Results tagged “johnnycash”

Born on this day in 1932, and dying 71 years later in 2003, Johnny Cash made a lot of fans and friends during his lifetime. Today would have been his 76th birthday, so with that here are some videos of him performing in New York City.

Prestige filmmakers take note: If you want the Times critics to really love you, what you need to do is put the fear in them. At least it worked for Tim Burton; his adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd gave reviewer A.O. Scott nightmares. And for that, Scott deems the film “close to a masterpiece, a work of extreme – I am tempted to say evil – genius.” (Current Rotten Tomato rating: 88% fresh.) One big question was whether the non-singing actors cast in the film would be able to pull it off; according to Burton the film is almost 90 sung. Well, it worked for Scott:

Johnny Depp’s voice is harsh and thin, but amazingly forceful. He brings the unpolished urgency of rock ’n’ roll to an idiom accustomed to more refinement., and in doing so awakens the violence of Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics and melodies.

The NYPD decided not to appeal a judge's decision that the NYPD should declassify its surveillance documents from the 2004 RNC, so it has set up a special NYPD RNC Documents website with the documents. Of course, you have to scroll down to the very bottom for a zip file of the 600 pages of documents. And what's above the documents is the NYPD's rather thorough explanation/ defense justifying why it did such extensive surveillance of disparate groups and people, listing various terror incidents between 2001 and the convention as well as other incidents of protest. Here is Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's statement:

“I think a close examination of the documents is going to show that the New York City Police Department did an outstanding job in protecting the City during the Republican National Convention. People wanted to come here and shut down the City, to replicate what happened in Seattle, Montreal and Genoa. We simply didn't let that happen, and I think it'll just underscore the outstanding work of the men and women of the Department. In terms of gathering information, the vast majority of information that was gathered was open-source information. It was gathered from the Internet; these groups that were coming here were advertising what they were going to do — bragging about what they were going to do. It wasn't particularly difficult to get the vast majority of this information.”

Good to know that the NYPD is watching all of us, including MSNBC and the Sierra Club. The NY Times has all the documents plus highlights which people and/or groups were mentioned in the documents. Here are but a few:

ACT UP, Sierra Club, City Council members (Charles Barron, David Weprin, Bill Perkins), Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Johnny Cash Bloc, MSNBC, A31 Coalition, NYCLU, NOW, Planned Parenthood, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Stuyvesant High School Students, Westboro Baptist Church, Indymedia, Democratic National Committee, Coalition of Fire and Police Unions, Grandmothers Against War, Falun Gong, Arab Muslim American Foundation, Time's Up, Billionaires For Bush, United for Peace and Justice, The Surveillance Camera Players, ACLU, Hip Hop Summit Action Network, The Federation of East Village Artists, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York

The NYCLU's executive director Donna Lieberman said, "These documents paint a picture of a surveillance program that was broad, clumsy, and often unlawful. The NYPD failed to differentiate between unlawful behavior and behavior that is not only lawful but should in fact be cherished and protected. Today the public can finally bear witness to that failure." The NYCLU also offers an index of the groups monitored as well as the documents released yesterday, plus others previously released.

READING: READINGS: Looks like literary talent might just be genetic - 26-year-old Owen King, son of best-selling spookmaster Stephen King, has a collection of a novella and short stories out and is reading tonight at the Astor Place Barnes & Noble. We're All in This Together has been called "compelling" and "imaginative", and having a famous father can't hurt, right? - Krissa Corbett Cavouras

- And check out LED Throwies - "open source graffiti technology" from Eyebeam

The Crooners, Old-Timey Musicians

The holidays are upon us. Tomorrow sees the release of two of the more eagerly awaited films of the season, and we haven't even hit Thanksgiving yet! We've been hearing fantastic things about the Johnny Cash biopic ; Phoenix sings all the songs himself. We're not really sure whether that's a plus or not, though, no matter how well he sings.

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic

TONIGHT: You can catch former Get A Life creator/star Chris Elliot present his semi-forgettable slapstick movie, Cabin Boy, as well as partake in a Q&A at The Anthology Film Archives at 8PM. Featuring the likes of Andy Richter, David Letterman, and Ricki Lake, Cabin Boy is a film that people either love or absolutely can’t stand watching. Either way, we still think observing Chris Elliot is worth the trip. And if you’re planning a night in of cuddling with your mouse or simply interested in wasting more time at work, then you can play trailer catch up with the futuristic V for Vendetta starring Natalie Portman, the remake of The Fog, Jennifer Aniston’s Rumor Has It (in which she plays a woman who discovers The Graduate might have been based on her family), and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line.

Gothamist remembers the day well. We were rolling out of bed, late for a meeting and still longing for more sleep. We flipped on the Weather Channel to help us decide what grade of heavy jacket we were going to need for the morning�s blustery walk to work. The clock struck 8 after, and we focused our attention on the �accurate and dependable� local forecast greeting us with a pleasant familiarity. But as the forecast began, we lost all focus. What was this??? Is this� Phish� on the Weather Channel? Surely not. They would never play this� Indeed, they did. The Weather Channel, long known for its dreamy, mind numbing elevator music landscaped local forecasts, had made a noticeable change. That change was Steve Hurst.

- The coolest coloring book ever: Law & Order: Coloring Book

The Man in Black, Johnny Cash, died today, at age 71, from diabetes-related complications. Cash was one of the first popular musicians of this century to live hard, play hard, and sing about it. His long and storied career recently took a turn into the twilight, culminating with his cover and video of Hurt, which many called Johnny's farewell, as his voice ached and the images summoned up the highlights of his life and career.

Gothamist guesses we need to report this bit of Lower East Side news, as Lockhart Steele is on vacation. As part of MTV's week of celebrating the MTV Video Music Awards, there's a $8.28 dinner entree promotion through tomorrow night at Lower East Side restaurants, including Essex, Punch & Judy, and AKA Cafe, are participating. See the full list here.

June Carter Cash's funeral was held over the weekend in Nashville. Johnny Cash attended in a wheelchair and was helped to view the casket. Singers Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, The Gatlin Brothers, and the Oak Ridge Boys sang during the service.

Singer-songwriter-actress June Carter Cash died last night. Though she was well known for being a part of the "Carter Sisters" country singing group, June Carter Cash is best known for her relationship, both professional and personal, with husband Johnny Cash. She wrote "Ring of Fire" about falling in love with him, and later wrote about Johnny Cash,"Those black eyes that shone like agates. I only glanced into them because I believed that I would be drawn into his soul and I would never have been able to walk away."

It's official, Mark Romanek is my favorite video director. His video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Can't Stop," is fantastic: It's very stripped down for a RHCP video, with the bandmembers interacting with pieces that are "inspired by" the "One-minute Sculptures" of Erwin Wurm, an Austrian artist. What probably helps is that the RHCP peppers song is simpler and less busy than other ones (which is why the video is a great match). It's very beautiful and helps the viewer concentrate more the music too, even though the images are involving.

Today was all wet...worries aboutfloods are alarming, but don't really affect apartment-dwellers. In the mood of the day, here are some entertainment options: Madonna has a song, Rain. Watch the video, which was directed by Mark Romanek, who directed current favorite, Hurt as sung by Johnny Cash as well. Also, there's Missy Elliott's song, The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly). But there's nothing like watching Singin' in the Rain, as close as anything that can make the idea of rain all right.

Johnny Cash 'Hurt' Video
...It is the most beautiful and riveting video I've seen in a long time, because of how the images and music work together and how Johnny Cash, icon, haunts the video...