tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post7677218289971188226..comments2024-03-28T09:11:49.881-05:00Comments on Warren Peace Sings the Blues: This one's for RABAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867868039166531163noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-46790079277592786452007-03-01T16:58:00.000-06:002007-03-01T16:58:00.000-06:00Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense, especiall...Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense, especially for such a seemingly nonsensical film. Thanks, RAB! You are obviously the man with all the answers when it comes to <I>Tommy</I>.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13867868039166531163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-22207920741279551052007-03-01T15:32:00.000-06:002007-03-01T15:32:00.000-06:00One Week Later (sorry, I've been busy):Okay...Sall...One Week Later (sorry, I've been busy):<BR/><BR/>Okay...Sally Simpson (played by the director's daughter Victoria Russell, by the way) is the daughter of Reverend Simpson, and rebels against her dad by rejecting the church and going off to follow Tommy. She has an unfortunate incident at Tommy's revival meeting, leaving her with a nasty scar on her pretty face, and becomes disillusioned with Tommy. Still wants to stick it to her uptight dad, though...and does that by marrying a scruffy, unpleasant, repulsive rocker.<BR/><BR/>Now, if punk had been invented when Russell made the film, I bet the rock star would have had a mohawk and safety pins. But that scene didn't exist yet, and I think Russell was reaching for <I>something</I> that would convey the idea of a younger generation saying "Up yours, old man!" and looking ugly as a rebellion against the pretty boy excesses of the prog rock era. Metaphorically, that's why we get the Frankenstein look. Now, I <I>hate</I> that goofy lameass Frankenstein scene and it just looks dopey...but I believe Russell wanted to say "punk" there and didn't yet have the image to draw on.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01714171897239398438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-26213706344174438712007-02-21T10:49:00.000-06:002007-02-21T10:49:00.000-06:00Tom: You've summed up my point of view very well....Tom: You've summed up my point of view very well. I'll have to relate it to my wife.<BR/><BR/>RAB: Hey, that viewpoint of the "death" of Tommy's father makes sense! Nice! Now, do you have any explanation for the scene where the little girl marries the Frankenstein kid?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13867868039166531163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-77336887928071060522007-02-20T17:59:00.000-06:002007-02-20T17:59:00.000-06:00No, I think you pretty much nailed it.One of the c...No, I think you pretty much nailed it.<BR/><BR/>One of the complaints purists had about the film was the killing of Tommy's father. In the original <I>Tommy</I> album and all other versions (including the Broadway musical) apart from this film, Tommy's father (presumed dead) comes home and kills his wife's lover...and it's Tommy's mom and dad who tell him he didn't witness the murder, traumatizing him into sensory withdrawal. This really doesn't make a lot of sense psychologcally or plotwise if you think about it, and I believe the change Ken Russell made in his version is a big improvement.<BR/><BR/>The way I've always understood the movie is that six-year-old Tommy, whose father died in a wartime plane crash before he was born, has a dream in which his father miraculously comes home. Tommy wakes up and rushes into his mother's bedroom to witness his parents' reunion...and bursts in on his mother and her boyfriend in bed together. The adults are embarassed and angry, and start shouting at poor little Tommy "you didn't see that, you didn't hear it, nothing happened"...totally oblivious to what Tommy assumes has happened. <I>Daddy was here, but now he's gone, and they're shouting at me -- mummy and Uncle Frank must have killed daddy!</I><BR/><BR/>From there, everything else in the movie is perfectly logical, even the baked beans. Well, maybe not the baked beans. (And yes, in his autobiography Russell cops to being totally hot for Ann-Margret in this scene, and who can blame him?)<BR/><BR/>Not much else to add -- it is fucking bizarre, and the music is fucking great. I'm glad I encouraged you to check it out!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01714171897239398438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882610517765002247.post-5438812042653027392007-02-20T13:05:00.000-06:002007-02-20T13:05:00.000-06:00One quick response entirely unrelated to Tommy: I'...One quick response entirely unrelated to Tommy: I'll give even a molecule of credence to Anna Nicole being the new Marilyn Monroe if you can show me Anna Nicole's Some Like It Hot. Or Seven Year Itch. Or Bus Stop, or Gentlmen Prefer Blondes... Or anything, really, in which Anna Nicole was not horrifically, painfully awful, and the only excuse for her appearance was neither a showcase for nudity nor for the trainwreck her life became. Suggesting Anna Nicole was the new Marilyn is crazy talk. Crazy talk!Tom the Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784918700194480944noreply@blogger.com