The Filtered Excellence: A 2015 Year in Review
Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” It’s right here. Once a week we take a break from comedy to bring you 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. This week we count down the VERY BEST of the EXCELLENCE we found in 2015.
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Call Me Lucky. Bobcat Goldthwait profiles comedy great Barry Crimmins, whose work off stage was just as important as his on stage gigs.
The latest film from Bobcat Goldthwait is also his first documentary– a portrait of Barry Crimmins, a highly influential comedian, whose blistering, often angry act played a vital role in putting Boston on the comedy map, and mentored the next wave of stand ups. Crimmins’ shift into political humor and commentary set the template for what is now commonplace in contemporary comedy. Goldthwait also looks at the events that fueled Crimmins: He testified in a 1995 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child pornography, speaks openly about the childhood traumas that nearly killed him and his advocacy for victims of sexual abuse and his distrust of the government and the Catholic Church. Goldthwait leaves no stone unturned and we are all the better for it.
Carol. Todd Haynes’ masterful looks as forbidden love set in the 1950’s.
The latest from acclaimed director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, I’m Not There) has already been the talk of the festival circuit and is on the short list for being a strong Oscar contender. Based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, the film stars Cate Blanchett in the title role, a woman who on the surface, has it all. But Carol is actually going through a difficult divorce, based in part because her affair with her best friend Abby, several years earlier. When Christmas shopping for her daughter, Carol encounters Therese (Rooney Mara), a temp working in the toy department. Their brief encounter quickly evolves into an intimate relationship, which threatens Carol’s upcoming custody battle for her daughter. It’s easy to see why Haynes wanted took on this project: It echoes many of the themes that he presented in his 2002 film Far From Heaven. Pairing up with his long time cinematographer Edward Lachman, they once again show a world that is rich in color and precision but helps capture the emotional emptiness and desperation from which the characters are seeking to escape. A strong candidate for one of the best films of 2015.
Listen To Me Marlon. Stevan Riley’s moving portrait of the iconic actor, told primarily by Brando.
Magnetic, charismatic, yet paradoxical and complex, Marlon Brando the actor is one of the greatest actors to ever grace the screen. What is more complex is Marlon Brando the man. Stevan Riley tries to get inside Brando’s head in this new and riveting documentary. Even more compelling is that thanks to over 200 hours of recently discovered recordings, Brando narrates his own story. Told in a straight forward, brutally honest detail, Brando reveals everything on his approach to acting to his own insecurities and desires. Loaded with archival footage, movie clips and home movies, Listen To Me Marlon is the most comprehensive portrait of Marlon Brando to date.
Hitchcock/Truffaut. Two master directors – one at his creative and commercial peak, the other leading a new style of filmmaking – get together to discuss craft. Kent Jones look back at that memorable week and how it changed cinema.
Over the course of eight days in 1962, Francois Truffaut interviewed Alfred Hitchcock discussing the Master Of Suspense’s legendary body of work up to that point. Truffaut, whose status as a equally great filmmaker was growing, used these conversations as a basis for his belief that Hitchcock – who, incredibly was still being considered a ‘light entertainer’ – was one of the most innovative and influential directors of all-time. Truffaut used these conversations as the basis of the book, Hitchcock/Truffaut, which essentially became the guidebook for several generations of filmmakers. Director Kent Jones looks back at the making of this book and its impact in this vibrant and exciting new documentary. A must see for any film fan or an aspiring director.
I Am Chris Farley. A beloved comedian, film and TV star is remembered in this doc by Brent Hodge and Derik Murray.
The brief, yet remarkable career of Chris Farley is the subject of this new documentary by filmmakers Brent Hodge and Derik Murray. Photographs and home movies traces Farley’s formative years in Madison, Wisconsin and his quick ascension at Second City Theatre in Chicago. A moving portrait of a comedic giant who left us way too soon.
Best Of Enemies. Political and personal enemies square off in ten televised debates that would forever alter television and politics.
