This is a bad film and a good one too.
It's bad because the script is hackneyed, too busy with exposition, often unbelievable and certainly unnatural.
But it's good because it illuminates the insecurity of an artist. The most sensitive amongst us create the greatest work, they illuminate our warts, the human condition, that's why we love art, not because it's got a good beat and you can dance to it, but because it makes us feel so not alone.
I wanted to go to the movies, I wanted to get away from life. But with so many entertainment options at our fingertips we only have time for the best, it's not that I want my fifteen dollars back, but when I see a crappy movie I want my TIME back. They're not making any more of it folks, use it wisely, it runs out. And there was nothing worth seeing at the ArcLight.
So I checked the streaming services, to see what was available. I'm almost at the end of a thirteen part documentary on World War II on Netflix, I feel like Tony Soprano, watching the History Channel, it's amazing what you don't learn in school, my teachers lived through it so they didn't want to talk about it, they thought I knew it, but I didn't, and still don't. Watch "World War II In HD Colour," yes, it's colorized, and that sucks, but it's still riveting.
But I wasn't in the mood for non-fiction, like I said, I wanted to get away. So I peeked into Amazon Prime and found the Brian Wilson movie.
I love the Beach Boys. Jan & Dean reached me first, but they led me to Brian and the crew. And Brian's only problem is he lived. Had he died, he'd be equal to John Lennon. But soldiering on, we were subjected to the seventies comeback with the SNL TV show, the eighties comeback with Eugene Landy and the twenty first century comeback with the final recording of "Smile." How can we miss you when you won't go away? Brian's on tour every year, as a matter of fact, I'm seeing him Sunday night!
But it's bizarre. Because he's there and he's not. He's singing the songs but he's not. He's behind the piano but he's not playing. It's like going to a living museum, you question your attendance at this freak show.
But what does a family do with a freak?
Especially a drug casualty. Yesterday, on Terry Gross, Maia Szalavitz, an addiction expert, said tough love sucks, as do interventions, you've got to be kind. But what if nothing works?
Nothing worked with Brian Wilson.
The first time I saw him was at the movies in Westwood. He was wearing a satin jacket with his name embroidered. I went up and thanked him, told him I was a big fan, I got no response.
At the BMI awards he put his head on our table.
And on his bus a couple of years back he seemed to be talking to anybody but me, but I was the only one there.
That's a great, someone detached, someone who just isn't made for these times.
Too much is made about "Pet Sounds" in this flick. That wasn't the only breakthrough, and I'd be lying if I said it was my favorite.
But I remember it being followed by the first greatest hits album not even two months thereafter, I could tell "Pet Sounds" was a stiff. And I know the legend re Mike Love, which is on screen here, he wants hits, no different from what came before, he's the embodiment of today's execs and acts, whereas Brian didn't want to repeat himself.
Do you want to repeat yourself? Go to work and do the same damn thing day after day? Sounds like death to me. But that's what they wanted from Brian, despite him being flesh and blood, not a robot on an assembly line.
So we get not only "Pet Sounds," but "Good Vibrations." And "'Til I Die."
But as much as Brian was sure he wanted to test limits, explore the fringe, beat the Beatles, he was unsure, insecure, that's the human condition, you're looking for support, oftentimes where you'll get it the least, from your dad or your bandmate or your record company... Furthermore, people are confounded when you change, and if you don't hit the bullseye, they tell you you're through.
I don't know how a movie like "Love & Mercy" gets made. Do filmmakers really think great numbers of people are going to pay money to go to a theatre to sit through it? Something that's not a comic book extravaganza, something that doesn't even look triumphant on the page?
Thank god for passion projects. But the best thing is movies live on, online, on streaming services, that's where people see them today, that's where their largest audience is.
And you should see "Love & Mercy."
You'll see an era where recording a great song was the peak of creativity, when Southern California was the epicenter of not only hedonism, but limit-testing, an environment where young people could live like royalty on the basis of song.
0's and 1's are much more friendly. It's much easier to write a hit app than a hit song. And the app economy is based on giving people what they want, as opposed to what they need. Hit records give us a reason to live.
Paul Dano is more Brian Wilson than John Cusack.
Paul Giamatti overplays Eugene Landy, and is wearing a bad wig to boot.
And Melinda is portrayed as a saint, and no one's that good.
And Brian's stuck in the middle, alone, he doesn't know we're right alongside him.
He's still here.
But it's much more about what went down back there.
Funny how we tear everybody down, but when they break through we exalt them. We put them on a pedestal, when the truth is they're just human, riddled with imperfections and self-doubt.
Brian Wilson may be a bit crazier, and a bunch more talented, but his story is the essence of being a musician, one who digs down deep based on passion and experience to deliver that which cannot be quantified which hopefully will titillate the public's fancy.
This film focuses on the breakthroughs. Because those are the hardest to achieve. And it illustrates that getting what you want won't necessarily make you happy.
Brian had hit records, made money, got off the road, was allowed to follow his vision, and he ended up isolated and paralyzed...
Brian Wilson lived for our sins. He could have died and had his legend set in stone, but he kept bumbling on, we all have to bumble on, we've all got victories and losses.
But few have peaks as high as Brian Wilson, or valleys as low.
This film will stimulate your artistic instincts, it will make you feel connected in a world that oftentimes seems incomprehensible.
And that's the job of art.
Which is nearly impossible to get right.
But sometimes there are diamonds amidst the zirconia.
Like in "Love & Mercy."
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Friday, 8 July 2016
New Orleans/Minneapolis/Dallas
Pigs. That's what we called the cops in the sixties, before Nixon got elected on a law and order platform, blacks were incarcerated in unprecedented numbers and whites rallied around law enforcement.
Oh, what a long strange trip it's been.
Life surprises you. It's a good reason to keep on keepin' on. If you'd told me America was hurtling towards revolution, that its ills would come to the forefront, I'd have laughed. Things have been going in the wrong direction for so long now I've given up hope.
But then came Ferguson.
Credit cell phone cameras. In a nation fixated on the image, even more than the weapon, we're all intrigued by the footage. Suddenly, the oppressed can document impropriety.
Of course I'm not defending the sniper. Killing is completely unjustified, I have sympathy for the families of the deceased. But when you keep a whole swath of the public down, when racism runs rampant, when guns are available easily, do you expect peace to reign, do you expect that no nitwit will twist the message and do something untoward?
Like those shooting up abortion clinics. They may be insane, but they've been hearing the right wing agitation for so long they've taken the law into their own hands.
And let's stay with the right wing agitation. It was a long game which has now played out, come to fruition. To achieve its agenda the Republicans began the Federalist Society, to put right wing judges in place. To the point where getting an abortion in a right wing state is rough, to the point where even if you're a citizen you might be unable to vote. There used to be protections, but the right wing Supreme Court got rid of them, saying everything was copacetic, that racism no longer exists.
Kind of like anti-Semitism. Everybody hates the Jews. I know, because I am one. Amazing what people will say when they don't know you're a member of the tribe.
But at least my skin is white. Black people are black all day long, identifiably so, and as my African-American Uber driver said today, racism is worse than ever, it's just that the white people know better than to verbalize it in mixed company.
He also said that racism was exacerbated by the loss of educational opportunities. You know, the death of affirmative action, which was eviscerated because one white person might have to step aside to enable a whole race to get ahead.
And the left wing elites are not much better. Where is the opportunity for the black man in today's society? Especially one who's been to jail? And Donald Trump is just stirring up hate, but at the bottom of it is economic dissatisfaction, that the immigrants stole the working class's jobs.
Meanwhile, the privileged whites cling ever tighter to their guns and money. Leaving little chance for the downtrodden, those without opportunities.
This is not a law and order issue, this is a cultural issue, an economic issue. When are we going to see all people as equal? Not only in protection under the law, but in opportunity?
Bill Clinton put a dent in welfare. Everybody with something hates those with nothing. Believing if the poor just pulled themselves up by their bootstraps they too could make it, not realizing the door is shut for so many, who aren't even aware of the slim opportunities they have, who would tell them?
I've lived through this before, in the aforementioned sixties. The white kids were sick and tired of living by conventions that made no rational sense. And the black people wanted respect.
Ain't that a funny word.
We'll tune into the NBA but we won't give a black person who is not famous a job.
And then we criticize athletes for their lifestyle when the truth is white men are no different, when rich they like to screw and waste money too.
And why are we looking up to athletes anyway?
And music is dominated by African-Americans, check the statistics, hip-hop/rap rules. Isn't it funny that the younger generation can see the value, but those in power cannot.
Then again, a couple of decades back, the refrain was "F... Tha Police," whereas today music has veered from being social commentary to a dash for cash.
That's the bottom line in our country today, the bottom line. Cops stop cars for revenue as opposed to the infraction. Because the whites don't want to pay taxes, believing they earned the money and the underclass does not, pay taxes, that is. But the underclass pays sales and payroll taxes, assuming you can get a job.
So the whites rally around institutions, believing they've won. You can't question the government, unless you want to drown it in the bathtub, the Dixie Chicks sacrificed their career for speaking their truth, because people no longer want to look under the carpet, or in the mirror, and realize they're imperfect and change has got to come.
It will.
Because eventually the pot boils over, the lid blows off. Everything looks cool and then you realize it is not.
Let's start with jobs. A national work program to redo our sagging infrastructure, which needs it, now, when money is still cheap.
Then let's readdress the safety net. No one should starve, no one should lack a roof over their head. And they should not be restricted in what they can spend on, that erodes their dignity, it's really no different from making a Jew wear a yellow star.
Then we've got to take back our prisons, so much of the infrastructure that has been privatized and now has no oversight. Some things need to be run by the government.
And we've got to address the drug laws, hell, decriminalization is a start. And let nonviolent offenders out and institute more programs integrating them back into society.
And not only do we need to reduce the cost of college, so that in-state universities are not dominated by out-of-state students because they can pay the full freight, but we must help the disadvantaged get in, and stay in.
