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17 Jun 01 - 09:04 PM (#485686) Subject: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,Meadow Muskrat I've just come back from seeing the movie Songcatcher, and recommend to anyone interested in traditional music.It takes place in 1907 western North Carolina in the Southrn Mtns. and features a musicologists attempt to catalog the old ballads of the area.the story and photography are great, and the soundtrack is incredible, with no-nonsense treatment of the songs.See it before its gone. |
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18 Jun 01 - 01:09 PM (#486060) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Fortunato thanks, I will. Chance |
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18 Jun 01 - 01:26 PM (#486083) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: mousethief Is there a soundtrack CD yet? Alex |
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18 Jun 01 - 01:40 PM (#486106) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST Would that have been cecil Sharpe by any chance? |
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18 Jun 01 - 01:42 PM (#486111) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: mousethief Well in the movie it's a woman (which seems terribly anachronistic), but from what I heard on NPR it seems to be modelled on Cecil Sharp's activities. Alex |
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18 Jun 01 - 02:37 PM (#486197) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: okthen Credits list a guy called Mike Harding, can't be the UK's very own warblist can it ? Anyone any idea when we might see it in the UK? cheers bill |
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18 Jun 01 - 04:16 PM (#486277) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 Just out of curiosity, how many threads are we going to run on this sucker??? I have every reason to believe it's one helluva' movie, but great grannie's drawers...........ENOUGH WITH THE NEW THREADS!!! No offense, but we really need a mandatory check of past threads before starting a new one!!!!!! And this thread is Songcatcher Five........ Songcatcher Two, BREAK OFF!! BREAK OFF!! You got a Mig on your tail!!! Spaw |
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18 Jun 01 - 04:23 PM (#486282) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: mousethief Oh sh*t, Songcatcher leader, what side? What side? AUGHGHGHGHGH! (sfx: explosion; sad, lump-in-the-throat music) Alex |
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18 Jun 01 - 04:29 PM (#486290) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 "Songcatcher Leader ... Anybody see a 'chute? Song Four, Song Four, Take a couple passes down that valley and see if you see anything.........Songcatcher Three, Fly cover for him............This is Songcatcher One to Jolly Green...Jolly Green we have man down, checking location...Please Standby........" Spaw |
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18 Jun 01 - 04:35 PM (#486295) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: mousethief Here's the world famous fighter-plane pilot, down behind enemy lines with nothing but his wits, a small first-aid kit, and a very expensive survival knife to keep him alive. Oh, and the service pistol and maybe 20 rounds of ammo. I hear the boys flying overhead, looking for me. But the forest is so thick, and the chute is here at the bottom with me, instead of sprawled across the top of the trees where it could be seen. And me with no flare gun. Okay now, remember those maps back at the briefing. This must be the Mappu River valley. The Mappu flows to the sea of ... um ... Alex |
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19 Jun 01 - 01:34 AM (#486691) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Lonesome EJ Sit tight Alex. There's a chopper on the way. and by the way, I started one of those damn threads Catspaw mentioned. Mea culpa. mea maxima culpa. |
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19 Jun 01 - 06:22 AM (#486796) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: JennieG Gosh so did I....I'm off to hide under the bushes before Spaw sees me! Cheers JennieG |
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19 Jun 01 - 02:48 PM (#487167) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,Melani I was gonna see the movie, but this thread suddenly turned into one! |
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20 Jun 01 - 09:21 AM (#487760) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Fortunato "Now, now children, if I let YOU start a thread, everyone's going to want one. Now does anyone want any of these nice stewed prunes?" |
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05 Jul 01 - 05:46 PM (#499275) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: bflat I hopped around reading the many threads on mudcat, related to this movie before choosing this one for my thoughts, as the title says succinctly what I want to urge you to do. I just saw the film and I loved it! The music is pure pleasure. The story line is held together and developed to showcase the music, I think. If you agree with me that there is a lack of popular culture support for folk music and that you wish more people would support it than, it is incumbent on you to see this film. It might encourage more work in and around this genre. See the movie. Ellen |
