The Filtered Excellence: April 18, 2021
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 week’s 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
Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts. Between 1939 and 1942, Bill Traylor completed over a thousand drawings and paintings. What was remarkable was Traylor didn’t pick up pen and paint until he was 85, was self-taught, and created the majority of his work when he was homeless. The first public exhibition of his work happened when he was 87, and it would take nearly 30 years after his passing to be knowledge as an artistic giant. In this new documentary, director Jeffrey Wolf and executive producer Sam Pollard use archival footage, interviews with family members, curators and cultural critics to tell Traylor’s incredible story. The film chronicles how Traylor was born a slave in rural Alabama, sharecropping during Reconstruction through the 1920s, and later, and working odd jobs in Montgomery. Sidelined by various health issues, Traylor found himself homeless in the thriving, yet segregated neighborhood. It was during this time eh took up painting and began used his rough canvas to capture the day to day activities in Montgomery, along with recreations of past life experiences. A chance meeting with painter and teacher Charles Shannon in 1939 would be begin a decades long campaign to have Traylor’s work recognized by the art world. Wolf keeps the story moving a crisp pace, using music, readings and interviews to supplement a narrative that is a microcosm of the American Black experience from pre-Civil War through the end of World War II. Part bio and mystery revealed, Wolf has crafted a moving salute to an artist who is still getting his much deserved due. Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts is available now in virtual cinemas through www.kinomarquee.com.
LISTEN TO THIS
Broken Mirrors: A Selfie Reflection by Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley. The surprise collaboration between Spacebomb Records founder Maurice White and sculptor/musician/vocalist Lonnie Holley is a tripped out, electronic, jazz-rock, pop excursion that demands multiple listens. Drawing inspirations from Miles Davis, Kraftwerk and Remain In Light-era Talking Heads, White and Holley throw preconceptions out the window, blurring all musical classifications while asking us to re-evaluate the technology that fuels our world. Everyone’s firing on all cylinders, that begs for a follow up. One of the year’s best. Broken Mirrors: A Selfie Reflection by Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley is available now through all major streaming services.
STREAM THIS
Iggy Pop: Live At The Sydney Opera House. In 2019, Iggy Pop performed at the Sydney Opera House in Australia in support of his critically acclaimed album, Free. Covering everything from The Stooges to solo, Iggy considered the performance one of his best. Fortunately for him and us, the show was filmed and will be streamed on Iggy’s 74th birthday. It’s Iggy still being his badass self taking the Aussies on a rock n roll thrill ride. Another winner from one of rock’s premier frontmen. Iggy Pop: Live At The Sydney Opera House will air on April 21st. You can go to www.dice.fm for more information.
Los Angeles Times Community Book Club. Former President Baraka Obama will sit down with acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay to talk about his memoir A Promised Land. It promises to cover the struggles that Obama had to overcome to become the nation’s first Black President, and the challenges that he faced during his 8 years in office. DuVernay’s also no stranger to social justice: Two of her best works – Selma and The 13th, dealt with the campaign for voting rights during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and how a loophole in the 13th Amendment continues to keep Black and Brown people incarcerated while they await trial. It promises to be an enlightening conversation between the nation’s first Black President and the groundbreaking filmmaker. The Los Angeles Times Community Book Club’s presentation between President Barack Obama and Ava DuVernay will take place on Wednesday, April 21st, at 10pm East, 7pm Pacific. Go to eventbrite.com for more information.
DO THIS
New York City. So Ready For The Laughter: Bob Hope and World War II. To coincide with the 80th anniversary of the USO, The New York Historical Society has joined forces with The National World WarII Museum and The Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation to present this exhibition celebrating the 80th anniversary of the USO and Hope’s extensive contributions to the organization. It contains films, rare photographs, programs and scrapbooks to show how Hope helped keep troop morale high during the darkest days of the war. There’s also a companion exhibit, The Gift Of Laughter, documenting Hope’s post war work with the USO, his work on TV, hosting the Academy Awards and much more. It’s a dynamic look back at a comedy iconoclast. So Ready For The Laughter: Bob Hope and World War II will be at the New York Historical Society through September 5th. You can also go to www.nyhistory.org for more information.
Latest posts by Earl Douglas (see all)
- Earl’s World: The Filtered Excellence: September 7, 2021 - September 7, 2021
- Remembering Fez Whatley - August 15, 2021
- Earl’s World: The Filtered Excellence: July 23, 2021 - July 25, 2021