And there must be more money for elementary and secondary school education, and there must be a balance amongst all schools, so everybody gets an opportunity.
You think that immigrant is taking your job, that black person is making life dangerous, but the truth is these people are helping you, adding to the rich fabric of our country.
Enough with the demonization.
Enough with the guns.
All lives have value.
But we only seem to pay attention when they're snuffed out.
How about those who are still here? Who are minorities, who have few advantages. They're just as good as you and me folks, they could make it if we helped them.
Lyndon Johnson spoke of a Great Society.
Today it's every person for him or herself.
The cops need to feel safe, they need to be protected.
But the people do too.
It's kind of like the law. Innocent until proven guilty.
But in today's America a black person is guilty until proven innocent.
That can't go on.
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Oh, what a long strange trip it's been.
Life surprises you. It's a good reason to keep on keepin' on. If you'd told me America was hurtling towards revolution, that its ills would come to the forefront, I'd have laughed. Things have been going in the wrong direction for so long now I've given up hope.
But then came Ferguson.
Credit cell phone cameras. In a nation fixated on the image, even more than the weapon, we're all intrigued by the footage. Suddenly, the oppressed can document impropriety.
Of course I'm not defending the sniper. Killing is completely unjustified, I have sympathy for the families of the deceased. But when you keep a whole swath of the public down, when racism runs rampant, when guns are available easily, do you expect peace to reign, do you expect that no nitwit will twist the message and do something untoward?
Like those shooting up abortion clinics. They may be insane, but they've been hearing the right wing agitation for so long they've taken the law into their own hands.
And let's stay with the right wing agitation. It was a long game which has now played out, come to fruition. To achieve its agenda the Republicans began the Federalist Society, to put right wing judges in place. To the point where getting an abortion in a right wing state is rough, to the point where even if you're a citizen you might be unable to vote. There used to be protections, but the right wing Supreme Court got rid of them, saying everything was copacetic, that racism no longer exists.
Kind of like anti-Semitism. Everybody hates the Jews. I know, because I am one. Amazing what people will say when they don't know you're a member of the tribe.
But at least my skin is white. Black people are black all day long, identifiably so, and as my African-American Uber driver said today, racism is worse than ever, it's just that the white people know better than to verbalize it in mixed company.
He also said that racism was exacerbated by the loss of educational opportunities. You know, the death of affirmative action, which was eviscerated because one white person might have to step aside to enable a whole race to get ahead.
And the left wing elites are not much better. Where is the opportunity for the black man in today's society? Especially one who's been to jail? And Donald Trump is just stirring up hate, but at the bottom of it is economic dissatisfaction, that the immigrants stole the working class's jobs.
Meanwhile, the privileged whites cling ever tighter to their guns and money. Leaving little chance for the downtrodden, those without opportunities.
This is not a law and order issue, this is a cultural issue, an economic issue. When are we going to see all people as equal? Not only in protection under the law, but in opportunity?
Bill Clinton put a dent in welfare. Everybody with something hates those with nothing. Believing if the poor just pulled themselves up by their bootstraps they too could make it, not realizing the door is shut for so many, who aren't even aware of the slim opportunities they have, who would tell them?
I've lived through this before, in the aforementioned sixties. The white kids were sick and tired of living by conventions that made no rational sense. And the black people wanted respect.
Ain't that a funny word.
We'll tune into the NBA but we won't give a black person who is not famous a job.
And then we criticize athletes for their lifestyle when the truth is white men are no different, when rich they like to screw and waste money too.
And why are we looking up to athletes anyway?
And music is dominated by African-Americans, check the statistics, hip-hop/rap rules. Isn't it funny that the younger generation can see the value, but those in power cannot.
Then again, a couple of decades back, the refrain was "F... Tha Police," whereas today music has veered from being social commentary to a dash for cash.
That's the bottom line in our country today, the bottom line. Cops stop cars for revenue as opposed to the infraction. Because the whites don't want to pay taxes, believing they earned the money and the underclass does not, pay taxes, that is. But the underclass pays sales and payroll taxes, assuming you can get a job.
So the whites rally around institutions, believing they've won. You can't question the government, unless you want to drown it in the bathtub, the Dixie Chicks sacrificed their career for speaking their truth, because people no longer want to look under the carpet, or in the mirror, and realize they're imperfect and change has got to come.
It will.
Because eventually the pot boils over, the lid blows off. Everything looks cool and then you realize it is not.
Let's start with jobs. A national work program to redo our sagging infrastructure, which needs it, now, when money is still cheap.
Then let's readdress the safety net. No one should starve, no one should lack a roof over their head. And they should not be restricted in what they can spend on, that erodes their dignity, it's really no different from making a Jew wear a yellow star.
Then we've got to take back our prisons, so much of the infrastructure that has been privatized and now has no oversight. Some things need to be run by the government.
And we've got to address the drug laws, hell, decriminalization is a start. And let nonviolent offenders out and institute more programs integrating them back into society.
And not only do we need to reduce the cost of college, so that in-state universities are not dominated by out-of-state students because they can pay the full freight, but we must help the disadvantaged get in, and stay in.
And there must be more money for elementary and secondary school education, and there must be a balance amongst all schools, so everybody gets an opportunity.
You think that immigrant is taking your job, that black person is making life dangerous, but the truth is these people are helping you, adding to the rich fabric of our country.
Enough with the demonization.
Enough with the guns.
All lives have value.
But we only seem to pay attention when they're snuffed out.
How about those who are still here? Who are minorities, who have few advantages. They're just as good as you and me folks, they could make it if we helped them.
Lyndon Johnson spoke of a Great Society.
Today it's every person for him or herself.
The cops need to feel safe, they need to be protected.
But the people do too.
It's kind of like the law. Innocent until proven guilty.
But in today's America a black person is guilty until proven innocent.
That can't go on.
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Thursday, 7 July 2016
How To Make It
DESIRE
Making it can't be some thing, it's got to be the ONLY THING. You're gonna want to sacrifice, but you're gonna have to forgo more than that, miss out on parties, on social rituals, all in the goal of achieving your heart's desire, which you think will satisfy you but it won't, but you've got no choice.
INSPIRATION
Its source is unknown. Sometimes you're just standing in the shower, other times you're reading a book, watching a movie. It's not conscious, it sneaks up on you, and then your goal is to capture the moment. Don't second guess yourself, that's when you lose it, the truth is greatness is all about an edge, you're not fifty percent better than everybody else, more like five. But that five makes all the difference. And that five is unfiltered, unjudged, oftentimes unstudied. Sure, chops help, but when inspiration hits you've got to run on instinct, be willing to break the rules, all in service of getting that inspiration down.
CONNECTIONS
You can't make it alone. You need someone to lead the charge. This is the hardest part, finding someone who believes who will get you to your destination without ripping you off. The greats are socially awkward, but the conveyors see something in them, a spark, that they can bring to the public, to make money.
VISION
There's a market for me-too, there's a market for assembly line, the factory needs workers, but that's about stardom, not art. What is it that you want to achieve? If it's solely about making money, go elsewhere, you can make more there, especially today. If it's about acceptance and accolades, you're on the right track. You'll get 'em, but they won't be satisfying, they won't fill you up. That's the dirty little secret of the greats, they do it to connect with others and when they find out success doesn't fix their lives they can't do it anymore.
CONTEXT
You must be a student of the game, if you live in a vacuum you won't succeed. You've got to know what's already successful, you've got to envision your place in the firmament, you're a salesman, and your art is your product. If too much convincing, too much backstory, too much explanation is required, you'll miss the target.
BELIEF
You've got to believe you're the best, that you have something to add, even though you'll have moments of extreme doubt, when you believe you're worthless and undeserving.
TUNING OUT THE NOISE
People want to put you down, they want you to be like them, the longer you listen the more discouraged you become. You are the game, everybody else is the audience.
PERSEVERANCE
Your one big break is not. The road is littered with not only bumps, but hills. The mountaintop is far in the distance, you think you can see it, but you cannot. Keep going.
CHANGE
He not busy being born is busy dying. If you're repeating yourself, if you're in a rut, you're already in the rearview mirror. Admit mistakes, try new things, you stumble into greatness, it's not about calculation.
LEARNING
All the time, you're not only hoovering up information, mistakes correct your course. And you gain knowledge of people, you realize so many are full of crap. Finding those who can truly aid you is a lifetime journey.
GETTING SCREWED
You will be. If you were good at finance, you'd be working on Wall Street. But those people can't do what you do, and believe me, they want to. If you're worrying about leaving money on the table, if you're worrying about getting ripped off, if you can't stop thinking about dollars you're gonna be destroyed, if you get off the launch pad at all. Sure, money counts. But if you make it, there will be enough. And with your name attached you can earn a living for the rest of your life, which those who ripped you off probably cannot.
RESTING ON YOUR LAURELS
You can't give people what they want, but what they need. You've got to continue to test limits. Once you second guess the audience you're finished, you're an oldies act, you're culturally irrelevant.
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Making it can't be some thing, it's got to be the ONLY THING. You're gonna want to sacrifice, but you're gonna have to forgo more than that, miss out on parties, on social rituals, all in the goal of achieving your heart's desire, which you think will satisfy you but it won't, but you've got no choice.
INSPIRATION
Its source is unknown. Sometimes you're just standing in the shower, other times you're reading a book, watching a movie. It's not conscious, it sneaks up on you, and then your goal is to capture the moment. Don't second guess yourself, that's when you lose it, the truth is greatness is all about an edge, you're not fifty percent better than everybody else, more like five. But that five makes all the difference. And that five is unfiltered, unjudged, oftentimes unstudied. Sure, chops help, but when inspiration hits you've got to run on instinct, be willing to break the rules, all in service of getting that inspiration down.
CONNECTIONS
You can't make it alone. You need someone to lead the charge. This is the hardest part, finding someone who believes who will get you to your destination without ripping you off. The greats are socially awkward, but the conveyors see something in them, a spark, that they can bring to the public, to make money.
