The movie Crazy Heart is dedicated to a musician, the late Stephen Burton. My pal John Schulian, an avid country music fan, e-mailed me this weekend about Burton:
Bruton was one of those classic Texas guys. His daddy, Sumpter Bruton, owned the best jazz record shop in Fort Worth. Bruton himself settled in Austin and played guitar and mandolin in bands that backed Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joe Shaver. Only late in life did he gain confidence in his own singing and songwriting, and he wrote some great damn songs. I’ll send you my favorite from youtube. Every Sunday night he and a bunch of other great Austin musicians got together at the Saxon Pub and played in a band called the Resentments. Yeah, I’ve got a T-shirt and all the albums they put out as a result of popular demand. Bruton was a good guy. I met him a couple times between sets while he was hanging around outside having a smoke — and there, I suppose, is the bad habit that killed him. But he kept picking until the end, working on Kristofferson’s last album and helping Burnett with the Crazy Heart score.
How about this for a Jeff Bridges Film Festival?
The Last Picture Show
Fat City
The Last American Hero
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Cutter’s Way
Starman
Tucker
The Fabulous Baker Boys
The Fisher King
American Heart
The Big Lebowski
Crazy Heart
I think this might be my post-Xmas Day meal movie ...
Parts of it are tough but I don't think it is a total downer.
Hey, don't forget about his film-stealing role in Iron Man!
Anybody hear anything about the new "Sherlock Holmes" ... ?
It looks so IN YOUR FACE!!!!
Whadda you mean "you people"?
Alex, good list, but you're skipping "Winter Kills," which I think is an essential part of the Bridges filmography...too seldom seen, but a true "cult" film with a fascinating history. Richard Condon's novel is also recommended.
Also, "The Contender" utterly falls apart as a movie towards the end, but Bridges is absolutely great in it.
Matt,
Good call as always, sir.