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The 1940’s produced some terrific movies about women’s stories, perhaps because so many men were off at war. Historical dramas were really well-done. Recently, I enjoyed a double-feature by some of the best actors and directors of the time.
“The Heiress,” from 1949, was directed by the great William Wyler. He won three Best Director Oscars, and made classic films: 1939’s “Wuthering Heights” with Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon and david Niven; 1942’s “Mrs. Miniver” with Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Teresa Wright; 1946’s “The Best Years of Our Lives” with Myrna Loy, Fredric March and Dana Andrews; 1953’s “Roman Holiday” with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck; 1968’s “Funny Girl” with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif...and these are just a sampling of his female-oriented films. (He also did 1959’s “Ben-Hur,” for example.) “The Heiress” is one of his lesser-known films. Set in mid-19th century New York society (like Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence”), it stars Olivia de Havilland, a very young Montgomery Clift, and the esteemed Ralph Richardson. Sir Ralph is the wealthy physician father to Olivia’s brow-beaten, awkward daughter. When she gains an unexpected suitor in the handsome Monty, dad figures it’s a play for her inheritance. Things don’t work out well for her romantically, but she gains a sense of herself that’s been sorely needed. Ms. de Havilland downplays any attempt at glamor, reminding me of her “Gone With the Wind” role ten years earlier; Mr. Clift is smooth and charming; Sir Ralph oozes power, but isn’t likable because he compares his daughter unfavorably to his late wife, and won’t let her forget it. This is classic Hollywood filmmaking. “That Hamilton Woman” was a 1941 Alexander Korda production. Born in Hungary, Korda started as a struggling film reviewer, had a difficult time in Hollywood, then made his name in Britain. “The Private Lives of Henry VIII,” and the “The Four Feathers” were among his classics. He was making “The Thief of Bagdad” when war broke out, so he moved to Hollywood, along with his younger brothers Vincent and Zoltan, to complete it for his own studio. The brothers collaborated next on “The Jungle Book” and “That Hamilton Woman,” starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. Sir Laurence, portraying naval hero Lord Nelson, is a bit stiff, but Ms. Leigh, just two years after “Gone With the Wind,” retains her vivaciousness. Leigh meets Olivier in Naples, where she’s lovelessly married to the British ambassador. Nelson needs logistical support, and Lady Hamilton intercedes with the local royal family on his behalf. Romance kindles. But he, too, is married, and to someone who won’t release him. He sails off to be the hero of the Napoleonic Wars at sea, and their fates are sealed. Korda also introduced Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who worked on his films. Later, they formed their own production company, The Archers, which went on to make the most beautiful Technicolor films of all time, “The Red Shoes” and “Black Narcissus.” But this is a black & white article, so that’s for another time….
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 It has become my opinion that it all comes down to male and female.
The man impregnates the woman,she gives birth. Speaking in archetypical terms, he goes off to war or the office, and she provides the watchful, loving care and guidance for the offspring. God is an absentee father. He’s the source of creation, holder of power. Men need to acknowledge and respect him, for our power comes from Him. He’s the Big Battery in the Sky. We call on our Shiva strength to change things, to progress. But we don’t always change things for the better. Shiva, the divine masculine, and Shakti, the divine feminine, have to be in balance. It takes two to tango. Shakti is an aspect of the Goddess, Shiva’s energetic counterpart. (Other aspects of the Goddess are known as Amma, Lakshmi, Quan Yin, Marilyn Monroe, et al.) It is the essence of femininity to envelop us with tender warmth. The Goddess/Divine Mother is the one at home, watching over us. When we pray for guidance or forgiveness or for others, She’s the one listening. So why do men kill each other arguing about things like their male gods? Unfortunately, when men forget to acknowledge the Goddess, they get over-amped on Yang, and anger, fear, aggressiveness, greed and destruction result from the blind pursuit of dominance. Let’s accept Universal Duality as a blessing. Keep it in mind in all our actions and considerations. Cultivate the Yin, the ideals of femininity. That doesn’t mean weakness: A spiritual warrior is dedicated to peace, but has the diligence, devotion and mastery to lead others. The feminine ideals of compassion and nurture, as well as the male ideals of courage, strength and vigilance need to be cultivated. There is a precedent: In a landmark book, “The Chalice and the Blade”, researchers discovered a “partnership society” that successfully existed in peace, for millennia, before being swept away by a war-like patriarchy. Then, as winners get to do, the patriarchy wrote its history as all that’s existed in the “civilized” era. In the early partner societies, balance was practiced. Nature was sacred. Compassion was possible. Let’s practice and preach that again, and remember that we all owe devotion to our Divine Mother as well as our Divine Father. Let them both inspire and help you!  Oscar Wilde’s classic cautionary tale about pride and vanity, “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”, featured a handsome, wealthy young man in Victorian London, who seems his soul for eternal youth and beauty. You’ve seen the movie, probably. His age and debauchery are transferred to his portrait, which he must hide, as it reveals his increasing evilness. Pretty cool.
