The Filtered Excellence: January 15, 2015
Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” It’s right here. Here are this weeks picks of the best things to watch, the most interesting things to do, great things to try, the best picks to read, our favorite things to listen to and more:
WATCH THIS:
Still Alice. Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer’s devastating look at Alzhemier’s Disease rolls out nationally this week. Julianne Moore stars as Alice, a successful Ivy League linguistics professor with three grown children and a happy marriage to her husband John (Alec Baldwin). Those bonds are put to the test when she is diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alice’s struggles to stay connected to who she is and how her family deals with her slowly deteriorating condition is at times very hard to take, yet at the same time, highly inspiring. Julianne Moore is incredible, completely losing herself in the role, taking us on a highly emotional and heart-wrenching journey as she struggles with this awful disease. Alec Baldwin reminds us once again of just how great an actor he is, bringing compassion and warmth as her husband John, while Kristen Stewart and Kate Bosworth also lending solid support as her daughters. Westmoreland and Glatzer put together a wonderful script that doesn’t get bogged down with cliches and sentimentality, but rather deals head on with anguish of the condition and how it ultimately pulls a family together. Moore has already won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes and from several other key critics associations. Don’t be surprised if she finally wins the elusive Oscar. Still Alice opens this Friday nationwide.
You can also go to www.stillalicefilm.com for more info.
NFL Conference Championships. The last weekend of pure football happens this weekend with games that will determine who would be going to Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. The NFC Championship will feature the Green Bay Packers going into Seattle to take on the defending champion Seahawks. Can a banged up Aaron Rodgers extend his MVP-like season by finding a crack in the league’s most feared defense and have a shot at a 2nd Super Bowl ring? Will the Seahawks become the first team since the 2004-2005 Patriots to win back to back championships? Can The Legion Of Boom secure their place in NFL history as one of the league’s great defenses?
Tune in at 3pm Eastern on FOX for all of the action!
The late game will feature the upstart Indianapolis Colts as they go up to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots. After starting the season 2-2 – which included an humiliating 41-14 loss to the Chiefs – there were strong whispers that this was the beginning of the end for Tom Brady. Brady had other plans: The team went 12-2 for the remainder of the season, which included an 8-game winning streak. They then turned back a cagey Ravens team in the Divisional Playoff that has them poised to make their 1st return to the Super Bowl since 2012. The Colts secured their place as one of the league’s most elite teams by easily turning back the Bengals and the defending Broncos in their respective playoff games. Quarterback Andrew Luck has emerged as the league’s great next star, showing poise and grace under pressure. The Pats easily turned back the Colts in last year’s playoff matchup. Will history repeat itself or will the Colts take the next step to Super Bowl glory?
Turn in Sunday night at 6:40 Eastern on CBS for all of the action.
Loitering With Intent. Playwright and musician Adam Rapp returns to directing in a comedy about a desperate actor attempting to jump start his career by writing a role for himself. Heading to his sister’s country home for a week of focus, he finds himself distract by the return of his sister (Marisa Tomei), who happens to be the ex-girlfriend of his writing partner. Complications ensue when her current boyfriend, Sam Rockwell, comes to the house. Michael Godere and Ivan Martin wrote the screenplay and star as working actors, and make an appealing and funny team. But the Rockwell continues to be one of the most charismatic actors in film and Marisa Tomei is very funny as the sexy siren. Simplistic and quickly paced, the movie has a picturesque, naturalistic meta-comedy on life’s ability to distract even the most ambitious from work. Loitering With Intent opens Friday, January 16th in select theaters and on Video On Demand.
For more information, go to facebook.com
Watch the trailer for Loitering With Intent.
Match. This is a chance to see Patrick Stewart doing something besides commanding a starship or leading a group of super hero mutants. Stewart stars in “Match”, a film that was talked about having a possible earlier release date for Academy Award consideration. There’s always next year. He plays an eccentric ballet instructor who is visited by a couple wanting to interview him about the dance scene in New York City in the 1960s. Soon the questions take a personal turn and the couple’s real motivation is revealed and secrets are unveiled. Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard co-star in the film that is receiving critical praise for Patrick Stewart’s performance. “Match” starring Patrick Stewart, opens in select theaters this week.
For more information, go to ifcfilms.com
Starring Sidney Poitier. Turner Classic Movies is taking a night of programming to honor film legend Sidney Poitier with three of his classic films. The evening begins at 8pm et with “The Defiant Ones” (1958) also starring Tony Curtis, Lon Chaney Jr. and Ivan Dixon. The film earned Poitier an Academy Award nomination. That’s followed at 10pm et by “To Sir With Love” (1967) starring Poitier as Mark Thackeray, a teacher trying to make a difference at an inner city London school. And “Starring Sidney Poitier” wraps up with the 1967 comedy, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” co-starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn at 12am et. The marathon is on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and honors a figure who helped break new ground in race in Hollywood. “Starring Sidney Poitier” is Monday, January 19th on TCM.
For more information and the full schedule, go to tcm.com
LISTEN TO THIS:
Uptown Special by Mark Ronson. The latest album by producer-musician-DJ Mark Ronson features an array of musical styles and influences. At the core of the album is old school funk and R&B as evidenced by the two lead (and hit) singles ‘Uptown Funk’ (with Bruno Mars) and the raunchy ‘Feel Good’ (featuring a recharged Mystikal). Teaming up with key collaborators Jeff Bhasker, Keyone Starr, Andrew Wyatt, and Kevin Parker, Ronson puts together 11 song cycle of funk, R&B, pop and even traces of 60s psychedelia in a tight package clocking in under 40 minutes. Classic Stevie Wonder also looms large throughout the album with Wonder’s signature harmonica style bookends the collection. With ‘Uptown Funk’ already at No 1 on the charts, Mark Ronson is set up to br one of the most talked about albums of 2015. Uptown Special is available now on Amazon, Itunes and all major music retailers.
