Before the Oscars are handed out on Sunday night at the Academy Awards Show I decided to capture some moments from my favorite films this past year. And cast a vote for my Oscar picks. Best Original Song was easy--it has to be "The Weary Kind" by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett from Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake, a washed up alcoholic country singer who rides the highway from one sorry town to another, playing gigs at bowling alleys and bars. Then retreating to sleazy hotels to continue his drunken escape.
Your body aches
Playing your guitar and sweating out the hate
The days and nights all feel the same
Whiskey has been a thorn in your side
And it doesn't forget
the highway that calls for your heart inside
And this ain't no place for the weary kind
And this ain't no place to lose your mind
And this ain't no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try
Just watching the Crazy Heart trailer brings tears to my eyes. Like in the 1983 film Tender Mercies which starred Robert Duvall as a down and out country singer who was saved by a woman and child's love and belief in him, Bad Blake is turned around by a young woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her son. Through them he found something that mattered more than the next bottle of cheap whiskey:
Playing your guitar and sweating out the hate
The days and nights all feel the same
Whiskey has been a thorn in your side
And it doesn't forget
the highway that calls for your heart inside
And this ain't no place for the weary kind
And this ain't no place to lose your mind
And this ain't no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try
Just watching the Crazy Heart trailer brings tears to my eyes. Like in the 1983 film Tender Mercies which starred Robert Duvall as a down and out country singer who was saved by a woman and child's love and belief in him, Bad Blake is turned around by a young woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her son. Through them he found something that mattered more than the next bottle of cheap whiskey:
It is amazing that a songwriter so young as Ryan Bingham could capture the emotions and bone weariness of a man like Bad Blake. But late at night, driving himself from one gig to another, Bingham listened, as he said, to the "rhythm of the road" and found the soul of a man twice his age. Here is Ryan Bingham in a live performance of "The Weary Kind"/div>
I hope he gets to accept an Oscar on Sunday night. I'll remember this song for a long time.
(Come back later in the week for more Oscar picks. I have to get to the theater a few more times before Sunday. Do you have favorites that you're rooting for?)
4 comments:
Looking forward to watching the Oscars on Sunday. Crazy heart is one of the movies I would like to see.
I didn't follow anything concerning the Oscars. I only notice one thing that no movie lately interested me.
That's nice that you take over Fun Monday, I will put it in my post on monday.
I wish I'd thought to take Monday off work as I'm bound to end up watching the Oscars far later than I should and will be all bleary-eyed for work.
janis-love all the pre-Oscar stuff, especially what everyone is wearing. And I think you'd love Crazy Heart for its music and message.
gattina--do you pay attention to the Venice Film Festival? Some years I don't care about any of the films that are up for awards, but this year there's several I want to do well. Thanks for passing the word along about Fun Monday 15th hosting. I'll post the assignment on the 10th.
debs--being sleep deprived on Monday morning will be worth it. Did you see the BAFTA Awards show? I'm hoping our man Colin Firth does as well here for "A Single Man". Although, Jeff Bridges was great in Crazy Heart. Both actors really transformed into their characters.
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