The Filtered Excellence: December 19, 2013

Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” It’s right here. Here are 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:

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WATCH THIS:

Her. A Spike Jonze film is always an adventure and this one isn’t any different. Set in L.A. in the not-so-distant future, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, a writer in full on recovery mode after a painful divorce, who decides to purchase an advanced operating system that is individual to each user. Upon launching it, he is met by ‘Samantha’ (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who is bright, optimistic, insightful and funny. Samantha helps Theodore break out of his shell and Theodore helps Samantha navigate the feelings and insights that she’s experiencing for the first time. Their dependence for one another quickly develops into love – much to the amazement of Theodore’s soon to be ex-wife (Rooney Mara) and to the understanding of his friend Amy (Amy Adams). Wonderfully written, beautifully shot with outstanding performances by the entire cast, Her manages to redefine both science fiction and the romantic film. It’s another triumph by one of cinema’s most original and daring filmmakers. Her opens in New York, L.A. and Toronto this weekend and rolls out nationwide on January 10th.

The Wolf Of Wall Street. The 5th pairing of Martin Scorsese and Leonard DiCaprio promises to be their most outrageous to date. Based on the memoir of the same name, DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfour, who founded the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont. The company defrauded investors to the tune of nearly a billion dollars while Belfour took the partying lifestyle – complete with drugs, women and excessive purchases – to epic heights. It also drew the ire of the feds and the mob leading to an equally spectacular fall from grace. A lot has been said about the levels of sex and drug use in the film and there’s a LOT of it – especially within the first hour. But it must also be noted that Scorsese and Leo are firing on all cylinders. They are clearly having a ball with the material. The supporting cast is just as good: Jonah Hill as Belfour’s all-in right hand man/flukie/co-conspirator Donnie Azoff; Matthew McConaughey as beautifully wacked out mentor Mark Hanna and Margot Robbie vamping it up as Belfour’s second wife. This is a black comedy with a capital B, along the lines of The King Of Comedy and Goodfellas. This is the movie to see if you’re looking to avoid the sentimental holiday movie. The Wolf Of Wall Street opens on Christmas Day.

NBA Christmas Day Games. The NBA’s Christmas tradition continues will a full slate of games, 5 in all. This year, The Bulls and Nets tip-off at noon on ESPN, followed by Thunder-Knicks at 2:30pm on ABC. LeBron and the Heat take on Kobe and the Lakers at 5pm on ABC. The Rockets head to San Antonio at 8pm on ESPN. The day ends at 10:30pm with the Warriors heading to L.A. to battle the Clippers on ESPN. All times are Eastern.

  • For more information, go to nba.com

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LISTEN TO THIS:

The Beatles: Bootleg Recordings 1963. In preparation for the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles arrival in America, fans received a surprise Christmas gift: an official ‘bootleg’ containing 59 alternate studio cuts, demos and live tracks that were cut for the BBC. The studio material covers songs that ultimately made it onto Please Please Me and includes future classics ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’, and an early pass on ‘One After 909’. The BBC tracks shows why America – and the world – went nuts for the Fab Four: They were a kick ass rock n roll band. Rounding out the set are two demos of songs that never made it onto a Beatles album: ‘Bad To Me’ and the piano-driven ‘I’m In Love’, which features a killer Lennon vocal. It’s a great collection for Beatlemanics looking to relieve the hysteria of the time and for newbies who are curious to know why The Beatles continue to hold a grip on the cultural landscape. The Bootleg Recordings 1963 is available exclusively on Itunes.

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DO THIS:

NEW YORK CITY: The 2013 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the host and moderator for this annual discussion about the future of the space program. This year, the annual debate focuses on the commercialization of outer space. The panel will include entrepreneurs and space historians as they discuss the industry that exploring space is becoming, from space tourism to possibility of mining asteroids. The debate is sold out, but simulcast tickets are available to watch the event from the Linder Theater at the Natural History Museum in New York.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: It’s A Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago. A cast of 8 people recreate a 1940s radio broadcast of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on stage in front of a live audience. The performance includes live Foley sound effects and an original score to bring to story to life. It’s a way to experience George Bailey and the town of Bedford Falls like never before. Performances are running now through December 29th at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago.

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WATCH THIS ADDENDUM: YOUR GUIDE TO HOLIDAY TV SPECIALS:

FRIDAY: I Love Lucy Christmas Special. It’s not only your chance to see Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel in a holiday episode, but it’s also your chance to see them in color. CBS has taken two episodes of the classic sitcom and combined and colorized them into a new holiday special. The first half is Christmas themed with the second half being the Ricardos trip to Italy featuring the famous Lucy grape stomping scene. “The I Love Lucy Christmas Special” airs Friday, December 20th at 8pm Eastern on CBS.

TUESDAY: Scrooged. You can start your Christmas Eve, the comedy holiday classic, “Scrooged” starring Bill Murray. The movie from director Richard Donner and screenwriters Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue is a hysterical retelling of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. The film is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Enjoy it at Midnight, Eastern on Christmas Eve on ABC Family.

TUESDAY: A Christmas Story. The 24 hour marathon starts Christmas Eve on TBS at 8pm Eastern. Then enjoy all through Christmas Day. The best part about the “A Christmas Story” marathon is that no matter when you turn it on, there’s another classic scene. Even though it plays on an endless loop, it’s great watching Ralpie start to choke while talking to Santa, take on Scut Farkus and hope for his Red Ryder B.B. gun.

WEDNESDAY: The 39th Annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. It’s a Disney holiday tradition on Christmas Day. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and GMA’s Lara Spencer, the Christmas parade features plenty of musical numbers and characters from the Disney cartoons. Also performing this year, the Italian trio Il Volo and Ne-Yo. The parade starts on Christmas morning at 9am Eastern on ABC.

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