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This has to be one of our most unusual national crises.  We are basically being told that it is our patriotic duty to stay at home and not be depressed.  Fortunately we are living in a Golden Age of streaming video so at least we have television to keep our spirits up.  I hope everyone will give me suggestions on what to watch, but if I’m going to make that request it only seems fair to offer my own recommendations.

Comedies

The sitcom has never been more necessary than now. And in one devestating week in April we experienced the end of “Modern Family,” “Schitt’s Creek” and possibly “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” (all of which are worth rewatching from the beginning.) Fear not, there are so many other commedies still worth streaming. Here are a few recommendations.

The Office

I wouldn’t both mentioning “The Office,”  which is an obvious go-to and still massively popular, except that Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey have launched a new podcast — The Office Ladies” in which they break down each episode from a behind-the-scenes perspective, in sequence and from the beginning.  This gives you a reason to rewatch a show that is, if anything, funnier than the first time around.  Listen to The Office Ladies” here.  “The Office” itself, now one of the most valuable properties is still available on Netflix, but not for long.

I’m Sorry

This is essentially a female version of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” featuring a comedy writer without a filter who is constantly trying to extricate herself from embarrassing situations of her own making.  It’s also a pretty good satire of the upper middle class, politically correct society. (On Amazon Prime)

Derry Girls

An unlikely comedy premise: a teenage comedy set in the Catholic section of Belfast during “The Troubles” of the 1990s.  To say this is irreverent is putting it mildly. Teens will be teens, even in a low-grade civil war.  Subtitles are a necessity as is an abondonment of dogma.  Available on Netflix.

Lovesick

I have been trying like crazy to get people to watch “Lovesick,” which is about three thirty-something British flatmates who are friends and possible lovers, but can’t get anyone to stick with it.  It’s remarkable storytelling, unfolding through a series of flashbacks.  The ostensible premise is that our confused hero is diagnosed with clamydia and needs to get in touch with his previous sexual partners to let them know. The show is an updated and more realistic version of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” On Netflix.

BlackAF

If “I’m Sorry” is a Yuppie “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” this is a black “Curb.” The show is ostensibly about whether it’s possible for a wealthy (and I mean quite wealthy) black Hollywood success story to retain his black authenticity, but its really about a still-insecure guy who keeps trying to prove to the world and to himself that he deserves all his wealth and success.  And like many insecure people he’s got an all-purpose excuse — it’s all the fault of slavery, although no one else on the show seems to suffer from slavery-related insecurity. Despte the formula, it’s still very funny, and with each episode gifted a happy ending or moral, it’s not a stringent as “Curb.” (On Netflix)

Documentaries

The Internet seems obsessed with the freak show that is “Tiger King,” a show I watched in the same way I might eat salty buttered popcorn until I want to throw up.  There are much better documentaries to watch:

McMillions

Almost 20 years ago someone cheated on the McDonalds “Monopoly” game and stole most of the million dollar pieces.  The documentary explores how the FBI unravelled the sprawling scheme.  Like all good documentaries, this is really about human nature — in this case how we balance our dark and light sides, our greed and our morality.  The cast of characters is as wide and diverse as in “Tiger King,” but closer to the mainstream.  You can’t imagine yourself being caught up in the “Tger King” scandal but it’s not hard to see how, with a little moral compromise, you could end up in a fast food game fraud.  (On HBO Go)

Circus of Books

A nice Jewish middle class couple ran West Hollywood’s most important gay porn shop for 30 years and this is their story.  It’s a living!  On Netflix

Last Dance

When The Chicago Bulls attempted to win their sixth national championship in 1998, a film crew was given behind-the-scenes access but that footage has sat dormant and locked away for decades. Finally Michael Jordan agreed to let ESPN to make a documentary out of this buried treasure.  The result is a portrait of a very unhappy team and a grumpy G.O.A.T.  The docu-series is still unfurling on ESPN but if you need a sports fix, this is a good place to start.

Amazon Music Documentaries

Back in the old days, boys and girls, when you sat down to watch TV with nothing in mind you would do something called “channel surfing,” flipping TV channel after TV channel until something good enough popped up.  My streaming version of channel surfing when I am looking for something to watch that’s not too challenging is to go to Amazon and search for documentaries on musical acts and genres.  These are not the best documentaries in the world but they are definitely good enough to watch in a time of stress.  The documentary subjects range from the Beatles, Neil Young, The Beach Boys and the Blood Sweat and Tears to whole genres like jazz, country and hip hop.  Just start searching the let the algorithm take over from there.

Dramas

For some reason, most of the dramas I’m recommending are set outside the U.S., possibly because I find it more interesting to experience a different culture.  In any event, here are my recommendations:

Shtisel

As Israeli soap opera, in Hebrew, about the trials of an Orthodox family in Jeruselum.  It’s fascinating to see human nature at work in another culture.  Much is the same as in American culture, since humans are findamentally alike, but different traditions do have their own impact.

The Young Pope/The New Pope

Easily the most flipped out recommendation on the list, and definitely not for everybody, “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” are seasons one and two of a hallucinatory series about a young, sexy-but-doctrinaire priest (Jude Law) who becomes Pontiff and tries to remake the church.  This is like “The Crown” for Catholics, with gorgeous sets and cinematography, full of mysticism, eroticism, and cynicism. This is the craziest thing I’ve seen on TV since the reboot of “Twin Peaks.”  Christianity is full of mystery and that’s on full display here.  On HBO Go.

The Bodyguard

“The Bodyguard” This has been out for a while but if you haven’t watched it yet, this is the perfect time to catch up. Richard Madden (aka, Robb Stark) is put in charge of protecting a British anti-terrorism minister and it’s one heart-pounding scene after another. On Netflix.

Killing Eve

Another British psychological thriller/spy series about a murderous psychopath and the MI16 agent who’s trying to track her down.  AMC is airing Season 3 now but to start at the beginning you need to catch up on Hulu or rent the two seasons on Amazon Prime

Other great dramas

If you haven’t watched “The Americans,” “Better Call Saul,” “Deadwood,” “Justified,” “Mad Men,” or “Six Feet Under,” well, you better get on that right away.

The 2018 Movie List

I’ve read that 2018 was a good year for the movie industry, fueled by superhero movies (Black Panther and Aquaman), remakes (A Star Is Born), sequels (Mary Poppins Returns, Jurassic World), and animated movies (The Incredibles 2 and Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse).  There was another trend this year that wasn’t quite as pernicious but still hinted at a lack of imagination — movies that were based (sometimes very loosely) on “real” events: The Death of Stalin, The Favourite, The Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, BlackkKalnsman, Can You Ever Forgive Me, and First Man.

So this was not the biggest year for original story-telling.  And yet there were plenty of good things to watch.  I made a point of seeing Roma on the big screen even though it was free on Netflix — and I’m glad I did.  That’s a movie that benefits from the kind of  concentration that is difficult at home.  And I was delighted by the documentaries I saw this year (Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Three Identical Strangers) as well as some of the animated movies, including The Isle of Dogs and the new Spider-Man.

So from a content perspective, I thought it was a pretty good year, with a lot to choose from.  I didn’t get to see everything, having, you know, a life, but among the movies I did see, here are my favorites, ranked down to my least favorites.

1. Roma

Sometimes the most deliberately artsy movies really are the best ones.  Roma teeters on the brink of parodying 1950’s neo-realism mashed up with early Ingmar Bergman but through its steady accumulation of details, slowly builds into a compelling portrait of a 1970-era Mexican housekeeper.  The last 45 minutes — starting with deadly a street riot though a beach rescue — are ten times more gripping than anything in any superhero movie this year.

2. The Death of Stalin

Dark, dark, VERY dark satire on the unlamented death of Joseph Stalin, brought to you by the people who produce “Veep.”  It’s a brutally hilarious depiction of the horrors of communism that George Orwell would have appreciated.  The functionaries vying for power after Stalin’s death are mostly ridiculous idiots, which is the way lackeys to evil should be remembered.

3. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

This gentle, fond documentary about Mr. Rogers has grown men weeping silently in their seats.  Somehow the movie manages to evoke the fear and confusion that all of us suppressed from our early childhoods and makes us wish we had a Mr. Rogers to explain life to us back then.  The biggest shock at the Academy Awards this year is that this was not nominated for anything.

4. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse

I was literally shocked at how much I liked this movie.  Having seen three previous Spider-Man origin stories I went reluctantly to a fourth only to experience the most startlingly original movie of the year.  It’s funny, thought-provoking, touching, exciting and beautiful.

5. Bohemian Rhapsody

I was also surprised that I liked Bohemian Rhapsody as much as I did since I have never gone out of my way to listen to any Queen song.  But it’s a tribute to the band’s ability to implant their music so deeply in your limbic system that you respond viscerally when you hear it again.  I even forgave the many lapses from the historical record.  Oh, and Rami Malek is fantastic as Freddy Mercury.

6. First Man

As someone who remembers all the major events of the early space program I was captivated by the behind-the-scenes account and amazed at the courage it took to hurtle through space in what was basically a tin can on top of a bomb.  Fascinating insights into the emotionally repressed Neil Armstrong.  Regrettably, Ryan Gosling bungled the PR for the movie by implying the NASA achievements weren’t an American success, which mired the film in controversy before it even came out.  It should have been seen by more people.

7. A Star is Born

The scene where Lady Gaga comes on stage to sing “Shallow” is one of the great cheesy cinematic highlights of the year.  And I do like all the acting performances and most of the music.  Having seen an earlier version, though, (the one with Judy Garland), I couldn’t really enjoy it knowing from the very beginning that we were going to go through a gut-wrenching conclusion.

8. They Shall Not Grow Old

Peter Jackson’s great documentary on what it was like for the average British soldier to serve on the Western Front contains the greatest dissolve from black and white to color since the Wizard of Oz.  The transformation of ancient herky-jerky WWI footage into smooth-running color is a technical triumph that actually does bring these soldiers back to life.  They seem as real to us now as they would have been to their contemporaries.

9. Three Identical Strangers

What a fascinating documentary about three identical triplets separated at birth.  My mouth was agape from beginning to end.

10. Isle of Dogs

This is an allegory about the politics of maintaining power through the fear of the “other,” a great story about heroism and love, a breathtaking animated movie, and an interesting glimpse into the weird mind of Wes Anderson.

11. Aquaman

Another “huh.” I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did.  I really enjoyed the undersea world and didn’t mind the aquatic battles as much as I usually do in terrestrial superhero movies.

12. Mary Poppins Returns

A lovely remake/sequel to the original.  As everyone says, the songs truly are forgettable so the strength of the movie comes from Emily Blunt’s portrayal of Mary Poppins and the design imagination of the fantasy scenes, all of which are great.  But the highlights are clearly the dance routine by the 93-year-old Dick Van Dyke and the closing number by 94-year-old Angela Lansbury.  Too bad they couldn’t have squeezed in Betty White somehow.

13. Green Book

A white chauffeur drives a black jazz pianist through the segregated south in the 1960’s and has his consciousness raised.  On its own terms this is inspiring and heart-warming. Unfortunately this Driving Miss Daisy approach to movie-making has become very politically incorrect, focusing as it does on the white guy’s transformation instead of the black guy’s experience.   (By the way, has anyone aged faster than Viggo Mortensen, the once-great King Aragorn?)

14. The Favourite

Two women vie for the favors of the mercurial Queen Anne back in the early 1700s.  Acting awards all around for Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.  I might have appreciated this more if my expectations hadn’t been raised by the many critics who cited it as their top film of the year.  Among other things, I had expected it to be funnier.  If this is a comedy, the humor is drier than parchment.

15. Cold War

A little bit like “Roma” — foreign, luminous black and white, stately (i.e., slow), set in the near-distant past, requiring your full attention.  This is about a love affair that occurs over 15 years and multiple countries on both sides of the iron curtain.  It’s intense!

16. Black Panther

Wildly inventive.  I liked the Wakanda scenes and the acting.  The racial politics were thought-provoking.  But it’s still just a superhero movie and I was kind of bored by the battles.

17. The Upside

A somewhat more politically correct take on the Green Book theme (stunted white man enabled by friendship with black man).  “The Upside” is more plainly a comedy so more acceptable.  Kevin Hart becomes a caretaker to a rich rich rich paralyzed misanthrope and transforms him into a caring human being.

18. Crazy Rich Asians

Asians celebrated getting their own Rom-Com, which went on to show that rich people of all nations can be vapid, snobby, ridiculous and selfish.  A major step forward in racial equality!  The movie is funny, as long as you close down the thinking part of your brain.

19. BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee is a very talented director and when the film sticks to the narrative it’s interesting and compelling, but he can’t help himself and loads it up with overt and unsubtle propaganda.  Too bad, because the story itself — about a black cop who infiltrates the Klan — is strong enough on his own and makes the point pretty clearly.

20. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy “stretches” in a serious role about a struggling and dyspeptic writer to who in desperation to get veterinary care for her ancient cat begins to write fake letters from literary figures (e.g. Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward, etc.), which are bought by collectors.  This film, like “The Favourite,” was inexplicably beloved by a certain kind of critic this year.  I guess I understand why a lot of writers would be entranced by a backstage peak at the literary world but in reality this was only a moderately insightful portrait of a damaged crank.

21. Eighth Grade

Maybe I should admit up front that I didn’t hate my own personal experience in junior high school.  Is it worse now than then?  Sure seems so.  This is an excellent portrayal of a young girl who hasn’t quite mastered certain important social skills yet is desperately trying to fit in.  But if there was one movie this year that felt like taking your medicine, this was it.

22. Tully

What if you were strung out by trying to raise your young children and the perfect nanny showed up?  Much as in Mary Poppins Returns, the nanny here is trying to fix the parent rather than the kids.  This offers some very sharp observations on the perils of modern parenting and semi-useless husbands.

23. Mary Queen of Scots

A perfectly adequate but somewhat confusing dramatization of the conflict between Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I.  But you would never know from this movie that except for Churchill, Elizabeth was England’s greatest ruler.  The focus is more on Mary’s shenanigans, which result in her getting kicked off the Scottish throne and eventually beheaded.  Saoirse Ronan is obviously a great actress, but she portrays Mary as a heroine instead of an impetuous, reckless ruler who lets her emotions and desires get the best of her.

24. Blaze

A very serious look at the life of the largely unknown (unknown to me, at least) Country musician Blaze Foley.  Although this is also about a bearded singer-songwriter who drinks too much and dies too early, this is the exact opposite of A Star Is Born in tone, theme and execution.

25. The Incredibles 2

This sequel is not as original and witty as The Incredibles itself.   Maybe we’re too inured to the premise.  It’s funny enough and I suppose kids will like it, but I started feeling antsy midway through.

26. Jurassic World

I’m not sure what compelled me to go see this.  Chris Pratt is great but his charm is on the verges of wearing out its welcome.  The dinosaurs are remarkable, as ever, and the early action sequences are fun.  But it quickly becomes a ridiculous story about the predatory and evil rich.  They are so one-dimensional that I’m surprised the bad guys don’t twirl their mustaches.

27. Solo

A generic Star Wars movie with a lot of space chases.  I pity that poor guy trying to portray the young Han Solo in the shadow of Harrison Ford — he’s really unmemorable.  The movie is mildly exciting but makes little impact.    BTW, it seems like there are a lot of orphans in the Expanded Star Wars Universe.

28. Game Night

Cute.  Nothing wrong with this but it would be better to watch this on, say, an airplane than in a movie theater.

29. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

This is the only movie of the year that I actively hated — and I have a lot of respect for the Coen Brothers, usually.  The six separate vignettes that comprise this anthology are supposed to provide a caustic look at the motifs of the traditional Western.  They are beautifully shot but either overly broad, too cynical or overly fatalistic.

 

The Ten Most Memorable TV Moments of 2018

In an era that seems to be defined by the increasing domination of the big streaming services, I was surprised when assembling this list of top individual moments from 2018 that I couldn’t recall any outstanding moments from Netflix or Amazon, which are apparently pursuing a “quantity over quality” strategy. I was even more surprised that I’d experienced many of these highlights on old-fashioned broadcast television. So maybe there’s hope for the old medium after all.

With that said, here are the moments that moved me the most last year:

10. Dan Crenshaw forgives Pete Davidson on SNL

I’ve already written about this at length, but when Congressman-elect and war hero Dan Crenshaw went on “Saturday Night Live” to gently rib and then forgive Pete Davidson, who had made an insulting joke about his eyepatch, it was a rare moment of grace on TV this year. Real life intruded on this moment a month later when the bipolar Davidson posted a quasi-suicidal Instagram note and Crenshaw supportively called and encouraged him to keep fighting his depression. It would be great if people with different political perspectives could follow their example.