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05 Jul 01 - 05:57 PM (#499284) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Amergin can't wait to see this show...so i can start my own thread on it... |
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05 Jul 01 - 06:24 PM (#499302) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Grab Any word yet on whether Alex has found his chopper? |
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05 Jul 01 - 06:31 PM (#499308) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 Thank you Ellen for NOT starting a new thread and I'm looking forward to seeing this one for myself! The guy that plaed "Parley" is someoone I knew back in college. Spaw |
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05 Jul 01 - 08:55 PM (#499413) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,bflat Golly gee, Spaw, you sure are a kind one not use to hearin' "Thank You." Ellen |
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05 Jul 01 - 08:58 PM (#499417) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: DougR Anybody seen that new movie, "Songcatcher" yet? DougR |
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05 Jul 01 - 09:52 PM (#499451) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 Fock you Doug. Spaw |
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06 Jul 01 - 12:26 AM (#499543) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: DougR Thanks |
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06 Jul 01 - 12:38 AM (#499546) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 On the other hand, at least you didn't start another thread.............. Spaw |
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06 Jul 01 - 12:56 AM (#499550) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: DougR So? Has anybody seen the movie? |
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06 Jul 01 - 03:45 AM (#499572) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Auxiris It will probably be at least a year before the translation is done, so we won't see it in France till then. . . then I can start a thread about it! (No, I won't, promise) cheers, Aux
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06 Jul 01 - 12:20 PM (#499876) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: DougR The movie got a good review in today's paper. Said the plot was nothing special, but the music was great! DougR |
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06 Jul 01 - 04:26 PM (#500096) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Bev and Jerry Songcatcher finally reached the hinterlands where we live. Well, to be more precise, it reached a theater 35 miles from where we live.
This ranks right up there with the best movies we have ever seen. See it! We are very fussy about the movies we see. We go less than once a year because we think the vast majority of today's movies suck. Everything about this movie is well done including the music, the acting, the cimematography, and, especially the costumes.
Don't miss this movie. Bev and Jerry |
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06 Jul 01 - 04:42 PM (#500109) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Mudlark Oh great....the LAST thread I read wasn't so kind (maybe that was the one that lost it over the Mappu River!) and the Salon Mag review said it was about as authentic as a dulcimer set down in an Ikea display. So I didn't make the 100 mi RT trek to see it. And now, sob, it's gone....... I demand a new thread if and when the video comes out!
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29 Aug 01 - 10:12 PM (#537865) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 |
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29 Aug 01 - 10:52 PM (#537893) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Just posting to help this thread catch up with the other one on the movie. |
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30 Aug 01 - 03:06 PM (#538312) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 Because I don't know which of the 10 threads someone may be tracing, I'm posting this on ALL of the "Songcatcher" threads. Our good member annamil has a video store and I asked her to check on the " of the movie being available on videotape and as she always does, came through for us. Here is what she posted: ********************************************************** I just called my dealer and he says it will be out Oct 23rd and I will pre-book it Oct 1st. You won't be able to buy it for awhile, but you will be able to rent it. I didn't know about this movie til I read this thread and I only read this thread because someone mentioned it in another thread. I can't wait to see it and more importantly, I can't wait to HEAR it. I'm not sure how many I should order for the store as this is the first I've heard of it. From what I heard and read here, it may be worth 10 threads ;-) Love, Annamill ********************************************************** So go bug your local videostore and tell them you want to rent "Songcatcher." And when you do.........Don't start another freakin' thread huh? Spaw |
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31 Aug 01 - 02:39 AM (#538757) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,'gargoyle Stop yer catter wailing Mr. Spaw!!!
(I thought you died, twice already...hurry up, get over the suffering and shuffle off this mortal coil!)