In the summer of 1968, political tensions were at a boiling point and the Democratic and Republican conventions were critical in determining what direction the country was headed. ABC News – then mired in last place in the ratings – decided that a portion of their convention coverage would be devoted to nightly debates featuring two figures that best represented the both ends of the political spectrum. William F. Buckley represented the right while novelist/political commentator Gore Vidal represented the left. Vidal and Buckley hated each other and everything they stood for. Live, unscripted and uncensored, it was a ratings coup for ABC News and forever changed how public discourse was presented. Directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville look back at this crucial period in American history using highlights from those debates as well as character readings by Kelsey Grammar and John Lithgow to trace the birth of pundit television as we know it today. It serves as both a history lesson and riveting political theater..
The Hateful Eight. Quentin Tarentino returns with a vengeance with this ambitious Western shot in glorious 70mm.
Quentin Tarentino’s 8th film is the reason why we fell in love with movies and going to one was an event. This love letter to the Great American Western has IT. A lot of it. A badass cast, an original, spectacular score by Ennio Morricone, and killer script. The decision to shoot in 70mm – something that hasn’t been done in over 50 years- brings out the size and scope of a still growing American landscape, but also captures the claustrophobia and paranoia between the characters once they are in the cabin. Complete with an orchestral overture and an intermission to help you catch your breath, The Hateful Eight will cement Quentin Tarantino’s place as one of cinema’s greatest directors.
The Revenant. Leonardo DiCaprio runs through nature’s gauntlet as he tries to track down the men who done him dirty in this new film from ‘Birdman’ director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarrtu.
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s follow up to the Oscar winning film ‘Birdman’ takes us from Broadway to deep in the heart of uncharted American wilderness. Based on the Michael Punke novel (and based on a true story), the film stars Leonard DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, an 1820s frontiersman who survives a vicious bear attack, only to be left to die in a shallow grave by his team. Glass escapes, but now must withstand a brutal winter to avenge this betrayal and the murder of his young half-Native American son. Shot at various locations in Canada, Argentina and the U.S., Inarritu’s beautifully captures the look, feel and the menace of undiscovered country, putting his actors and his crew through the ringer to give the project true authenticity. The action sequences have to be seen to believed – even more so because it doesn’t rely on CGI. One of the year’s best.
Concussion. The movie that has the sports world buzzing rolls out this weekend.
Based on the explosive GQ expose by Jeanne Marie LakasWill Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist who, while performing an autopsy on Hall Of Fame center Mike Webster (David Morse) puts him on a path that connects the high rates of suicides and dementia among former football players and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Written and directed by former New York Times investigative reporter Peter Landsman, the film has the pace and feel of a thriller with the fate of a multi-billion dollar industry at stake. A vital, important film.
Spotlight. Tom McCarty assembles an all-star cast to tell the story of a group of reporters who unveiled a story that nearly rocked the Vatican to its core.
In a story that rocked the foundations of The Catholic Church, a 2002 Boston Globe investigative report revealed that the Boston Archidiocese protected over 100 priests who had been molesting scores of children – a cover-up that reached the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal and government hierarchy. Writer-director Tom McCarthy looks back at that turbulent period and how the team of Boston Globe uncovered the scandal that shook up the Catholic community. The cast is outstanding. This is this generation’s All The President’s Men, moving with the crisp precision of any solid political thriller. It has all the makings of being THE film to beat in the upcoming awards season.
I Smile Back. Sarah Silverman’s stunning performance as a woman battling depression highlights Adam Salky’s exceptional drama.
The far reaching effects that depression has on a family are at the heart of Adam Salky’s adaptation of the Amy Koppleman novel. This is giant leap forward in Silverman’s acting career and should not be forgotten about come awards season. A strong, powerful film.
Road Hard. Comedy isn’t pretty and Adam Carolla’s latest feature reveals the lonely road comedians often take to make us laugh.