VISION
There's a market for me-too, there's a market for assembly line, the factory needs workers, but that's about stardom, not art. What is it that you want to achieve? If it's solely about making money, go elsewhere, you can make more there, especially today. If it's about acceptance and accolades, you're on the right track. You'll get 'em, but they won't be satisfying, they won't fill you up. That's the dirty little secret of the greats, they do it to connect with others and when they find out success doesn't fix their lives they can't do it anymore.
CONTEXT
You must be a student of the game, if you live in a vacuum you won't succeed. You've got to know what's already successful, you've got to envision your place in the firmament, you're a salesman, and your art is your product. If too much convincing, too much backstory, too much explanation is required, you'll miss the target.
BELIEF
You've got to believe you're the best, that you have something to add, even though you'll have moments of extreme doubt, when you believe you're worthless and undeserving.
TUNING OUT THE NOISE
People want to put you down, they want you to be like them, the longer you listen the more discouraged you become. You are the game, everybody else is the audience.
PERSEVERANCE
Your one big break is not. The road is littered with not only bumps, but hills. The mountaintop is far in the distance, you think you can see it, but you cannot. Keep going.
CHANGE
He not busy being born is busy dying. If you're repeating yourself, if you're in a rut, you're already in the rearview mirror. Admit mistakes, try new things, you stumble into greatness, it's not about calculation.
LEARNING
All the time, you're not only hoovering up information, mistakes correct your course. And you gain knowledge of people, you realize so many are full of crap. Finding those who can truly aid you is a lifetime journey.
GETTING SCREWED
You will be. If you were good at finance, you'd be working on Wall Street. But those people can't do what you do, and believe me, they want to. If you're worrying about leaving money on the table, if you're worrying about getting ripped off, if you can't stop thinking about dollars you're gonna be destroyed, if you get off the launch pad at all. Sure, money counts. But if you make it, there will be enough. And with your name attached you can earn a living for the rest of your life, which those who ripped you off probably cannot.
RESTING ON YOUR LAURELS
You can't give people what they want, but what they need. You've got to continue to test limits. Once you second guess the audience you're finished, you're an oldies act, you're culturally irrelevant.
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Wednesday, 6 July 2016
Clinton E-Mail Server
She didn't obey the rules.
That's another thing the working class believes in strongly, right and wrong, respecting the law, and the funny thing is most of us consider ourselves working class, or middle class, be sure to read today's "New York Times" story on Wigan, a burg that always goes Labour that voted for Brexit, despite only 25% of UK inhabitants being working class, 60% BELIEVE they are working class. You never forget your roots. You might have an SUV and a sports car in the driveway, probably leased, but you remember when you struggled, and retain those underlying values, unless you WIN!
For far too long the emphasis in America has been on the winners. And that means money. Hell, the media wouldn't even publicize the MacArthur genius grants if they didn't come with 125k a year attached. Is it hard to believe we've got a culture where the best and the brightest, the elite, bend the rules in their favor in order to succeed?
Bill Clinton comes from nothing, he's arguably a hillbilly. Hillary comes from something more. But after his Presidency Bill and Hillary blurred the edges, worked for anybody with the cash, barely different from a nitwit entertainer doing their act for a third world dictator. Couldn't they say no? And they've got that bogus foundation wherein the money goes in and transparency disappears. And now their daughter Chelsea is a millionaire, really... This is what Bernie Sanders was railing against, the closed system, wherein the winners utilize their connections to keep themselves up and others down. Come on, why should Chelsea Clinton be worth eight figures, what has she done other than to be a member of the lucky sperm club?
And she's fair game, everybody with a profile is fair game. That's the social media world we live in, there are no sacred cows. Despite the media insisting our leaders, our stars, have gravitas and earned their status, despite Romney putting so many out of work.
The past has come home to roost. I believe in globalization, but you've got to take care of the losers in the equation, like Colin Hewlett in the "Times" article above, he's 61, his weekly pay got cut from $665 to $318, you can't make it on that. But you never hear these stories, because these people don't have a voice.
And I don't think Hillary should be indicted, that's a right wing canard, one that ignores the law, which must show intent in a specific way, to give away secrets. But I do question the judgment of someone who refuses to abide by the rules. What exactly was Hillary protecting herself from here? Who are the people she surrounds herself with who told her to do this? Believe me, she's not that tech-savvy. Why is it that every successful person made it by breaking the rules and they keep telling us to adore them?
I'm gonna vote for Hillary, you can't give Trump the wheel, you can't put the Supreme Court at risk. But at this late date I'm thinking David Geffen was right, he plays the Clinton game better than they do, he too rose from nothing, and he deemed them duplicitous, untrustworthy, and they are. Funny how the right wing label ends up sticking, being right.
But the right wing is all about gotcha and gridlock and paying fealty to shadowy rich people who pay their bills and pull the strings. When did it become an honor to be a court jester, that's who these people are, the right wing representatives and the Clintons too, they like the perks, they'll do whatever the rich want them to, they're beholden to them.
And then you've got the Hillary supporters shushing Bernie and burnishing her image.
Of course Hillary is smart, experienced too. But she lied about the server, of which there were many, actually it was servers, and how are you supposed to trust her after that? She doesn't care about us so much as herself, accumulating and maintaining power, no different from Microsoft or Facebook or all the other corporations that you ultimately hate. Then again, today we love corporations more than people, their products are more honest, whereas human beings lack backbones, at least those in the public eye.
We can't make it here anymore. Whether it be the working class or the educated class that cannot live in Manhattan or afford a concierge doctor. That's the story of today, how it's all blown up in our own backyard. Republicans are for drug treatment as opposed to incarceration because suddenly it's THEIR kids who are shooting up as opposed to THOSE people. And now that college is sixty grand a year...who's got 240k lying around?
So the truth is Hillary skated.
But it feels like she's guilty.
And feeling is everything today. That's why Brexit happened, despite so many voting against their interest, being beneficiaries of the EU.
It feels like we're getting screwed in America. Even those who jumped through the hoops. I don't make a million dollars a year, do you? Exactly what did I do wrong... Not go to work in finance, not be college roommates with Mark Zuckerberg? Finance builds nothing and tech is all about breaking rules, asking permission later. And we need change, but who's gonna look out for the little guy?
The musicians have been screaming for years. They're a perfect metaphor for the country at large. They were swimming along just fine and suddenly their lunch and then their house and nearly their entire income disappeared. You couldn't ask the government to help them because the government was too busy protecting richer interests. So now it's a winner take all entertainment world, but the truth is music was just the canary in the coal mine, it's completely a winner take all world, from top to bottom. Good luck getting a good paying job if you're over fifty. Service jobs don't pay the bills. Meanwhile, we keep hearing about billionaires.
My sense of right and wrong has been inflamed. My radar has gone off. I don't want to make the Democrats lose, but how are we supposed to mobilize voters when stuff like this happens? Could be the only way to lodge your protest is via voting. That's a good reason to support Trump. And the Hillary acolytes will pooh-pooh it, and say it's dumb, and against one's interests, but that's exactly why voters are going the other way, they're sick and tired of being told what's right by people who believe they're better than they are, supporting false gods all the way.
We didn't see this coming.
But a rising tide did not lift all boats.
And despite the public being unfamiliar with the details, they know how they feel...left out. And they're sick and tired of those who don't respect the rules being rewarded again and again and again.
I certainly am.
"Wigan's Road to 'Brexit': Anger, Loss and Class Resentments": http://goo.gl/EkbGeB
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That's another thing the working class believes in strongly, right and wrong, respecting the law, and the funny thing is most of us consider ourselves working class, or middle class, be sure to read today's "New York Times" story on Wigan, a burg that always goes Labour that voted for Brexit, despite only 25% of UK inhabitants being working class, 60% BELIEVE they are working class. You never forget your roots. You might have an SUV and a sports car in the driveway, probably leased, but you remember when you struggled, and retain those underlying values, unless you WIN!
For far too long the emphasis in America has been on the winners. And that means money. Hell, the media wouldn't even publicize the MacArthur genius grants if they didn't come with 125k a year attached. Is it hard to believe we've got a culture where the best and the brightest, the elite, bend the rules in their favor in order to succeed?
Bill Clinton comes from nothing, he's arguably a hillbilly. Hillary comes from something more. But after his Presidency Bill and Hillary blurred the edges, worked for anybody with the cash, barely different from a nitwit entertainer doing their act for a third world dictator. Couldn't they say no? And they've got that bogus foundation wherein the money goes in and transparency disappears. And now their daughter Chelsea is a millionaire, really... This is what Bernie Sanders was railing against, the closed system, wherein the winners utilize their connections to keep themselves up and others down. Come on, why should Chelsea Clinton be worth eight figures, what has she done other than to be a member of the lucky sperm club?
And she's fair game, everybody with a profile is fair game. That's the social media world we live in, there are no sacred cows. Despite the media insisting our leaders, our stars, have gravitas and earned their status, despite Romney putting so many out of work.
The past has come home to roost. I believe in globalization, but you've got to take care of the losers in the equation, like Colin Hewlett in the "Times" article above, he's 61, his weekly pay got cut from $665 to $318, you can't make it on that. But you never hear these stories, because these people don't have a voice.
And I don't think Hillary should be indicted, that's a right wing canard, one that ignores the law, which must show intent in a specific way, to give away secrets. But I do question the judgment of someone who refuses to abide by the rules. What exactly was Hillary protecting herself from here? Who are the people she surrounds herself with who told her to do this? Believe me, she's not that tech-savvy. Why is it that every successful person made it by breaking the rules and they keep telling us to adore them?
I'm gonna vote for Hillary, you can't give Trump the wheel, you can't put the Supreme Court at risk. But at this late date I'm thinking David Geffen was right, he plays the Clinton game better than they do, he too rose from nothing, and he deemed them duplicitous, untrustworthy, and they are. Funny how the right wing label ends up sticking, being right.