Of course, it all goes to shit in the end. Fresh from my own downfall, yoga/martial arts school purgatory, recovery at the VA and a Vipassana eye-opener, I arrived at Harbin Hot Springs on 1-1-01. I was 57 and in pretty good shape. Went to work in housekeeping. Up and down that canyon. Lost any flab in a month. Assigned to live, first in the candidate dorm, which was a few steps from the world-famous pools, and then in a private cabin, one of only four that were only a few steps further from the blessed waters. And, of course, there were sundecks by the pools, where naked people relaxed in unself-conscious heaven. On the sundeck or the cool lawn below, I practiced my yoga and mastered it. My Chi was stirred. Shiva & Shakti energy flowed throughout Harbin. You could feel it at the dances twice a week, in the public places, the workshops…. After 14 years, I retired from full-time work. I was 71. I kept some part-time work to maintain my residency, access and camaraderie with the guests and Harbinites. But on September 12, 2015, It all ended with the Valley Fire. Harbin was burned, part of the billion-dollar catastrophe. I didn’t notice the effects right away. We were all in shock. And I have the most ideal domestic life. But, at my age, even with consistent yoga and the amazing TLC and nutritional delights provided by my wife, entropy sets in without a miraculous offset. Dorian Gray had his portrait. Just walking around Harbin was great exercise; it’s in a canyon with a healthy grade. The people…I miss all the friendly greetings. Frequent massage, available steps from my door at a great price. But the battery, for me, were the pools. Warm, hot, cold, repeat.… Quan Yin at the top, ready to receive the mantra I’d received from Amma. My practice, my devotion to the Divine Mother, all focused in that place. believe that I’ll be fine, when the pools at Harbin are re-opened, and I can plug in. Because those pools hold my youth and vitality. Blessings be.  Fortunately, like a cat, I’ve lived more than one life. But there was a time, in the late ‘90’s, when I thought the world had ended. I had made a fateful decision to leave my cocoon at Capitol Records, after almost 20 years, and try my luck as a consultant. I had no business trying to be a businessman. It was doomed from the beginning. I blew through money, failed to make the allies I needed, and immediately ran into the 1990 recession. I struggled through six years of it, but when best friends start turning in each other, it’s time to re-think your program. By the mid-90’s, rock’n’roll as a vital new force was essentially over, and my business and career were too. I’d also lost my mother (died), my wife (split), my teacher (died) and best friend (feud)... it was too much. I got clinically depressed, unable to care. Which led to divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, a big tax bill, and drug abuse. The downward spiral. So, when I got T-boned by a truck at Santa Monica and Vine on the way to the airport, I just went home. The insurance company didn’t figure out the fault for a while, so I had to raise money to cover the deductible when my Benz was repaired. I looked around, and thought, “Why not sell these gold record plaques?” And I did, as part of a general load-lightening that ended with me alone with my yoga mats moving to Harbin Hot Springs on 1-1-01. Now, it occurs that, although I don’t need to impress anyone the way I thought was once cool, it might be historically interesting to list those absent awards. They constitute the essence of an earlier life for me, and I am proud and honored to have been involved in the exciting rock music scene ‘76-’89, with an additional hot year in ‘93. So here’s the list: 1.Sweet, “Desolation Boulevard”. Ed Lefler, who also had Sammy Hagar, Juice Newton and (later) Van Halen, managed. A fellow Scorpio, and a cool guy. This English act had hits with “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox on the Run.” This was followed up with “Level Headed”, which produced the rock radio hit “Love Is Like Oxygen,” which didn’t quite make gold status. 800,000 units. 2-6. Bob Seger, “Live Bullet.” This was Bob’s first gold, after years of dues-paying, and was followed up by four quadra-platinum records in a row: “Night Moves,” “Stranger In Town,” “Nine Tonight,” and “Against the Wind.” 16,500,000 units initially. (See my Bob Seger post.) He and his excellent Silver Bullet Band continued with “Fire Down Below” and “Like A Rock.” He’s at 45 million albums sold now, including the Greatest Hits compilations the songs.) Punch Andrews has been his life-long manager and producer. 