The Filtered Excellence: October 25 2018

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

Outside The Bubble: On The Road With Alexandria Pelosi. For her 12th collaboration with HBO, Alexandria Pelosi takes a cross-country journey to speak with – and listen to – Americans thoughts on such issues as gun rights, jobs, immigrations, climate change, abortion, and race. It includes stops at Sutherland Springs, Texas, the site of the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church; Alabama, where she talks with women who voted for Trump along with their views on abortion and the #MeToo movement; with blue collar workers in Pennsylvania who feel disrespected by ‘coastal elites’; Port Arthur, Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey; immigration activists and border wall agents in San Diego; and Charlottesville, Virginia, the site of a Neo-Nazi protest that turned deadly. By allowing her subjects to be themselves and speak unfiltered, Pelosi puts a mirror to the nation in a way that gives us new insights into where we are – and where we need to go. Outside The Bubble: On The Road With Alexandria Pelosi debuts October 29th at 8pm on HBO. You can also go to www.hbo.com for more information.

LISTEN TO THIS

The Villianess by Militia Vox. The long awaited debut solo album by former Swear On Your Life and current Judas Priestess lead vocalist is a middle finger to the current glut of pop princesses currently saturating the market. Produced by Mike Wolpe, Militia takes you on a dark, dense, heavy ride that features witches, nyctophiliacs, and all those living out on the edge and in the shadows. It’s female exitsential angst at its finest, all driven by heavy, relentless guitars and rich, cinematic soundscapes that recall Nine Inch Nails and Siouxsie & The Banshees best work. Sounding like a soundtrack for all of the outcasts and castoffs, Miltia has put together an album that put her where she belongs: Among one of the best hard rock/metal’s best vocalists working today. The Villianess by Militia Vox is available now through www.militiavox.bandcamp.com.

READ THIS

My Love Story by Tina Turner. In this new memoir, Tina Turner talks about her incredible journey from Nutbush, Tennessee to one of rock’s premier vocalists. While there’s plenty of stories of working with some of the top names in music, the book deals with personal aspects of her life that just as revealing. She goes into further details about the levels of abuse that her first husband Ike Turner put her thorough during their marriage – and how she attempted to kill herself just to end her suffering. Turner also recalls the struggles that she and her children had to endure once she left him and the long road back to revive her career as a solo artist. Even more telling is how just three months after her marriage to German music producer Erwin Bach was disrupted by a series of health setbacks including a stroke, intestinal cancer and vertigo. Turner also describes the final conversation that she had with her son Craig just a few weeks before he took his own life this past summer. Not that all of the book is somber: It’s tells how Turner was able to overcome enormous obstacles to carve out her own distinctive place in rock history, inspiring both her contemporaries and those who wear her influence. Told with candor, warmth and love, Turner has put together a memoir that will uplift and move you. My Love Story by Tina Turner is available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all major book retailers.

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle. Ahead of Monty Python’s 50th Anniversary in 2019, co-founder Eric Idle has released a new memoir that looks back at their career and seismic impact on the worlds of comedy, television, theater and film. Idle also recalls how Python’s acendency came at the same time there was a cultural shift happening on both sides of the Atlantic, with Idle establishing life long friends with George Harrison, David Bowie, Robin Williams, Mike Nichols, Steve Martin, Mick Jagger, and Lorne Michaels, among others. Told with his trademark wit and humor, Idle captures this incrediblly fertile moment in history that will make you laugh as much as it informs. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle is available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all major book retailers.

Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham. When long time New York Times fashion/street photographer Bill Cunningham passed in 2016, he left behind a trove of unreleased items, among them, a neatly typed memoir. It describes how a kid from a lace-curtain Boston suburb, defied his family’s wishes, dropped out of Harvard and moved to New York for a career in fashion. The book also covers Cunningham’s salad days as an aspiring designer admist a New York City fashion world was coming into its own. Cunningham captures the period is rich detail, told in a style and an enthiusiam that harkens back to anothetr era. We’ll never know if this was going to be part of a series of memoirs (the book ends just as he was making the transition from designer to a columnist), but Cunningham leaves behind one great parting gift to his scores of fans. Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham is available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all major book retailers.

DO THIS

New York City: Directed by Orson Welles. As a ramp up to the long awaited release of Orson Welles’ final film, The Other Side Of The Wind, IFC Center will host a week-long retrospective covering nearly 35 years of cinematic brilliance. It will include such masterpieces as Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady From Shanghai, Touch Of Evil, Chimes At Midnight and much more. The series will conclude with the theaterical debuts of The Other Side Of The Wind, Welles’ final film starring John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich and Susan Strausberg, which he started in 1970, never completed, but thanks to a team of archviists, technicians, is finally getting a chance to be seen by the public. This is a must see series for any true fan of cinema. Directed by Orson Welles will be at the IFC Center October 26th through November 1st. You can also go to www.ifccenter.com for tickets, a complete rundown of films and additional information.

Los Angeles: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Live with Danny Elfman. Fans of this Halloween classic, thought it was done for good when Danny Elfman decided to end all live performances related to the screen. But after a year, (and to coincide with the film’s 25th Anniversary, Elfman returns to lend his voice behind The Pumpkin King. In addition to a live performance and screening, Elfman will be joined by original cast members Catherine O’Hara (Sally) and Ken Page (Oogie Boogie), a full orchestra, a choir and a costume contest for the all of the cosplayers attending. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Live with Danny Elfman will be at The Hollywood Bowl October 26th through the 28th. You can also go to www.hollywoodbowl.com for tickets and more information.

Want more excellence? Read last week’s the filtered excellence.

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Earl Douglas is a writer/photographer based in New York City. A frequent contributor to The Interrobang, Earl is also Executive Director for the New York chapter of The Black Rock Coalition. Earl worked in radio for nearly two decades at WNEW-FM and XM Satellite Radio, which included being the on-air producer for Carol Miller, Scott Muni and Ron & Fez, and a contributor to Opie & Anthony. Earl has also independently published a number of books including Black Rock Volume 1, Urban Abyss, Mobile Uploads, and For Shimmy. His latest project is the photojournalism magazine PRAXIS, which is available exclusively through Blurb.com.
Earl Douglas
Earl Douglas
Earl Douglas is a writer/photographer based in New York City. A frequent contributor to The Interrobang, Earl is also Executive Director for the New York chapter of The Black Rock Coalition. Earl worked in radio for nearly two decades at WNEW-FM and XM Satellite Radio, which included being the on-air producer for Carol Miller, Scott Muni and Ron & Fez, and a contributor to Opie & Anthony. Earl has also independently published a number of books including Black Rock Volume 1, Urban Abyss, Mobile Uploads, and For Shimmy. His latest project is the photojournalism magazine PRAXIS, which is available exclusively through Blurb.com.