ALMOST a good movie. - The Last Waltz (1978) Discussion

[–] RagtimeWilly 16 years ago

sir, i know van morrison, van morrison is a friend of mine, and you are no van morrison.

he made the already great movie even greater. he did kicks and scatted in a sequence jump suit while giving one of the best vocal preformances ever recorded on film and if you can't appreciate that then i feel sorry for you.

Nous crayons en rien, Lebowski!

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[–] Loomis_Orange 16 years ago

Maybe the guy was referring to Van's suit....

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[–] cine40 16 years ago

How the heck could a whole movie be “ruined” by one single singer? Sounds like sheer blaha-talk to me.

Van the man, is one of the most important musicians in the history of popular music. How can you miss out on such an obvious thing? Not Bob Dylan or Neil Young for sure, but not too far away.

His music is definitely honest and heartfelt – you are obviously depriving yourself of great musical moments. Don’t do that.

cine

"Why is it that men are so much more interested in women than women in men?"
Virginia Woolf

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[–] kaneforgov 16 years ago

Van was great.

It was Neil Diamond's Dry Your Eyes that brought the show to a screeching halt.

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[–] NYrevo 16 years ago

van was awesome, you must be retarded. i agree with that diamonds song slowed it. it was almost...awkward.

"Have i had you before?...then don't call me by my Christian name"

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[–] innuendo-4 16 years ago

Cant believe this thread. Van was the best guest performer of the show, not just my opinion folks but also that of Robbie Robertson (he states it on the commentary)

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[–] oakfan87 16 years ago

Where do I start with that first post?
I was at that show and Van absolutely tore up Winterland that night.
I can't imagine it doesn't translate on film to you.
Other than perhaps The Boss, I've never seen a performer suck all of the
oxygen out of an arena like that.

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[–] shark-43 16 years ago

Yes, with that first post - he is entitled his opinion - even if he is an idiot.

THE LAST WALTZ is a TRULY GREAT ROCK FILM (flaws and all)!!

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[–] RobbieCalifornia 16 years ago

Yep. The Last Waltz is wonderful, and everyone in it was great. I was in love with Robbie Robertson for years after that.

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[–] RollAnotherNumber 16 years ago

I can only assume the original poster doesn't like music much. You must be insane to think Van ruined the movie. His performance of 'Caravan' is one of the main highlights of the whole thing! The worst performance by a mile is Neil Diamond's.

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[–] rabidgoldfish65 16 years ago

I didn't enjoy Diamond's segment either. I could have done without that. I love the Band, always have...but RR had too much camera time, mic time, and after about 15 minutes into the movie I was wishing RR would have been killed off somewhere in the film's plot. Oh well...it is still a great movie.

rabidgoldfish65

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[–] Strausszek 15 years ago

Van puts in a killer performance, his total commitment and soul have me shivering every time I watch the film. What's just as striking for me is that it elicits identification both with his fiercely masculine soul man style and with the girl he's singing to ("Turn on your radio/ and let me hear that song/---Now we can get down to/what is really wrong?"): there is a kind of two-gendered reaction (I'm a guy). Anyone else who feels this way about "Caravan"?

(Scorsese notes on the dvd commentary track that Van looks strange and says "who put him in this...cleavage?" which would place the twist with Van as well)

After the revolution everything will be different. Your password is 'Giliap'!

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[–] bigtallcubsfan 15 years ago

I only wish they had footage for "Tura Lura Lural" as well. Now THAT had to be a film moment. Manuel doing the first verse and the crowd going nuts when V the M walks out.

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[–] marclem 15 years ago

Are you high? He was spectacular and the audience went nuts over him too.

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[–] gray_pixel 15 years ago

You are insane.

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[–] A_Fistful_of_Pennies 15 years ago

Van was excellent. His wardrobe was a little ridiculous (it was like purple and sparkly and he had an unflattering shirt on underneath), but it added to the awesomeness of the performance.

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[–] Guamley 8 years ago

Maybe the op is employing "newspeak" when saying Van "ruined" the show?

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[–] joechicago8877 8 years ago

Van Morrison's performance was so show-stoppingly good, that it literally stopped the show.

You look like the poster boy for birth control.

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[–] SandyR (7330) 7 months ago

That's impossible.

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