Joaquin Phoenix, although passable as a singer, isn't low enough by half.
Yeah, it was odd hearing Phoenix try to hit those low Cash notes, but better than the incongruity of having an actor open his or her mouth and hearing, say, Ray Charles's voice come out. The strategy of having the actors sing the songs themselves is not optimal, but better than the alternative.
Another nit-pick: Phoenix went to all the trouble of getting Cash's superweird stage moves down, but didn't figure out that he needed to strum the guitar on the neck to make that chicka-chicka washboard sound that was integral to Cash's Sun years. The fact that Cash was essentially a percussionist on his first recordings is part of what's so cool about his sound.
having an actor open his or her mouth and hearing, say, Ray Charles's voice come out
I though Jamie Foxx did the vocals in Ray? Well, not all of them, but...
If that's the case, maybe that's not a good example. I really didn't like that movie, though.
I think Jamie did Ray's vocals only once, early on, when Ray was impersonating other styles. And the piano playing was all his.
I believe Foxx played the piano himself, but lip-synched to Charles' vocals.
Ah. I did think that the vocals were accurate to the point of scary.
I watched Hustle & Flow and Curse Of The Were-Rabbit this weekend.
Loved Hustle & Flow very much, but I think part of that is the backstory of trying to get the film made. Also, the soundtrack - with all the old Stax players doing their thing.
Sucks to be Sharon Stone:
1. Ice Age: The Meltdown, $70.5 million
2. Inside Man, $15.7 million
3. ATL, $12.5 million
4. Failure to Launch, $6.6 million
5. V for Vendetta, $6.5 million
6. Stay Alive, $4.58 million
7. She's the Man, $4.57 million
8. Slither, $3.7 million
9. The Shaggy Dog, $3.5 million
10 (tie). Basic Instinct 2, $3.2 million
10 (tie). Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, $3.2 million.
The strategy of having the actors sing the songs themselves is not optimal, but better than the alternative.
Ths is true. Although I do like to see vocal flexibility in actors, it's probably unreasonable to ask a tenor to hit bass notes (at least, without liquoring up significantly first). I can't think of a lot of successful voice-changes in actors, or I guess the ones that stand out in the mind are unsuccessful ones, like Tootsie.
I mean, it's intentionally unsuccessful, but who would be fooled by that??
Ice Age: The Meltdown, $70.5 million
This pains me, as I thought the first one was incredibly mediocre and terribly overrated.