I permit myself to see...two films/videos a year...thanks to this FIFTH THREAD.....I WILL see this film....(might even see it twice and not worry about seeking another.) Most of us don't log in as frequently as you - and I would have missed this excellent recommendation. |
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31 Aug 01 - 04:31 AM (#538782) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,Anne WA Hi All, I have seen the movie - it's great, but I also have a copy of the CD - and if we can get here in sunny Perth , Western Australia, I'm sure the rest of the world will follow............................. |
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31 Aug 01 - 06:25 AM (#538817) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: gnu How can anyone think about movies at a time like this ? There's a man down and we don't know how bad he may be hurt or if he's been taken by the Mappu. And we all know what they do to captured pilots. Where's that damn Blackhawk with a report ? |
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31 Aug 01 - 06:32 AM (#538818) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Banjer Movie?? What Movie?? |
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31 Aug 01 - 06:36 AM (#538819) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Banjer Speaking of movies, has anyone seen that new one about the lady that goes into South Carolina or somewhere in the early 1900's collecting songs and music?? If any one has seen it, please let us know how it is.... Banjer (duckingandrunningforcover) |
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31 Aug 01 - 01:58 PM (#539077) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: wysiwyg CLICK HERE for Bill Hahn's archived WFDU interview-- with David Mansfield, musical director and author of original score, SONGCATCHER. ~S~ |
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31 Aug 01 - 02:05 PM (#539084) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Wesley S Banjer - If you're going to change the topic you might want to consider starting a new thread ! Wesley {duckingalso} |
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31 Aug 01 - 05:26 PM (#539251) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,Fortunato Well, I finally saw Songcatcher. I was really disappointed. My wife and I felt that every Appalachian cliche and sterotype was shoved in an story too small. Sort of like a blivet. Ten pounds of manure in a five pound bag. The cinematography was fine, but nothing notable. The acting was adequate, slightly better than the story. The plot wandered gratuitously around sampling ignorance, spontaneous lust, moonshine, supersitition, adultry, and lesbianism. This last, making the two lone school teachers who struggled to educate "the poor, backward, hillbillys" was was a simple ruse to have the music collection burned, we supposed, for it was otherwise pointless. Finally, the setups for the songs was so obviously contrived that at times I wanted to laugh out loud. Well, yes, it's lovely to hear music WE ALL want to hear in a movie, and the music was good, but did the movie have to be so damn bad? One last, the actress who played the granny who sang and midwifed stood out and was able to bring a credence to the whole limp affair when she was on screen. Regards, Chance |
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31 Aug 01 - 11:40 PM (#539458) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,.gargoyle What more could you expect????
They sent a woman to do a MAN's JOB!
Nope...I ain't gonna waist my second viewing...for an entire year...on this one. Once is enough! |
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08 Oct 01 - 01:24 PM (#567483) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: harpgirl ...gee guys...I liked it! |
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08 Oct 01 - 01:38 PM (#567493) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: harpgirl ...katlaughing brought up the most interesting fact in this discussion. Who was the movie based on: Olive Dame Campbell or Dorothy Scarborough?. I vote for Dorothy. I can't understand why a movie about a woman in America who was extraordinarily well educated, adventurous, and making groundbreaking folk discoveries before women even had the vote, would not be interesting to you two fellas. I would have thought better of you and Chance, gargoyle. |
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08 Oct 01 - 08:30 PM (#567842) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Abby Sale Fortunato: I both do and don't agree. Yes, is was a mashing of a huge bundle of non-contiguous items & motifs into a single movie. But I feel it was intentional and polemic rather than commercial or frivolous. Imagine that the audience was the ignorant public, not us sophistocated & knowledgable people here. For all your (legit) complaints, imagine the purpose is to say each of these items, songs, attitudes has a purpose. It's not stage entertainment, it's part of life. Yes "every Appalachian cliche and sterotype was shoved in" but perhaps it was to squeeze every folksong & ballad cliche into an hour and a half movie. Not so bad really. A single example (one of the blaringist) - our heroine's emaciated, sterile, parlor rendition of "Bonnie Bawbie Allen" and then being socked in the eye when she hears it for real. (By a trained opera singer, BTW.) But that's valid - few academics knew the songs were still alive. Child certainly didn't. But to see a movie with REAL music in it's proper setting --- now that's a great thing I've never come across before in my life. It was wonderful. As to the lesbianism, that's not so far-fetched either. Not the sister, but there's good reason to believe that Ms Campbell experienced a long-term stable homosexual relationship after the death of Mr Campbell. Not in the mountains, of course, in Europe. harpgirl: It's a good guess but no, the factual elements and Campbell's relationship to Sharp are too well established. Sharp actually credits her with 42 songs in his great book - I looked. Anyway, she's mentioned in the credits. :-) |
