951 True Stories

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: Forthcoming: True Stories

#26 Post by mteller » Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:06 am

I guess I'm the oddball here because Tongues is by far my favorite TH studio album. Yes, "Burning Down the House" has an associated cringe factor, but the ecstasy of "This Must Be the Place" easily mitigates that.

Speaking in Tongues
Remain in Light
Little Creatures (conventional as heck, but mighty damn catchy)
Fear of Music
More Songs About Buildings and Food
77
True Stories
Naked

I don't rank Stop Making Sense because whenever I want to hear it I just watch the movie. If we count the movie as an album, then it's my #1.

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Roger Ryan
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city

Re: Forthcoming: True Stories

#27 Post by Roger Ryan » Tue Sep 05, 2017 1:18 pm

Byrne's approach to the film True Stories is very much in line with his songwriting, especially the material on Fear of Music which has lyrics that appear ironic, but are delivered with no indication of irony. He carried this pretense (if you want to call it that) into live performances during the pre-Stop Making Sense period. I attended a concert in Detroit (Nov. '79) where Byrne walked on-stage and announced, "The name of this band is Talking Heads and we'll play now" in a minimalist cadence which suggested an Andy Kaufman-style put-on (hence, the live album title a couple of years later). For the final encore, he announced, "We will now play one more song and then leave". That same deadpan approach is found in the True Stories film, but with a small degree of empathy added, in line with how the Heads' songs had started to incorporate empathy from Remain In Light on.

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PfR73
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 6:07 pm

Re: Forthcoming: True Stories

#28 Post by PfR73 » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:21 pm

The most important part of the news of this release: Stephen Tobolowsky enters The Criterion Collection!

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: True Stories

#29 Post by swo17 » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:12 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: 951 True Stories

#30 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm

First Criterion to come with a CD, no?

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DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Re: 951 True Stories

#31 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:34 pm

I've not seen this to know whether it deserves it, but that's a hell of a special edition!

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Boosmahn
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:08 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#32 Post by Boosmahn » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:29 pm

Is it safe to say True Stories wins the category for "Best Booklet" this year?

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lacritfan
Life is one big kevyip
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: 951 True Stories

#33 Post by lacritfan » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:45 pm

I'm looking over the credits and it says co-writer Stephen Tobolowsky.  Nah, can't be the actor, sure enough it is.  So I look at his IMDB page and see this -
Trivia:
Has a form of ESP he calls "hearing tones". While working with David Byrne on his film "True Stories", he told Byrne about his gift, who was inspired to write the song "Radio Head" about him. The band Radiohead took its name from this song.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#34 Post by zedz » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm
First Criterion to come with a CD, no?
If this album really is the soundtrack recordings, that's fantastic news. The movie versions of 'Puzzlin' Evidence' and 'Papa Legba' are far superior to the Talking Heads versions. With 23 tracks, I assume we're getting most or all of the Sounds from True Stories album on there. It's mostly dispensible incidental music, but has Terry Allen's excellent 'Cocktail Desperado'.

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bdsweeney
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:09 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#35 Post by bdsweeney » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm

lacritfan wrote:I'm looking over the credits and it says co-writer Stephen Tobolowsky.  Nah, can't be the actor, sure enough it is.  So I look at his IMDB page and see this -
Trivia:
Has a form of ESP he calls "hearing tones". While working with David Byrne on his film "True Stories", he told Byrne about his gift, who was inspired to write the song "Radio Head" about him. The band Radiohead took its name from this song.
If the story makes you curious, there’s a Tobolowsky Files podcast episode directly on this topic (though your post already covers the major points).

mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#36 Post by mteller » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:38 pm

He also discussed it at length on a recent episode of Never Not Funny.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#37 Post by Gregory » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:41 pm

I sure as heckfire remember that guy.

Gerald Christie
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:06 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#38 Post by Gerald Christie » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:10 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm
First Criterion to come with a CD, no?
I was just about to post the same thing :P As far as I know yes.

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med
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:58 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#39 Post by med » Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:38 pm

zedz wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm
First Criterion to come with a CD, no?
If this album really is the soundtrack recordings, that's fantastic news. The movie versions of 'Puzzlin' Evidence' and 'Papa Legba' are far superior to the Talking Heads versions. With 23 tracks, I assume we're getting most or all of the Sounds from True Stories album on there. It's mostly dispensible incidental music, but has Terry Allen's excellent 'Cocktail Desperado'.
I also happen to prefer the John Goodman-sung version of "People Like Us". Related: as packed as the new documentary appears to be, it's a little disappointing that Goodman is not among the new interviews!

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#40 Post by zedz » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:15 pm

med wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:38 pm
zedz wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm
First Criterion to come with a CD, no?
If this album really is the soundtrack recordings, that's fantastic news. The movie versions of 'Puzzlin' Evidence' and 'Papa Legba' are far superior to the Talking Heads versions. With 23 tracks, I assume we're getting most or all of the Sounds from True Stories album on there. It's mostly dispensible incidental music, but has Terry Allen's excellent 'Cocktail Desperado'.
I also happen to prefer the John Goodman-sung version of "People Like Us".
Me too, and that was one of the few 'movie versions' to be released at the time (on the b-side of 'Wild Wild Life'). Though I can't remember whether that was actually the version from the movie or not (the "movie version" of 'Hey Now' released as a b-side definitely wasn't).