Adam Carolla co-directed and stars in this new feature about the other side of a life in comedy. Carolla plays Bruce Madsen, a former TV and film star, who goes back on the comedy circuit after all of his other options have run their course. Its a funny, dark, brutally honest look at the journey one has to take to make us laugh.
Creed. Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) team up once again in this spin-off of the Rocky franchise.
The Rocky franchise was thought to be over with the 2006 release of Rocky Balboa. But when writer-director Ryan Coogler was able to successfully pitch a spin off involving the son of Rocky’s rival-turned trainer Apollo Creed, the producers of the Rocky series – including Sylvester Stallone – all signed off the project and came aboard as producers. With a solid story, great direction and outstanding fight scenes, Coogler has put together a film that can promises to be the next great franchise.
The Big Short. Money talks and Adam McKay shows how four Wall Street outsiders made it speak loudly – and profitably – for them.
In 2008, four Wall Street outsiders did the unthinkable: they bit the hand that fed them and put their money on the global financial market collapsing. What was even crazier was that they were right. Now Adam McKay has teamed up with writer Michael Lewis (who also wrote the 2010 best seller of the same name) to tell how these guys managed to pull it off. The cast is in fine form – especially Carell as Mark Baum, a self hating outspoken Wall St executive and Ryan Gosling as the oily executive who puts the game in play. With echoes of The Sting, The Wolf Of Wall Street and Ocean’s Eleven, this film excels as both satire and as a warning.
Love & Mercy. Bill Pohlad’s moving and time shifting portrait of Brian Wilson at crucial moments in his life.
Rather than follow the conventional biopic formula, director Bill Pohlad – using a script by Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner – focuses on two crucial periods: Wilson at his creative and commercial peak in the mid 1960s and Wilson’s re-emergence in the late-1980s. Wonderfully cast and expertly paced, Love & Mercy is a moving tribute to one of America’s most beloved songwriters.
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Technoself by Deantoni Parks. A studio and performance great reconstructs and reinvents himself by marrying technology with craft.
Deantoni Parks is an in-demand drummer who has worked with such artists as Sade, John Cale, Run The Jewels, Kudu, Flying Lotus, Meshell Ndegeocello and The Mars Volta. For his first solo album, Parks puts a new twist on the one man band concept: Using just a sampler and a drum stick, Parks recorded the tracks live with no overdubs. Parks has put together a sonic adventure that begs to heard from start to finish and will have you hitting the repeat button once its done. A fun, rhythmic ride.
To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. The Compton rapper’s ambitious, socially conscious concept piece puts the hip hop album back into the forefront.
In terms of trying to take hip hop to the next sonic, creative, and cultural heights, no one has been carrying the ball better than Kendrick Lamar. He’s put together a masterful concept album that mixes in spoken word, funk, free jazz, and lyrics that touch on everything from relationships, Ferguson, self-doubt, depression and Black on Black crime. Lamar’s pissed off, but the anger is remarkably centered and focused. This isn’t just one of the best hip hop albums to come along in years, this is brilliance irrespective of any genre. If there’s any justice in the world – and judging by initial reaction there will be – To Pimp A Butterfly will do for hip hop what Nevermind did for rock n roll: Flip it on its head and flush out a whole lot of garbage.
Crush by Lettuce. The world renown funk and soul group returns in peak form after an extended hiatus.
Since their formation in 1992 while they were still in college, Lettuce has been killing audiences worldwide with their brand of 70s influenced funk and soul. After taking a bit of a hiatus to work on various side projects, Lettuce is back with their 4th album, Crush. Running like a funky soundtrack to a cool movie, Crush is a much needed return to one of the best bands working today. Its available now through Amazon, Itunes and all major music retailers.
The Bootleg Series Volume 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966 by Bob Dylan. This sprawling track-heavy set captures Dylan at this height of his first creative ascension.
