The Filtered Excellence: February 23, 2012

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Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” Its right here. Here are this weeks picks of what to WATCH, what to DO what to TRY what to READ what to LISTEN TO and more:

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WATCH THIS:

The 84th Annual Academy Awards.  Don’t miss this years Academy Awards Ceremony honoring the best of the best,  and hosted by veteran emcee Billy Crystal, and you’ll of course want to check out all the surrounding hoopla– pre-shows, post-shows, after parties, red carpet celebrations, and gossip.  Robin Roberts,  Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia, Louise Roe and Jess Cagle will be hosting the pre show starting at 7pm to get you warmed up for the main event which begins at 8pm.

The Independent Spirit Awards.  It’s true, there are enough hours of film on Oscar night to satisfy most people, but this isn’t the “most people list” it’s the Filtered Excellence list and The Independent Spirit Awards honor everything that  filtered excellence is about.  This year’s ceremony is hosted by Seth Rogan and will be airing on Bravo and IFC on Saturday night at 10pm est.  So save some room in your schedule as this event is as important as the Oscars are.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night. Four competitions throughout the night, but with such a busy weekend, you can cut right to the Slam Dunk Contest.  That’s where all the fun is, as some of the best players in the NBA show off their skills, and creativity.   The entire night starts at 8pm and if you have nothing else to do anyway, tune in for all four challenges.  Saturday February 25, 2012 at 8pm on TNT.

NBA All-Star Game.  Skip a few of the dresses on the red carpet and tune in to TNT to watch one of the few all-star games that is actually worth watching.  Need your dose of glamour and fashion? No worries, all the major stars and shoe companies will be representing. Sunday February 26, 2012 at 7pm on TNT.

Chico and Rita.  This film detailing a decades long love affair between a Cuban pianist and a singer is up for Best Animated Film Feature at this year’s Oscars for good reason. It’s fantastic. A great story stretched out over post World War II Cuba, the birth of the bebop and civil rights movement, all the way through the resurgence of pre-Castro jazz at the turn of the 21st Century. Some of the biggest names in jazz also make appearances: Dizzy, Bird, Woody Herman, Tito Puente, and Chano Pozo all make cameos to help drive an already killer soundtrack. Don’t let the animation dissuade you, its a strong adult story about the power of love.   If you happen to be in NY you can check it out at the Angelika now.

 

LISTEN TO THIS:

Go Fly a Kite, by Ben Kweller. On his fifth studio album, Ben Kweller once again proves that he’s the modern master of power pop. After a brief sojourn into alt-country, Kweller returns to what he does best, crafting great pop songs that simultaneously evoke music of the past and sound fresh and original.

Love, Peace And Soul by The Don Byron New Gospel Quintet.  A noted musician and scholar, Don Byron is a walking encyclopedia of American music. His albums have often served as tributes and extended explorations into the compositions of largely forgotten moments in American Popular Music. For his latest project, Don looks into the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, author of some of the most often used hymns and spirituals heard in Baptist churches worldwide. What made Dorsey’s songs even more unique was his inclusion of blues idioms into the music, which was as Bryon puts it, ‘a revolutionary concept’. This addition is the blueprint for soul music and later, funk. Don leads an incredible band through twelve gospel standards that served as the backdrop for the Black Baptist church, but later became signature songs for artists such as Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Aretha Franklin. Love, Peace, And Soul is the perfect album to round out Black History Month.

READ THIS:

Heft by Liz Moore. Weighing in at over 500 pounds, Arthur Opp has not left his Brooklyn home in nearly a decade. Arthur is the affable protagonist and narrator in this tale. At one time he was a college professor, but now Arthur is unemployed and home-bound, his limited interactions with others are mostly consisting of daily deliveries to his home,and the occasional correspondences exchanged with one of his former students, Charlene. It is Charlene’s out-of-the-blue phone call to Arthur, one day, a request for his help with her teenage son, Kel, that will serve as the catalyst to change their lives. Heft is a captivating story, with characters that readers will root for. Most of all it is a story which speaks to the powers of unexpected human connection, and relationships formed in the most unlikely of circumstances.

DO THIS:

Screening of La Permission by Melvin Van Peebles at 92Y Tribeca.  Melvin Van Peebles is the original hustler, a true maverick in every sense of the word. When Hollywood refused to let him make the kind of films that he wanted to make, he went out and make them himself. This Saturday, 92nd Street Y Tribeca will screen his first feature, ‘La Permission (The Story Of A Three Day Pass)’, which Melvin wrote and directed while living in Paris. There will be a post-screening Q&A session, then a live performance with Melvin and his band Laxative. This is a rare opportunity to see the many facets of Melvin Van Peebles in one night.

 

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Interrobang Staff

Interrobang Staff