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PfR73
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 6:07 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#41 Post by PfR73 » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:36 pm

bdsweeney wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm
lacritfan wrote:I'm looking over the credits and it says co-writer Stephen Tobolowsky.  Nah, can't be the actor, sure enough it is.  So I look at his IMDB page and see this -
Trivia:
Has a form of ESP he calls "hearing tones". While working with David Byrne on his film "True Stories", he told Byrne about his gift, who was inspired to write the song "Radio Head" about him. The band Radiohead took its name from this song.
If the story makes you curious, there’s a Tobolowsky Files podcast episode directly on this topic (though your post already covers the major points).
Here's a link to the episode.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: 951 True Stories

#42 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Aug 16, 2018 11:34 am

Gerald Christie wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:10 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:14 pm
First Criterion to come with a CD, no?
I was just about to post the same thing :P As far as I know yes.
Yes the first CD, although there was an experiment with downloadable MP3 soundtracks a number of years back with Clean, Shaven's score being made available that way and Le Notti Bianche featuring a MP3 reading of the original story.

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agnamaracs
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:13 am

Re: 951 True Stories

#43 Post by agnamaracs » Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:24 pm

I was very, very close to making "Criterion starts a record label" my super-longshot prediction this month. (But the end result was releasing the "Night on Earth" soundtrack.)

Byrne actually planned three albums for the movie. There's the Talking Heads album, the previously-mentioned Sounds album, and a cast recording (the songs as performed by actors in the film). That one was never released. Two tracks ("Papa Legba" with Pops Staples and "Radio Head" with Tito Larriva) were released in that DualDisc brick, and a third ("People Like Us" with John Goodman) was part of a download-only collection.

...How is this only the second John Goodman Criterion

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 951 True Stories

#44 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:53 pm

Will probably rent this for the extras and maybe give the film another chance. It's a promising concept, but truth be told, this was where the Talking Heads really went into decline for me. Hearing the songs as they appeared in the film might be a better experience than the album they did release, but honestly outside of the three that were put out as A-sides (they sound like charming outtakes from Little Creatures), the songs are pretty terrible.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#45 Post by beamish14 » Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:54 pm

I'm surprised that they couldn't get an interview with Beth Henley for this. I'd love to hear her thoughts on the film and collaborating with Byrne on the script

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: 951 True Stories

#46 Post by whaleallright » Sat Aug 18, 2018 2:46 am

hearthesilence wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:53 pm
Will probably rent this for the extras and maybe give the film another chance. It's a promising concept, but truth be told, this was where the Talking Heads really went into decline for me. Hearing the songs as they appeared in the film might be a better experience than the album they did release, but honestly outside of the three that were put out as A-sides (they sound like charming outtakes from Little Creatures), the songs are pretty terrible.

I agree (and I don't even like the A-sides much), but to my mind the Talking Heads album True Stories and the David Byrne film True Stories aren't really audio and video editions of the same project; they seem more adjacent to me.

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Lost Highway
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: 951 True Stories

#47 Post by Lost Highway » Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:32 am

I saw True Stories when it came out and I found the whimsy overload insufferable. What works for songwriting doesn't necessarily work for screenwriting.

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Roscoe
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: 951 True Stories

#48 Post by Roscoe » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:51 am

Lost Highway wrote:
Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:32 am
I saw True Stories when it came out and I found the whimsy overload insufferable. What works for songwriting doesn't necessarily work for screenwriting.
Likewise, and the patronizing attitude towards those small-town folks got really choking, too. Maybe Byrne should do a sequel, a return trip to 2018 Virgil where he shows all the MAGA signs that are no doubt posted everywhere.

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Minerwerks
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:02 pm

Re: 951 True Stories

#49 Post by Minerwerks » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:28 pm

zedz wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:50 pm
If this album really is the soundtrack recordings, that's fantastic news. The movie versions of 'Puzzlin' Evidence' and 'Papa Legba' are far superior to the Talking Heads versions. With 23 tracks, I assume we're getting most or all of the Sounds from True Stories album on there. It's mostly dispensible incidental music, but has Terry Allen's excellent 'Cocktail Desperado'.
I made a playlist consisting of the "Sounds From True Stories" album plus all the songs in the movie (official "movie versions" plus my own attempts to lay vocals from "Dream Operator" and "Puzzlin' Evidence" over tracks from the 5.1 Talking Heads album). This comes out as 23 tracks, but the length is 84 minutes, which is a few minutes longer than a CD can hold, so something probably has to give.

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Magic Hate Ball
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:15 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 951 True Stories

#50 Post by Magic Hate Ball » Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:03 am

Really excited for this, it's such a funny, strange movie that approaches the surrealities of fabricated suburbia with a perfect balance of irony and empathy. They might be warped by consumerism, but they're still people. The screencaps on the Criterion page are stunning, I can't wait to see the rest in motion.

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