On Sly Stone and Brian Wilson
Also recommendations on Netflix and HBO after show podcasts
Hi all,
At this point, many artists from many disciplines who were influential in the way I see the world and brought me so much joy are passing away. Of course, this will accelerate as I get older.
This week, two giants passed away: Sly Stone and Brian Wilson. Both have had films that help us understand who they were, what they accomplished, and how they suffered.
“Sly Lives, (AKA the Burden of Black Genius)” is the documentary by Questlove that goes into the rise and fall of both Sly and the band. It shows Sly’s background in the church, being a popular DJ, and a producer of the original “Someone to Love.”
My favorite part of the documentary is the section that details how original the songs were, borrowing equally from black music, rock and roll, and psychedelic music. After watching the documentary, you will go back and listen to his songs. But for Questlove, this is the setup to talk about the second part of the title: the burden of Black Genius and his sad downfall because of drugs.
Questlove’s first very popular documentary, “Summer of Soul,” was great primarily because of the performances in the film (including Sly and the Family Stone), but it did not go very deep. In this, his second film, he has gone deeper and is a filmmaker, not just a DJ, making a film. I wonder how he will deal with the burden of Black Genius.
You can see the film on Hulu.
The first record I bought was the Beach Boys' “Don’t Worry Baby.” Like Sly, Brian and the Beach Boys created a new genre of Rock and Roll. Unlike Sly, there are many documentaries and narratives about the Beach Boys and Brian.
I saw the Narrative “Love and Mercy” at SXSW in 2014. It moves between the 60s and 80s with highs and lows. Brian Wilson’s music is full of joy, but this film and many others show his dark side. The film is on Apple TV+.
There is a new doc on Disney+ called “The Beach Boys Endless Summer.” Don Was (from Was Not Was) made “Brian Wilson, I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times.” Then here is the doc “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” on Peacock. You can watch “The Beach Boys: An American Band” here.
I am looking forward to seeing the new Wes Anderson film and “The Life of Chuck” in theaters. I am also excited to see “28 Years Later”, partially because it uses mobile films in a major motion picture.
If you have never seen Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy,” it is on Hulu.
You can see “Seven Beauties” by Lina Wertmüller, at Spacey, Dallas Great Micro cinema on Wednesday, June 18 at 8pm.
The Oak Cliff Film Festival is from Thursday, June 26 through Sunday, June 29 . I have a short film showing, and I will tell you about that next week.
-Bart
Not that they need any help, but I’m here today to heap a little praise on the undisputed world heavyweight champ of streamers.
That would be Netflix, of course. My monthly bill for the commercial-free version is right on the cusp of $20. But it’s still money well-spent on a “platform” that itself lavishes multi-millions on content ranging from low-brow junk to high-level attractions.
Lately I’ve been dating Netflix four or five times a week, starting with the scripted film “Hitchcock.” New to Netflix, I also thought it was a premiere event. But no, I somehow missed it entirely back in 2012, when two British leads beyond peer, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, played the title character and his festering wife, Alma. Add Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh and that’s quite a cast devoted to the behind-the-scenes making of “Psycho.”
In conjunction, Netflix is offering a treasure trove of Alfred Hitchcock films, three of which I’ve watched anew. “Psycho” remains a classic, “Vertigo” is still entrancing and the Jimmy Stewart-Doris Day remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” just doesn’t hold up anymore.
On to a worthy pair of music documentaries. “Becoming Led Zeppelin” features extended blazing performances from the band’s formative years while “ABBA: Against the Odds” recounts the heap of abuse they endured — as well as personal life torments — while churning out one super-catchy hit after another. Surprise: The polar opposite Sex Pistols loved the glitzy Swedes’ music.
I also dined on a new and riveting three-part “The Tylenol Murders” and the Mark Twain humor prize event honoring Conan O’Brien. Roasters range from Adam Sandler to Sarah Silverman, who remains cuttingly brilliant.
Finally, Netflix also is home to the entire runs of classic series such as “Seinfeld” and “Breaking Bad.” And if you’re looking for a spellbinding true-crime doc series, I very highly recommend “The Keepers,” a Netflix original from several years ago.
That’s it for now. But with Netflix, standing pat is not an option. So you can count on much more in the coming weeks and months.
-Ed
Howdy,
HBO is really firing off some of my favorite shows this summer. The fourth season of "Hacks" just finished up, leaving Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) in Singapore, potentially ready for a final season comeback. Currently, "…And Just Like That" is airing with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and the girls up to their usual nonsense in New York. Then, later this summer, "The Gilded Age" is back from the creator of "Downton Abbey", and if you liked that PBS show at all, this has all the trappings, but ups the ante with a proper HBO budget and cast.
Most importantly, all of these shows have after-show podcasts. All of them feature interviews with some of the creators and actors, but each of them has a slightly different take.
The "Hacks" podcast is hosted by the same people who make the celebrity gossip podcast Who? Weekly, so the main feature is connecting the fake Hollywood of the show to how these characters might move through the real world.
On the "…And Just Like That" podcast, the show's writers host and discuss every single character moment, set, line of dialogue, and even some of their personal responses to the online discourse. There's really no need for this type of soapy show to require such an extensive breakdown, but it's great nonetheless.
"The Gilded Age" podcast has to take a different approach from the others since so much of the plot hinges on real-life New York history and breaks down fact vs fiction. There's also a strong emphasis on sets and the real buildings the show films on location at. I really enjoy all three of the shows, and the weekly release schedule gives me something to listen to in between new episodes.
There are quite a few appealing films playing at The Modern this week. On Tuesday, at 6:30pm, the Fort Worth Film Club is showing "Parasite" director Bong Joon Ho's 2003 crime thriller "Memories of Murder." Tickets are pay what you can.
The next day, on June 18 at 2pm, is the classic "The Thomas Crown Affair." This is part of the My Favorite Films series, which is free for museum members and shows older films on the big screen. Later this year, a series I put together called …Somewhere in Italy will screen, so that should be a lot of fun. Of course, I will let you know those films in a few weeks.
This weekend, we are showing the new western "The Unholy Trinity," which I've included the trailer for below. It's fairly unusual to get a wide-release western genre film in theaters. Last year, Kevin Costner's supposed four-part series "Horizon: An American Saga" performed so poorly that the second film hasn't even been released yet. This new one stars Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson, so hopefully that will be a bit of a draw. This is also showing in some AMC theaters if you can't make it to Fort Worth.
-Elijah