It’s a secret tunnel that leads to… somewhere? Maybe the yards? Probably the yards.
Release the Bats! is still up for preorder for a little while longer!
This weekend I watched an amazing movie called Long Gone. It’s a documentary that follows a few different tramps and hobos over the course of a five-year period and is possibly the best documentary about hobos that I’ve seen (and I’ve seen quite a few). It did a great job of portraying basically every type of modern-day hobo: the people who’ve been doing it forever because they came from broken homes, the flat-out alcoholics, the old men who had lost everything and decided to spend the rest of their days riding the rails, the crusty kids from happy, middle-class homes giving a middle finger to mom, the crusty kids that become junkies, the young woman who falls in love with an older tramp and ends up having his baby… I could go on!
I was most struck by the subjects Joshua Long Gone and his “Irish twin” brother, Horizontal John. Both men are in their late 40′s but look 20 years older and were born a year and a day apart. You hear them refer often to “our birthday” as if they were actually twins and from looking at them, you might even think they were! As the movie begins, both Joshua and the audience are immediately aware that something’s not right with John. He has a lot of trouble just moving around it seems, and later in the film it’s revealed that he’s sick in some way. He claims it’s just a cold or maybe walking pneumonia but for whatever reason delays his trip to the doctor.
The bond of love between these two brothers is simultaneously inspirational and heart-breaking. Inspirational because I think just about everyone longs for an unconditional bond like these two have; heartbreaking because, well… just see the movie, okay?
Also of interest in the romance between rugged Dog Man Tony and young, fresh-faced Erin. Despite their marked physical differences and an age difference of what must have been more than 20 years, the romance that we watch unfolding between these two just about makes your heart melt. Unlike another fresh-faced young girl in the film who I found to be quite irritating and unlikeable, Erin is all smiles and optimism and quite likable indeed. Before long, their romance yields a wedding and a child, and with the responsibility of that child comes the untimely split between Dog Man Tony and Erin.
There are several other great stories in this film as well, but I’ll let you hear them for yourself. Go rent Long Gone on iTunes for $3 or buy it outright for $10 by going to iTunes and doing a search for “Long Gone.”
Oh, and watch the trailer here. Did I mention this movie has several original songs by Tom Waits, some of which were composed for this film? What more could you possibly ask for? Nothing, that’s what! Go watch Long Gone already!
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Fables of Freewheel – $32 till the next page is posted!
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