Short on time and, unfortunately, short on words.
Briefly put: True Stories is a weird Talking Heads musical, the enjoyment of which will depend entirely on your appreciation for their music. I'm a fan and I enjoyed this semi-narrative, semi-feature-length-music-video. John Goodman has a nice, early turn here, one that reminds me that the guy's extremely charismatic and not a bad actor. The movie follows David Byrne as he observes the goings on of people in Virgil, Texas and the film's focus seems rather prescient as it discusses the role of emergent technology on the economy, the workweek, the church, and the family. The movie's got a nice appreciation of suburbia while putting it up to scrutiny and, at times, feels like a jollier, snappier David Lynch film. My favorite part featured John Ingle as a preacher singing about computerized morality in America and I also loved David Byrne's absurd and deadpan one-liners. The movie's self indulgent to the max, but it's good hearted, patently inoffensive, and fun... if you like the Talking Heads. If you don't... boy this would be a chore to sit through at times.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Day 52: True Stories
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4 comments:
I love this movie. I'm a huge Talking Heads and David Byrne fan, but I also have friends that aren't and also enjoyed the movie because of the humor.
I wasn't a Talking Heads fan until someone made me watch True Stories in high school. I've since purchased my own copy and continue to spring it on unsuspecting friends. It's usually pretty well received.
i was not such a big talking heads-fan when i saw this movie (university made me watch it), and i didn't get any cd's of them afterwards except the best-of-compilation (whatever it's called, forgot). still, for it's strangeness and bizarre-ity (?!?!) i enjoyed it very much and in my head i usually file the memory of it along with david lynch's movie. also when i watched drop dead gorgeous, it reminded me of it - maybe for all the pastelle-coloured sugar that's far too much to be sweet...
All: Cool! I guess this is actually a good Talking Heads primer since it's so charming.
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