9. Andrew Benintendi dives to make the final out in game 4 of the ALCS

As the author of this list and a Red Sox fan I’m going to exercise my prerogative to cite a great play in the American League play-offs. This moment encapsulates why baseball is so great. With the Red Sox ahead 8-6, the Astros have the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth. The Astros best player comes to bat against a shaky reliever. The tension builds and builds until you think you will faint. Suddenly the ball is unleashed and smashed to left field and somehow Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi dives to make the final out and despair turns to ecstasy (or the other way around if you’re an Astros fan) and the game is over.

8. The final episode of “Succession”

I had no interest in watching HBO’s “Succession” until my son told me it was a comedy. And yeah, it does turn out to be a very dark satire about a media baron loosely based on Sumner Redstone or Robert Murdoch and his scheming, mostly useless children. The series had so many outrageous scenes that it’s impossible to pick one, so for the sake of argument I’ll say that the entire season finale was one of the greatest moments of the year.

7. Bishop Curry’s homily at The Royal Wedding

You usually don’t turn into a royal wedding for inspirational oratory but Bishop Curry’s homily at the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was genuinely moving. As the the moment stretched longer than normal and many of the noble guests grew either amused or exasperated by the concept of a religious figure taking his responsibilities as a spiritual leader seriously, I found my patriotic hackles being raised. How dare these twits look down their noses at a great American preacher? USA! USA!

6. George W. Bush’s eulogy for George H.W. Bush

This year could have been subtitled “four funerals and a wedding” after the Royal hitching and the widely televised funerals of George and Barbara Bush, John McCain and Aretha Franklin delivered so many inspiring moments. George Bush’s emotional tribute to his father was one of the few times during the year when people tried to put politics aside in memory of a politician who had tried (and failed) to govern from the middle.

5. The armed robbery opening scene of “Atlanta” season two

“Atlanta” is second only to “Twin Peaks” as the most surreal show in TV history. The new season opened with a couple of kids robbing some drugs hidden in a fast food restaurant. This has nothing to do with the arc of the season so why are we watching this? I don’t know, but it set the tone for a season in which everyone is hustling or robbing someone else and everything is deeply weird in a society where racism has distorted reality and driven many people crazy.

4. Paul McCartney visits his childhood home with James Corden

James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment is widely beloved but never more so than when Paul McCartney gave him a driving tour of Liverpool and reduced Corden to tears with his story of the inspiration behind “Let It Be.”

3. Kim Wexler rips Howard Hamlin a new one on “Better Call Saul”

Played magnificently by Rhea Seehorn on “Better Call Saul,” Kim Wexler was the best female character on television last year. Smart, capable, unpredictable and fiercely loyal to her boyfriend Jimmy, she really lays into Jimmy’s former boss Harry Hamlin for telling him that his brother probably burned himself to death. Her righteous anger was unforgettable.

2. Chidi tells Eleanor he loves her on “The Good Place”

It’s a miracle that a show this good is on a broadcast network. “The Good Place” revolves around four humans who go to The Good Place when they die and subsequently struggle to stay out of The Bad Place. The plot is too convoluted to summarize except to say there’s unresolved chemistry between Eleanor, a self-proclaimed “dirt bag” from Phoenix, and Chidi, an Australian philosophy professor, that finally got resolved in the final episode of the calendar year.

1. Stan confronts the Jennings spies on “The Americans”

In the final episode of this great series, the identities of the Russian spies begins to unravel. FBI agent Stan Beeman tracks them down in a parking garage as they prepare to flee. Stan and Philip were neighbors and best friends and this final confrontation is raw and emotional. Many series finales fail to “stick the ending” but “The Americans” delivered a powerful last episode that demonstrated the cost of doing evil when you think you’re doing your duty.

Yay, America!

The Fourth of July is the day we celebrate America and what better way than through a celebration of America-themed music? I’m not talking about overtly patriotic songs.  I doubt the Marine Band will ever play any of these songs on the White House lawn, but still, they do offer a glimpse of the vast tapestry that is America:

America (Simon and Garfunkel)

We’re An American Band (Grand Funk Railroad)

America (West Side Story)

Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (Toby Keith)

American Tune (Simon and Garfunkel)

Living In The USA (Steve Miller Band)

Born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen)

American Pie (Don McLean)

 

Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)

American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

R.O.C.K. In the USA (John Mellencamp)

Living In America (James Brown)

Coming to America (Neil Diamond)

Rockin in the USA (Kiss)

Party in the U.S.A. (Miley Cyrus)

Ten Albums That I Can’t Forget

There’s a Facebook challenge going around where people post photos of their ten favorite albums “without explanation.”  No one challenged me to do this, which is just as well because I definitely need to explain.  Because instead of selecting “favorite” albums, I’m more interested in the most meaningful — the ones that remind me of who I was.  These all create aural Proustian moments — except that it’s not the taste of a madeleine that sends me back in time, it’s a song.

Considering how rare it’s been to buy a CD, never mind an LP, for the last 15 year, it’s not surprising that these albums are front-loaded toward decades past.  But if truth be told, the real reason this music is weighted toward the old days is that music is more important and meaningful to you when you’re younger.  With that as an apologia, here are the ten albums that I just can’t forget.

1. Oklahoma!

I was about five years old when our family moved into our little ranch house in Brockton, Mass.  My parents were young and didn’t have a lot of money but they did buy a hi-fi and a handful of albums — almost all Broadway musicals or movie soundtracks.   I still love all those old albums (in fact my wife thinks I have an unnatural interest in show tunes) but the one that really brings me back is the first one they bought — Oklahoma.

Even now I know the lyrics to most of the songs — but now I actually understand them (I’m thinking of you, “I Cain’t Say No”).  But the most evocative song for me remains “People Will Say We’re In Love,” which is the best flirting song ever written.

2. Please Please Me

Other generations must get tired of hearing Boomers talk about the Beatles, but they loomed so large for so long that we just can’t get over it.  The Beatles burst upon the scene when I was ten years old and my mother took me down to the old Coats Field department store in Brockton to buy what would become my first record album.

The Capitol Records version of this is officially titled The Early Beatles, but the version I have was released by JayVee Records (multiple companies had rights to these songs because no major American label wanted to sign them and they originally ended up signing with the fly-by-night JayVee.  For more detail on the tangled history of this album click here.)

This is my battered LP, VeeJay version

This is hardly the best best Beatles album. There’s even a cover of a song from the Broadway musical “The Music Man” (“Til There Was You”).  Most of the original Beatles songs aren’t really top notch either, but “I Saw Her Standing There,” “There’s a Place,” and especially, “Please Please Me” still exemplify the energy and fun of being a young Beatles fan.

3. Jesus Christ Superstar

When I was in the 11th grade, Jesus Christ Superstar hit our school like a bomb.  Tommy might have been the first “rock opera,” but this was the second and no one had ever heard anything like it.  What I never expected then was that Andrew Lloyd Weber would abandon rock and go on to transform musical theater, but for at this moment he seemed like a very cutting edge composer.

Some kids in my English class wrote a short play based on the album called “J.C.” (the 20-minute performance involved us acting out some scenes with the music playing in the background).  Throughout the day, over multiple periods, we performed this little one-act to packed crowds in our “Little Theater.”  And then later that summer, a dozen of us drove into Boston to see a concert version of album performed in Boston Garden (yes, those were the days when parents would let six 17-year-olds cram into the family car and drive on the Southeast Expressway without seat belts.)  King Herod’s song brought down the house as it always does.

I’d like to think I imbued some religious feeling from the album but I can see now that very little Christianity is expressed in the album.  And when it was turned into a movie a couple of years later, it all seemed vaguely ridiculous.  That movie actually turned me against the album.  A couple of years ago I played the LP for the first time in decades and actively disliked it.  The songs themselves are fine but the way they’re performed, with screeching strings, vibrated differently with me as an adult than as a teen. Worse, several of the songs became ear worms and I couldn’t get them out of my head for weeks, so not only did I not like them, but I couldn’t forget them.   I didn’t even watch the John Legend version when it was on TV last Easter.  Sigh — it’s tough to get old.

