The Filtered Excellence: January 14, 2015
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.
WATCH THIS:
Billions. The movers and shakers within the world of high finance is focus of this new Showtime original series. Damien Lewis stars as Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod, a powerful hedge fund king, who through a fluke, is the only member of his company to survive the 9/11 attacks. On the surface, he is kind, and charitable, but he’s really engaging in highly illegal, but unknown activities. Paul Giamatti plays Chuck Rhodes, a ruthless U.S. District Attorney with a perfect conviction rate against white collar criminals. When Rhodes launches his biggest investigation to date against Axelrod, Rhodes must deal with the forces protecting Axelrod, which includes his wife (Maggie Siff) who works directly with Axelrod. The pilot, co-written by Brian Koppleman (Rounders, Ocean’s Thirteen) and Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big To Fail) is loaded with SEC agents, corporate fixers, backroom dealings as things are quite what they seem. It also looks at the motivations and insecurities that fuel both men. Giamatti and Lewis in fine form as a pair of adversaries on a collision course with each other, the motivation behind their successes and their newly formed rivalry. There’s also strong performances by the ladies: Siff is every bit an equal, if not better as Rhodes’ wife while Malin Akerman puts in a strong turn as Lara Axelrod, a refined, yet cunning supporter for her husband. With strong cast and a plot ripped right from the headlines, Billions has all of the right ingredients to becoming the next great series to come out of the Showtime canon. Billions premieres Sunday, January 17th at 10pm Eastern. You can also view the premiere episode for free by going to www.sho.com.
Band Of Robbers. The adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn gets an adult makeover in this new film by Aaron and Adam Nee. The story begins with a recently paroled Huck (Kyle Gallner) reuniting with Tom (Adam Nee) and Becky Thatcher (Melissa Benoist), both of whom are cops. Straddling the line between cop and criminal, Tom convinces Huck to put together a band of robbers to rip off a pawn shop he believes holds a fortune of gold. To pull it off, they round up old friends Ben Rogers (Hannibal Buress), Tommy Barnes (Johnny Pemberton) and Joe Harper (Matthew Gray Gubler). Of course, things don’t go quite as planned – especially when their long time enemy Injun Joe (Stephen Lang) also makes his return. This movie has been flying under the radar, but if the trailer is any indication, this has all of the making of a cult classic. Band Of Robbers opens in theaters on Friday and will also be available on demand. You can go to www.bandofrobbersmovie.com for more information.
Angie Tribeca. This Nancy and Steve Carrell created spoof of cop procedural shows will be have an unusual roll out for a network show. All ten episodes of the first season will air commercial free over the course of 25 hours with the second season with a more conventional weekly run the following week. Rashida Jones plays the title character, a 10 year veteran of the LAPD’s RHCU (Really Heinous Crime Unit). Along with fellow cops Jay Geils (Hayes MacArthur), DJ Tanner (Deon Cole), Lt. Chet Atkins (Jere Burns), medical examiner Dr. Monica Scholls (Andree Vermeulen) and the car driving K9 Jagger (Hoffman), they handle everything from the murder of a ventriloquist to a rash of baker suicides. Loaded with subtle (and not so subtle) humor, great stunt casting (including Jones’ real life parents Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton as Angie’s parents) and tons of guest stars (including Alfred Molina as a handwriting expert, Bill Murray, Lisa Kudrow, Gary Cole, James Franco, among others), the show carries on the great tradition of police spoofs such as Police Squad and Sledge Hammer. Jones, who also has had great comedic chops finally gets to anchor a series and she more than delivers. Definitely worth a look. Season 1 of Angie Tribeca will premiere with a 25 hour marathon on January 17th at 9pm Eastern. Go to www.tbs.com for more information.
LISTEN TO THIS:
Blackstar by David Bowie. David Bowie’s final album (it’s SO weird to say that) is a hauntingly beautiful summation of his career. Lovingly produced by long time producer and collaborator Tony Visconti, Bowie teams up with a crew of veteran New York jazz musicians to bring out a suite of songs that run from bluesy, acerbic, wistful and ultimately, powerful. By adding some icy, electronic textures to the songs, it’s also echoes the avant garde spirit that marked such works as Low and Heroes. But Bowie, ever looking forward, also invokes a touches of hip hop and (Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly was cited as an influence) and a new hybrid of EDM and ambient to add to the ethereal mix. ‘Lazarus’ and the career closer, ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ is his love letter, his parting words, to all of us. This is the most poignant farewell album since Queen’s 1991 swan song Inneundo and the front runner for best album of 2016. Thank you once again, Mr. Jones. Blackstar is available now through Amazon, Itunes and all major music retailers.
DO THIS:
Charlotte Rampling. To coincide with the national roll out of her latest film, 45 Years – in which she was nominated for Best Actress Oscar – IFC Center will be presenting a two month, 8 film retrospective covering highlights of her 50 year career. Films will include her star making turn in Georgy Girl, the still controversial The Night Porter, memorable roles in Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories and The Verdict, opposite Paul Newman; Under The Sand, Heading South, Farewell, My Lovely and more. A great look back at an international film star who has no plans on slowing down. The Charlotte Rampling retrospective runs through March 8th. You can go to www.ifccenter.com for a complete rundown of films, tickets and more information.