7-8. Steve Miller, “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Book of Dreams.” Steve had had his first big hit with “The Joker,” took the money, bought a farm near Medford, Oregon, and made these two blockbuster albums in one creative run. Along with “The Joker,” the hits from these two albums comprise his Greatest hits, which topped the Billboard CD reissue chart for a long time (along with Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” another Capitol album). “Take the Money and Run,” “Fly Like An Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” etc. 9,000,000 initially. 9. Bob Welch, “French Kiss.” Just out of Fleetwood Mac (and managed by Mick), Bob had a big hit with “Sentimental Lady.” It was a treat for me, as Bob had taken my place in an R&B band in ‘66. It was a sweet reunion, produced by my friend, A&R man Carter. 1,000,000. 10. Wings, Wings Over America. I obviously can’t take any credit for Paul McCartney’s career. He had been a superstar with the Beatles since ‘64. And his second band, Wings, had already had big hits with “Band On The Run” and “Venus and Mars.” Then he staged what was to be the best-produced concert series yet seen, and my staff, as artist development/relations people, had the privilege of accompanying the tour. It was a logistical coordination job, and a real pleasure to work with Paul, who on the three occasions I met him to be, clearly, a real gentleman. 3,000,000. 11. Little River Band. This Australian group had an epic 9-minute song, “It’s a Long Way There,” that was too long for radio play. I worked with the best editing engineer in the business, John Palladino, to get a promo version down to 4:16. It wasn’t a simple job,; multiple edits within the extended guitar solo had to make sense. It worked, and set up the next album, “Diamantina Cocktail,” for gold. 500,000. 12. The Motels, “All Four One” Martha Davis was an underground rocker in the guise of a torch singer, and beloved by the Capitol staff. Also signed by Carter, her group finally struck gold with the Val Garay-produced “Suddenly, Last Summer” and “Only the Lonely.” 500,000. 13. The Knack, "Get the Knack." These Detroit boys, transplanted to L.A., drew their inspiration from the first British music invasion. "Get the Knack" was an obvious take-off on "Meet the Beatles," and, with their hit "My Sharona," their rise up the charts was just as fast. The band was tight; even Bruce Springsteen was impressed when he saw them. They made their record quickly with producer Mike Chapman (Blondie), and in no time had a gold single. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a "one-hit wonder." Nevertheless, 2,000,000. 14-15. Biily Squier. Billy’s first album did only 35,000, but it had a Zeppelin-like quality that got everyone’s attention. He switched to Mack, one of Queen’s producers, and took off like a rocket with his second album. The next one did just as well. His run included “In the Dark,” “Lonely Is the Night,” “Everybody Wants You,” and “The Stroke.” Years later, he and I were completing a cross-country promo trip together at the CMJ Awards, which were held at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was to present an award to his fellow Bostonians Aerosmith.) Backstage, we ran into Run-DMC and LL Cool J. Billy was astonished to learn from them that his song “The Big Beat,” from his little-known debut album, had been one of the seminal samples of the Queen rap scene. 5,000,000. 16. Missing Persons. We were trying out EPs - low-budget, 6-song mini-albums - to promote new artists. It worked for this L.A. band, with a cute girl singer and a ferocious drummer, Terry Bozzio. The hit was “Walking in L.A.” After the mini-album took off, we launched the full-length LP. 500,000. 17. Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Me With Science.” Using the same EP-first strategy, and using the new outlets of MTV and dance clubs, we had a big hit with Thomas, who we were happy to get via EMI U.K., our parent company. 500,000. We came close with “Hyperactive,” from the next album, too. 18-20. Duran Duran. OMG, this felt like a phenomenon. There was a second English music invasion happening, and these guys had it all figured out. Their videos were shot on film (“Girls On Film”) in exotic locales, and the unrelated Taylors, along with Nick in makeup, were hot. For some reason, Lee Abrams’ rock stations went along with this trend. MTV and the dance clubs couldn’t get enough. They went from the Roxy (a club on the Strip) to the Forum (a basketball arena) in one tour. By the second album, “Rio,” I had them at the top of the charts along with the latest Bob Seger album, and I was soon promoted to VP, Rock A&R. There I was given the cushy job of joining the band for a good part of their first big North American tour. Their managers were the Barrow brothers, club owners from their hometown of Birmingham, England (“Peaky Blinders”!). They all developed refined tastes. The first three albums all were mega, including “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save A Prayer” and “The Reflex” totaling 7,500,000. 