The latest edition of the ‘Bootleg Series’ captures Dylan at an artistic and commercial zenith that would produce the seminal albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde. What it best documents is the breakneck speed of how the songs evolved from take to take. It also captures the joy and energy of the sessions, with various takes often being interrupted by fits of laughter and just the sheer joy of creating music. Whether you check out the 2-CD version or the deluxe 6-CD edition, you will have a front row seat as Dylan – with a huge assist by The Band, Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, John Sebastian, and Joe South, among others – transforms from folk hero to full scale rock icon. Here’s ground zero to one of rock’s greatest revolutions.
Thunderbitch – Thunderbitch. Brittany Howard’s alter-ego is a spitfire rock n roll hellcat and we love her for it.
Just four months after Alabama Shakes released their second album Brittany Howard has just released an equally wild and raucous solo album under the name Thunderbitch. And man does it rock, echoing the spirit of those primal 1950’s 45’s, 60’s garage rock and proto punk bands like The New York Dolls, The Stooges and MC5. It’s edgy, seductive, slinky, sexy and dangerous – everything that great rock n roll should be. The next time someone tells you that ‘rock is dead’, put this on and wait for the apology. Brittany Murphy isn’t the next big rock star, she IS a rock star. One of the year’s best.
The Epic by Kamasi Washington. The L.A. based saxophonist sends jazz kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with a massive three-CD opus.
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington has spent the last several years as a hired gun for some of the top names in jazz, R&B and hip hop including Kendrick Lamar’s chart topping album To Pimp A Butterfly. Spread out over three CDs and close to 3 hours long, it lives up to the title, channeling the spirit of Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Pharoah Sanders,with music running the gamut from traditional, Afro-Latin, funk and classical. To put it bluntly, Washington is blowing his ass off and his band – the majority of which Washington has been playing with since high school – is kicking ass and taking names right alongside him. The Epic is a musical middle finger to all those who keep saying that ‘jazz is dead’. It’s not only the most ambitious jazz release to come down the pike in ages, it just might be the best album to come out this year. An instant classic.
Absent Fathers by Justin Townes Earle. A musician with a rich musical lineage is in peak form.
The son of Steve Earle and the godson of Townes Van Zandt, Justin Townes Earle had made a name for himself to close to a decade with his brand of alt-country, folk, blues and soul. On this companion album to his 2014 release Single Mothers, Earle stays with insightful, often heartbreaking songs of failed relationships, fractured families and lives stuck in the mud. Whether played separately or as one piece, the albums mark a new chapter for one of the most dynamic singer-songwriters on the alt-country scene. One of the first great albums of 2015. Absent Fathers is available now through Amazon, Itunes and all major music retailers.
Vulnicura by Bjork. A musical iconoclast reveals a fractured psyche and a broken heart.
Bjork’s new album – her first in nearly 4 years – was supposed to be released in March to coincide with her upcoming tour and a retrospective at New York’s MoMa. But an online leak has forced the work to be rush released on Itunes with physical copies still on tap to come out in the spring. Working with producers Arca and The Haxan Cloak, Bjork has crafted what she calls a 9 song ‘heartbreak album’ documenting the events leading up to, the actual end, and the aftermath of, her relationship with Matthew Barney. Sweeping in scope, but raw and personal, Bjork, as she has done countless times, put a spin on the ‘break up album’ to astonishing effect. A excellent primer to what is going to be a big year for one of the truly original artists in popular music.
29 by Marcus Machado. A coming out party for rock’s next great six string hero.
After honing his chops working with artists such as The Family Stand and Victor Bailey (Weather Report), guitarist Marcus Machado graduates to bandleader status with the release of his dynamic new EP. The centerpiece of the EP are two blistering pieces of social commentary: ‘Code Black’ – featuring the always powerful Sandra St. Victor on lead vocals – addresses the recent rash of shootings of unarmed Black men by police; and the dreamy, introspective ‘Reverse The Time’ looks at trying to stay positive in a world wrecked with turmoil. The closing track, ‘The Fifth Sun’, picks up where Hendrix left off during his Electric Ladyland phase. With tracks ranging from funk, R&B, psychedelia, hip hop and rock, Machado bringing the guitar back to where it belongs: up front and center. Get ready for rock’s next great guitar hero.
