Wow.
I like movies. But i rarely see them in theaters or even rent them. This is why things such as the Academy Awards don't really do anything for me...i haven't seen 90% of what they're talking about! But every so often a movie comes along that hits me hard, right in the gut. I mean, absolutely blows me away. That happened tonight when i saw "Ray." Derin said that i would love the movie when she saw it back in December, but i just never got around to seeing it. It's too bad because it was absolutely fucking brilliant. From Jamie Foxx's acting, to the plot, to the music, to its moral message, this movie had it all. I now have such a great appreciation for Ray Charles and his life, it's astounding. After the movie, I quickly borrowed Derin's anthology of his music to copy to my computer. He's just so damn versatile, yet classy (even if in a sexual sense). You can't help but be sucked into his music.
But back to the movie...Jamie Foxx was brilliant. I never thought i was watching an actor; i truly felt as though i was watching Ray Charles as he was living these moments. And i love the fact that he wasn't portrayed as this perfect hero who overcomes blindness to succeed in an "able-bodied" world. Drug-abuse, cheating on his wife, sketchy situations with "Friends"...those were all at the center of his life. And it deserves more focus than his blindness -- the movie did that. Finally, i'm brought back to a line dictated by his mother. "I'm proud of you Ray. But you lied to me. You became a cripple." He was a cripple not because he couldn't see. He "became" a cripple because he let drugs take control of his body. It's an amazing message: A handicap can only be created by one's own faults...not by the way he/she is born. It's so true, yet i never thought of things that way. Now i do.
So i implore you...please, please, please see this movie if you haven't already. It'll amaze you.
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!
But back to the movie...Jamie Foxx was brilliant. I never thought i was watching an actor; i truly felt as though i was watching Ray Charles as he was living these moments. And i love the fact that he wasn't portrayed as this perfect hero who overcomes blindness to succeed in an "able-bodied" world. Drug-abuse, cheating on his wife, sketchy situations with "Friends"...those were all at the center of his life. And it deserves more focus than his blindness -- the movie did that. Finally, i'm brought back to a line dictated by his mother. "I'm proud of you Ray. But you lied to me. You became a cripple." He was a cripple not because he couldn't see. He "became" a cripple because he let drugs take control of his body. It's an amazing message: A handicap can only be created by one's own faults...not by the way he/she is born. It's so true, yet i never thought of things that way. Now i do.
So i implore you...please, please, please see this movie if you haven't already. It'll amaze you.
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!