21-23. Iron Maiden. Another EMI U.K. gift, this was a slow burn. But when it did, it became one of the biggest catalogs in Capitol’s catalog, along with the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Garth Brooks. The strategy was the brilliant work of managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor (no relation to the Duran Duran guitarist). Rod had learned the American music market (intimidating for Europeans) as tour manager for Steve Harley in the ‘70’s. Andy was a financial genius. They made a plan, knowing where they were going to be, to the day, four years out. The strategy was based on fan loyalty and merchandising. Their “mascot,” Eddie was the face of the group, and was as relentlessly visible as he was scary. This was heavy metal in the hard-core Black Sabbath tradition (as opposed to the more melodic Deep Purple one that produced B.O.C and Boston), so radio play was a real challenge. But we pushed it everywhere we could, and the growing success of the group was unarguable. I had a couple of semi-hits with “Two Minutes to Midnight” and “Run to the Hills,” and got a very cool multi-disc plaque. At one point, all the albums in their catalog went gold. Then platinum. It wasn’t going to stop. I guess that in my time their sales were close to 10,000,000. 24. W.A.S.P. This outrageous L.A. group, led by Blackie Lawless, was much like early Alice Cooper, heavy and dark. The first album was about the theater of shock, but the music on the second was actually relatively melodic for a “metal” group. Spencer Proffer, who’d produced Quiet Riot’s hits, had the right touch. Sanctuary Music’s Rod and Andy (see Iron Maiden) managed. Radio resisted, but enough came on board to get us to gold with “Wild Child.” 500,000. 25. Red Rider, April Wine. Beside our U.K. parent, we had a great source of music with Capitol of Canada. Dean Cameron was the A&R honcho, and he sent several good rocks acts to us. I particularly loved Red Rider, featuring Tom Cochrane. I didn’t get him his gold album - that came as a solo project while I was in A&R - but certainly laid the foundation for it with some big rock radio hits, especially “Lunatic Fringe,” which was #1 at rock radio for at least six weeks. April Wine was not considered so special as songwriters, but kept notching up the results. First album, with “Roller”: 200,000. Second album, with “I Like to Rock”: 400,000. Third album, with “Sign of the Gypsy Queen: 800,000. About 2,000,000 total for both acts. 26-28. Great White. My one successful signing as an A&R man. Like Iron Maiden or April Wine, it started small and just got bigger and bigger. This was an L.A. band that was just one of many to emerge in the mid-late ‘80’s. It had been signed, but then dropped by our then sister label, EMI America. But then they put out a song independently that became #1 on the local L.A. rock stations: : “Face the Day.” I wasn’t a complete idiot, so I signed them on my way back to promotion. It didn’t hurt that their manager, Alan Niven, was a cool English guy who co-produced and co-wrote their albums; he also managed another up-coming L.A. band called Guns’n’Roses. So, yeah, there was some growing clout during this escapade. I had signed them, and then was back in the promo chair (now as a VP), so it was a highlight when we went from 100,000 to 1,000,000 with “Rock Me” and the ballad “Save Your Love,” to 2,000,000 with the hit “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” Then a slip to gold, then a greatest hits, so almost 5,000,000 total. Personal fave: the epic blues “House of Broken Love,” which was a top 10 turntable hit. 29. Crowded House. Young, bright A&R man Tom Whalley picked up this update of Split Enz, the Australian group led by the Finn brothers. Everyone who heard “Don’t Dream It’s Over” was entranced, but it didn’t rock hard enough for most programmers to take a chance on it. Capitol was wisely determined, though. I was brought back to promotion after the song had failed to break in two attempts. We got lucky when a Madison, Wisconsin station proved its appeal. We spread it to Chicago, and rolled it from there. 500,000. 