One song I still do like, though, is “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”

4. All Things Must Pass

In contrast with “Jesus Christ Superstar,” I love George Harrison’s first solo album even more now than I did when it came out.  I received it as a gift from my high school girlfriend on Christmas 1970 and whenever I play it, I can smell her patchouli oil perfume, taste the food in our high school cafeteria, and remember what it was like to drive around in that old junker of mine.

More important, the songs are still fantastic.  What I can’t understand is how George wrote such deeply spiritual music at age 27 — the age my son is now!  I not only still have my original boxed set LP but also the CD, and whenever I drive by myself on a long trip, this is always in the mix of CDs I play.

5. No Secrets

To the extent I have a guilty pleasure it’s Carly Simon.  I know the music is not top quality, with simplistic lyrics and pretty cliched tunes, and yet I bought her first ten albums and still love them all.  No Secrets is the album that came out the year I was a freshman in college.  “You’re so Vain” was the biggest hit but the title song is the one that most recaptures the feeling of being away at school, even though I had barely any secrets to keep.

6. Court and Spark

My college-era girlfriend had been a serious Joni Mitchell fan and I thought she was as pretentious as they came (Joni, not the girlfriend).  My friend Jim was also a Joni fan, which I scoffed at, until he brought me into his dorm room and made me listen to her newest album Court and Spark, which was more musically accessible than the earlier work.  I still remember sitting there hearing “People’s Parties” and changing my mind on the spot.  But my favorite song from the album is “Help Me,” a plea from a woman who is sinking into love and can’t escape.  Man I still love that song.

This album turned me into a huge Joni Mitchell devotee.  I even went back and reconsidered her earlier albums, all of which I now love.  But Court and Spark was the turning point.

7. Stop Making Sense

I saw the Jonathan Demme movie “Stop Making Sense” before I even heard the album and couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on, with The Talking Heads’ David Byrne singing a series of increasingly frantic and despairing songs as his suit got bigger and bigger.   Eventually I bought the album and learned to love the existential dread of “Psycho Killer,” “Burning Down the House” and, especially, “Once in a Lifetime.”  What did I have to despair about?  I was 30, living an exciting life in Washington DC, and reasonably happy. It wasn’t exactly in despair I felt but the question at the core of the album did resonate: “And you may ask yourself/well, how did I get here?”  That’s a question that never goes away.  Twenty years ago I wouldn’t have put this album on the list but it’s been haunting me to long enough to warrant being rated one of albums I can’t forget.

8. Born in the USA

When I was working on Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984, there was a guy in the research department who was a Bruce Springsteen fanatic.  Born in the USA had just come out and he was such a proselytizer that he recorded it for me on a cassette tape.   I never actually listened to that tape but eventually bought my own LP — my real introduction to Springsteen.  And of course the song “Born in the USA” eventually became the unofficial anthem of the Reagan/Bush 84 campaign until Springsteen himself told us to stop playing it at rallies.

This album is a good example of how an artist can lose control of the narrative for his own art.  Most of the songs are supposed to be about the dissolution of the American dream, what with working class guys losing their jobs etc., and yet the album largely comes off as a celebration of America.  The song “Dancing in the Dark” has bleak, lonely, depressing lyrics but the tune is so upbeat that the effect is actually positive.  And the title tune, which is supposed to be a devastating indictment of American society ended up sounded patriotic because of that strong, repetitive chorus. “Born in the USA, I was Born in the USA.”

9. Graceland

Aside from being a great album with innovative music, Graceland is on this list for two reasons: 1) Soon after my wife and I were married and living in a thin-walled New York apartment, the tenant next door to us broke up with his boyfriend and played it until about 2:00 a.m. one night.  Consequently this album always reminds me of those early days in NYC when we were trying to figure out married life.

2) About four years later, when my son was a year and a half old, we moved to Connecticut.  Until we filled the living and dining rooms with furniture, I used to pick him up and dance with him from one end of the house to another to the tune of “You Can Call Me Al.”

And of course the music was unlike anything I’d ever heard before — all those South African musicians being introduced to American audiences.

10. Running With Scissors

My wife and I always agreed that humor provides you with emotional resilience, exercises your brain and helps you make sense of an increasingly absurd world.  To that end we exposed our son to a variety of comedians and comedy shows, including “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld” “The Office”, “Letterman,” etc.  Eventually he started to introduce us to comedians he’d found on his own, including Weird Al Yankovic.  Soon the house was full of Weird Al CDs, the best of which, by far, was “Running With Scissors.”  In addition to the the usual parodies of hit songs, this album has two masterpieces.

The first is “The Saga Begins,” a spoof of the second round of Star Wars movies to the tune of “Bye Bye Miss American Pie.”  The lyrics summarize the intricate and, frankly, ridiculous plot of “A Phantom Menace.”  Sample: “We took a bongo from the scene/ And we went to Theed to see the Queen/ We all wound up on Tatooine/ That’s where we found this boy…” The juxtaposition of the nerdy “Star Wars” detail with the great “American Pie” tune is what makes this song achieve greatness.

The second masterpiece on this album is “Albuquerque.” Unlike most other Weird Al songs, this is not a song parody but a absurdist story about a guy whose wildest dream is to visit the city of Albuquerque.  This is a long meandering story — what is know in literature as a picaresque, in the manner of “Candide” or “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” It’s just one damn thing after another for the narrator.

In any event, my wife, son and I all found the song both hilarious and a bonding experience.  I tried to share it with some people outside the family and they just didn’t get it.  Didn’t think it was funny and gave me a strange look after I played it.  Well, at least there’s three of us who appreciate it.

 

Special bonus song

I’ve leave you with one more meaningful song, as long as we’re discussing the idiosyncrasies of humor.  This one isn’t even on an album.  When my son was on the college tour, one place we looked was Middlebury, my own alma mater.  We learned that some students had just produced a music video parodying the students body.  The video spoofs the various “Midd Kidds” at the college: the Library Queen, the Lax Bro, the Quidditch nerds, the flannel-shirted granola guy.  The video is full of inside jokes, but even an outsider can enjoy the humor because the college stereotypes are universal.

The video itself is hardly an advertisement for Middlebury or any liberal arts college, but it actually achieves a level of art as it illustrates how college is about taking on new identities, posing with them for a while, and then trying on something else.  Colleges would have you think that the education revolves around the classroom but in reality, college is about figuring out who you are — even if that takes means appropriating some obnoxious personalities for a while.

My son ended up going to Middlebury but avoiding all the stereotypes in the video (thank God).  Still, of all the songs that came out when he was in college, this is the one that most reminds me of those four very emotional transitional years.

The 2017 Movie List

Bye bye 2017.  It wasn’t a great year for cinema — although it did produce one great movie (“Dunkirk”) and six or seven highly original ones.

It’s no surprise that most of the movies I saw movies fall into two categories — blockbusters or arty independent films.  That’s basically where the creative action is these days.  Everyone in Hollywood is either aiming to gross $500 million or win an Oscar, with not a lot in between.  This makings rankings a little silly.  How are you supposed to decide whether “Lady Bird” is better than “Wonder Woman”?  They both have female directors and female protagonists trying to separate from their mothers.  The only difference is $450 million in ticket sales.

What’s a little surprising is how many of these movies — almost half — are based on true stories, including two that climax with Churchill’s “We will fight them on the beaches” speech.  I guess all the original storytellers have moved to Netflix.

I’m a little sad that I only saw 25 movies this year — it’s not like I’m giving up on the big screen, but week after week would go by with nothing interesting to watch — and some of the really arty stuff came and went so fast I missed it completely and had to catch up in the winter of 2018.  With that in mind, here’s my list.

1. Dunkirk

The most politically incorrect movie of the year.  The entire cast is composed of straight white men, for God’s sake!  The rescue of the surrounded British army from the beaches of Dunkirk by a flotilla of small pleasure craft is one of the great stories of World War II and Christopher Nolan has turned it into one of the most spectacular art films of all time, with minimal dialogue and a conflation of three different time sequences.  It’s epic, it’s thrilling and it’s going nowhere at the Oscars.

2. Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig’s semi-autobiographical account of her high school years in Sacramento is both very specific to its time and class, and universal to everyone who’s ever gone to high school and wanted something more.  The main character (played by the actress with the unpronounceable Irish name who starred in “Brooklyn”) struggles to be special and transcend her extremely middle-class background through various misadventures of senior year.  Everything seems to be on the line — and it is, for a girl who wants to get away from her hometown.

3. The Florida Project

This is the “Moonlight” of 2018 — an unsparing and unapologetic look at poverty and its consequences. A down-at-the-heels motel in the shadow of Disney World is the the last stop for poor families trying to keep their heads above water.  The kids run wild and what initially seems like a charming story of plucky sick-year-olds slowly spirals into a nightmare.  When the movie is over you can only sit and gape at the credits.

4 . Phantom Thread

Mesmerizing and seductive account of a fashion designer who demands total control but meets his match in a Danish (?) waitress. Paul Thomas Anderson layers on music, color, fabric and cinematography to make this the most sensual movie of the year.

5. Get Out

Is this a direct attack on the Trump era’s approach to race or a remarkably well-made horror movie in the style of “Rosemary’s Baby”?  I’ll leave the politics to others but it is definitely a fun thriller in which the villains are white liberals.  Jordan Peale deservedly made a ton of money on this tale of a black dude who hooks up with someone out of a “Girls” episode (literally, it’s Allison Williams who plays Marnie) and ends up in trouble when he goes home to meet her parents.  The rising level of creepiness and dawning awareness of what’s happening is masterful. (Fun fact — Jordan Peale is himself married to a white woman — the comedian Chelsea Peretti.  I bet Thanksgiving with the in-laws was fun after this movie came out.)

6. Wonder Women

A terrific superhero movie — maybe the best of all time — because it’s intelligent, wry and to scale (at least until the final 15-minute battle with Ares, the evil god of war).  Gal Godot is the perfect Wonder Woman — as sexy as they come and playing the role straight.  The political commentary on the fact that the movie had a woman director almost ruined my fondness for the film (see more of my commentary here), but not entirely.

7. The Last Jedi

The most beautiful and best-acted Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi suffers from mid-trilogy syndrome.  It’s obviously a bridge to get from the intro film to the finale, with a lot of extraneous filler and a huge body count.  A lot of the plot doesn’t make sense, but the characters are well-drawn and appealing.  Can’t wait for the next one!

8. Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2

A really fun space movie with enough emotional beats to keep you caring.  Who would have guessed that the schlumpy loser boyfriend on “Parks and Recreation” would become a major movie star?

9. The Post

Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks is Ben Bradlee.  Very good impersonations.  Kind of an old fashioned biopic about Big Ideas.  Well-made and thoughtful like most Spielberg films. I have to agree with everyone else, though, that it was weird to make a movie about the Pentagon Papers and focus on The Washington Post rather than the NYT.  I can’t help but feel that this was the case because Spielberg wanted to kill two birds with one stone: defend the press AND have a female protagonist. (Also, of all the movies based on real stories this year, I think this one department most egregiously from the facts.)

10. The Big Sick

The real life (-ish) story of how the Pakistani-American comedian Kumail Nanjiani met his future wife and stood by her while she was in a coma.  It’s funny, sweet and touching.  Probably the best coma movie since Sandra Bullock’s “While You Were Sleeping.”

11. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The character played by Frances MacDormand is maddened with fury and grief that the killer of her raped and murdered daughter has not been found and seeks to publicly shame the local sheriff.  It’s not as depressing as it sounds!  Emotionally-compelling and well-crafted until about 2/3rds of the way through when it completely goes off the rails.  Not sure what Peter Dinklage is doing in this movie.

12. All The Money In The World

An incredibly tense dramatization of the kidnapping of 16-year-old Paul Getty in 1973.  I’d have been having a heart attack if I didn’t know how it turned out in real life.  This is the movie in which completed scenes by Kevin Spacey were reshot with Christopher Plummer after those unfortunate revelations of sexual misconduct were exposed last fall.  Plummer was great, so — good job!

13. A Ghost Story

Did anyone besides me actually see this?  Casey Affleck dies and comes back to haunt the house he lived in with his girlfriend Rooney Mara.  He’s wearing a sheet, which sounds silly but absolutely isn’t.  There’s hardly any dialogue because ghosts don’t talk.  Still, very profound.

14. Frantz

Another obscurity and my one foreign film this year.  A mysterious Frenchman shows up at the grave of a German World War I soldier with whom he has a special connection and the dead man’s family and fiancee want to know what’s going on.  Many lies are told to soften the horror of the war and in the end, life does go on, sort of.

15. Hidden Figures

This movie should have been on last year’s list but was not available for screening when I published last year.  Very mainstream entertainment about the genius black women who helped launch the space program through their jobs as human computers.  Not particularly complex but the good gals win and it’s very satisfying.

16. Baby Driver

This is a lot of fun if you like car chases and pop music.  The title character is a superhuman get-away car driver with daddy issues.  Kevin Spacey plays the local crime lord but because the movie came out before those unfortunate revelations his scenes were NOT reshot by Christopher Plummer.

17. Patriots Day

A good recap of the police investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing.  Mark Wahlberg is the “everyman” stand-in who is miraculously at the site of every major break in the case.  Kudos to the cops who caught these terrorists.  It’s amazing to see how they were able to capture these guys so fast.  Talk about gripping.

18. American Made

Tom Cruise was born to play this role — the good old boy hot shot pilot who gets recruited by the CIA to smuggle arms to the Contras during the eighties.  Based on true events, which I confirmed on wikipedia.  Cruise is one of those guys who can’t be bound by everyday conventions and is addicted to danger.  BTW, Cruise plays someone who’s about 35 and he looks it.

19. The Shape of Water

I’m not being contrary.  I honestly don’t get what people see in this movie.  To me it was dull and cliched — is there anything more predictable than an allegory about the repressiveness of the early 1960s?  I appreciate the originality but I was completely unmoved by the core love story.

20. The Disaster Artist

I was totally unaware that “The Room” even existed or that it was considered to be the worst movie of all time until this James Franco dramatization.  If you are unfamiliar with the story, watch a few YouTube clips of the original movie because you will never believe that such a weird thing ever happened.

21. Darkest Hour

This is a decent counterpoint to “Dunkirk,” depicting as it does the political machinations in the British government while their army was being driven by the Nazis to the Dunkirk beaches.  Gary Oldham is very good as Churchill, but the movie feels claustrophobic with all those cabinet meetings.   And the invented scenes (like Churchill in the subway) really strain credibility.

22. The Lost City of Z

The last of the “based on a true story” movies I saw this year, this one is about an explorer searching for riches in the Amazon during the early 20th Century.  The movie has some things to say about colonialism, dream-seeking, racism, ambition and obsession, but everything proceeds with a stateliness that borders on boring.

23. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Cute but inconsequential retelling (again!!!!) of the Spider-Man origin story.  Tom Holland is winning as the teenage Spidey but I strained to care.

24. Thor Ragnarok

I am not a fan of the Marvel universe, having grown up as a DC Comics kid, but I’d heard this was funny.  And it was funny and jokey in the same way that “Guardians of the Galaxy” is.  But I could not have cared less about the fate of Thor or any of his dysfunctional family.  I was so bored I actually walked out half-war through.

25. The Batman Lego Movie

I loved the original “Lego Movie” but making a super-depressed depressed Batman into a superhero Lego protagonist throws away almost all of the joy from the first movie.  Like “Thor Ragnorok,” this isn’t exactly a bad movie — I just don’t care for the snarky superhero genre where nothing seems to be at stake.

Ten Great Things That Happened On TV This Year

Hardly anyone would claim that 2017 was one of the great years of television, but there were several memorable or even transcendent moments that are worth celebrating.  Here are my ten favorite television memories from 2017, in no particular order:

The Return of Special Agent Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks

“Twin Peaks: The Return” was arguably the most bizarre series that ever appeared on American television, seizing the crown from 1990’s original “Twin Peaks.”  And yet it was also the most mesmerizing thing to be on television in years.  The pace of the 2017 show was a  master class in delayed gratification, with long languid scenes in which not a lot happened and most tortuously, episode after episode in which Kyle Maclachlan  appeared as anyone other than Dale Cooper.  Finally, in episode 16, he transforms from “Dougie Jones,” the uncomprehending idiot savant to Special Agent Cooper himself with the great line “I am the FBI.”  What a glorious moment.

