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Topic: "RAY" the movie! (Read 1825 times)

luci
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"RAY" the movie!
« on: Oct 28^th, 2004, 6:02pm »

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Long after the movie's over, 'Ray' will be on your min

If ever there was a pop-music biopic crying to be made, that movie is "Ray," about Ray Charles, the legendary singer, pianist, and songwriter who died in June. Small wonder it's directed by Taylor Hackford, a pop-savvy filmmaker whose credits include producing "La Bamba," the entertaining 1987 picture about Ritchie Valens, and directing "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll," the marvelous Chuck Berry documentary of the same year.

"Ray" stands with the better fictionalized biographies of popular music stars. It's conventional in approach and sometimes sentimental, even corny, in its content. But there were so many fascinating overtones in Mr. Charles's life and career that any account of them is bound to be riveting at least part of the time.

Some of those overtones were sad. Raised in Georgia and Florida during the era of institutionalized Southern racism, Charles was only 5 when he lost a brother in a tragic accident (which he apparently witnessed) and only 7 when he lost his sight. As a young adult he rose quickly in the music world, though, first by imitating stars like Nat "King" Cole and Charles Brown, then as an original talent who spun danceable songs out of gospel-music ingredients.

His embrace of this "devil music" scandalized his more conservative listeners, as did his addiction to heroin, which almost undermined his career before he kicked the habit in the 1960s. Other aspects of his private life also threatened his success, including his penchant for fathering children out of wedlock.

"Ray" takes a simplified Freudian view of Charles's dark side, suggesting his weaknesses were a result of childhood traumas that he eventually overcame through a combination of will power and psychotherapy. The movie's political level is more carefully worked out than its psychology, showing how Charles defied Georgia tradition by refusing to give a segregated concert there - and how he was vindicated years later when the state publicly apologized and made one of his most magnificent hits, "Georgia on My Mind," its official song.

In a performance already surrounded by Oscar buzz, Jamie Foxx is close to perfect as the title character, balancing mimicry - with help from the makeup department, he looks uncannily like Charles himself - and solid interpretive acting that lets us identify with Charles even as we see his failings and feel his vulnerabilities. With so much justified fuss over Mr. Foxx, one hopes the superb supporting cast doesn't get lost in the publicity shuffle: Kerry Washington as Charles's wife, Regina King as his mistress, Bokeem Woodbine as sideman "Fathead" Newman, and Curtis Armstrong as legendary Atlantic Records producer Ahmet Ertegun, among others.

Running more than 2-1/2 hours, "Ray" is longer than it needs to be. But it's good that Hackford and company have allowed themselves to touch so many bases in Charles's biography. Like the "Georgia" he crooned about, "Ray" will be on many people's minds in months to come.

• Rated PG-13; contains sex and drug use.

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #1 on: Oct 28^th, 2004, 6:03pm »

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Opening tomorrow, I am so excited to see this movie and hear the music Cool

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Rhune
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #2 on: Oct 29^th, 2004, 2:03am »

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I hear very good things about this movie...

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avsfanbuck
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #3 on: Oct 29^th, 2004, 8:58am »

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I want to go see this to!

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lakelady
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #4 on: Oct 30^th, 2004, 8:23am »

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Tapping foot and waiting impatiently for luci's review. Wink

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luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #5 on: Feb 9^th, 2005, 3:55pm »

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This is now out on DVD. Also two CD's of his music.
Hmmm, need a Valentine Gift suggestion? Kiss

Don't miss this movie, it is AWESOME Cool

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
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luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #6 on: Feb 28^th, 2005, 5:36pm »

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All of you have had time to see this one. It's been out on DVD for awhile now.
Jaimie Foxx is awesome as the portrayal of Ray. He deserved two oscars for his part in this movie!

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
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BrYce_BrIan
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #7 on: Mar 3^rd, 2005, 12:02am »

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ur right luci!!! Ive seen him on Oprah... even oprah was amazed from his acting... I mean from Comedy to sumthin serious... its was fantastic

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luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #8 on: Mar 3^rd, 2005, 9:39am »

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Jamie also did the singing and playing the piano, BLIND Cool

He was very deserving and we hope he gets other good roles, but this role is the one we'll remember him for!

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
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sbcrawford
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #9 on: Mar 3^rd, 2005, 6:28pm »

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This is to correct some misinformation out there. Ray Charles was never banned from Georgia. The filmmakers made that up. He did refuse to play a segregated show in Augusta, Ga. in 1961 and was sued by the promoter, but there was no state ban. Ray played in Georgia numerous times over the following years and even returned to the same theater in Augusta in 1963. In 1979, the Georgia legislature honored him and made "Georgia on My Mind" the state song, but there was no apology because there was no ban to apologize for. It's the truth.

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sbcrawford
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #10 on: Mar 4^th, 2005, 10:59am »

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Ray Charles didn't write "Georgia on My Mind." The song was written by Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell in 1930. So, obviously, the song is not about Charles not being booked by promoters in Georgia (which by the way didn't happen.)

Also, I didn't say that the movie wasn't any good, or that Ray Charles wasn't a tremendous talent. The movie is very entertaining and Charles was a great man.

I'm just pointing out the facts. It may be unpopular to do so, but it doesn't change what's true.

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luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #11 on: Mar 4^th, 2005, 12:05pm »

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Ok them why do you think he recorded it?
You may be 150% correct, but you have a negative way of presenting it!

Whatever the reason for him not performing in Georgia, he didn't for years.
FACT! The song recorded by Charles related to this incident!

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
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sbcrawford
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #12 on: Mar 4^th, 2005, 12:46pm »

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I guess we'll just have to disagree on how we define the word "FACT." Grin

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luci
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #13 on: Mar 4^th, 2005, 7:37pm »

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...........as soon as I know what the definition of is, is Cool

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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

jfred
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Re: "RAY" the movie!
« Reply #14 on: Mar 13^th, 2005, 12:53am »

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It's an outstanding movie and Jamie Foxx definitely deserved the Oscar. It's just a shame the filmmakers felt the need to distort so many "facts" Many of which sbcrawford listed.
luci is also mistaken in saying Ray wasn't from GA. He was born in Albany, GA (in southwest GA) and grew up south of there in northern Florida. That probably was more the reason he recorded the already well-known song (his version just became the definitive one)
luci, sbcrawford's posts are all completely true and not negative.

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