St. Cecilia by Foo Fighters. One of rock’s premier band gives a thank you present to its fans.
After months of teasing, Foo Fighters gave their fans an early Christmas present with this new – and free – 5 song EP. Written and recorded during days off on their tour in support of ‘Sonic Highways, several tracks echo the band’s punk roots (‘Sean’, ‘Savior Breath’), while the title track and the closer, ‘The Neverending Sigh’ captures them in their full arena rock glory. Foo Fighters have been one of the most consistent bands of the last 25 years and this EP continues that solid streak.
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Between The World And Me by Ta-Neishi Coates. An open letter to his son reveals the joy and pain of being Black in America.
Ta-Nehisi Coates – The Atlantic columnist who burst into the national spotlight with his series of essays on race in America – has now written a new book that goes all in on the subject. How hot is this book? Speigel & Grau pushed up the release date from October to July after advance copies made the rounds and had everyone – including literary legend Toni Morrison – raving. Framed as a letter to his teenage son, Coates uses historical and personal narratives with the hopes of finding the answers to how he, as a Black man, live free in a society that has throughout time, has stacked the deck against him. Told with candor, anger, hope, fear, brutal honesty, and without apology, Coates has crafted a piece that puts him on par with Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and other literary greats of color. An instant classic.
The Coloring Book by Colin Quinn. The veteran comic’s pointed and humorous look at race relations, childhood stories and stage experiences.
Colin Quinn’s new book takes his critically acclaimed and immensely popular one man show format and puts it into book form. He’s already tackled the history of the world, and the US Constitution on stage, now he’s taking on the ultra sensitive issue of race in America. Mixing in socio-political elements through his own story of growing up in a time when races treated themselves and each other differently, Colin delivers his signature smart and insightful commentary that is engaging and funny. Each chapter tackles another color in the crayon box, and another part of Quinn’s culturally mixed life. The book brings you back just a short few years to a time and some neighborhoods where races in New York held on tighter to their cultural differences, and makes you appreciate every colorful moment. Perfect summer read- engaging, fast moving, and you might just learn something. If you’re really against learning something you will at least enjoy Colin’s stories about getting beat up as a kid, or bombing in front of a room full of his heroes.
Reckless: My Life As A Pretender by Chrissie Hynde. Rock legend Chrissie Hynde tells her story of how a post war child from Ohio found herself at the epicenter of a musical revolution.
Chrissie Hynde never pulled punches on stage and off and she doesn’t here in her new memoir. The book covers specific, but important points in her life: Growing up in the post war Ohio; falling in love with the explosion of sights and sounds that shaped the mid to late 60s; attending Kent State University and having a firsthand account of the shootings that happened in 1970; relocating to London and finding herself smack dab in the middle of the birth of the British punk scene and how she hooked up with Pete Farndon, Martin Chambers and James Honeyman-Scott to form The Pretenders. Hynde also goes into the making of the band’s extraordinary debut album, its sudden success and how the band’s excesses – which culminated in the drug related deaths of Farndon and Honeyman-Scott – left her shocked and saddened, yet determined to carry on. The decision to end the book on this may be surprising to her fans, but Hynde is such a skilled and informative storyteller that you completely understand why. The birth of the British punk scene has been told before, but with Hynde it’s given a much needed – and at times refreshing – new spin. It’s a story that is as rich and as vibrant as her best songs.
I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones. The style and musical diva tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth – at least how she remembers it.