You can also go to www.markronson.co.uk for more information.
BROWSE THIS:
Vanity Fair on Instagram. In addition to getting exclusive photos and video from upcoming issues, Vanity Fair has also added 15 second insights from the one and only Fran Lebowitz about everything from e-cigarettes, the Clintons, Chris Christie and Iphones. Several clips are posted on a regular basis, so now you can have pieces of her insightful brilliance directly on your smartphone.
Thirteen Explore. This extraordinary new app from PBS puts the best of their programming directly onto your tablet. Full episodes of Frontline, Downtown Abbey, American Experience, American Masters, Masterpiece Theatre, Austin City Limits and much more are all available. One of the many highlights: An Austin City Limits performance featuring Tom Waits from 1978! It also features a full rundown of PBS programming for the entire month, so you can stay caught up on all of your favorite shows. A fantastic app for those who want to stay current or get familiar with the best that PBS has to offer. Thirteen Explore is available now through the Apple App Store.
DO THIS:
A Tribute To Martin Luther King. Now in its 25th year, The Brooklyn Academy Of Music’s salute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has become one of the must see events surrounding the holiday weekend. This year’s tribute will feature a keynote speech from Dr. Cornel West, performances by Sandra St. Victor & Oya’s Daughter, The New York Fellowship Mass Choir and a screening of the Ken & Sarah Burns documentary The Central Park Five. Did we mention that all of this is FREE? A great way to honor one of the greatest men this country – and the world – has ever produced. A Tribute To Martin Luther King, Jr will be at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera on Monday, January 19th.
You can also go to www.bam.org for more information.
Haunting Renditions. In addition to being an acclaimed comedian, writer and actor, Eliot Glazer is also a classically trained singer. He combines these talents in his web series Haunting Renditions, dramatically re-interpreting as he describes it as, ‘some of the finest moments in popular music of the last 20 years, give or take a couple’. Some of his haunting renditions includes takes on hit songs by Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Destiny’s Child, Ashlee Simpson and much more. Glazer will perform a live edition of his Haunting Renditions series to Littlefield for what promises to be a fun and unique look at some of pop’s biggest songs. Haunting Renditions Live will be at Littlefield on Wednesday, January 21st.
You can go to www.littlefieldnyc.com for tickets and additional information.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: The North American International Auto Show. For car lovers, this is the granddaddy of them all. The International Auto Show in Detroit at the Cobo Center is bringing together car makers along with journalists from all over the world to see the latest in driving innovation. The industry insiders and a privileged few (Jerry Seinfeld) have been in the auto show already to see what it has to offer, but this weekend the doors open to the public. Some of the highlights include the Acura NSX super car unveiling. It’s one of the most talked about cars going into production. And there’s the Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle, called “the most futuristic car you can buy”. It’s not a hybrid, this baby is running on hydrogen. The North American International Auto Show is open to everyone on Saturday, January 17th at the Cobo Center. Doors open at 9am.
For more information, go to naias.com
NEW YORK CITY: Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg with Special Guest Andrew W.K. In 2013, Marky Ramone brought in Andrew W.K. to front his Blitzkrieg band on a worldwide tour and now they are back together again. Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg is touring in support of Marky’s new book, “Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone”. In the book, Marky writes about joining the world’s first and foremost punk rock band, The Ramones. On the tour, Andrew W.K. will be doing the vocals as Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg blast their way through the Ramones catalog doing back-to-back-to-back hits. Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg with special guest Andrew W.K. perform Saturday, January 17th at 7pm at the Gramercy Theater.
For tickets and more information, go to thegramercytheater.com
NEW YORK CITY: NPR’s Selected Shorts: Art and Artists. On Wednesday, January 21st there will be live taping of the National Public Radio show “Selected Shorts”. Appearing at the taping are Parker Posey, Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), and actress Heather Burns reading and performing hilarious, passionate tales “about art and those who make it”. Readings include selections from the new edition of The Diaries of Andy Warhol, a story by William Boyd and Sheila Heti’s story of a about a mermaid living in a jar. Laurie Simmons (she’s Lena Dunham’s mom), will make a guest appearance and the evening is hosted by Matthew Love.. The live NPR Selected Shorts: Art and Artists taping will be Wednesday, January 21st at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space, starting at 7:30pm.
For more information and tickets, go to symphonyspace.org
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur and Strangers on a Train. The New Beverly Cinema, the historic revival movie house in Los Angeles is playing host to two classics from the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. The first screening is Hitchcock’s “Saboteur”, his 1942 spy thriller. It stars Robert Cummings as a man accused of industrial espionage at an aircraft factory who’s looking for the real culprit while trying to clear his name. It co-stars Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter and Norman Lloyd. The second feature is “Strangers on a Train”. Nothing makes a crime more suspenseful than went it takes place on a train. The 1951 psychological crime drama stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker. The Alfred Hitchcock Double Feature happens at the New Beverly Cinema on Friday, January 16th starting at 7:30pm.
For more information, go to thenewbev.com
Want more excellence? Read last week’s The Filtered Excellence and visit The Interrobang Recommmends
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