R.L. Burnside Movies
- 1990
The blues rose out of the collective misery of black Americans, who labored in the cottonfields and levee camps of the Deep South. After their backbreaking work in the Mississippi Delta region, they created plaintive songs accompanied by guitars or handmade musical instruments. This music chronicled the lives of low-paid workers, with strong connections to their African music origins. American Patchwork: The Land Where Blues Began visits a black church where the members lift their voices in praise in a demonstrative show of their strong faith. Performers include Napoleon Strickland, Lonnie Pitchford, and Jack Owens. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
This movie is a documentary showing the evolution of a musical style. Fortunately for the viewer, it is also an opportunity to see some of the practitioners of that style in much footage never before released. A must-see for devotees of the style, enlightening and entertaining for others. The effective use of interviews, physical tours of the birthplaces of the music and lengthy performances give the viewer quite an overview of this music and its practitioners. An illuminating look at the gutsy and raw Delta-inspired music. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- "Big" Jack Johnson, Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes, (more)
Actor Arliss Howard made his debut as a director with this emotional drama adapted from a handful of short stories by Larry Brown. Barlow (Arliss Howard) is a deeply troubled Vietnam veteran who has been chasing a career as a writer, with little success; when he isn't struggling with his typewriter, he's usually drinking, and his wild mood swings and alcoholic fits of rage have driven away his wife Marilyn (Debra Winger), who has taken their son Alan (Zach Moody) and daughter Alisha (Olivia Kersey) with her. Barlow would like to see his children, but Marilyn refuses to allow it until he catches up on his alimony and child support payments; one of Barlow's few loyal friends, Monroe (Paul LeMat), a buddy from his Army days, is able to get him work as a house painter. With steady paychecks, Barlow is finally able to clear his debts to Marilyn, but she refuses to acknowledge that he's made much progress in turning his life around, and he doesn't get much more emotional support from his ailing mother (Angie Dickinson) or his friend Velma (Rosanna Arquette). Big Bad Love marked the second screen pairing for husband-and-wife Arliss Howard and Debra Winger; it was also Winger's first screen appearance in six years. Acclaimed songwriter Tom Waits composed the film's original score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arliss Howard, Debra Winger, (more)
In 1991, Matthew Johnson was an on-and-off college student who in his spare time wrote record reviews for Living Blues magazine. Johnson liked the raw, primitive sound of rural Mississippi blues, but was disappointed that so little of it was being committed to record; after discovering a juke joint in Holly Springs, MS, where proprietor Junior Kimbrough and his friend R.L. Burnside played raucous, electrified country blues til the break of dawn, Johnson decided the music should be committed to tape. Using 400 dollars left over from a student loan, Johnson started Fat Possum Records, and began recording deep Southern blues artists such as Kimbrough, Burnside, T-Model Ford, Cedell Davis, and Johnny Farmer while struggling to bring their music to a broader audience, pay their artists and keep the business afloat. You See Me Laughin' is a documentary which offers a look at Johnson and partner Bruce Watson's ongoing mission to capture this music before it's too late, and more importantly profiles the musicians who record for his label, exploring the wild and often violent lives that inform their work and fuel their often wary relationship with Johnson and Watson. Featuring rare live footage of Burnside and Kimbrough on-stage, You See Me Laughin' was the first feature film from director Mandy Stein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