30. Poison. Like Guns’n’Roses, this L.A. hard-rock band was cleverly marketed initially with an underground, androgynous punk music vibe. WBCN in Boston, which normally hated L.A. “hair bands,’ went for it. It set up a well produced follow-up that went right down the middle. The trick was to establish some hard-rock cred (“Nothin’ But a Good Time”), then come with a killer ballad (“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”). 2,000,000. 31. Bonnie Raitt. I’d seen Bonnie open for J.J. Cale at the Ash Grove in L.A. in late 1970. She’s just signed to Warner Bros. She established herself as a fine musician of great credibility, but never had a hit. 18 years later, I got my chance to work with her when she signed to Capitol under the new management of Gold Mountain (Danny Goldberg and Ron Stone, who insisted on sobriety). Don Grierson, our Sr. VP, was a master of resuscitating careers with classic A&R work, namely finding great songs and great producers to go with great voices. He did it with Heart and Joe Cocker, and with Bonnie. But she’s never had a top 40 hit, so I had to deliver first at rock radio. We had the goods (“Thing Called Love”), and the benefit of great support from VH1, MTV’s more adult channel. The record crossed over, went gold, won Grammys and kept going. A favorite experience for me. 4,000,000. Soon thereafter, under pressure from new management that was cleaning house at the label to bring in their cronies from Columbia or Warner Bros., I left to start my consulting business. After a year, I got a call to see if I’d like to return as a consultant. In another year, I was asked if I’d run the department again. This produced three more big hits, in the early ‘90’s: 32. Megadeth, “Countdown to Extinction.” The grunge thing and Metallica were happening. MTV ruled, and, if you had a killer video, it was pretty easy to get rock radio to go along. This was a huge contrast to the ‘70’s, before MTV, and when heavy metal was restricted to specialty shows on radio, once a week at midnight. Leader Dave Mustaine had originally been in Metallica, and this band became almost as big. 33. Radiohead. Another gift from EMI U.K., the first album produced “Creep,” the group’s first hit. Sometimes the public senses something special , as with Nirvana. 500,000 on the first album was just the tip of the iceberg. They went on to be the rock band for millennials. 34. Blind Melon. Capitol’s big hit of the grunge scene, “No Rain,” was propelled by a strangely sweet video of a girl in a bee costume tutu dancing through the streets. It was a sensation, and the song broke Aerosmith’s record for the most plays received at rock and alternative radio. Management was by BFD, which also had G’n’R at this point. (Tragically, Shannon Hoon, the group’s leader and singer, committed suicide, as had Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain,) 2,000,000. There were many other artists, of course, that I had great experiences with. Sammy Hagar, was very close to gold when his contract expired and he left for Geffen. We had done the grunt work with him. I had the privilege of working on albums from the Doobie Brothers, Queen, Heart and Joe Cocker, who were already stars when they came to Capitol. I had big radio hits with them, but didn’t “break” these acts, so didn’t deserve any special awards. (I got one for Heart, anyway, just doing my part. 4,000,000.) Two great guitar players I was involved in signing each sold 800,000. Steve Vai had come aboard as Ingvay's Malmsteen's successor in Alcatraz. We were doing a solo album with him when new management let his contract go, so Relativity picked up the master and got the sales. Eric Johnson came via the Cinema Records production dea I'd done in A&R. If we sold at least 100,000 albums, it was successful in terms of establishing the artist and being profitable for the company. There were many of these (30?), of which favorites included Starz (managed by Bill Aucoin, the genius behind Kiss); Mink DeVille (Willy DeVille, who put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, later married my assistant, Nina); the U.K.’s Be-Bop Deluxe (featuring singer & guitarist Bill Nelson, they performed my edit of their “Modern Music Suite” at the Palladium in New York); Kraftwerk (who I’d done a promo trip with in ‘75); Delbert McClinton (who dedicated a James Brown song to me at his L.A. Roxy show, - we’re both big fans of JB); Jon Butcher (another Spencer Proffer-produced artist, so talented and well-liked, but the victim of a management change at Capitol); Re-Flex ( a U.K. groove group that I championed to a top 10 hit with “The Politics of Dancing”); Pete Bardens (the keyboardist from Van Morrison and Camel, who was part of the Cinema Records production deal I'd signed, made a New Age album that was Pink Floydish enough to get decent airplay); and Steve Miller’s blues- and jazz- leaning albums of the mid-’80’s, that didn’t sell well but really worked for me. I had a strong multi-week run at #1 on the airplay chart with Steve's “Make the World Turn Around,” and a top 20 with his “Ya-Ya” from “Born 2B Blue,” still one of favorite records. But then, I’ll always be a fan of jazz and the blues.  