the part is ridiculous. First of all, does anyone seiously believe that humans are better-looking today than a mere century-and-a-half ago? There may have been a lot of cultural and technological changes in the intervening years, but there can hardly have been any significant physical evolution of the human race. Some of us are better looking than others, of course, both now and then -- and of course fashions have changed -- but any face anyone can possibly have been born with in 1950 or 1960 could as easily have appeared on a person born in 1800 or 1500 or 20 BC or whenever. Also: Her character was a privileged young white woman from the city of Charleston. She never had to do a lick of work, put her hands into hot dishwater, or even venture into the sun without a parasol. They had slaves to do everything for them. *Nobody* in the world today is as pampered as were girls like her, so it is historically correct for her to appear absolutely ethereal, especially when she first appears. As the film progresses, Ada undergoes some hardships and also becomes more competant at taking care of business for herself, and I think Kidman (along with her makeup people, etc.) does a brilliant job of portraying the changes. She really exudes a different kind of beauty at the end of the film than in the beginning, radiating a healthier and more self-confident aura than the pale porcelain doll we see at first. One last observation: I read in my American history books about "the carpetbaggers and the scalawags," but I never really understood the scalawag phenomenon a well as I do now, after seeing the "Home Guard" villains as portrayed in this film. (I suppose I *should* have gotten it from the book, but as mentioned above, I had problems getting myself fully involved in the book.) Hmmm -- guys who avoid the risk and dirty work of actually serving as soldiers, but who make damn sure that other poor suckers do their duty while at the same time profiteering and living off the suffering of their fellow citizens. I suppose there's nothing new under the sun, and politicians taday aren't really doing anything that hasn't been done before. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Burke Date: 26 Jan 04 - 07:01 PM SmilingMusician, Instead of going into a studio for recording, @50 Sacred Harp singers were invited to a singing at Liberty Church in Alabama. They sang for a couple of hours in just as they would at an all day singing & it was all recorded. Just the 2 on the soundtrack were used in the movie. The word in FASOLA circles is that there will be a CD released from the rest of the tunes recorded. Teresa, I clicked your name & see you're in San Francisco Bay area. I hope you've found the Sacred Harp Singers there. I don't know of any in LasVegas. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Folkie Date: 26 Jan 04 - 08:13 AM I went to see the film on Saturday having read the book a couple of years ago and thought it was excellent. The music fitted the context and the fiddle playing was superb |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: Teresa Date: 25 Jan 04 - 01:28 AM Well, despite the mixed reviews, I'll watch the movie, and I'll most definitely buy the sound-track. I want to hear the music. I can always count on good old 'catters to lead me on an adventure. I went searching for Cold Mountain and found the thread on Shape Note or Sacred Harp Music which I've been interested in for a long time. Thank you, 'catters! ;) Teresa |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: SmilingMusician Date: 24 Jan 04 - 10:25 PM Saw the movie today... bought the sound track an hour later. Both superb! I wish there had been more Sacred Harp singing... brings tears to my eyes every time. Regarding Guest Martin Gibson's comment above - "My wife brought home the CD soundtrack from the movie last night. After listening to about 1/2 of it, I couldn't stand it any longer. Outside of Allison Krause, some of the worst singing I have heard in a while. Quite irritating. What a let down. I would much rather hear traditional music performed by people who can carry a tune, or rather not at all." Mr. Martin, you obviously haven't seen the film. If you had, you'd know that the songs performed in the context of the film were not done by polished professionals. If they had sounded more professoinal, you'd have more negative comments similar to the ones about Nicole Kidman being too beautiful for her role. The music in the film was done by ordninary characters that seemed to live their parts very realistically. It was EXCELLENT, as was the whole project. |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: GUEST,JTT Date: 21 Jan 04 - 02:30 PM Unless it's an in-joke - the cynical old Da playing this song he supposedly composed, cozening his poor daughter with the idea that it's Ruby With the Eyes that Sparkle, when in fact it's Shove the Pig's Foot. Male chauvinist pig's foot, even! |
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Subject: RE: Cold Mountain From: BanjoRay Date: 20 Jan 04 - 07:13 AM I saw it two days ago. I thought it was superb- a very good rendition of the book. One surprise in it for me was the tune "Ruby With The Eyes That Sparkle" which "Stobrod" said he wrote. I've been playing it for years as "Shove The Pig's Foot A Little Further Into The Fire". I suppose its real title in the credits would have upset animal lovers. Cheers Ray |
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