The Filtered Excellence: September 5, 2019

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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

The Deuce. David Simon and George Pelecanos’ look at the rise of the porn industry in New York City during the 1970s and 80s returns for its third and final season. The series jumps to 1985 as Times Square slowly moves away from peep shows, message parlors and X-rated theaters with the porn industry transitioning into VHS tapes and home entertainment. Even though plans to clean up The Deuce are underway, its still on edge with violent crime still at high levels, a new influx of drugs, a dramatic and the onset of AIDS epidemic pushing the city to the brink. The cast is once again anchored by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Eileen ‘Candy’ Merrill, now an adult filmmaker, and James Franco in the dual role of twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino, who are the still the faces of organized crime backed businesses. Expect more great performances, a time appropriate soundtrack and biting social commentary on how the adult film industry played a key role in transforming a city. The Deuce premieres Monday, September 9th at 9pm East on HBO. You can also go to www.hbo.com for more information. R45

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice. With a voice that could effortlessly sing everything from rock, pop, and country, to standards, opera and Mexican canciones, Linda Ronstadt remained a formidable presence on the music scene for over three decades. Sadly, illness forced Ronstadt to retire from singing, but her impact is still being felt today. This new documentary from Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman looks back at her extraordinary career, covering her formative years singing Mexican songs with her family, to her breakthrough as the lead singer of The Stone Ponys, through the launch of a solo career that included a streak of five consecutive platinum albums. The doc also covers her struggles to be taken seriously as a woman in a male-dominated industry, her fierce advocacy for human rights, her high profile romance with California Governor Jerry Brown, and how her battles to make musical shapeshifts opened the doors for the next generation of women performers. With narration by Ronstadt and contributions from such luminaries as David Geffen, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Epstein and Friedman have put together a dynamic salute to one of music’s greatest vocalists. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. You can also go to www.LindaRonstadtMovie.com for more information.

Live At La Cigale Paris by Tin Machine. After the commercial and critical disappointment of his 1987 album, Never Let Me Down, David Bowie was looking to once again hit the musical reset button. He co-founded the band Tin Machine with former Lust For Life collaborators Hunt and Tony Sales and guitarist Reeves Gabriels with the intention of creating music that truly came from the heart, despite whether or not it met sales expectations. They were also a band in every sense of the word, doing press junkets together and splitting all financial aspects equally. One month after the release of their debut album, Tin Machine played the 1000 seat La Cigale Theater in Paris to highly enthusiastic audience. The set was recorded and various tracks were released as B-sides to singles. Now, to coincide the 30th Anniversary of the album’s release, the full 45 minute set is finally being released. It features material from the debut album, along with radically reworked covers of John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’ and ‘Maggie’s Farm’ by Bob Dylan. The band sounds tremendous, coming off as seasoned pros rather than a band that was playing their 8th show since forming. Bowie is clearly feeding off the Parisian crowd, playfully engaging with them with in between several songs. The Sales Brothers are a thunderous rhythm tandem and Reeves Gabriel’s lead guitar work is nothing short of sublime. Bowie went on record a number of times stating that Tin Machine played a key part in him finding his musical compass again, and with this live effort, it’s easy to see why. Live At La Cigale Paris by Tin Machine is available now through Amazon, Apple Music and all major streaming services.

DO THIS

New York City/Los Angeles: PaleyFest: Fall TV Previews 2019. Get a heads up on the upcoming fall season with this 10 day festival at the Paley Center in Los Angeles and New York. It features new premiere viewings of shows from ABC (Mixed-ish, Stumptown, Emergence), CBS (Bob ❤️ Abishola), Fox (Almost Family, Prodigal Son, Bless The Harts), NBC (Perfect Harmony, Sunnyside, Bluff City Law), Amazon Prime Video (Undone), Hulu (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Dollface), Netflix (Disenchantment), and The CW (Batwoman, Nancy Drew, Katy Keene). L.A. attendees will also get to see post screening conversations with cast members and show creators. It’s a great chance to get a sneak peek of the season’s best offerings. PaleyFest: Fall TV Previews 2019 will take place September 5th through the 15th in Los Angeles and September 6th through the 8th in New York. You can also go to www.paleycenter.org for more information.

New York City: Meet Me In The Bathroom – The Art Show. Based on the critically acclaimed book by Lizzy Goodman, this new exhibit will feature work by the artists who made up the New York City music scene in the early 2000s. It will include pieces by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paul Banks of Interpol; Fabrizio Moretti and Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes; Dave Sitek and Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio and much more. There will also be work by such noted filmmakers such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Roman Coppola and much more. If you want to capture the feel and vibe that was happening in New York City at the dawn of a new century, this exhibit is for you. Meet Me In The Bathroom – The Art Show will be at The Hole through September 22nd. You can also go to www.theholenyc.com for more information.

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

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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.
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.