Tilda Swinton’s ‘92 breakout, “Orlando,” was a fascinating film. In it, the androgynous-seeming actress plays an immortal who changes sex in her various incarnations. It’s not a part too many actors could’ve done. But Ms. Swinton, the daughter of a Lord and Lady, with the finest education, had developed a wonderful interest in the bizarre while studying acting, and we’ve benefited by seeing her morph into an amazing variety of sometimes unrecognizable parts. I’ve just re-ordered three of her films, all excellent in their own right. In Jim Jarmusch’s 2013 vampire movie, “Only Lovers Left Alive,” Tilda is Eve to Tom Hiddleston’s Adam. They’re like rock stars. In this film, Ms.Swinton is pale, as always, which fits her part perfectly as a creature of the night. She’s also, perhaps, most normal in her appearance, with her hair a bit longer than usual. She can be a cool beauty. That same year, she had a crazy makeover as Mason, an evil bureaucrat in Joon-ho Bong’s “Snowpiercer,” a post-apocalyptic tale of class struggle on an endlessly-moving train that holds all that’s left of humanity. This is a very cool sci-fi film, also starring Chris Evans (“Captain America” in the Marvel-verse). See the photo below, or better yet, the movie itself. (Interestingly, her “Only Lovers…” co-star, Tom Hiddleston, also a Marvel-verse star - as Loki in the “Thor” and “Avengers” films - has a similar story in the just-released “High-Rise,” in which a tower apartment building stands in for the train from “Snowpiercer.”) The next year, in 2014, she did it again in what’s perhaps my favorite movie of the decade so far, Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” The part is tiny (she’s killed off near the beginning, which sets the plot in motion), but it’s a delight that she’s willing to be virtually unrecognizable as Madame D, an ancient matron of great wealth. Ms. Swinton’s courage to be vulnerable and/or unlikable was also evident in ‘07’s “Michael Clayton,” in which she portrays an ethically empty corporate attorney opposite George Clooney in Tony Gilroy’s Oscar-winning thriller, another movie not to be missed. Her turn as nasty rival twin Hollywood gossip columnists in “Hail, Caesar!” earlier this year was yet another delight! This list could go on and on. I’ll see anything Ms. Swinton does.
I made a long list of movies about music and its heroes, but two stand out to me in terms of capturing the spirit of the mid ‘60’s-to-mid ‘70’s rise of Rock as an irresistible cultural force:
“Pirate Radio” and “Almost Famous.” Britain’s Richard Curtis wrote and directed the hilarious ”Pirate Radio” in ‘09. Best known for romantic comedies (“Notting Hill”, “Bridget Jones’ Diary”, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Love Actually” and the more recent, delightful “About Time”), he must’ve drawn on some personal experience growing up in the mid ‘60’s to pull off his brilliant ensemble story of a group of renegade DJs in the early days of the music revolution. It was also a cultural revolution in England, not initially acceptable to the stuffy “establishment,” embodied by a Hitler-looking bureaucrat played by a darkly wonderful Kenneth Branagh. He’s freaking out because this group of DJs are broadcasting that lascivious rock’n’roll from a ship anchored off-shore, and hence not subject to Britain’s restrictive BBC rules. (Even in ‘66, the popularity of the new sound was barely acknowledged by that state-sanctioned monopoly of the public airwaves.) The cast of characters is genius. Bill Nighy is Quentin, the GM of the pirate station, which is anchored in the frigid North Sea; I think “droll” is the word for him. Philip Seymour Hoffman is The Count, the most excitable DJ, who is sorta top dog ‘till Rhys Ifan’s Gavin shows up, setting off a rivalry. Chris O’Dowd is Simon, who gets quite a letdown from a beautiful, shallow woman. (He got to make up for that embarrassment in another great music movie, this one about soul music, “The Sapphires.”) The story is superficially a coming-of-age story about a young man who comes aboard to learn the ropes, and discover something about his unknown father, but it’s MUCH MORE than that. The soundtrack is perhaps the biggest star, and the way we hear The Kinks, The Who, The Stones, et al, is with an excitement similar to what it must’ve felt like then. This is a time machine of a movie, and a rockin’ entertainment. SO FUNNY!!! 