It's a Shame About Ray

I've just watched the blockbuster Ray which, of course, deals with the life and times of Ray Charles. Not bad at all. Jamie Foxx is great as Ray, the music grooves along nicely and there's a great story in there. Somewhere. It's just that I have problems with"the American dream". If I never ever saw a movie, read a book or heard anyone sing about this subject matter again, I would be a very happy man indeed.

On the DVD version, you can choose between the cinematic version and a longer version. In the longer version, deleted scenes are edited into the cinematic version. This means that you occasionally get to see parts of some scenes twice. At one point in the film, we get more than we bargained for. The same scene is shown about ten times. Luckily, it's a short scene, but it's annoying. A clear case of misjudgement if you ask me.

As much as I appreciate some of Ray Charles' music - his recordings on Atlantic - he treated the women in his life terribly badly. That's why it's a shame about Ray.

Evan Dando wrote "It's a Shame About Ray". I've never liked the song, but it makes a good headline for today's blog, doesn't it?

NP: Ellery Eskelin/Andrea Parkins/Jim Black - One Great Day...