The Last Five Minutes of Super Bowl 51

Whether you think this moment was “great” TV depends obviously on your affinity for the New England Patriots and Tom (the GOAT) Brady.  But even to an disinterested observer this was amazing TV.

Jimmy Fallon’s “Let’s Dance” Monologue on Saturday Night Live

This has been a tough year for Jimmy Fallon because his light and silly approach to late night TV has seemed out of step with the national all-politics-all-the-time zeitgeist.  But his beautifully choreographed dance through the halls of NBC was not only a terrific tribute to David Bowie but a case study of how taking a break from politics can be joyous and life-affirming.  Let’s Dance!

Alex Bregman’s Hit from Game Five of the World Series

For the second year in a row, the World Series demonstrated why baseball, for all its mid-season languors, is the greatest game.  In a thrill ride of a series, the high point was the end of Game Five, an astounding five-hour and eleven-minute marathon that finally ended when Alex Bregman broke a 12-12 (!!!!!) tie with a 10th inning single.  How sorry I was that I wasn’t awake to see this live but how exciting it was to watch the replay the next morning.

“The Good Place” Season Finale

“The Good Place” is the smartest sitcom that’s been on network TV in a long time, and I mean literally smart, since actual philosophers have endorsed its presentation of situational ethics.  The show revolves around a deceased woman who finds herself in heaven despite having lived a selfish life on earth — the longer the series goes on, the deeper it digs into the issue of what it means to live a good life.  Thanks to the great comedic acting of Kristen Bell and Ted Danson the show is also very funny, but what gets it on this list is the conclusion of the first season, which contains one of the most surprising twists since Bobby’s dream in “Dallas.” (The key spoiler is in the clip below so be warned.)

Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” Closes Out Ken Burns’ Vietnam War Documentary

People tend to groan when a new Ken Burns documentary comes out because they are so long and so formulaic. Yet there’s no denying that he picks the most important American turning points to focus on and that that even if you sometimes feel like you’re taking your medicine when you watch, the cumulative power of these documentaries is remarkable.  For Baby Boomers, the 18-hour Vietnam War documentary was more powerful than most Ken Burns offerings because we lived it. My wife and I knew most of the history that was presented, but to have it laid out in one narrative deepened our understanding of that period in history.  In a documentary with many searing moments, perhaps the most memorable is the closing minutes, when a former soldier reads a tribute to his former comrades.  It’s hard not to cry.

Eleven Returns on “Stranger Things”

Two of the most widely anticipated shows of the year were new seasons of “Stranger Things” and “Twin Peaks,” and they both deployed the plot device of keeping a key protagonist exiled for most of the season.   The appearance of the super-powered girl named “Eleven” was the emotional high point of “Stranger Things,” providing a tremendous catharsis because it had been denied us for eight episodes.

Episode Three of “Five Came Back”

The Netflix documentary Five Came Back explores the experiences of five hugely successful Hollywood film directors – John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens — who volunteered to serve in World War II as documentarians and propagandists.  The whole series was great but the final episode, which covers the end of the war and the impact it had on the directors, is enormously powerful.

The La La Land/Moonlight Academy Award Snafu

I’m not sure what compelled me to stay up to watch the end the end of the Oscar telecast this year, especially since a La La Land sweep seemed inevitable.  But I’m glad I did so I could see the biggest TV screw-up of the Millennium. I’ve rewatched this clip in Zapruder-like detail and sussed out the many villains and even a few heroes. On top of everything else, Moonlight was my favorite movie of the year too.

The Jail Scene of Atlanta

Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” accomplished something unusual — the creation of a world never before scene on TV, in this case an unvarnished look at the African American experience in Atlanta.  In a series with so many funny moments perhaps the most hilarious is the night that the Princeton-dropout protagonist spends in jail just trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

 

 

 

 

15 Great Summer Songs

Here comes summer. And here comes the debate about the “song of the summer.”  As in, what song will everyone be singing when they’re driving around in the car, googling the location of the nearest Dairy Queen? Every year there are predictions and this year I’ll go out on a limb and place my money on Drake’s “Passionfruit.”

A great summer song needs one of two things:  either exuberance and a zest for life, especially if it’s even tangentially connected to sun or water, or an overt nostalgia for summers past.

Except for Christmas, no season generates the kind of nostalgia that summer does, and it’s all based on the same principle — a yearning for a simpler more innocent time of life, where everything seemed new with limitless possibility.  And I have to admit, there is nothing like that last day of school when the entire summer stretches on indefinitely.  I’d like to say I spent my summers at the swimmin’ hole, riding on Ferris Wheels, or writing poems to my first love, but I was more likely to be inside watching game shows on TV (on a perfectly good day!!!) or moping about being bored.

Nevertheless, like everyone else I have an idealized view of summer and here are the songs that remind me of the summers I may or may not have actually experienced.

15. Saturday in the Park

The band Chicago is more or less disdained now by rock aficionados because of their heavy reliance on horns.  Nevertheless I was a big fan and actually went to see them in concert at the old Boston Garden.  “Saturday in the Park” was inspired by a visit to Central Park by the band’s lead vocalist Robert Lamm on July 4, 1971 (actually a Sunday, btw), who saw steel drum players, singers, dancers, and jugglers all having a great time, which translated into: “People dancing, people laughing/A man selling ice cream/Singing Italian songs.” Yep, that sounds like summer.

14. The Age of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine

The Fifth Dimension’s “The Age of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine” is by no means a classic summer song but I am using the blogger’s privilege to include it in this list.  In 1969, when I was 15 (!!) I spent the summer building swimming pools for my father’s company, which meant a lot of physical labor outside with the radio on.  We listened to WRKO, Boston’s Top-40 radio station so I heard the same songs day after day.  Looking at the Billboard list for that summer is like stepping into a time capsule.  The apocalyptic “In the Year 2525” was a huge hit, as was Henry Mancini’s “Love Theme for Romeo and Juliet.” But in between those two extremes is “The Age of Aquarius,” a commercialized version of the anthem from “Hair.” Whenever I hear this song I remember wielding a shovel all summer and am grateful I went to college.

13. Summer Nights

I’m not really a fan of “Grease,” which makes “West Side Story” look like a serious anthropological study of 50’s teen alienation.  The song “Summer Nights,” though, cleverly combines insights on the differences between men and women while articulating the yearning for hot-weather romantic passion.  Olivia Newton John and John Travolta narrate their version of their summer romance, and in her story he was sweet and caring, while in his version she was hot and randy.   One thing they agree on, however, is “Summer fling don’t mean a thing/But, uh oh, those summer nights.”

12. Schools Out

If you ever wondered whether “This is Spinal Tap” was a parody or actual documentary all you need to do is watch Alice Cooper videos to see that “Spinal Tap” actually didn’t go far enough.  “School’s Out” seemingly celebrates the last day of school, but is actually a profoundly anti-social song (“School’s out forever/My school’s been blown to pieces”).  Aww, who takes that seriously?  Of course now Alice Cooper portrays himself as your basic bourgeois grampa, telling Terri Gross on “Fresh Air” that it was all an act.  Whatever, the song is fun and joyous as long as you don’t think too hard about it.

11. Party in the USA

Clarification Warning: The inclusion of this song does not constitute an endorsement of Miley Cyrus, twerking, celebrity rehab or anything else connected with Miley-drama.  The song isn’t really even about summer — it’s about hearing a song and partying, two essential elements of summer.  Plus in the video she’s wearing a tank-top and short-shorts and dancing in a pick-up truck.  What could be more summery than that?

10. 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)

About half the songs in the Springsteen oeuvre are summer songs at heart, even when they’re ostensibly about closing factories and ruined futures.  That’s because they are drenched in nostalgia and yearning.  “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” which is about as nostalgic as it gets, paints a vivid word picture of an amusement park, with boardwalks, arcades, fireworks, tilt-a-whirls — the whole nine yards. The main attraction, though, is Sandy, the boss’s daughter, and the narrator’s throat-tightening, teen longing is palpable.

9.  Summer of 69

Another classic nostalgia song, reminiscing about young love, drive-ins, porches, etc, etc. during that great summer of 1969.  Or as it makes clear in no-nonsense terms, “Those were the best days of my life.”  The song turns me off a bit because it commercializes nostalgia so explicitly — and yet, it definitely pushes enough buttons to make it on the list.

