The Other Side of Nashville leads you to believe, during the opening scene, that the movie is going to be about honky-tonk singers who are struggling to make it in Nashville. The movie then takes a turn with a host of stars bemoaning the fact Country Music has become too citified. Even Chet Atkins, who helped create "The Nashville Sound" joins the chorus. What The Hell....the man who was instrumental in pushing out "real" country music in order to line his own pockets with money, NOW, or at least in 1983 when this movie was made, thinks country has lost its roots. Maybe it goes back to the old saying "You don't miss your water, till the well runs dry".
As each of the country artists (most who would now (2011) fall into the category of Alt, Outlaw, or Americana) give their take on what's wrong with country music, the movie features song performances from that artist or the artist they are discussing. Musicians interviewed or in performance clips featured in The Other Side of Nashville include: Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Carl Perkins, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Scaggs, Terri Gibbs, Gail Davis, Jerry Reed, Porter Wagoner, Charlie McCoy, Rattlesnake Annie, and Bob Dylan.
Near the end of the movie, the point of the movie changes direction again, when Willie Nelson says "Music is Music", no matter who is making it, that all musicians have a similar outlook on what they are doing. The Other Side of Nashville then goes back to some of the artists who now contradict their earlier statements and seem to agree with Willie. I realize the movie was edited this way, still it was odd seeing this turnaround.
The movie returns to the honky-tonk from the first of the film and ends with Owen Davis singing his song "The Other Side of Nashville". I never could quite grasp what point The Other Side of Nashville was trying to make, since it kept changing directions. On the other hand, it was an enjoyable film due to all of the song performances. And where else are you going to see/hear a movie narrated by Bob (Is It Running, Bob?) Johnston.
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".