But the right wing is all about gotcha and gridlock and paying fealty to shadowy rich people who pay their bills and pull the strings. When did it become an honor to be a court jester, that's who these people are, the right wing representatives and the Clintons too, they like the perks, they'll do whatever the rich want them to, they're beholden to them.
And then you've got the Hillary supporters shushing Bernie and burnishing her image.
Of course Hillary is smart, experienced too. But she lied about the server, of which there were many, actually it was servers, and how are you supposed to trust her after that? She doesn't care about us so much as herself, accumulating and maintaining power, no different from Microsoft or Facebook or all the other corporations that you ultimately hate. Then again, today we love corporations more than people, their products are more honest, whereas human beings lack backbones, at least those in the public eye.
We can't make it here anymore. Whether it be the working class or the educated class that cannot live in Manhattan or afford a concierge doctor. That's the story of today, how it's all blown up in our own backyard. Republicans are for drug treatment as opposed to incarceration because suddenly it's THEIR kids who are shooting up as opposed to THOSE people. And now that college is sixty grand a year...who's got 240k lying around?
So the truth is Hillary skated.
But it feels like she's guilty.
And feeling is everything today. That's why Brexit happened, despite so many voting against their interest, being beneficiaries of the EU.
It feels like we're getting screwed in America. Even those who jumped through the hoops. I don't make a million dollars a year, do you? Exactly what did I do wrong... Not go to work in finance, not be college roommates with Mark Zuckerberg? Finance builds nothing and tech is all about breaking rules, asking permission later. And we need change, but who's gonna look out for the little guy?
The musicians have been screaming for years. They're a perfect metaphor for the country at large. They were swimming along just fine and suddenly their lunch and then their house and nearly their entire income disappeared. You couldn't ask the government to help them because the government was too busy protecting richer interests. So now it's a winner take all entertainment world, but the truth is music was just the canary in the coal mine, it's completely a winner take all world, from top to bottom. Good luck getting a good paying job if you're over fifty. Service jobs don't pay the bills. Meanwhile, we keep hearing about billionaires.
My sense of right and wrong has been inflamed. My radar has gone off. I don't want to make the Democrats lose, but how are we supposed to mobilize voters when stuff like this happens? Could be the only way to lodge your protest is via voting. That's a good reason to support Trump. And the Hillary acolytes will pooh-pooh it, and say it's dumb, and against one's interests, but that's exactly why voters are going the other way, they're sick and tired of being told what's right by people who believe they're better than they are, supporting false gods all the way.
We didn't see this coming.
But a rising tide did not lift all boats.
And despite the public being unfamiliar with the details, they know how they feel...left out. And they're sick and tired of those who don't respect the rules being rewarded again and again and again.
I certainly am.
"Wigan's Road to 'Brexit': Anger, Loss and Class Resentments": http://goo.gl/EkbGeB
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Apple Music's Churn Rate
It's 6.4% per month, which is three times that of Spotify.
And the hardest thing is to get people to resubscribe, it's like getting back together with an old love, you kicked the tires, you had some fun, but overall it just wasn't worth it, you're looking for something better.
If you're looking for something at all.
This is a music industry problem. The theory was that when Apple entered streaming it would burgeon and all problems would be solved. But it turns out people are tuning out. What now? Will they go to Spotify? Not right away. Because I'd posit a great number of Apple Music users signed up because of the ecosystem, they were Apple acolytes, they were entranced to check Apple Music out. They're not hard core music fans, and what they found was not enough to make them stick around. Turns out a me-too service with a bad user interface is just not that appealing.
So what will bring them back?
Certainly not exclusives. This is a false canard. Exclusives are about cannibalization, drawing Apple Music users from Spotify, theoretically anyway. What is the special sauce that will resuscitate Apple Music?
It doesn't exist, they blew it.
The mistakes were so many.
1. First mover advantage. As in Apple didn't have it. When Apple was late to the game with iTunes and then the iPod there was no dominant jukebox software and no dominant MP3 player. Furthermore, iTunes was EASIER to use and the iPod was too, as well as transferring files at a high rate of speed, i.e. via FireWire. What was the Apple Music breakthrough? Hand-curated playlists? Which some found inferior? Spotify toppled Rhapsody because of the free tier, because of higher functionality, the songs started right away and you could fast-forward and reverse easily. Spotify had a huge beachhead. Being Apple was not enough to triumph.
2. Usability. It's hobbled Twitter, which is similar to Apple Music in that people tried it out, were confused, and didn't come back. Navigation was near impossible. Supposedly the UI is now better, but you have to pay to check it out, most have already used up their free trial, they're happy at Spotify or not subscribing to any service, why would they come back? It's like buying a lousy car, an old Fiat, a Yugo, and then hearing they've fixed the problems and you should come back, but you don't.
3. Too much functionality. Putting files and streams in the same app is like putting word processing and spreadsheets in the same app. Imagine every time you opened Excel you got a Word document. And then you couldn't find your Excel files. This is what using Apple Music is like.
4. Broken upon launch. Really, you released an unfinished, bug-ridden product in an era where we expect everything to work right out of the box, both our flat screens and apps, in an era where there are no instructions and there is no tech help? That's just too much.
5. Jimmy and Dre. Stars are for entertainment, worker bees are for tech. The software is the star, not the creator, and in this case Jimmy and Dre were just front people, no one believed they could code, never mind navigate more than a browser. Sure, we know Zuckerberg and Bezos, but they earned their stripes, and they don't brag about how rich they are, and they're not about hobnobbing, but the work. Apple Music should be a functional product, not a creative one, and Jimmy and Dre and Trent Reznor have no experience in functionality, only hype.
6. Not an underdog. That's right, we like our upstarts, especially in tech. Apple Music was launched as a holier-than-thou product by a self-satisfied crew and the sneezers who spread the word on new tech wanted nothing to do with it.
So how does Apple Music get on the right track?
By establishing a free tier. That's it's only solution. It can't compete with Spotify without it. People need to be able to experience changes and improvements, otherwise they're never gonna switch. And the free tier should never expire. Because unlike free HBO weekends content is not the draw, functionality should be. You can't win via exclusives, they just piss people off. If Spotify can win without Taylor Swift and Adele, it can continue to succeed without the stars Apple Music might align. And the truth is stars hate exclusives, they only do it for the money. They're fan unfriendly, and they leave too many people out of the loop, and in an era where it's hard to reach everybody, you don't want to leave out anybody.
And there needs to be integration with messaging, so people can share tracks. Messaging is key in today's world, and Apple's got a huge head start with iMessage, but it's a walled garden, you can't play if you're on Android. But if you are on a competing platform you've got WhatsApp, and in China WeChat dominates. Apple needs to open iMessage for the opportunity to lock people into their ecosystem with new products, like Apple Music. Otherwise, it's a death march, the iPhone won't dominate forever, to the degree it dominates at all, because handsets have become a commodity.
And there needs to be a focus on the hard core user, it's they who spread the word. With a churn rate like this Apple Music has too many looky-loos, and they don't build a business.
As for innovation... There are a lot of new ideas, talent contests, earning placement on the homepage, but this would depend upon Apple's brass looking down, into the pit, to those coming up, as opposed to hanging with the fat cats, leaving the public out. Didn't Jimmy get the Brexit memo, that elites are abhorred? And out of touch too?
This is like digital cameras folks. As a matter of fact, 2016 is the year. Remember when we kept hearing that digital was gonna replace film and it didn't happen? And then, after a decade, it did, film died overnight. Files are dying and streaming is now going through the roof. And we know that one enterprise dominates online, one app or site has 70% of the market. Right now, that appears to be Spotify. Which has a head start, but is not perfect. Its look and feel are not its strong points. Apple could have made headway here, but it issued a half-baked product instead. Kind of like with the Watch, but at least that was a breakthrough compared to what was already in the field. And they're fixing the Watch. But convincing people to buy one, even more, convincing those who returned one to buy another? That's extremely difficult. Kind of like getting people to return to Apple Music.
"Apple Music has one big weakness in its fight against Spotify": http://goo.gl/27Bc9s
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And the hardest thing is to get people to resubscribe, it's like getting back together with an old love, you kicked the tires, you had some fun, but overall it just wasn't worth it, you're looking for something better.
If you're looking for something at all.
This is a music industry problem. The theory was that when Apple entered streaming it would burgeon and all problems would be solved. But it turns out people are tuning out. What now? Will they go to Spotify? Not right away. Because I'd posit a great number of Apple Music users signed up because of the ecosystem, they were Apple acolytes, they were entranced to check Apple Music out. They're not hard core music fans, and what they found was not enough to make them stick around. Turns out a me-too service with a bad user interface is just not that appealing.
So what will bring them back?
Certainly not exclusives. This is a false canard. Exclusives are about cannibalization, drawing Apple Music users from Spotify, theoretically anyway. What is the special sauce that will resuscitate Apple Music?
It doesn't exist, they blew it.
The mistakes were so many.
1. First mover advantage. As in Apple didn't have it. When Apple was late to the game with iTunes and then the iPod there was no dominant jukebox software and no dominant MP3 player. Furthermore, iTunes was EASIER to use and the iPod was too, as well as transferring files at a high rate of speed, i.e. via FireWire. What was the Apple Music breakthrough? Hand-curated playlists? Which some found inferior? Spotify toppled Rhapsody because of the free tier, because of higher functionality, the songs started right away and you could fast-forward and reverse easily. Spotify had a huge beachhead. Being Apple was not enough to triumph.
2. Usability. It's hobbled Twitter, which is similar to Apple Music in that people tried it out, were confused, and didn't come back. Navigation was near impossible. Supposedly the UI is now better, but you have to pay to check it out, most have already used up their free trial, they're happy at Spotify or not subscribing to any service, why would they come back? It's like buying a lousy car, an old Fiat, a Yugo, and then hearing they've fixed the problems and you should come back, but you don't.
