The Filtered Excellence: January 16, 2014

Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” It’s right here. Here are this weeks picks of the best things towatch, 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:

NFL Championship Games. The road to Super Bowl XLVIII in NY-NJ ends this weekend with the Conference Championships. The AFC game features two legendary quarterbacks looking to add their Hall Of Fame legacies: Peyton Manning and The Denver Broncos take on Tom Brady and The New England Patriots. For Manning, another trip to the Big Game will be the exclamation point on an extraordinary career. For Brady, it’s a chance to make a record 6th Super Bowl appearance and a chance to join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw in the 4 Super Bowl Wins Club. In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers make their 3rd straight Conference Title Game appearance as they go to Seattle to take on the league’s best Seattle Seahawks. For the Niners, it’s unfinished business, another chance to make their second straight Super Bowl appearance. For the Seahawks, its a statement game and a chance to cement their status as an elite team. Kickoff time for the AFC game is at 3pm Eastern on CBS. FOX will have the NFC game starting at 6:30 Eastern Time.

American Masters: Salinger. It’s the start of the 28th season of American Masters on PBS. And for its 200th episode, PBS presents the director’s cut of Shane Salerno’s “Salinger”, a look at the great American author J.D. Salinger. The documentary talks to 150 different people who knew Salinger and who were influenced by his writing including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, Martin Sheen, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal and many more. The film also includes never before seen video and photographs and other materials from J.D. Salinger. American Masters: Salinger premieres Tuesday, January 21st at 9pm. Be sure to check local listings.

Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Time Equals Comedy. The latest comedy special from the hilarious Patton Oswalt debuts Friday, January 17th on Epix. Filmed in front of a live audience in San Diego, Patton goes off on topics like the problems with Florida, daddy – daughter time that goes wrong and the future of the United States. Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Time Equals Comedy premieres at 10pm Eastern.

LISTEN TO THIS:

High Hopes by Bruce Springsteen. For Bruce Springsteen, sequence and narrative have been the hallmark of all of his recording output. So when it was announced that his 18th studio album would be made up of covers, leftover tracks from various albums and re-recordings of previously released songs, it had the hardcore Bruce fans scratching their heads. No need to worry though. High Hopes is a solid collection that best sums up his songwriting period of the last decade. The E Street Band past and present is well represented also: Sadly members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federeci are well represented on the gangster saga ‘Harry’s Place’, ‘Down In The Hole’ and the haunting Vietnam veteran elegy ‘The Wall’. The most recent addition to the group makes the biggest impact. Tom Morello breathes new energy into the band, kicking ass and taking names. He absolutely steals the show throughout High Hopes – especially on the full band version of ‘The Ghost Of Tom Joad’. Bruce and Morello trade stinging guitar lines before Morello unleashes a near two minute guitar solo that recalls Hendrix, Robert Fripp and even Jam Master Jay. Springsteen says Morello was his muse throughout this project and it shows on over half of the album. Even on a collection of songs that didn’t quite fit on other albums, there is a thread that starts and ends it: Hope. Excellent covers of The Havalinas’ ‘High Hopes’ and more effectively, Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’ present the theme of hope in a more cynical, albeit realistic way. Though it comes across more of a ‘odds & sods’ kind of LP, High Hopes shows Bruce at his more electic, most experimental, and most prolific. A welcome addition to the Springsteen canon. It’s available now through Amazon, Itunes and all digital music outlets.

DO THIS:

NEW YORK CITY: Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibit. To honor of the 25th anniversary of Senator Jesse Helms going after an exhibit of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1989, the Sean Kelly Gallery is putting Mapplethorpe’s work on display. The gallery is showing 54 of the artist’s black-and-white photos, playing on the theme “Saints and Sinners” with subjects including Patti Smith and Mapplethorpe himself. This is the last weekend to catch the exhibit.

NEW YORK CITY: Green Porno Live at BAM. Based on her acclaimed Sundance TV series, Isabella Rossellini will present a live presentation of ‘Green Porno’ at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. Combining day glo costumes, paper puppets and her unique brand of storytelling, Rossellini will show the unique, and at times, kinky mating habits within the animal kingdom. An interesting zoology lesson by one of our most acclaimed actresses. Green Porno will be at The Brooklyn Academy Of Music January 16th through the 25th.

NEW YORK CITY: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Reclining Nude. Paige Powell today is an art curator and animal rights activist. Back in the 1980s, she arrived in New York with a goal of working with Andy Warhol and Woody Allen. She ended up doing both and became a Warhol friend and confidant until his death in 1987. She also had a two year relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat, which she documented, as she did with everything during that time, with her camera. Now for the first time, Powell unveils a series of nude portraits that she shot of Basquiat during their time together. The shots show Jean-Michel at his most relaxed: watching TV, listening to music and, of course, painting. Most of the photographs featured in this series show several works – finished and in progress – on the floor and on the walls. It’s the most intimate look at Basquiat at a personal and a creative peak. Reclining Nude will be at the Suzanne Geiss Gallery in New York City January 16th through February 22nd.

NEW YORK CITY: Oh! You Pretty Things Presents The 3rd Annual Bowie-Elvis Birthday Bash. Now in its 3rd year, this annual duel salute to David Bowie and Elvis Presley (and the disciples they spawned) promises to be another raunchy, glam-based blowout. There will be live tributes to The Smiths and Morrissey, local bands, burlesque dancers and much more. Always a great night night.

WASHINGTON DC: Let Freedom Ring. In a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Kennedy Center presents Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick in a musical celebration of Dr. King’s life. The show is done in conjunction with Georgetown University. The show will also featured special guests not announced yet. The event is free, but does require a ticket to enter. Tickets will start being distributed on Monday, January 20th at 5pm to those in line. The show starts that night at 6pm.

SOUTH WALTON, FLORIDA: The 30A Song Writers Festival. This is the 5th anniversary of the festival that runs in clubs and venues along Florida scenic highway 30A in South Walton, Florida. The festival features 150 songwriters doing over 200 performances in more than 25 venues. This year’s lineup includes amazing acts like Loudon Wainwright III, Ani DiFranco, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Shawn Mullins and John Oates. The 30A Song Writers Festival runs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (January 17, 18, 19).