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08 Oct 01 - 09:58 PM (#567884) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: harpgirl Abby...regarding the lesbian relationship...was she in France in "The Belle Epoque"? Was she in the salon set, that is amongst Natalie Barney or Renee Vivien's circle? Who was her lover in Europe? from katlaughing's post I'd wonder if it weren't a composite portrait of a certain type of lady of the era based on several women?hg |
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08 Oct 01 - 10:00 PM (#567886) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: harpgirl ..ah christ, I need the grammar police after me... |
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09 Oct 01 - 11:49 AM (#568231) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: LR Mole I assume this movie doesn't have anything to do with the Sharyn McCrumb novel of the same name, but THAT just came out and it's WONDERFUL (the novel). |
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09 Oct 01 - 12:32 PM (#568251) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: catspaw49 Ah, Mo;e.....The answer to your question is on one of our other ten Songcatcher threads! If you choose THIS ONE......YOU'RE A WINNER in the "TEN THREADS OF MISHMASHED SONGCATCHER SHIT CONTEST" Okay Johhny, tell 'em what he's won!!!!!!! Spaw |
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09 Oct 01 - 05:39 PM (#568495) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Desert Dancer Harpgirl, As Abby says, it's in the film credits, and it's also in the extensive publicity material available on the web (this is the fastest loading way to get at it, the link I posted in early in this thread) that Olive Campbell was the inspiration. And just to make things easier, the relevant text's below. ~ Becky in Tucson Songcatching: The Heart of the Tale While researching her script, Greenwald came across the old mountain term "Songcatcher," which refers to anybody who collects songs, whether a singer or an outsider. She also uncovered the real-life history of one of Appalachia's most renowned songcatchers, an East Coast-bred woman named Olive Dame Campbell, who boldly journeyed to the mountains with her minister husband in 1908, a time when few outsiders came to Appalachia. Olive was immediately taken aback by the astonishing music and crafts of the mountain people and began collecting their ancient ballads and studying the ways of their handicrafts. Eventually, she founded the John C. Campbell Folk School, dedicated to fostering traditional Appalachian ways, in Brasstown, North Carolina. Although Olive Dame Campbell brought many of the songs she heard to the outside world, it wasn't until the British musicologist Cecil J. Sharp published them in 1915 that they began to gain renown. This irony that the songs only escaped national attention until a man became involved didn't escape Greenwald's eye. She decided right away that she wanted a woman at the center of her story one who, like Olive Dame Campbell, had to fight to be taken seriously, and who's number one priority was making the music last. Dr. Lily Penleric never existed in real-life, but her experiences in the mountains echo many of the real-life Easterners a number of whom were among the country's first female college graduates -- who made their way deep into the hills hoping to bring improved health and education, while preserving the soul-stirring ways in which art naturally mixed with life there. The dilemma Dr. Lily Penleric faces to simply take the music for her own advancement or to help preserve and be a part of the freewheeling lifestyle that led to its creation was also very real. |
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10 Oct 01 - 02:41 PM (#569155) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Desert Dancer Eek! What have I wrought?? Joe Clone alert! I was intending to link to the other thread and got distracted with the idea of including the text from the web site and scrambled my syntax. Sorry! ~ B in T |
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23 Oct 01 - 11:50 PM (#578511) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: GUEST,BigDaddy Songcatcher became available for rent on video yesterday (Tuesday). Just thought I'd mention it. |