Grace Jones’ no holds barred new memoir has been making a lot of noise for her verbal takedowns of Beyonce, Madonna, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and other current pop stars, but that’s only part of what is a highly engaging and informative tome. Before becoming a fashion, music and pop culture icon, Jones recalls her days growing up in a strict religious household in Jamaica; re-locating to upstate New York; bouncing between modeling jobs in New York City and Philadelphia; her expatriate days in Paris modeling and hanging out with future stars Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange; her early attempts at a music career (including a disastrous audition of producers Gamble & Huff); returning to New York at the dawn of disco movement and how her historic collaborations with Jean-Paul Goude and Chris Blackwell laid the groundwork for becoming a full fledged icon. Of course, Jones drops truth bombs on some of the Who’s Who of the fashion, music and film but only from her perspective and not looking to set straight any of the outrageous stories that have been said about her in the past. Loaded with humor, candor, and historical insight (she gives a rich backstory of her family tree and of Jamaica itself), Grace Jones has, as she has done with everything else, put an entirely new spin on how to craft a memoir. A true original.
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello. The songwriter’s songwriter almost encyclopedic account of his life and music.
This eagerly awaited memoir is just as insightful and witty as any of his songs. Spread over 650 pages, we get in rich detail how Declan Patrick MacManus became Elvis Costello; his formative years in London and Liverpool; how his father, also a musician, consciously and sub-consciously formed his musical and personal path; and how The Attractions took the not always smooth path to transform the punk and New Wave movement. Along the way, Costello also tells amazing stories about his collaborations with Paul McCartney, Allen Touissaint, T-Bone Burnett, George Jones and The Roots as well as memorable encounters with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Roy Orbison. Costello doesn’t spare himself when discussing the breakdowns of his first two marriages, his role in the end of the Attractions or the now legendary incident in which he made disparaging remarks about Ray Charles and James Brown during the Rock Against Racism tour. Richly detailed, funny, and loaded with fantastic stories, Elvis Costello has delivered one of the best rock-based memoirs ever.
M Train by Patti Smith. The Punk Priestess’ latest book takes her to New York, Detroit and various parts of the world with exceptional stories along the way.
The eagerly awaited follow up to her best selling book Just Kids hit the shelves this week. Whereas that book centered on her salad days in New York with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, M Train looks back on her various travels (with and without her late husband Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith) hitting upon historical landmarks that shaped her poetry, music and her life. There’s also meditative observations on topics such as travel, her love of detective shows and mysteries, favorite books and authors, the local flavor in and around her favorite Greenwich Village cafe, and her love of coffee. Smith is an exceptional storyteller weaving in and out countries, local neighborhoods and critical points in her life with ease, clarity and precision. It’s no wonder that she’s already have several more books in the works: She’s a natural. This is another great piece of prose from the punk priestess.
Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes. Warren Zanes’ no holds barred account of one of America’s greatest rock n roll bands written with full cooperation with Petty.
Even though he is one of rock’s most respected singer-songwriter-performers in rock history, Tom Petty is very reclusive and guarded when it comes to his personal life and the inner workings with his band, The Heartbreakers. That didn’t stop Warren Zanes, the former Del Fuegos guitarist that once toured with Petty & The Heartbreakers to go out and write the definitive Tom Petty biography. Written with complete cooperation with Petty, Zanes is given unprecedented access into the rocker’s life. From his humble Florida roots to becoming an international superstar and rock icon, Zanes takes us on a wild ride that would be fiction under normal circumstances. If you thought the expansive Peter Bogdovanich-directed documentary captured you needed to know about Petty, you’re wrong: This book uncover everything from meeting Elvis, producing long time hero Del Shannon, being a part of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, battling his record company, bankruptcy, divorce, and, of course, his long time relationships with his band, The Heartbreakers. Among the surprising revelations that comes out is Petty’s battles with heroin addiction and depression in the wake of the death of bassist Howie Epstein coupled with the end of his 20 plus year marriage. Zanes was able to get an complete account of what led to long time member Stan Lynch leaving the band from the perspectives of Petty and Lynch. Straight forward, yet highly informative and entertaining, Warren Zanes has put together the most comprehensive look at one of rock’s most endearing performers.
Thanks for reading and have a great 2016!
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