Impressions from TINA (HBO)
Just finished the Tina Turner documentary on HBO and wow, that was intense. It's beautifully done and the performances are absolute dynamite. It's a thrill to hear her speak, so deliberately and vividly. My respect for her has certainly skyrocketed. The documentary took things from the start of her time with Ike first, through her time leaving him, before rewinding to her time as a kid about 50 miles east of Memphis, TN in Nutbush, TN. (There's an exhibit about her at a rest stop on I-40 alongside Sleepy John Estes' cabin.) She talks about Ike as an idol of hers and joins him on tour while she's still in school and it's understandable why: Ike was a musical genius who played a key role in inventing the rock & roll and funk genres as a producer and multi-instrumentalist. I got a lot out of what Katori Hall had to say. Hall is a playwright (including of the Tina musical) and screenwriter, but, in the film, who could provide perspective as a black, femal...