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03 Apr 03 - 01:17 PM (#925384) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Charley Noble Finally viewed this movie on a borrowed videotape. I must say it's tedious scanning these threads for any comments about the quality of this production. I basically have to agree with Fortunato above. The music is nice to hear compared to what's available commercially. I especially like the dance party, and its wasted aftermath; I can identify with that! But too much of the movie is taken up with various soap opera mini-plots. There's a story here that could have stood on its own, and in my opinion the director did not have the ability to portray that story, or was unable to resist the pressures to come up with something more commercially viable. Sure cleared the air during that church gathering when the abandoned mountain woman blew away her lover who had returned to his wife. Bet there's a song in that! Makes me think back to the days in the mid 1960's when I and my friend Franz wandered down to Madison County, North Carolina, and jammed with various people. Hey, I've got a great idea for a movie! You won't believe what happened that last evening while we were sharing some of our mason jars of white lightning with our genial hosts, but that's another thread. Do see the movie for the music but be prepared to block out the rest of it. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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03 Apr 03 - 03:18 PM (#925447) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Steve Latimer Charley, I don't see that other thread yet. I saw this about a month ago. Just a little predictable??? There was a great ad on the Radio here a while ago. A guy wants to watch the game. His wife says that a certain movie is on that she would like them to watch. He (lying)says I've already seen it. She (testing him) says then what's it about? He says. Um, guy meets girl, guy loses girl, guy gets girl back. She says "you have seen it". This is another one of those movies. I did like a lot of the music aspects. Would have loved to hear more of Taj Mahal frailing the banjo. They could have done so much more with it. The whole thing with the sister and the other school teacher was ridiculous. |
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03 Apr 03 - 05:21 PM (#925553) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Charley Noble Steve- Apparently there are at least 10 dualing threads on this motion picture, with most of the postings of dubious value. I agree "Taj Mahal frailing the banjo" was a nice bit and if they could have worked him in as a major character it would have been even better. Well, maybe... You know, it just would have been nicer if the musicians had been interacting more with each other, as they would in a party or a session. I did like the "arkwardness" of the academic songcatcher trying to figure out how to connect with the ballad singers; that rung true. But what a waste of a good musicians! Charley Noble |
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03 Apr 03 - 05:48 PM (#925579) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Clinton Hammond " Do see the movie for the music but be prepared to block out the rest of it" See I liked the music fair enough... and I liked the story fair enough... Enough so that I bought it... don't think one would have been strong enough to carry the movie without the other... Too bad the offical soundtrack didn't include more of the actual music from the movie... I'm glad I downloaded it, listened, deleted and didn't waste any money on it... |
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03 Apr 03 - 08:02 PM (#925689) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Little Hawk Great! Thanks for the tip. Movies like this last about 2 days in Orillia...if they ever even show up here at all. I'll watch the Barrie cinemas for it. - LH |
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03 Apr 03 - 08:08 PM (#925693) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: michaelr Charley -- waddaya mean, "most of the postings of dubious value"? Cheers, Michael |
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04 Apr 03 - 09:23 AM (#926011) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Charley Noble Michael- If you're serious about this question, the vast majority of the posting have little to do with the movie but are Mudcat chatter about the multiplicity of threads and some mythical poster by the name of Spaw. I find it tedious to sift through. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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04 Apr 03 - 09:32 AM (#926019) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Art Thieme I've resisted seeing this film but was thinking I eventually would watch it. Now I'm convinced not to bother with it. Art |
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04 Apr 03 - 10:06 AM (#926044) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Charley Noble Art- Rent the video and fast-forward through the yukey parts! Charley Noble |
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04 Apr 03 - 12:40 PM (#926151) Subject: RE: Songcatcher-See the Movie From: Steve Latimer The funny thing is that Taj was one of the first few names shown in the opening credits. I kept expecting to see him again. How long was he on screen, thirty seconds? I did enjoy seeing the recording equipment being dragged through the hills, how surprised people were to hear their own music etc. Gave me a better feel for what the Lomaxes must have gone through. Art, A guy I worked with is a bit of a movie buff. He has a term that he uses to describe some movies, "An okay time waster". I would put Songcatcher in this category, but only because of the music. |