8. Summertime (Kenny Chesney)

Summer songs constitute a whole sub-genre of country music, which makes sense because people always imagine they spend their summers out in the country instead of in the air-conditioned offices where they really are.  Kenny Chesney is the king of giving the people what they want — as his sold-out mega-concerts attest — and in “Summertime” what he offers is perpetual late-teenagery at the waterhole where the boys’ hearts “skip a beat” as the girls “shimmy out of their old cut-offs.” Kind of makes me wish, sometimes, that I’d grown up a yokel.

7. Walking on Sunshine

For sheer exuberance nothing quite matches “Walking on Sunshine.”  And since it’s got sunshine in the title we’ll classify it as a summer song, although the official video, which shows the band walking along the Thames on a winter day, makes clear this was about the last thing on their minds.

6. Hot Fun in the Summertime

Sly and the Family Stone performed at Woodstock in 1969 and released “Hot Fun In the Summertime” soon thereafter.  The slow, soulful melody takes the banal lyrics (“I cloud nine when I want to/Out of school, yeah/County fair in the country sun/And everything, it’s true, ooh, yeah”) and turns them into one of the coolest songs ever.  A lot of summer songs are frantic in their pursuit of fun but “Hot Fun in the Summertime” is a good reminder that a good deal of summer is about conserving your energy in the heat.

5. California Gurls

Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” is a clear take-off of the Beach Boys song, except that tells the story from the female perspective, as in, “damn right we’re hot.” It’s a song that invites the male gaze and finds power in overt female sexuality.  Why, the girls have sex on the beach and don’t mind getting sand in their stilettos. And this was Hillary Clinton’s ambassador to the girls of America!  Yet there’s no denying that the beat is infectious and joyful and a lot of fun to sing in the car.

4. California Girls

It’s hard to think of a Beach Boys song that doesn’t bring to mind summer (except for, perversely, “Surf’s Up,” a weird psychedelic song).  California Girls is not my favorite Beach Boys record but it’s the one that’s most overtly about summer.  I doubt that in 2017 they could get away with referring to bikini-clad women as “Dolls by a palm tree in the sand,” although Katy Perry might consider it a compliment.  In any event, it’s about being happy at the beach, in the sun, and contemplating female beauty.  Now that’s summer!

3. Summer Breeze

What I love about this song is its ordinariness.  It’s not straining after hackneyed images of manufactured fun; instead it’s rejoicing in the quiet day-to-day existence of summer.  The windows are open and the kitchen curtains are blowing and you can hear music from the neighbor next door.  And that great climax: “And I come home/from a hard day’s work/and you’re waiting there/not a care in the world.” As a kid I always thought that is what a perfect marriage would be, and you know what?  It is.

2. Dancing in the Streets

Written by Marvin Gaye and released in 1964, “Dancing in the Streets,” has an optimism that wouldn’t be seen again in pop music for decades.  The song calls for all the people of the world to come together and dance, and before the Sixties went completely haywire with war, riots and multiple assassinations, that seemed possible.  This song is also a good reminder that summer also happens in the cities and is not just a rural phenomenon.

1.  Call Me Maybe

When you talk about songs of the summer, this has got to be number one of all time.  The song is not explicitly about summer except that the participants are scantily clad and have sex on their minds. No, what makes it a summer song is that it played all summer long, worming its way into the deepest part of our cortex.  Released in 2012 just when social media was coming into its own, it became a huge ubiquitous hit, pouring out the radio all summer, and then, through YouTube parodies, out of Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.   Those video parodies took on a life of their own, starting with the Harvard baseball team (see below).  This soon became a strange form of homoerotic male bonding (see more below).  That wouldn’t have happened in the halcyon summer of 1969 but it was still a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

The Ten Most Memorable Television Moments From The Presidential Conventions

CBS Correspondent Mike Wallace arrested while covering the 1968 Democratic Convention

Well, it looks like those of us who’d so ardently hoped for a “contested convention” this summer will be denied again.  And if this wasn’t the year that a party convention ended up choosing the presidential candidate then maybe we should come to grips with the fact that it’s just not going to happen again in our lifetimes.

But that doesn’t mean these quadrennial events won’t provide good television.  Over the years some of the most exciting television moments have occurred at a presidential nominating convention.  Here are my nominations for the ten most memorable convention events of the television age:

1. Riots in Chicago (Dem 1968) – With the country in shock over the Kennedy and King assassinations and the party convulsed over the Vietnam War, the Democrats met in Chicago to nominate Lyndon Johnson’s Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The result: the Chicago police beat up anti-war demonstrators as a civil war broke out inside the convention.  The footage is still shocking.

2.  Reagan Speech (GOP 1976) – The 1976 Republican convention was the last real contested convention, with Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford nearly tied heading into the voting. As the sitting president, Ford prevailed, and in a gesture of unity, invited Reagan to the podium. For most party regulars, who had, in this pre-Internet, pre-cable era, never heard Reagan speak, this emotional oration generated significant buyers’ remorse, as they realized they’d backed the wrong horse. Four years later they nominated Reagan and he went on to be elected.

3. First Obama Speech (Dem 2004) – Barack Obama was a little-known Illinois state legislator when he delivered an electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention, the one that nominated John Kerry. This speech, with its message of hope and inclusion, eventually powered Obama’s own drive to become President just four years later.

4. Cuomo and Jackson Excoriate Reagan (Dem 1984) – With Ronald Reagan riding high in 1984, two of the most gifted orators of the 20^th Century – Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson – rose to assail him as heartless and too beholden to the rich. Throughout history, most of the most memorable convention speeches have been delivered for losing causes, as was the case that year, but Cuomo laid the groundwork for “Occupy” rhetoric 27 years later and Jackson inspired the Rainbow Coalition that ultimately elected Barack Obama.

5. Clint Eastwood Interviews a Chair (GOP 2012) – In 2012 the Romney campaign was so eager for any hint of star power that they didn’t insist that Clint Eastwood clear his convention remarks beforehand. Instead of a standard convention speech, though, what they got was a bizarre piece of performance art in which Eastwood used the rhetorical device of asking questions to someone who wasn’t there (in this case President Obama).   Nice try. Stick to acting.

6. Reagan picks Bush as VP (GOP 1980) – The choice of a Vice President isn’t usually very exciting, unless it mobilizes part of the base, as it did with Geraldine Ferraro (1984) or Sarah Palin (2008). But in 1980, there were serious discussions about Ronald Regan choosing former President Jerry Ford as his VP.  That seemed to be the operating assumption until suddenly it wasn’t, to the shock of Walter Cronkite and Leslie Stahl.

7. Jeanne Kirkpatrick and the “San Francisco Democrats” (GOP 1984) – Reagan’s U.N. Ambassador, was a former Democrat and University professor and her foreign address in 1984 was little more than a lecture on the evils of Communism. Denouncing the “San Francisco Democrats” who were prone to “blame America first,” she managed to rouse the GOP convention through the sheer power of her analysis.

8. Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech (GOP 1964) – Goldwater was the Donald Trump of his day, considered too erratic and extreme to be allowed anyway near the nuclear codes. Like Trump, Goldwater doubled down, and to the howls of the convention, declared that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” and that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” He then went on to receive 38% of the popular vote.

9. The Al and Tipper Gore Lip Lock (Dem 2000) – What do you do when you are perceived as a nerd and a stiff? If you’re Al Gore, you go on national television and give your wife a long and ostensibly passionate kiss right after being nominated for president.  Ick.

10. Sarah Palin’s “Lipstick” speech (GOP 2008) — Before there was the Tea Party and its disdain of intellectualism and elites, there was Sarah Palin. What is forgotten now is how she revived the moribund McCain campaign and injected energy into his convention.  The speech itself, obviously not written by Palin, blistered Barack Obama with disdain while presenting herself as a just-folks representative of traditional America.   (“You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”)  As she spoke, the camera focused on her family: her pregnant teenage daughter Bristol and Bristol’s “fiancé,” her infant son with Downs Syndrome being cradled by another daughter, and her military son about to be deployed. This was one of the first acknowledgments that political families need not be perfect.

Will something bizarre and exciting happy at the conventions this year?  My money is on the Trump coronation, with riots in the streets and the possibility of Trump extemporizing the biggest speech of his life.  But then again, who knows how the Sanders supporters will react at the Democratic convention.  Either way, it will be worth tuning in to see history made again.

