The Filtered Excellence: May 28, 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:
Heaven Knows What. This harrowing, yet at times, unnerving new film – which has been killing on the festival circuit – came together by chance. Directors Ben and Josh Safdie were doing research for another project when they met Arielle Holmes, a then-homeless 19 year old caught up in heroin addiction and violent, abusive relationship with her boyfriend. The Safdies convinced Holmes to write down her story and Josh Sadie, along with actor/writer Ronald Bronstein, adapted her story (which will be published as ‘Mad Love In New York City’) into a screenplay. In the true spirit of indie film making, the Sadies cast Holmes in the lead role and uses actual street people to give the story more heft – and edge. Holmes plays Harley, a homeless teen who panhandles and hustles her way through Manhattan looking for a place to crash and her next fix. Harley is finds herself addicted to love, spending her days with fellow addict and dealer Mike, but yearns for Iyla, her soul mate and the one who fuels her passion for living. The Safdies have put together one wild, dark ride of a movie, capturing an underbelly of New York City that has been consumed by gentrification and commercialism. Holmes, who had no previous acting experience before doing this film, is extraordinary as Harley – especially since it involved revisiting dark days she has now put behind her. It’s a breakout role that will be talked about for years. A stark detour from all of the popcorn movies coming out this summer. Heaven Knows What opens in select theaters this weekend.
The Other One: The Long Strange Trip Of Bob Weir. Now streaming on Netflix. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead and the celebration is in full swing. Founding member and drummer Billy Kreutzmann recently published a memoir detailing the view from his vantage point (see Filtered Excellence April 9) and now Netflix brings us the emotional and heartfelt- The Other One: The Long Strange Trip Of Bob Weir. The Other One is about just that- the Dead’s “other” guitarist- Bob Weir. Sammy Hagar sums it up perfectly- “Number two’s as important as number one. If you don’t have an ego you can be the best “number two” on the planet and that’s what Bob became.” In his book, Bill the Drummer shares vivid descriptions of some of the spectacular stops along the Grateful Dead’s journey and now with this documentary, Bobby provides the visual accompaniment. The film contains captivatingly intimate home movie footage of the band. Bob shares a behind-the-scenes glimpse from their three night run at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt in 1978. The footage of Neal Cassidy driving the bus and cavorting is priceless. (Yes, THAT Neal Cassidy, the man who served as the blueprint for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s much-lauded classic “On The Road.”) Perhaps the most surreal footage in the film is the home video of scuba diving off the coast of Hawaii with Garcia in the years approaching his death. Take the trip it will open your mind. Last year when Bob was in NYC for a screening of the film at the Tribeca Film Festival he stopped by SiriusXM to chat with Ron Bennington. Read excerpts here.
Watch the trailer.
LISTEN TO THIS:
Days Of Thunder & Rain by Dean Hurley. After working alongside David Lynch on such projects as Inland Empire and Lynch’s solo albums, composer Dean Hurley put together a solo album that combines some of his sweeping soundscapes with samples of soul classics from the 60s and 70s. Using the aching vocal tracks by Sam & Dave, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye and others, Hurley has put together an incredible song cycle about trying to searching for love in the midst of heartache. It’s one of the year’s best albums and the best part is that it’s available as a free download. Go to http://dean.teamhurley.com/ for more information.
READ THIS:
After The Dance: My Life With Marvin Gaye by Jan Gaye and David Ritz. In the 30 plus years since his death, the story of Marvin Gaye’s relationship with his second wife Jan has been heavily discussed and analyzed at length by everyone – except by Jan . Now for the first time, Jan gives her account of how she went from being an average high school student to being Marvin Gaye’s muse behind such classic albums as Let’s Get It On and I Want You. With surprisingly vivid detail, Jan tells how she caught up in the wild, anything goes lifestyle of 1970s Los Angeles, becoming a mother and becoming swept up in a haze of drugs, sex and alcohol all before she turned 21. Working with acclaimed writer David Ritz (who worked closely with Gaye on his autobiography before he was killed), Jan captures Marvin and all of his musical and spiritual paradoxes perfectly, weaving a page-turning tale of true love that ultimately took a dark turn. Jan Gaye & Ritz put together the great companion piece to Ritz’s best selling Gaye bio, Divided Soul, to round out a portrait of The Prince Of Motown. After The Dance is available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all major book retailers.
