a movie plug: Ray

During the movie, I kept thinking of what words I'd use to describe it, and couldn't quite put them together, so I'll just spit them out: fantastic, moving, sad, touching, delightful, enjoyed every minute. I had obviously heard Ray Charles' music before, but somehow, this film made it all make sense, made the pieces fit. In fact, of the 12 GB of MP3s on my computer, not a single one was a Ray Charles song... but I just ordered the movie soundtrack CD from Amazon.

I was curious how they made this film so quickly after his death, but as it turns out, Charles himself was intimately involved in its production, which was 15 years in the making. Far from sugarcoating, the film chronicles Ray's struggles with music, race, heroin, and women. Ironically, the one thing he *never* seems to struggle with is his blindness. What an absolutely amazing contribution to American music, and now, to American cinema.