Retropath: TOMMY
Calling all nostalgia-freaks and celluloid junkies! Are you looking for the latest cinematic thrill? Retropath! has you covered. Specializing in the best flicks to stumble onto the screen, this series is guaranteed to deliver the wildest that cinema has to offer.
“As a pinwheeling adaptation of The Who’s ambitious 1969 Rock Opera, TOMMY showcases Russell’s talent for jaw-dropping visuals, as well as his maestro-like ability to balance a wild cacophony of images, ideas, and cheeky humour. Mining material from The Who’s sonic tale of an unlikely saviour figure, Russell manages to craft one of the great cinematic satires of religion, consumption, and pinball fever.
Who frontman Roger Daltrey, wearing a thousand-yard stare, steps into the shoes of Tommy, a deaf and blind boy whose parents (played with delirious, scene-chewing abandon by a permanently flop-sweat-soaked Oliver Reed and Ann-Margret), seek out outrageous means by which to cure him. As time passes, Tommy emerges as a messianic figure who inspires deep, popular, devotion in post-war Britian due to his wizard-like pinball skills. Between seismic blasts of electric guitar, synth, and baked beans, TOMMY combines music video and narrative, effectively capturing the tone of the music of The Who in a two hour fun-bomb. Featuring cameos by the rest of The Who, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, and a young Jack Nicholson, TOMMY is the kind of aural and visual experience that movie theaters were built to play – a rollicking pop-art odyssey!” (Alamo Drafthouse)
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