Drugstore Camera by Dennis Hopper. Shortly after he completed Easy Rider, Dennis Hopper took his girlfriend and his daughter on a road trip that featured stops in Taos, New Mexico and his hometown of Kansas. Using disposable cameras, Hopper captured ‘ruins and open vistas of the desert landscape, female nudes in shadowy interiors’. Hopper had the film developed at local drugstores but the photos have never been seen until now. Hopper’s daughter Marin wrote the introduction to the new book featuring snapshots from this journey. It wonderfully captures the still wide-open West, the looseness and spirit of the times and the mindset of an artist on the cusp of super stardom. A unique time capsule from one of Hollywood’s true mavericks. Drugstore Camera is available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all major book retailers.
DO THIS:
NEW YORK CITY: Garland Jeffreys at The Highline Ballroom. Garland Jeffreys’ 1977 album Ghost Writer is a masterful blend of rock n roll, reggae, soul, doo wop and social commentary. It’s been widely acknowledged as one of the best of the decade and various songs from the album have remained in Jeffreys’ live set. The album was out of print for a long time before recently getting a much deserved digital release. Jeffreys will be perform all of the Ghost Writer album at The Highline Ballroom. His shows are also a great time and given the material, this one is going to be one for the ages. Go to www.garlandjeffreys.com for more info.
NEW YORK CITY: Vulture Festival. The Vulture Comedy Festival is also this weekend, Sunday to be exact. It features Wyatt Cenac, Jermaine Fowler, Brett Gelman, Cyrus Ghahremani, and resident NY funnyman Colin Quinn. While it might not be the toughest crowd, it’s certainly going to be a great time at the Bell House, 8:00 in Gowanus.
NEW YORK: Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes at The Paramount. For over 40 years, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes have been killing audiences worldwide with their brand of horn driven soul, blues and straight ahead rock n roll. Bruce Springsteen knew this from jump: He’s written several of the band’s best known songs including ‘The Fever’ and ‘Talk To Me’ and his fellow E Street Band bandmate Little Steven helped co-found the group and produced a handful of their earlier albums. Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes will be brining the sound of the Jersey shore to The Paramount in Hudson Valley this weekend. Always a great time. Go to www.southsidejohnny.com for tickets and more information.
NEW JERSEY: Chaka Khan & Stephanie Mills. The Queen of Funk will be bringing the power and the thunder to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Whether it was with Rufus or as a solo act, Chaka has stretching out her musical palette to include jazz, blues and rock to her musical arsenal and has influenced everyone from the late Whitney Houston (who had a hit with a cover of ‘I’m Every Woman’) to Beyonce and Rihanna. Stephanie Mills, whose career arc has include a successful run on Broadway, and hits on the R&B and gospel charts, will also perform. Come out and see two seasoned performers still at the top of their game. Go to www.njpac.org for tickets and more information.
NEW YORK: Notes Of A Native Son at Harlem Stage. With Passing Strange, singer-songwriter took the rock musical kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Now with his latest work, Stew and his long time collaborator Heidi Rodewald, take the life and legacy of James Baldwin and ‘rescue him from PBS respectability and drag him back to Giovanni’s room, where he belongs.’ In short, Stew and crew are going to reboot Baldwin into the insightful force of nature that most of his true fans already knew that he was. Every Stew presentation always shakes the foundations and this one promises to be no different. Notes Of A Native Son runs June 3rd through June 7th. Go to www.harlemstage.org for more information.
LOS ANGELES: Robert Plant. Resisting countless offers to do a Led Zeppelin reunion tour, Robert Plant has instead focused on his new band, The Sensational Shape Shifters and their album ‘lullaby…and the Ceaseless Roar. Plant has described the album as ‘a celebratory record, powerful, gritty, African, Trance meets Zep.’ and the musical mashups has worked well on stage. Plant will be coming to the Greek Theatre to perform material from this project, solo material, covers and re-worked Zeppelin classics. Go to www.greektheatrela.com for tickets and more information.
Want more excellence? Read last week’s The Filtered Excellence and visit The Interrobang Recommmends
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