Into the Prine: Part Two

Click here for part one

I've been working up the courage to perform "Angel From Montgomery" as a sort of tribute to Into the Wild. Call it a party trick (everybody needs one). My practice regim-
ine involves singing along with Bonnie Raitt. It's a fool's game, really. I can do it, but not half as well. Maybe a third—if that.

I'd like to think John Prine's words will carry the day. And maybe they will. Either way, here's a live duet between Prine
and Raitt. The video doesn't feature their performance, but rather
still images illustrating the lyrics. This is songwriting at its finest.



I'm not alone in that assessment. Check out this post for more tes-
timony. Into the Wild is my #2 pick in what has turned out to
be a fantastic year for film. It's my friend Sean Axmaker's #1.

For more on Axmaker's picks and pans, please visit his blog.
For more on the ItW soundtrack, click here. Just be forewarn-
ed that it doesn't include Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart's
"Angel" duet. Eddie Vedder's songs, however, do include contrib-
utions from Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker and guitarist Kaki King.

Oh, and offering further proof of their continued irrelevance,
the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, i.e. the Golden Glob-
es, failed to recognize Into the Wild with a single nomination—
not even for Eric Gautier's indelible cinematography. (Mssr.
Gautier is a longtime associate of Olivier Assayas.) Fuck 'em.

1/9/08 update: I overstated my case. Eddie Vedder received nom-
inations for best original score and best song ("Guaranteed"). Due
to the writer's strike, however, the ceremony won't be broadcast.



Endnote: Into the Wild is currently playing in Seat-
tle at the Metro and Meridian Cinemas. The film didn't
have the big box office opening some prognosticators
were expecting, so it's nice to see it making up for that
soft premiere with a long run. Image from Fandango
(Hal Holbrook and Emile Hirsch), video from YouTube.