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In Reply to: Your precious Duncan is wrong... posted by mkuller on October 26, 2005 at 10:05:52:
"Your Mr. Shepherd doesn't impress me, but then I'm not from Boston."Mr. Shepherd is not *my* Mr. Shepherd, but his own man. And far from reading only Boston-based critics, as you have wrongfully accused me of doing before, I get around. For instance, to San Diego -- where Mr. Shepherd writes.
clark
PS For the insider view you are unable to offer, here's sjb's message, which he's reworking:
The music in Elizabethtown is used with less effect than in any of Crowe's
other films.
------------------------------
Instead of supporting or underscoring a moment or theme in the film (which,
while overused, his musical choices usually do) the music in Elizabethtown
seems to have it's own agenda and it mostly succeeded in pulling me out of
the film. Among the problems with the music was its frequent use as a
foreground element when it should have been a background element or it
starting too soon during a potentially heartfelt moment or it stepping on
the actors' lines and, more than ever, they were just poor choices of
songs.Crowe wasn't able to work with his regular editor which could have easily
been a factor in how poor the weaving of the music into the fabric of the
film was.
Follow Ups:
...while I have no insider view to offer, I didn't communicate my thoughts very well.For those of us who are passionate about music, like you and I, and I suspect Mr. Crowe, any autobiographical work most likely will contain music that is important to us in that time of our life, but may not resonate the same way with everyone else, particularly film reviewers who don't know what it's like to be passionate about music.
As trite as it is, 'music is the soundtrack of our lives' and if it were my life being portrayed, I can think of some of the music which would be included that made a big impression on me at various times.
As 'Elizabethtown' is also somewhat biographical, it is difficult to say whether Crowe's musical choices were for effect or because they were important to him at that time in his life.
As for Mr. Shepherd, you have quoted him numerous times here and IIRC, labeled him as your favorite.
Or audio reviewers who seem able to read into the hearts and minds of other people?
...sort of the opposite of Roger Ebert who can find something to like in just about any film.When it comes to criticizing a film for its choice of music on the soundtrack, I guess where Elizabethtown is concerned, there are a lot more valid things to criticize.
Having a good reason and/or a deeply peronal reason for using the chosen music is entirely separate from implementing those musical choices well (Almost Famous) or poorly (Elizabethtown).
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
I spoke knowing he wasn't Crowes regular guy but hadn't looked him up. For what it's worth... a quick check with Allmovie.com reveals that the editor on Elizabethtown also edited on Jerry Macguire and on a film that I thought made excellent use of pop music to underscore and support it's moments and themes, Rushmore.
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
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