3. Too much functionality. Putting files and streams in the same app is like putting word processing and spreadsheets in the same app. Imagine every time you opened Excel you got a Word document. And then you couldn't find your Excel files. This is what using Apple Music is like.
4. Broken upon launch. Really, you released an unfinished, bug-ridden product in an era where we expect everything to work right out of the box, both our flat screens and apps, in an era where there are no instructions and there is no tech help? That's just too much.
5. Jimmy and Dre. Stars are for entertainment, worker bees are for tech. The software is the star, not the creator, and in this case Jimmy and Dre were just front people, no one believed they could code, never mind navigate more than a browser. Sure, we know Zuckerberg and Bezos, but they earned their stripes, and they don't brag about how rich they are, and they're not about hobnobbing, but the work. Apple Music should be a functional product, not a creative one, and Jimmy and Dre and Trent Reznor have no experience in functionality, only hype.
6. Not an underdog. That's right, we like our upstarts, especially in tech. Apple Music was launched as a holier-than-thou product by a self-satisfied crew and the sneezers who spread the word on new tech wanted nothing to do with it.
So how does Apple Music get on the right track?
By establishing a free tier. That's it's only solution. It can't compete with Spotify without it. People need to be able to experience changes and improvements, otherwise they're never gonna switch. And the free tier should never expire. Because unlike free HBO weekends content is not the draw, functionality should be. You can't win via exclusives, they just piss people off. If Spotify can win without Taylor Swift and Adele, it can continue to succeed without the stars Apple Music might align. And the truth is stars hate exclusives, they only do it for the money. They're fan unfriendly, and they leave too many people out of the loop, and in an era where it's hard to reach everybody, you don't want to leave out anybody.
And there needs to be integration with messaging, so people can share tracks. Messaging is key in today's world, and Apple's got a huge head start with iMessage, but it's a walled garden, you can't play if you're on Android. But if you are on a competing platform you've got WhatsApp, and in China WeChat dominates. Apple needs to open iMessage for the opportunity to lock people into their ecosystem with new products, like Apple Music. Otherwise, it's a death march, the iPhone won't dominate forever, to the degree it dominates at all, because handsets have become a commodity.
And there needs to be a focus on the hard core user, it's they who spread the word. With a churn rate like this Apple Music has too many looky-loos, and they don't build a business.
As for innovation... There are a lot of new ideas, talent contests, earning placement on the homepage, but this would depend upon Apple's brass looking down, into the pit, to those coming up, as opposed to hanging with the fat cats, leaving the public out. Didn't Jimmy get the Brexit memo, that elites are abhorred? And out of touch too?
This is like digital cameras folks. As a matter of fact, 2016 is the year. Remember when we kept hearing that digital was gonna replace film and it didn't happen? And then, after a decade, it did, film died overnight. Files are dying and streaming is now going through the roof. And we know that one enterprise dominates online, one app or site has 70% of the market. Right now, that appears to be Spotify. Which has a head start, but is not perfect. Its look and feel are not its strong points. Apple could have made headway here, but it issued a half-baked product instead. Kind of like with the Watch, but at least that was a breakthrough compared to what was already in the field. And they're fixing the Watch. But convincing people to buy one, even more, convincing those who returned one to buy another? That's extremely difficult. Kind of like getting people to return to Apple Music.
"Apple Music has one big weakness in its fight against Spotify": http://goo.gl/27Bc9s
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Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Michael Cimino
History is being rewritten. The seventies are now seen as the advent of the blockbuster era, the decade that launched "Jaws" and "Star Wars," which changed the paradigm forever, to not only high concept fare purveyed during the summer months, but high grosses too. If you're not swinging for the fences today, you're not in the game at all.
But it didn't used to be that way.
It didn't used to be that the Third Street Promenade was the epicenter of entertainment. As a matter of fact, Santa Monica was sleepy, all the traffic was east of the 405, walk down the Promenade and you might encounter tumbleweeds on your way to the $2 movie, no, all the action was in Westwood, just south of UCLA, where you could not get a parking spot and all the films opened.
Let's see, how many movie theatres were there in Westwood?
Well, there were the Manns and the UAs and the... Nine edifices and more screens. And the Mack Daddy was the National, you entered on floor one but then ascended to floor two, where the seats poured down to a giant screen. That was the number one theatre in Los Angeles, possibly the world. But it no longer exists. It was torn down, L.A. is constantly reinventing itself, and for those of us who remember those days...we cannot forget when Westwood ruled and the movies did too, when the idea of lining up an hour before just to see the latest Brian De Palma flick was a common event. Movies were our lifeblood. Punk came along and put a dent in corporate rock, new wave too, but the movies didn't waver, they paid dividends right up until...
"Heaven's Gate."
Now the focus has been on how that flick killed United Artists, but it goes unsaid that after that flop the artists lost control, the studios took the power back. And sure, Spielberg got his own way, but he was never one of the auteurs, I'll even argue he's a hack. He sold entertainment, slick stuff, whereas the greats from that era, their work had edges, it touched our souls.
Let's start with "The Last Picture Show." Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece. Dark and in parts unseemly, with a naked Cybill Shepherd to boot, watching that flick made you want to go to Texas, because it was so different, unlike the suburbs where I grew up, the movies were a window into an alternative universe.
And you can say "Paper Moon" was more mainstream, but really, creating a Dust Bowl flick in black and white? No one likes to leave any money on the table anymore, they fear alienating part of the audience, they won't take risks, which is why the movies have faltered.
Oh, I know... You're going to point to the small flick that floats your boat, the record that penetrates your brain, but what you don't realize is back then the HITS did this. There was an experimental marginal fringe, but the best and the brightest were given free rein and told stories we just could not get enough of.
Like "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," where Jeff Bridges lit up the screen and jump-started a career. Shot in Big Sky country, you marveled at the world created, you had no idea who Michael Cimino was, but you knew the flick was good.
And we did know who the directors were, they were stars often bigger than the actors. Like Francis Ford Coppola. Not only is the "Godfather" saga probably the best movie ever made, Coppola continued to test limits and I went at noon to the Cinerama Dome to see an unspooling of "Apocalypse Now" months before it opened wide, it too played for a week, just like the "Deer Hunter."
"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" might have gotten little respect, but the buzz on the "Deer Hunter" was deafening. This was before DeNiro was a star, most people had never heard of Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken was an unknown, but the rap was the flick affected you emotionally, it wasn't a thrill ride but a saga. Funny how the humanity's been sapped out of art, it's all sheen, but back then character was as important as plot, and when you saw the "Deer Hunter"...
We did, my girlfriend and me, at the National, where it played for Oscar qualification, tickets were sold in advance. It was during law school finals but it was an unmissable event. We had no idea what to expect, but after seeing it we could not sleep, it affected us so much, the same way you drove home in silence after seeing your favorite band live, you were numb, you wanted to wallow in the experience.
So, we were all waiting for "Heaven's Gate."
Which is not as bad as they say it is, the legend eclipsed reality, before the film even opened. Kind of like the new "Ghostbusters," which is already considered a flop. The truth is everything great triumphs after that much hype and notoriety, and if the female "Ghostbusters" is good the online brouhaha will be forgotten. But it probably isn't, so it'll stiff. Like "Heaven's Gate," which was just not good enough.
It'd be one thing if Michael Cimino made another movie right away. But he became a pariah and then a recluse, a bombastic self-righteous jerk who no one wanted anything to do with.
But the interesting thing is he was there at the apotheosis and the death. "Deer Hunter" was a long movie before three hour running times were de rigueur, it was all his vision, there was no source material, nothing to hook us other than word of mouth, the lunatics had taken over the asylum, the directors ruled. And then, after "Heaven's Gate," it was a return to what once was, light fare, only this time with a huge focus on hoovering up dollars.
And it's only gotten worse. Entertainment was always a business, but other than in TV, the most mindless of media in the sixties, today entertainment is solely about the bottom line. We revere those who make the money, executives are king, everything's gone topsy-turvy.
Michael Cimino died. After removing himself from the dialogue, after having so much plastic surgery he became unrecognizable. We don't know whether he had that much self-hatred or was transitioning, right now we don't even know why he died, but we do know he's a footnote, known for bankrupting a studio and nothing more.
But studios were built on the backs of artists. And whether it be Quentin Tarantino rescuing the Weinsteins or... The spoils still come from the artists, those who are hated by the suits, because their genius can't be quantified, you can't put the odds of success in a spreadsheet, you've just got to trust them, these oddballs who wouldn't fit in anywhere else but can hold the whole world in thrall.
Michael Cimino didn't make that many movies. But he was more than a one hit wonder. And instead of being decried, he should be lauded. He was a highly educated guy who wanted to make films as opposed to money, he didn't go to Wall Street, make an irrelevant app. He didn't want to compromise, he wanted his vision on screen, he was in pursuit of greatness, which we rarely see anymore, despite all the protestations from Kanye and the rest that they're pushing the envelope.
He was from a different era. When art ruled. When no one lived in a gated community. When the movie people flew first class, not private. When we not only saw the movies, but talked about them, endlessly. When people not only knew who acted and directed, but edited and shot too.
We'll return to those days, when we give artists more rope, when we venerate them to the point the best and the brightest will leave money on the table to enact their vision. When society changes its values, when we realize it's all about us as opposed to them.
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But it didn't used to be that way.
It didn't used to be that the Third Street Promenade was the epicenter of entertainment. As a matter of fact, Santa Monica was sleepy, all the traffic was east of the 405, walk down the Promenade and you might encounter tumbleweeds on your way to the $2 movie, no, all the action was in Westwood, just south of UCLA, where you could not get a parking spot and all the films opened.
Let's see, how many movie theatres were there in Westwood?
Well, there were the Manns and the UAs and the... Nine edifices and more screens. And the Mack Daddy was the National, you entered on floor one but then ascended to floor two, where the seats poured down to a giant screen. That was the number one theatre in Los Angeles, possibly the world. But it no longer exists. It was torn down, L.A. is constantly reinventing itself, and for those of us who remember those days...we cannot forget when Westwood ruled and the movies did too, when the idea of lining up an hour before just to see the latest Brian De Palma flick was a common event. Movies were our lifeblood. Punk came along and put a dent in corporate rock, new wave too, but the movies didn't waver, they paid dividends right up until...
