tommy!
02.25.03 @ 9:08 p.m.
FINALLY!
I've seen Tommy in all it's dated, seventies, whacked-out Ken Russel glory. I didn't like it at first, to be honest, but by the time I got to the end I was enjoying it mostly for the giggles it induced.
And OH MY GOD, is there ever a time when Roger Daltrey has a frickin' shirt on?!? It's hilarious. I mean, even after We're Not Gonna Take it, his t-shirt is ripped enough to at least show one nipple.
So, Ann-Margaret is totally inappropriately and blatantly sexual in this movie. I mean, the scene right after Pinball Wizard with the soap and the beans and the chocolate and the BIG PHALLIC PILLOW, which she strokes and... yeah. And she rubs all that disgusting gooey chocolate and beans over her breasts like she's acting in porn. And she kind of writhes around Tommy at a few points in a very non-motherly way.
We also get Jack Nicholson as the Specialist, which I just loved. Not only is he singing, he's FLIRTING with Ann Margaret! Heehee. It's great. And he doesn't completely butcher one of my favorite songs on Tommy.
The worst of the worst has to be the really horrible blue screen of Roger Daltrey running over stock footage of various things like waves, a school of fish, and lava. It's beyond ridiculous. And Roger looks like a geek when he runs. There, I've said it.
Possibly my favorite part is when Eric Clapton is singing Eyesight to the Blind and Pete Townshend and John Entwistle are crossing the necks of their guitars and uncrossing them to allow people access to the holy idol of Marilyn.
Heavy handed themes: silver balls (yes PINBALL, we GET it), Red and White (though that's okay, that intrigued me more than anything and heeeey, Tommy never wears red except the flowers during the Acid Queen...), messiah imagery. Maybe they're not all heavy handed, but at times they seemed a bit too obvious. The black velvet picture of Roger surrounded by pinball balls was just a bit much.
Roger's vacant stare bothers me. And when you are not going to have eye color continuity between young Tommy and adult Tommy, you should not do so many close ups on the eye.
I liked the Acid Queen stuff, too, which surprised me, because it's not a part of the album I'm fanatical about or anything.
More later, maybe. I'm planning to watch it again before I have to return it, and I also said I was going to detail some of those Monkees/U2 links.
Oh, damn, there is some stuff I have to write now.
I spent a lot of my afternoon today in the rock music section of the library, and it was delightful flipping through books of music criticism and social histories. One of the books was by Paul Friedlander, who I think is one of the co-authors of my big book of the Who. I read his chapter on the Who (yay, they got a whole chapter!) and one thing that I thought was funny was the mention of the Who touring with Herman's Hermits after Monterey Pop, which was called almost as monumental a mismatch as when Hendrix opened for the Monkees. I thought that was funny and I was pleased to see that some rock historians were willing to ADMIT that Hendrix opened for the Monkees for seven tour dates after Monterey. So I looked in the index and almost every mention of the Monkees included the words "monumental mismatch" which was even funnier. I even wrote down a quote in my usual desperate-for-paper way (I never seem to remember to buy a small notebook) on the back of a Target gift reciept. Hah. I have a drift of reciepts with little notes written on them at the bottom of my purse.
That reminds me of another point about (you guessed it) Tommy--The plot, specifically who dies in 1921 (which becomes 1951 in the movie), does not jive with my own understanding of the album. And, I think, the Broadway version goes along with what I think, which is that Captain Walker kills the lover, not the other way around. But then, Frank the lover is more likely to exploit Tommy than Captain Walker, which is a somewhat important point of the movie's plot.
Enough already. Besides, my stupid keyboard is driving me insane.
Previously
fuck it @ 08.01.05
fanciful imaginary sea voyages to come @ 07.20.05
*dies* @ 07.19.05
more ootp @ 07.17.05
harry potter: driving our children into devil worship @ 07.17.05
