fragmentsofjo's - American South List

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From renowned music filmmaker Robert Mugge, 'Last of the Mississippi Jukes' is a tribute to the Juke joints of Mississippi.

From the single-room plantation shacks where the blues was born a hundred years ago - to the handful of urban and rural lounges that are rapidly becoming extinct – 'Last of the Mississippi Jukes' captures the essence of the blues and the Juke joint legacy. The movie documents and celebrates the origin of blues in America and an important part of our musical heritage...one that cannot be forgotten. 'Last of the Mississippi Jukes' takes you on a musical journey (2002) to Clarksdale, Mississippi's ground zero blues club, established by actor Morgan Freeman and his partner to recreate the mood and style of a traditional Juke joint. Then, on to Jackson's remarkable 30-plus-year-old subway lounge, a thriving urban club now on the verge of losing it's home in the legendary and now rapidly crumbling summers hotel, Jackson's first black-owned hotel.

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Times are tough for cotton miller Archie (Karl Malden), but at least he has his child bride (Carroll Baker), who'll soon be his wife in title and truth. The one-year agreement keeping them under the same roof - yet never in the same bed - is about to end.

But a game with a sly business rival (Eli Wallach) is about to begin. In 'Baby Doll', as in 'A Streetcar Named Desire', director Elia Kazan and writer Tennessee Williams broke new ground in depicting sexual situations - earning condemnation from the then-powerful Legion of Decency.

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Three ill-fated men - a small-time pimp Jack (John Lurie) an unemployed DJ Zack (Tom Waits) and a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni) - meet in the confined space of New Orleans prison cell.

Undeterred by Jack and Zack's evident disdain, Roberto shares with them his improbable plans of escape, thrusting them into an adventure through the Louisiana bayous.

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In this must-see comedy hit, two carefree pals traveling through Alabama are mistakenly arrested and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a lawyer friend in the family -Vincent Gambini (Joe Pesci), a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who has never been in court - or in Alabama.

When cousin Vinny arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend to handle his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!

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In the cold winter light of the Mississippi Delta, three lonely people stumble under the weight of a shared tragedy. Lawrence is paralyzed with grief after the loss of his twin brother.

Twelve-year-old James drifts into the perilous orbit of local teenagers while his single mother, Marlee, is too exhausted from her menial job to interpret the clues. When sudden violence forces mother and son to flee their home in the night, they alight desperately on Lawrence's property. Though this provides safe harbor, it rekindles the fury of a bitter, longstanding conflict.

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"Killer of Sheep" is an undisputed masterpiece of African-American filmmaking and one of the most poetic, perceptive dramas ever made about family and community.

This acclaimed tale of a disillusioned slaughterhouse worker - and the solace to be found in the simplest moments of life - is tender, witty, and affectionate. With lovely neorealist photography - capturing the long, hot days of 1970s Los Angeles - and a gorgeous blues soundtrack (Dinah Washington, Paul Robeson and Little Walter all feature) the film has a quiet emotional power.

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The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a former prostitute who visits her sister only to be taunted mercilessly by her childish brother-in-law.

A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version is the Elia Kazan/ Tennessee Williams film moviegoers would have seen had not Legion of Decency censorship occurred at the last time. It features three minutes of previously unseen footage underscoring, among other things, the sexual tension between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), and Stella Kowalski's (Kim Hunter) passion for husband Stanley.

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Oscar Winners Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward and Maureen Stapleton lead the stellar cast of this Southern gothic "sizzler" based on the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending. Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier (Brando) is a handsome drifter with a guitar...and a past.

Taking a job as a stored clerk in Two Rivers, Mississippi, his strong am silent demeanor attracts not only the local party girl (Woodward), but also the shopkeeper's exotic wife (Magnani). Soon, this explosive love triangle will ignite a powder keg of fury that could rock this small town to its very core.

In the Deep South, homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. When the bigoted town sheriff (Rod Steiger) gets involved, both he and Tibbs must put aside their differences and join forces in a race against time to discover the shocking truth.

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Trevor McDonald embarks on an epic 2,000 mile journey along the great Mississippi River to discover why it is the most important river in the United States. His journey begins in the Gulf of Mexico where the river flows into the sea, and ends at the river's source near the Canadian Border.

Throughout his voyage, Trevor uncovers how the river has helped define America. In the Deep South he sees how the legacy of slavery still affects life along the river today and witnesses a colourful Jazz funeral in New Orleans. In Memphis, Trevor meets Rev. Kyles who was standing beside Dr. Martin Luther King when he was assassinated. He visits Hollywood star Morgan Freeman who reveals why he returned to his roots in Mississippi after forty years away. And Trevor's in for a surprise when he reaches his ultimate destination, the source of the Mississippi River.

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As a genre, blues music was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century by rural black musicians. They shaped it with brilliant inspiration from disparate elements of black song.

By the early 1920's, recorded urban performers solidified the standard three-verse, 12 bar meter structure that has identified most blues. Fortunately, during that same period, there were recorded musicians who grew up with the blues and whose guitar-styles were more fluid and improvisational. They played with a personal adaptation of their regional style, shaping blues and related material to their own needs and those of their audience. The music they played was alien to formula, possessing such skill and robustness as to be captivating. Their fame was local, tied intimately to their time and place, and only the providence of a chance encounter with a talent scout or record company preserved their art. Even then, it seemed fated that they would remain flamboyant names on exotic record labels. The blues revival of the early 1960's brought many of these survivors to the forefront of traditional music. The technique of a Rev. Davis, the power of a Son House, the charm of a Mississippi John Hurt suddenly leaps into sight, becoming more tangible, more awesome and more human. The rare footage presented in this video is a treasure beyond imagining, drawn from a myriad of sources, depicting some of the greatest blues musicians who ever lived.

Tracklisting:
Mance Lipscomb
1. Silver City
Mississippi John Hurt
2. Spike Driver
Henry Townsend
3. Cairo Blues
Son House
4. Death Letter Blues
Reverend Gary Davis
5. Children of Zion
Big Bill Broonzy
6. Worried Man Blues
7. Hey, Hey
8. How You Want it Done
9. John Henry
10. Blues in E
Robert Pete Williams
11. Mamie
Brownie McGhee
12. Don't Kid Me
Josh White
13. Jelly Jelly
Son House
14. I Had a Woman in Hughes
Mance Lipscomb
15. Angel Child
Mississippi John Hurt
16. You're Going to Walk That Lonesome Valley Blues
Rev. Gary Davis
17. Death Don't Have No Mercy
Bonus:
John Jeremy's Film
18. Blues Like Showers of Rain