"Heaven's Gate."
Now the focus has been on how that flick killed United Artists, but it goes unsaid that after that flop the artists lost control, the studios took the power back. And sure, Spielberg got his own way, but he was never one of the auteurs, I'll even argue he's a hack. He sold entertainment, slick stuff, whereas the greats from that era, their work had edges, it touched our souls.
Let's start with "The Last Picture Show." Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece. Dark and in parts unseemly, with a naked Cybill Shepherd to boot, watching that flick made you want to go to Texas, because it was so different, unlike the suburbs where I grew up, the movies were a window into an alternative universe.
And you can say "Paper Moon" was more mainstream, but really, creating a Dust Bowl flick in black and white? No one likes to leave any money on the table anymore, they fear alienating part of the audience, they won't take risks, which is why the movies have faltered.
Oh, I know... You're going to point to the small flick that floats your boat, the record that penetrates your brain, but what you don't realize is back then the HITS did this. There was an experimental marginal fringe, but the best and the brightest were given free rein and told stories we just could not get enough of.
Like "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," where Jeff Bridges lit up the screen and jump-started a career. Shot in Big Sky country, you marveled at the world created, you had no idea who Michael Cimino was, but you knew the flick was good.
And we did know who the directors were, they were stars often bigger than the actors. Like Francis Ford Coppola. Not only is the "Godfather" saga probably the best movie ever made, Coppola continued to test limits and I went at noon to the Cinerama Dome to see an unspooling of "Apocalypse Now" months before it opened wide, it too played for a week, just like the "Deer Hunter."
"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" might have gotten little respect, but the buzz on the "Deer Hunter" was deafening. This was before DeNiro was a star, most people had never heard of Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken was an unknown, but the rap was the flick affected you emotionally, it wasn't a thrill ride but a saga. Funny how the humanity's been sapped out of art, it's all sheen, but back then character was as important as plot, and when you saw the "Deer Hunter"...
We did, my girlfriend and me, at the National, where it played for Oscar qualification, tickets were sold in advance. It was during law school finals but it was an unmissable event. We had no idea what to expect, but after seeing it we could not sleep, it affected us so much, the same way you drove home in silence after seeing your favorite band live, you were numb, you wanted to wallow in the experience.
So, we were all waiting for "Heaven's Gate."
Which is not as bad as they say it is, the legend eclipsed reality, before the film even opened. Kind of like the new "Ghostbusters," which is already considered a flop. The truth is everything great triumphs after that much hype and notoriety, and if the female "Ghostbusters" is good the online brouhaha will be forgotten. But it probably isn't, so it'll stiff. Like "Heaven's Gate," which was just not good enough.
It'd be one thing if Michael Cimino made another movie right away. But he became a pariah and then a recluse, a bombastic self-righteous jerk who no one wanted anything to do with.
But the interesting thing is he was there at the apotheosis and the death. "Deer Hunter" was a long movie before three hour running times were de rigueur, it was all his vision, there was no source material, nothing to hook us other than word of mouth, the lunatics had taken over the asylum, the directors ruled. And then, after "Heaven's Gate," it was a return to what once was, light fare, only this time with a huge focus on hoovering up dollars.
And it's only gotten worse. Entertainment was always a business, but other than in TV, the most mindless of media in the sixties, today entertainment is solely about the bottom line. We revere those who make the money, executives are king, everything's gone topsy-turvy.
Michael Cimino died. After removing himself from the dialogue, after having so much plastic surgery he became unrecognizable. We don't know whether he had that much self-hatred or was transitioning, right now we don't even know why he died, but we do know he's a footnote, known for bankrupting a studio and nothing more.
But studios were built on the backs of artists. And whether it be Quentin Tarantino rescuing the Weinsteins or... The spoils still come from the artists, those who are hated by the suits, because their genius can't be quantified, you can't put the odds of success in a spreadsheet, you've just got to trust them, these oddballs who wouldn't fit in anywhere else but can hold the whole world in thrall.
Michael Cimino didn't make that many movies. But he was more than a one hit wonder. And instead of being decried, he should be lauded. He was a highly educated guy who wanted to make films as opposed to money, he didn't go to Wall Street, make an irrelevant app. He didn't want to compromise, he wanted his vision on screen, he was in pursuit of greatness, which we rarely see anymore, despite all the protestations from Kanye and the rest that they're pushing the envelope.
He was from a different era. When art ruled. When no one lived in a gated community. When the movie people flew first class, not private. When we not only saw the movies, but talked about them, endlessly. When people not only knew who acted and directed, but edited and shot too.
We'll return to those days, when we give artists more rope, when we venerate them to the point the best and the brightest will leave money on the table to enact their vision. When society changes its values, when we realize it's all about us as opposed to them.
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Audio Streaming Eclipses Video Streaming
BuzzAngle MidYear Report: http://goo.gl/5gISOf
In other words, Spotify, et al, beat YouTube, et al. There were 114,226,566,336 audio streams and 95,172,077,123 video streams. Last year there were 54,961,808,648 audio streams and 77,297,473,064 video streams. Audio streams increased by 107.8% and video streams by 23.1%.
But the music industry is still fighting the last war. Focusing on YouTube and the supposed "value gap" when the truth is consumers have moved on to Spotify and Apple Music...because of convenience, because of the social element, that's where their friends are, because of playlists, because video is a lousy way to listen to music.
I'm not saying that What-A-Mole should not be eliminated, that one takedown notice shouldn't be enough. I'm just saying that after nearly two decades the music industry and its adherents have not figured out the future, they're still stuck in the past, somewhere they want to return to which we'll never inhabit again.
Music on YouTube was a way station. A gap-filler. Spotify wouldn't launch in the U.S. before all the major labels were on board, which they weren't for years, as a result YouTube satisfied the demand. But music on YouTube will fade out. Forget about it. The goal of the music industry should be to get everybody paying for Spotify, Apple Music, et al. Instead, the musicians are bitching, saying what people want, Spotify, et al, is junk, and YouTube is the problem. Huh?
We need a free tier, on demand online access, to eviscerate that is to sign your death warrant. Some people will never pay, some are just casual users, don't leave them out, make them into fans. And believe me, most acts want free on demand, the same way they all paid indie promotion fees in the last century. Without them, you're nowhere.
But it turns out active users will pay for music. Because not only are they fans, they love the convenience! And if you don't know that free Spotify is hobbled on the mobile handset, you haven't used it. But that wouldn't be new, most people pontificating have never gotten down into the pit to see what's really going on. You can't pick and choose on the handset. And the handset dominates, to focus on the desktop is to be left behind, like YouTube, which is a crummy music service on the mobile device.
This is how it always works. People will pay for utility, for convenience and features. Are you really gonna give up your Discover Weekly playlist? Are you really gonna give up being able to hear every track extant and share it easily with a co-subscriber? It's about lock-in. YouTube has done a horrible, essentially a nonexistent job, with audio lock-in. So it is being passed by. Not hard to understand, since no one there seemed to understand music and be passionate about it.
But they are music believers at Spotify and Apple Music. And the listeners can FEEL this, they want to belong, and this is a good thing!
As for getting paid...
Let's work on increasing the publisher's share, which is tough, because it's gonna come from the label's share.
And let's glorify these services, encourage everybody to sign up, not via exclusives on Tidal, but via functionality. Exclusives hurt growth, they cause anger, they muddy the waters, but then again, the music industry can't get out of its own way, can't do what's right for the customer, it's inured to fighting for an edge, an advantage, making short term money and forgoing the long.
So bitching about YouTube payments is like bitching about desktop computers. They're both in the rearview mirror.
Don't fight the last war, look to the future.
And the great thing about Spotify, et al, is even at this late date most people don't know how they work, they don't know you can sync tracks for offline use. There's a lot of highway in front of us, let's drive down it!
P.S. Scroll down in the report and you'll see that pop wins. Don't argue with the facts. The reason you're not making as much is they don't want what you're recording.
P.P.S. Vinyl is for oldsters, for niche. Except for Adele and twenty one pilots, the top ten is dominated by the aged and the deceased. Investing in vinyl is like placing your future in the hands of septuagenarians. Vinyl is a gnat on the ass of streaming. It's a souvenir. Sell it if you can, but don't rely on it.
P.P.P.S. Rock is dying. It's dwarfed by pop, hip-hop and R&B. Rock split into so many sub-genres, many of which are derivative, that it lost touch with the public. Wanna succeed in rock? First and foremost write a hit, something undeniable that crosses over. You don't get to create a sixty minute album without hooks and expect to get paid beaucoup bucks in the streaming world. Now, more than ever, you lead with the hit.
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In other words, Spotify, et al, beat YouTube, et al. There were 114,226,566,336 audio streams and 95,172,077,123 video streams. Last year there were 54,961,808,648 audio streams and 77,297,473,064 video streams. Audio streams increased by 107.8% and video streams by 23.1%.
But the music industry is still fighting the last war. Focusing on YouTube and the supposed "value gap" when the truth is consumers have moved on to Spotify and Apple Music...because of convenience, because of the social element, that's where their friends are, because of playlists, because video is a lousy way to listen to music.
I'm not saying that What-A-Mole should not be eliminated, that one takedown notice shouldn't be enough. I'm just saying that after nearly two decades the music industry and its adherents have not figured out the future, they're still stuck in the past, somewhere they want to return to which we'll never inhabit again.
Music on YouTube was a way station. A gap-filler. Spotify wouldn't launch in the U.S. before all the major labels were on board, which they weren't for years, as a result YouTube satisfied the demand. But music on YouTube will fade out. Forget about it. The goal of the music industry should be to get everybody paying for Spotify, Apple Music, et al. Instead, the musicians are bitching, saying what people want, Spotify, et al, is junk, and YouTube is the problem. Huh?
