The Last Rites of Ransom Pride is what I think you would get if Robert Rodriquez and David Lynch sat down and watched Deadwood and then said "Hey, Let's Make A Western". My brain imagines this scenario because The Last Rites of Ransom Pride has Spanish touches reminding me of Rodriquez's El Mariachi/Desperado, imagery reminding me of David Lynch, and W. Earl Brown from Deadwood has a role in the film....and heck, I might as well include a trace of Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is included in my mash-up.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride is about Ransom's lover Juliette Flowers (Lizzy Caplan) trying to bring Ransom's body home for burial. He was in a shootout in Mexico and killed Bruja's (Cote de Pablo from NCIS) brother, the priest, by mistake. Bruja will trade Ransom's body for his other brother Champ (Jon Foster). Sounds simple enough, but oh what a twisted journey this will be. The Last Rites of Ransom Pride was co-written by the great Texas singer/songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard, who most people will know wrote "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother" made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker. I'll go on record here saying IF all you know about Ray Wylie Hubbard is the above, you are missing out, check out anything by Ray Wylie, you won't be disappointed.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride features a couple of musicians. The father of Ransom Pride is played by Dwight Yokam, a retired gunfighter who has taken up the ministry. Dwight ain't wearing a hat for most the movie, so you know he going to be a real SOB. I think not wearing a hat just always puts Dwight in the mood for being an ass, at least in any movie I've seen him in, and I might add he's darn good at it too. As a matter of fact, "Hatless Dwight" is so good at being an unlikable person, if I was hanging with him in real life, I would have to insist he always keep his hat square on his head.
Our other featured musician in The Last Rites of Ransom Pride is Kris Kristofferson, whose weathered face and years of acting have made him grow comfortably into a role of a cowboy in any film in which he appears.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride is very well written with a lot of great dialogue, with the best line, in my opinion, being delivered by Peter Dinklage. If you would like to find out what he has eaten while standing up, you'll just have to watch the film.
My only disappointment was that Ray Wylie Hubbard didn't appear in The Last Rites of Ransom Pride. However, he does have four songs on the soundtrack: "Black Wings", "Rooster's Lullaby" with Tiller Russell, "Four Horseman of the Apocalypse" with Liz Foster and Lucas Hubbard, and "Enlightenment" with Kevin Russell.
Please check out the comments below to hear what Ray Wylie Hubbard has to say about "The Last Rites of Ransom Pride".
tiller and i parted ways in post. i resigned my position as musical supervisor as for some reason i still do not understand, he brought in jeff danna to score the film and what he did to my songs and music was so wrong in my opinion i was not going to let anyone who saw the picture think that i approved it, so i relinquished my title. i had been promised that i would score to picture but was never given the opportunity. i recorded the songs as demos for the movie and laid down a bed of musical sounds but had no say of how they were used. i believe the script had to be good to get actors of this quality to do the thing but the editing and the score completely ruined it as far as i am concerned. tiller is a passionate creative director whom i believe will win oscars in the future, but this time out i still question his choice of jeff danna over me and of course, the editing. ray wylie hubbard
ReplyDeletei absolutely loved the music in this film. That is saying a lot considering I am a southern girl who doesnt care too much for country. The editing in this film however left me feeling perplexed a bit and I am usually spiritually very open to new and different ideas. I still liked it but feel too many hands and not hearts were put into this soup. I guess i am saying I concur lol and btw Love all ur music I had not a clue this music was connected with u :D love it love it love it!!!!!! and many ty's Lisa
DeleteThanks for giving me the inside scoop about what went on behind the scenes. I will put a special note at the end of my writeup directing everyone to read you comment.
ReplyDeleteHope someday you tour around upstate SC, would love to see you live.