 

 

 

 

The 2015 Movie List

Last year was a decent year for movies, with a nice mix of arty serious cinema, a few serviceable blockbusters and a good comedy or two. There was nothing as groundbreaking as last year’s “About a Boy,” but there were still quite a few good films, all of which seemed to premiere after Thanksgiving.

Some trends: this was a big year for “based on a true story” movies (Spotlight, The Big Short, Joy, etc.) and also a good year for rebooting old franchises (Star Wars, Jurassic World, Mission Impossible and Creed.) What’s next, Indiana Jones?

I avoided obviously violent movies, so once again: no Quentin Tarrantino. Also, no Revenant. I also avoided any movie based on a comic book character and movies where sexual confusion is an obvious theme. So this is an incomplete list.

In the end, I felt fortunate that I never saw any outright terrible movies. So again, this is an incomplete list.

With that as preamble, here are my rankings for the year.

1. Spotlight

I love movies about how people do their jobs and “Spotlight” is a nuts-and-bolts depiction about news reporting. The Boston Globe’s expose about child-abusing priests is probably the most consequential newspaper story of the past twenty years and although we know how it turns out “Spotlight” is surprisingly gripping. Great acting all the way around as we see the personal toll taken on anyone who loves his or her job a little too much.

2. Inside Out

Wildly inventive, if a little over-praised. I was bored in the middle as Joy had to overcome one obstacle after another (after all, in “The Hero’s Journey” there’s only one obstacle). However, the beginning and – especially – the end were deeply moving. I wish I’d seen this before becoming a parent because of all the wisdom it dispenses.

3. The Big Short

Certainly not a conventional movie since there’s no real plot, and it’s weird to root for the economy to collapse so some short-sellers can reap millions in profits. Yet this is the best take on the 2008 financial crisis and scary as crap. I can’t remember concentrating as hard to understand what’s actually going on in a movie as I did in The Big Short but the payoff is that I now know what a Collateralized Debt Obligation is.

4. Joy

This is the third movie made together by Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro and David O Russell, and if it’s not quite as good as “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” it’s still pretty great. Joy sure has a lot of obstacles to overcome, starting with her soul-destroying family, but she’s got gumption, dagnabit, and she invents the Miracle Mop and becomes the queen of QVC.

5. The Martian

Matt Damon is a quintessential American hero – laconic, brave, resourceful. A actual space cowboy. This is another nuts-and-bolts “how to” movie, except this time the focus is how to stay alive on Mars when you’ve been left behind by your crew. As in “Inside Out,” there’s a little dragging in the middle but it has a thrilling start and finish.

6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I’m not ashamed to admit I had a lump in my throat when that Star Wars title, the narrative crawl and the swelling of music first boomed forth. The good news is that it’s vastly superior to the prequels, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the original three. Great action, but too much of it. Love all the new cast and it’s fantastic to see the return of LukeLeiaHan. Unfortunately I don’t understand any of the geopolitical landscape. There’s a republic, a rebellion AND a First Order? I thought we settled all that in “The Return of the Jedi”?

7. Pitch Perfect 2

Actually funnier and more enjoyable than the original. We learn that real heroism can be demonstrated simply by plugging on after experiencing extreme humiliation. I’m happy to report that this is a female empowerment movie that didn’t feel that it had to be raunchy. Congratulations to Elizabeth Banks who appeared in three movies on this list but made a bazillion dollars producing and directing PP2.

8. Jurassic World

This is about all you can ask for in a summer blockbuster – excitement, awesomeness, an understandable and somewhat memorable plot. And Chris Pratt, who is suddenly and unexpectedly a major movie star. It is not as exciting as the Stephen Spielberg original but it does deliver a few chills. I don’t know if the movie’s retro gender politics are intentional or put in to build an audience but I can’t believe Sheryl Sandberg can be very happy about what happens to the female executive in this movie when she decides to lean in.

9. Brooklyn

It’s the late 1940s and a young Irish woman emigrates to Brooklyn, where she experiences loneliness, career satisfaction and ultimately love. A nice reminder that we’re a stronger nation because immigrants came here, found opportunity and worked hard to make their own contributions.

10. Love and Mercy

Better-than-usual musical biopic about Brian Wilson, in which Paul Dano and John Cusack play the younger and older version of the greatest Beach Boy. Terrific songs of course and a fascinating back story to the dynamics of the band and of Brian’s mental illness. Here we have the second of three co-starring roles for Elizabeth Banks this year.

11. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The darkest and most philosophically deep of all the major blockbusters this year, and not exactly fun. This series has been a prolonged meditation on terrorism, propaganda, tyranny and the evils of war. I don’t really understand Katniss’ taste in men, but I assume that’s a political statement by the (female) author. This is the hat trick for Elizabeth Banks.

12. Creed

Like “The Force Awakens” this is essentially a remake of a monster hit from the mid-1970s in which father issues are at the center of the conflict. Adonis Creed is Apollo’s son, who he goes to get trained by Rocky Balboa and you can imagine the rest. Another warm bath of nostalgia.

13. A Most Violent Year

The year in question is 1981. This is a little-heralded but excellent drama about a guy who wants to run a clean and legitimate trash hauling business but has to overcome the mob without resorting to violence himself. Oscar Issac, who went on to fame as the Han Solo-like pilot in “The Force Awakens,” is the brave and honest businessman and Jessica Chastain is the skeptical wife who wonders if he’s tough enough.

14. Bridge of Spies

Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and the Berlin Wall get together to produce an extremely old-fashioned drama about a lawyer who defends a spy and then negotiates a prisoner swap that gets two Americans sprung from the clutches of the communists. If Jimmy Stewart were alive he’d play the lawyer but Tom Hanks does a pretty good job too.

15. Amy

A harrowing documentary about the life of Amy Winehouse. Before this, I never knew anything about her except that Dave Letterman used to make jokes about her relapses. But what a talent and what a waste.

16. Trainwreck

Amy Schumer became the flavor of the month this year. She’s obviously extraordinarily talented, but I’ve reached the age where the crudeness of the comedy makes me cringe. Any you have to wonder if there’s self-loathing underneath all those fat and wasted jokes. The movie was pretty funny and LeBron was surprisingly good. Don’t look for a plot that makes sense, though.

17. Mr. Turner

Really should be on last year’s list but didn’t see it until this year. I never thought I’d be interested in seeing a biopic on the eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner, but this was impressively evocative of life in the mid-19th Century.

18. Listen To Me Marlon

Absorbing documentary about Marlon Brando that relies heavily on audio tapes he’d made for an autobiography. The documentary convincingly makes the case that Brando was the most influential actor of all time.  He was also psychologically damaged as a child, which explains his extreme personal selfishness and support for a hodgepodge of left-wing political causes.

19. Mr. Holmes

I like the conceit – that Sherlock Holmes was a real person who retired for mysterious reasons and who is now forced to confront his past. There’s a nice mystery or two, and Ian McKellen is fine as Holmes but overall it’s a bit dry.

20.  Cinderella

A perfectly respectable live-action rendering of the old tale. Lily James, better known as Lady Rose on Downton Abbey, is nearly perfect as the title character and Cate Blanchett brings unexpected depth and pathos as the evil stepmother.

21.  71

Set during “The Troubles” of Northern Ireland in 1971, a British soldier gets separated from his unit in Belfast and needs to be rescued with the help of competing IRA gangs. I think. The action is a tense but it’s tough navigating the politics.

22. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Tom Cruise used to be a great actor, but unlike that other Tom (Tom Hanks), he’s refused to let himself age. He looks good in this movie, but weird, like he’s a cyborg. The movie itself has all the strengths and weaknesses of a big-budget blockbuster. It’s mildly diverting while it’s on the screen and completely forgettable when it’s over.

23.  Spy

Melissa McCarthy is funny as an under-appreciated CIA analyst who is awesome when she gets a chance to go into the field, but the movie is disconcertingly violent for a comedy. And crude too. Congratulations Paul Feig for getting an erect penis into a mainstream movie. Your mother must be so proud.

24. The Peanuts Movie

I’m a big Peanuts fan and this movie was big-hearted, but it was a little too low-key for a full-length feature film. Perfectly fine for kids – small kids.

25. Paddington

Another kids movie. Again, perfectly fine but a little too tame for my taste.