We need a free tier, on demand online access, to eviscerate that is to sign your death warrant. Some people will never pay, some are just casual users, don't leave them out, make them into fans. And believe me, most acts want free on demand, the same way they all paid indie promotion fees in the last century. Without them, you're nowhere.
But it turns out active users will pay for music. Because not only are they fans, they love the convenience! And if you don't know that free Spotify is hobbled on the mobile handset, you haven't used it. But that wouldn't be new, most people pontificating have never gotten down into the pit to see what's really going on. You can't pick and choose on the handset. And the handset dominates, to focus on the desktop is to be left behind, like YouTube, which is a crummy music service on the mobile device.
This is how it always works. People will pay for utility, for convenience and features. Are you really gonna give up your Discover Weekly playlist? Are you really gonna give up being able to hear every track extant and share it easily with a co-subscriber? It's about lock-in. YouTube has done a horrible, essentially a nonexistent job, with audio lock-in. So it is being passed by. Not hard to understand, since no one there seemed to understand music and be passionate about it.
But they are music believers at Spotify and Apple Music. And the listeners can FEEL this, they want to belong, and this is a good thing!
As for getting paid...
Let's work on increasing the publisher's share, which is tough, because it's gonna come from the label's share.
And let's glorify these services, encourage everybody to sign up, not via exclusives on Tidal, but via functionality. Exclusives hurt growth, they cause anger, they muddy the waters, but then again, the music industry can't get out of its own way, can't do what's right for the customer, it's inured to fighting for an edge, an advantage, making short term money and forgoing the long.
So bitching about YouTube payments is like bitching about desktop computers. They're both in the rearview mirror.
Don't fight the last war, look to the future.
And the great thing about Spotify, et al, is even at this late date most people don't know how they work, they don't know you can sync tracks for offline use. There's a lot of highway in front of us, let's drive down it!
P.S. Scroll down in the report and you'll see that pop wins. Don't argue with the facts. The reason you're not making as much is they don't want what you're recording.
P.P.S. Vinyl is for oldsters, for niche. Except for Adele and twenty one pilots, the top ten is dominated by the aged and the deceased. Investing in vinyl is like placing your future in the hands of septuagenarians. Vinyl is a gnat on the ass of streaming. It's a souvenir. Sell it if you can, but don't rely on it.
P.P.P.S. Rock is dying. It's dwarfed by pop, hip-hop and R&B. Rock split into so many sub-genres, many of which are derivative, that it lost touch with the public. Wanna succeed in rock? First and foremost write a hit, something undeniable that crosses over. You don't get to create a sixty minute album without hooks and expect to get paid beaucoup bucks in the streaming world. Now, more than ever, you lead with the hit.
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Monday, 4 July 2016
Independence Day
I blame Reagan. And then Bill Clinton put a stake in the heart of the middle class, all in an effort to save his job.
The right wing intelligentsia lauded Reagan's "accomplishments" to the point where they cannot be challenged. In a disinformation campaign they slapped highways and buildings with Reagan's name, as if that would cement their hold on the public consciousness. And the left wing intelligentsia pointed to the economic run-up during Clinton's reign as evidence of his "accomplishments."
And in the process our country became bifurcated, the land of haves and have-nots.
And this has all come home to roost with the ascension of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
Sanders has faded because Hillary was reasonable, whereas the Donald's competitors were all paying fealty to an elite that had lost touch with the rank and file. However, Hillary's beliefs are in question, which means that...
Trump could win in the end. Because he's preaching revolution, whereas Clinton wants more of the same. And that same is not working for so many inhabitants of this great country of ours.
It's not about immigration.
It's about jobs. Give someone a good job, allow them to not only pay their bills, but prosper, and they'll embrace change, because it's working for them. But change hasn't worked for the lower class, the middle class, for decades, so they're ready to revolt.
And it's laughable that Democrats are attacking Trump, they just don't get it, the way to win is by appealing to Trump's voters, his constituency, those ignored by the Republican party for far too long as it satiated fat cats, moneyed interests, while ignoring Joe Public.
But Bill Clinton played to these same movers and shakers. And the left wing intelligentsia stood by as unions were eviscerated, education funds were slashed and tax advantages were given to the rich and powerful. The Democrats were like Britain, or France, in the run-up to World War II... They could see what the Republicans were up to but they were reeling in the wake of Reagan and the Bushes, the right wing takeover of the debate on Fox News and talk radio, and wanted to cocoon as opposed to fight battles, losing all the while.
Germany and Italy were in dire straits after World War I. What did Hitler and Mussolini do? Give the public jobs! Building infrastructure, putting food on the plate and currency in the pocket. Obama refused to ask for more stimulus money, listening too long to Larry Summers, and the Republicans felt there should be pain, that you needed to earn success, knowing nothing about economics, talking about the imminent rise of interest rates when they fell and stayed low to the point where if you have money in the bank you're falling behind.
Both parties lost touch with their constituencies. The little people, who make this country work.
Mark Zuckerberg does not make this country work. Neither does Lloyd Blankfein. You need people to not only do jobs, but to consume, to put money into the system, but in the veneration of the fat cats anybody working for a living wage is viewed as a chump, their only option of getting ahead being the lottery or reality TV.
And you wonder why our country is in trouble.
Hillary may lose to Trump because her message is unclear. Four more years of the same? That's not what the disadvantaged want. As for Trump's insane economic policies, trade barriers and the renegotiation of debts, speaking to the idiocy of these elements misses the point, he's saying he's gonna fix the problem, whereas the Democrats just say to be afraid of him. Huh?
Manufacturing isn't coming back to America. Running to the left on this is missing the point. People need to be given jobs, retrained for today's work force, earn a living wage.
And sure, some of Trump's followers may decry the safety net, because they're working so hard and are not sacrificing. You know who isn't sacrificing? Wall Street. Hedge funders who pay capital gains rates on ordinary income. Trump's followers do want Social Security, they do want health care, but they want to believe their interests are acknowledged, that they have a seat at the table, and right now they don't.
Everybody's making fun of them. Listen to the holier-than-thou left wing, from Hillary to the "New York Times" on down. Telling people they're stupid for supporting Trump. But maybe they're smart, maybe they're sick and tired of being paid lip service when they end up with nothing.
The game is rigged. And when it is, you turn over the table. And that's Trump's play, not Hillary's, and you wonder why he's got traction. Who cares if George Will abandons the party, the party abandoned the voters years ago. And this happened on the left too, I'd like some of that Hillary speech money.
We're going down a bad path folks. The people in Washington have achieved their goal, which is to have us fighting amongst ourselves and missing out on the real issues, the primary benefits. Whether it be online hate or anti-immigrant sentiment, the have-nots are hating those they have access to. Hell, you can't even shake Justin Bieber's hand after the concert anymore, reach and have influence on your Congressperson, those do-nothings earning a paycheck far in excess of what they deserve, with a Cadillac health plan to boot? Throw the bums out. That's what the Trump defenders want. That's what the Bernie followers desire. Instead, they're told to lay down their arms and get in line... Who exactly does that appeal to?
America is all about opportunity, that's the essence of its dream. And that opportunity has not only been squandered, it's been decimated. Trump says he wants to make America great again and what his followers hear is a return to prosperity.
And you're laughing at all of them.
When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose. Which is why the disadvantaged took the UK out of the EU and their across the ocean brethren are agitating for Trump.
A change has got to come.
What kind of bizarre world do we live in where you overpay for college, unable to discharge the debt in bankruptcy, solely to get in line for a job. That's the dirty little secret of higher education, it's not about learning, it's about getting a leg up. And at the elite colleges making relationships, establishing a network that the rank and file can never penetrate.
So know two hundred plus years after the founding of our country we've hit a crossroads, it is not business as usual, we cannot secede from the world, we cannot go backward.
But we can come together, we can unlock the gates and let everybody in.
We can hug our brothers and sisters and lend them a hand.
The only way out of this is through unity.
And if Hillary wants to win, she's got to start bringing people together.
Otherwise, the Democrats are going to discover the mob rules.
And they're not in control of it.
Happy Holiday.
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The right wing intelligentsia lauded Reagan's "accomplishments" to the point where they cannot be challenged. In a disinformation campaign they slapped highways and buildings with Reagan's name, as if that would cement their hold on the public consciousness. And the left wing intelligentsia pointed to the economic run-up during Clinton's reign as evidence of his "accomplishments."
And in the process our country became bifurcated, the land of haves and have-nots.
And this has all come home to roost with the ascension of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
Sanders has faded because Hillary was reasonable, whereas the Donald's competitors were all paying fealty to an elite that had lost touch with the rank and file. However, Hillary's beliefs are in question, which means that...
Trump could win in the end. Because he's preaching revolution, whereas Clinton wants more of the same. And that same is not working for so many inhabitants of this great country of ours.
It's not about immigration.
It's about jobs. Give someone a good job, allow them to not only pay their bills, but prosper, and they'll embrace change, because it's working for them. But change hasn't worked for the lower class, the middle class, for decades, so they're ready to revolt.
And it's laughable that Democrats are attacking Trump, they just don't get it, the way to win is by appealing to Trump's voters, his constituency, those ignored by the Republican party for far too long as it satiated fat cats, moneyed interests, while ignoring Joe Public.
But Bill Clinton played to these same movers and shakers. And the left wing intelligentsia stood by as unions were eviscerated, education funds were slashed and tax advantages were given to the rich and powerful. The Democrats were like Britain, or France, in the run-up to World War II... They could see what the Republicans were up to but they were reeling in the wake of Reagan and the Bushes, the right wing takeover of the debate on Fox News and talk radio, and wanted to cocoon as opposed to fight battles, losing all the while.
