So much average

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Before I go any place else, accolades to Turner Classic Movies for airing unknown documentaries like this for an audience who wouldn't even know they existed.Between the heavy Southern black dialect and my own hard of hearing, I probably missed a good portion of what some of the commentators were talking about here, but that's not what I was tuning in for anyway. It's the blues, baby, and the setting is Porter Houston's Barbecue in Texas, 1967. Center stage is guitarist Lightnin' Hopkins, expounding on his brand of music and doing an even better job of showing how it's done. The picture also includes a handful of other local musicians, none of which are named or introduced, so that had me at a disadvantage. One of them was a tortured harmonica dude that wound up writhing on the ground, I just didn't know what to make of that, maybe a severe case of the blues.A couple of real interesting elements though. The black pig and the judge story, as told by Hopkins, was a real treat. The guy with the washboard vest playing with Lightnin' made me wonder why the concept hadn't gone any further. Maybe it has and I'm just not aware of it.For blues fans, this is a trip in the way-back machine that's worth the ride. Problem is, you'll probably have to wait for your own Lightnin' strike to catch it on Turner Classics or some other musical venue.

A portrait of the great Texas bluesman, Lightnin' Hopkins. The film includes interviews and a performance by Hopkins.Those not well-acquainted with the blues may be forgiven for not knowing Hopkins. But this short film will introduce you to the man: Rolling Stone magazine included Hopkins at number 71 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. That is respectable, if you consider just how many great guitarists are out there.But what makes this film good is not even Hopkins, but his world. Without any sort of narrative or political angle, Blank turns his camera on the poor, mostly-Black neighborhood near Houston. This is an interesting commentary on race and class, not so much for its struggle... but just how happy most of these people seem. They have nothing, but the music makes them joyous.

Enormously entertaining half-hour documentary that not only showcases late Texas bluesman Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins's famous talent for improvisation (the only recognizable compositions here are snatches of 'Meet Me in the Bottom', a version of Buddy Moss's 'Oh Lordy Mama', and Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl') but--maybe just as importantly--gives the viewer a glimpse of black life in the rural American South. The musical performances, stories, and incidental footage of Centerville, Texas are fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the scenes of Hopkins playing with songster Mance Lipscomb; a few years later, in Bruce Cook's indispensable tome "Listen to the Blues", Lipscomb declared simply that "I can't play with Lightnin' no more" because Hopkins was such a difficult personality. Obviously a must for country blues aficionados (to see how the form survived, authentic and virtually unchanged, well into the 1960s), "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins" will be of interest to more general audiences as well.

This is a great documentary which captures the life of legendary Blues singer/guitarist Sam "Lightnin" Hopkins. It starts out depicting Hopkins as a young boy when he first decides to become a musician and then goes on to show Lightnin' as an adult performing the blues. Hopkins is followed back to his home town of Centerville, Texas where he performs at a large outdoor Barbeque. It gives you a very personal and true feeling of who Lightnin' Hopkins really was and what his music stood for.This film is truly a valuable piece of blues history and was captured brilliantly by the director/producer. A true classic!