2000’s “Almost Famous” is a somewhat autobiographical film by writer-director Cameron Crowe, recalling his professional beginnings as a Rolling Stone writer in the early ‘70’s. He’s a high school kid who gets his shot by being assigned to accompany a famous rock group on tour. Billy Crudup is the handsome band leader, and Kate Hudson made her brilliant, Oscar-nominated debut as a groupie, Penny Lane, who describes herself as a “band aide.” (Frances McDormand, as the young reporter’s mom, was also nominated.) I was fortunate to be getting my own start in the music business at the same time in which “Almost Famous” is set. MTV, or any national media controlling our music tastes, hadn’t happened yet. Every market was unique. Cleveland’s WMMS loved British music; there really was a Swingos hotel where all the rockers stayed. St. Louis’ KSHE was breaking acts that only had regional popularity (Bob Seger from Detroit, Sammy Hagar from the Bay Area, Little River Band from Australia), if they’d do concerts for the promoters, who also owned the station; it worked. Boston’s WBCN was always the hippest, highly opinionated, with a cast of brilliant DJs. Then there was New York’s WNEW-FM, Miami’s WSHE, San Francisco’s KSAN, L.A.’s KMET, Chicago’s WXRT, etc, etc. It made a cross-country trip anything but monotonous; the variety was exhilarating! I made a promo trip like that with Ralf and Florian of Kraftwerk in 1975 as my first such journey. So, “Almost Famous” captures a time for me that is dear and as lost as pirate radio stations off England’s coast. There is an innocence to this time, as well as the spirit of liberation that the birth of the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll mantra brought in the pre-AIDS daze of the ‘70’s. This was the decade in which rock music started as an alternative, underground phenomenon and culminated as the most powerful part of popular culture, eclipsing, for a time, the movie business. Meanwhile, the movie is a delight. It’s another ensemble piece that’s wonderfully written, with hilarious moments. (When their private plane looks like it’s going down, one of the band members makes a confession that wouldn’t phase us now, but was pretty shocking then; of course, the plane recovers...Whoops!) And this soundtrack also draws on our memories of a magical era. Will it ever be this good, this fresh, this exciting again?
Until the recent “Star Wars” reboot, “Avatar” was the biggest-grossing movie ever. Most of us love a good science fiction film. Witness Will Smith’s amazing run of #1 movies, or the “Alien” and “Terminator” franchises. “Blade Runner” is getting a sequel, and “Avatar” is getting three!
One of the reasons James Cameron’s “Avatar” connected so well is that it had an environmental message. Recently, China had a similar hit with the environmentally-themed fantasy, “The Mermaid.” It has become the all-time #1 movie in China, and it’s now out on Blu-ray and DVD here. I recommend it for a weekend daytime viewing. This is when I might put on an animated film, for example, because it provides sheer escapism and tweaks the imagination. But while “The Mermaid” feels like a cartoon, it’s actually live action with lots of special effects, sort of like those old “Jason & the Argonauts” kinda films. Directed by Stephen Chow, who had a huge breakout hit with “Kung Fu Hustle,” “The Mermaid” is definitely Chinese in its unique mix of fantasy, slapstick and, to westerners, occasional gross-out scenes. It reminds me of when I dated a lovely and elegant Chinese woman who loved to cook; we’d go to Asian markets, and there’d be lots of squid-like marine life in tanks, and it was no big deal to turn them into dinner. There’s an octopus-mermaid guy in the movie who has to deal with human confusion in this respect; gross but funny. Sexual organs are funny, too; a scene where the bad human developer tries to explain to two policemen that mermaids exist, their clueless drawings, trying to visualize what he’s telling them, are hilarious. There’s also some climactic brutality that is unnerving, but leads to a successful resolution, much the way that “Avatar”’s natives lost their Great Tree but came back to win the battle and save their environment. It’s not like anything you’ve seen before! The opening scene just seems silly, but stick with it while the main characters are developed, and I think you’ll be delightfully amused. (And what characters!) |
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