Germany and Italy were in dire straits after World War I. What did Hitler and Mussolini do? Give the public jobs! Building infrastructure, putting food on the plate and currency in the pocket. Obama refused to ask for more stimulus money, listening too long to Larry Summers, and the Republicans felt there should be pain, that you needed to earn success, knowing nothing about economics, talking about the imminent rise of interest rates when they fell and stayed low to the point where if you have money in the bank you're falling behind.
Both parties lost touch with their constituencies. The little people, who make this country work.
Mark Zuckerberg does not make this country work. Neither does Lloyd Blankfein. You need people to not only do jobs, but to consume, to put money into the system, but in the veneration of the fat cats anybody working for a living wage is viewed as a chump, their only option of getting ahead being the lottery or reality TV.
And you wonder why our country is in trouble.
Hillary may lose to Trump because her message is unclear. Four more years of the same? That's not what the disadvantaged want. As for Trump's insane economic policies, trade barriers and the renegotiation of debts, speaking to the idiocy of these elements misses the point, he's saying he's gonna fix the problem, whereas the Democrats just say to be afraid of him. Huh?
Manufacturing isn't coming back to America. Running to the left on this is missing the point. People need to be given jobs, retrained for today's work force, earn a living wage.
And sure, some of Trump's followers may decry the safety net, because they're working so hard and are not sacrificing. You know who isn't sacrificing? Wall Street. Hedge funders who pay capital gains rates on ordinary income. Trump's followers do want Social Security, they do want health care, but they want to believe their interests are acknowledged, that they have a seat at the table, and right now they don't.
Everybody's making fun of them. Listen to the holier-than-thou left wing, from Hillary to the "New York Times" on down. Telling people they're stupid for supporting Trump. But maybe they're smart, maybe they're sick and tired of being paid lip service when they end up with nothing.
The game is rigged. And when it is, you turn over the table. And that's Trump's play, not Hillary's, and you wonder why he's got traction. Who cares if George Will abandons the party, the party abandoned the voters years ago. And this happened on the left too, I'd like some of that Hillary speech money.
We're going down a bad path folks. The people in Washington have achieved their goal, which is to have us fighting amongst ourselves and missing out on the real issues, the primary benefits. Whether it be online hate or anti-immigrant sentiment, the have-nots are hating those they have access to. Hell, you can't even shake Justin Bieber's hand after the concert anymore, reach and have influence on your Congressperson, those do-nothings earning a paycheck far in excess of what they deserve, with a Cadillac health plan to boot? Throw the bums out. That's what the Trump defenders want. That's what the Bernie followers desire. Instead, they're told to lay down their arms and get in line... Who exactly does that appeal to?
America is all about opportunity, that's the essence of its dream. And that opportunity has not only been squandered, it's been decimated. Trump says he wants to make America great again and what his followers hear is a return to prosperity.
And you're laughing at all of them.
When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose. Which is why the disadvantaged took the UK out of the EU and their across the ocean brethren are agitating for Trump.
A change has got to come.
What kind of bizarre world do we live in where you overpay for college, unable to discharge the debt in bankruptcy, solely to get in line for a job. That's the dirty little secret of higher education, it's not about learning, it's about getting a leg up. And at the elite colleges making relationships, establishing a network that the rank and file can never penetrate.
So know two hundred plus years after the founding of our country we've hit a crossroads, it is not business as usual, we cannot secede from the world, we cannot go backward.
But we can come together, we can unlock the gates and let everybody in.
We can hug our brothers and sisters and lend them a hand.
The only way out of this is through unity.
And if Hillary wants to win, she's got to start bringing people together.
Otherwise, the Democrats are going to discover the mob rules.
And they're not in control of it.
Happy Holiday.
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Sunday, 3 July 2016
Master Of None
I love the sensibility!
I love that he's a nerd, with a brain, but can't help himself from being uncool. He's a regular guy, albeit Indian, as opposed to the good-looking charismatic holier-than-thou personages we're overwhelmed by and feel inferior to on TV and in movies. It's like we don't count, even though we're on this planet, eating and pissing and making passes too. It's like you're either rich or good-looking, famous, or you don't count. Or do you?
I only knew the name, Aziz Ansari, until I heard him on Howard Stern. Whereupon he told a story about hanging with a famous woman who ultimately ignored him, who didn't respond to his outreach thereafter. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me.
And then he sold out Madison Square Garden.
But I still wasn't paying attention until I was looking for something to watch on Netflix. I go by the reviews, not by the ones from the critics, but those of the people, I figure enough people see something you get a feel. Although I did try that Maria Bamford series first. Do you get that? I don't. I loved Patton Oswalt's character but she was so self-conscious and the plot was so convoluted that I decided not to continue.
That's when I began with Aziz's show, "Master Of None."
It's imperfect, not fully-baked, it's a way station to something better. There's your 10,000 hour rule right there, will the suits give you a chance to get better?
I looked him up on Wikipedia, saw he started at NYU. It's amazing how long you have to do it to get noticed.
So there's an Indian sensibility. A minority sensibility. Do you blow the whistle or ride the imperfections, the hate, to a better life? Do you suck it up or do the right thing? We're all trying to get ahead, but we don't want to sacrifice our identity, our beliefs, in the process.
And the show feels fully modern. With the texting and tech. Too often art lives in the past, but when we recognize the present we feel comfortable.
And the sexual adventures, shall I say MISADVENTURES, ring true too. Aziz is making an effort, but is so often failing. He's flailing. Taking advice from fellow nerds. It's the opposite of the Steve McQueen/Leonardo DiCaprio paradigm wherein women are falling all over the star. And when Aziz can't get over the fact that Claire Danes, the restaurant critic, actually likes him, wants to be with him, and he keeps telling her he wants to savor the moment...it's one of the most uncool moments in cinematic history. But it's real.
Aziz gives hope to nerds everywhere. He's not beautiful, not unattractive, just kind of...blah, normal, like you and me. He's got to win on his personality, which he's constantly shining. But that doesn't always resonate.
And the show doesn't always flow. But ideas are brought forth, and they resonate, and that makes you feel so good.
This is what happens when distributors give creators free rein. And it is all about distribution, the show would not be as successful on YouTube, never mind shortened to a Vine. Netflix gives you a platform, your odds of being seen are higher.
Nerds have inherited the earth because we have the tools, we can communicate, and we're sick and tired of having the uneducated nitwits trounce us. You can't make it Hollywood if you're ugly or plain, unless you play ugly or plain, are the butt of the joke. But Aziz doesn't want to be the butt of the joke.
And I know it's the second decade of the twenty first century but "Master Of None" has got a seventies sensibility. After the revolution of the sixties. When we knew what happened and were adjusting, when we knew we couldn't be famous. Whereas today there's much more desperation, many more sharp elbows, the endless self-promotion is deafening.
"Master Of None" is small work. But it gets stuff right. And in today's world where we're all connected yet feel so lonely that's a revelation.
Watch it!
https://www.netflix.com/title/80049714
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I love that he's a nerd, with a brain, but can't help himself from being uncool. He's a regular guy, albeit Indian, as opposed to the good-looking charismatic holier-than-thou personages we're overwhelmed by and feel inferior to on TV and in movies. It's like we don't count, even though we're on this planet, eating and pissing and making passes too. It's like you're either rich or good-looking, famous, or you don't count. Or do you?
I only knew the name, Aziz Ansari, until I heard him on Howard Stern. Whereupon he told a story about hanging with a famous woman who ultimately ignored him, who didn't respond to his outreach thereafter. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me.
And then he sold out Madison Square Garden.
But I still wasn't paying attention until I was looking for something to watch on Netflix. I go by the reviews, not by the ones from the critics, but those of the people, I figure enough people see something you get a feel. Although I did try that Maria Bamford series first. Do you get that? I don't. I loved Patton Oswalt's character but she was so self-conscious and the plot was so convoluted that I decided not to continue.
That's when I began with Aziz's show, "Master Of None."
It's imperfect, not fully-baked, it's a way station to something better. There's your 10,000 hour rule right there, will the suits give you a chance to get better?
I looked him up on Wikipedia, saw he started at NYU. It's amazing how long you have to do it to get noticed.
So there's an Indian sensibility. A minority sensibility. Do you blow the whistle or ride the imperfections, the hate, to a better life? Do you suck it up or do the right thing? We're all trying to get ahead, but we don't want to sacrifice our identity, our beliefs, in the process.
And the show feels fully modern. With the texting and tech. Too often art lives in the past, but when we recognize the present we feel comfortable.
And the sexual adventures, shall I say MISADVENTURES, ring true too. Aziz is making an effort, but is so often failing. He's flailing. Taking advice from fellow nerds. It's the opposite of the Steve McQueen/Leonardo DiCaprio paradigm wherein women are falling all over the star. And when Aziz can't get over the fact that Claire Danes, the restaurant critic, actually likes him, wants to be with him, and he keeps telling her he wants to savor the moment...it's one of the most uncool moments in cinematic history. But it's real.
Aziz gives hope to nerds everywhere. He's not beautiful, not unattractive, just kind of...blah, normal, like you and me. He's got to win on his personality, which he's constantly shining. But that doesn't always resonate.
And the show doesn't always flow. But ideas are brought forth, and they resonate, and that makes you feel so good.
This is what happens when distributors give creators free rein. And it is all about distribution, the show would not be as successful on YouTube, never mind shortened to a Vine. Netflix gives you a platform, your odds of being seen are higher.
Nerds have inherited the earth because we have the tools, we can communicate, and we're sick and tired of having the uneducated nitwits trounce us. You can't make it Hollywood if you're ugly or plain, unless you play ugly or plain, are the butt of the joke. But Aziz doesn't want to be the butt of the joke.
And I know it's the second decade of the twenty first century but "Master Of None" has got a seventies sensibility. After the revolution of the sixties. When we knew what happened and were adjusting, when we knew we couldn't be famous. Whereas today there's much more desperation, many more sharp elbows, the endless self-promotion is deafening.
"Master Of None" is small work. But it gets stuff right. And in today's world where we're all connected yet feel so lonely that's a revelation.
Watch it!
https://www.netflix.com/title/80049714
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