THE CHRIS GETHARD SHOW (2011-2018)

March 13, 2021

(HBO MAX/VOD) THE CHRIS GETHARD SHOW was a comedy/variety show from UCB comedian and podcaster Chris Gethard (best known for BEAUTIFUL STORIES FROM ANONYMOUS PEOPLE) that started on Manhattan public television, then leapt to Fusion TV, then truTV picked it up and, after a year, they unceremoniously canceled the show.

Gethard spearheaded this anarchic, supremely kindhearted show whose closest comparison is probably PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOUSE because of its endearing cast of wacky characters and overall earnestness.

I came to the show late and never saw any of the public TV eps, but it quickly became appointment television. The best introduction is probably -One Man’s Trash- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwi_kE0gy94 ) which features Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas guessing the content of the show’s dumpster. The reveal is amazing, and by far one of the best moments of TV in the past decade.

I’d be remiss to not mention that Shannon O’Neill is Gethard’s sidekick, and I believe she is legally required to play every non-leading film or TV production role in every TV show, as she’s basically played the same character on DIFFICULT PEOPLE, HIGH MAINTENANCE, UNCLE PECKERHEAD, -and- BLACK BEAR.

You can view the three Fusion/truTV seasons via HBO MAX because apparently there’s no rhyme or reason as to what streams anywhere now, but a bunch of the eps are available via Gethard’s YouTube account as well.

STRANGE WEATHER (2014)

March 12, 2021

(YouTube) [Anna Calvi & David Byrne] I first saw Anna Calvi perform at Chicago’s Schuba’s back in 2011. If you haven’t been to Schuba’s, it’s basically a local bar with a bolted-on small stage and a fantastic sound system which, as it turned out, was perfect for Anna Calvi.

If you aren’t familiar with Anna Calvi, she’s a belter with a guitar. If her voice doesn’t bowl you over*, her prowess with her axe will. She’s fond of spaghetti western noodling, but also can craft a damn fine hook. Seeing her in such a small venue with her larger-than-life voice was a revelation, and I was eager to repeat the experience when she was scheduled to return to Chicago on April 2nd, 2020.

You know where this is going.

The show was canceled due to the pandemic, so I did what I’ve done so many nights before and since: watched the video of her cover of Keren Ann’s STRANGE WEATHER. Directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz (who has also directed music videos for Ice Cube, Elle Fanning, and Solange) and featuring Kate Lyn Sheil (SHE DIES TOMORROW, YOU’RE NEXT), the video perfectly captures a specific sort of urban ennui: the surreal hollowness of frustratingly meandering through a city at the dead of night while trying to beat back the voices in your head.

  • STRANGE WEATHER isn’t exactly the best showcase of her vocals, as she’s rather restrained here. If you really want to hear her give her all, check out her JEZEBEL video.

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (2021)

March 11, 2021

(HBO MAX/VOD) JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH leaves HBO MAX after March 14th*, so you only have a few more days to stream it, and it’s goddamn it’s well-worth your time.

I’ll try to keep this brief, because every hour I dilly-dally writing this is an hour you’ll miss out on the streaming window, but JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH is the rare docudrama that would’ve been just as rich as fiction. Despite being shot in Cleveland, it feels like midwest Chicago — they nailed the molding! — the cast is amazing, and it resonates in a way that say, TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 does not.

  • Again, not shilling. Just trying to get folks to watch a quality film.

DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA (2020)

March 10, 2021

(HBO MAX) I realized some time ago that I only have time for three media interests at once. Back in 2019, that meant that I was watching film, reading novels, and attending theater. Consequently, I let music, especially live music, slip by the wayside.

Granted, most of the live music I previously attended was of the small venue variety, crowded beer halls and the like — not intricately coordinated shows like DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA. It’s been long enough since I’ve seen a show like this — the last time was probably at Illinois’ Ravinia several years ago — but the staging here is phenomenal. Everyone is lock-step with each other, the lighting is phenomenal, and while the stage is sparsely adorned, the chain-link curtains that surround the stage are inventively used and abused.

It’s an undeniably fantastic, untethered performance, filled with joy and a few sobering moments, all amazingly captured by Spike Lee — no stranger to the stage — who effortlessly captures the above, all while making his own imprint on the show.

It’s the rare live musical performance that is almost as evocative at home as it would be in-person. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched it and, while I fully acknowledge that it’s severely idealistic, it’s a soothing balm in these times.

(If you’re interested in the nitty-gritty, check out this interview between Byrne, Spike, and Dennis Lim, and check out this interview for more on the choreography.)

NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS (2021)

While I wouldn’t say I’m extremely online, I’m certainly more online than most people I know. Patricia Lockwood’s novel — which is primarily concerned with self-reflecting on being extremely online, until it isn’t — may come across as utterly obnoxious to anyone who isn’t familiar with the litany of terms, memes, and bluntness that being ‘extremely online’ entails, but I’d like to think that her artful prose and peculiar framing supersedes the need for that sort of knowledge. It’s an array of vignettes that weave in and out of each other, until her sister’s unborn child tips the balance. I loved it but, as you may guess, I have a high tolerance for extremely online behavior, and I don’t mind sad tales about babies, two factors that you should consider before picking it up.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634158/no-one-is-talking-about-this-by-patricia-lockwood/

MIKEY & NICKY (1976

March 9, 2021

(Criterion/HBO MAX/kanopy/tubi/VOD) Elaine May’s exploration of two desperate NYC mobsters (Peter Falk and John Cassavettes) trying to save themselves while using each other is as good as any take on weathered, toxic male friendship as you’re going to get on film.

There are two versions of it out there, but the one streaming is May’s director’s cut which is streamlined, but far more ramshackle (see: https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2020/06/mikey-and-nicky-liner-notes/ for more details). Watch whichever one you can wrangle!

M.F.A. (2017)

March 8, 2021

(Plex/Prime/Tubi/VOD/Vudu)? A revenge thriller from director Natalia Leite (BARE) and actress/writer Leah McKendrick that pairs well with PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. It’s a stylish tale about assault and baring yourself in your work, unfurls at a fine clip, and is more complex than you might expect.

PATRICE O’NEAL: KILLING IS EASY (2021)

March 7, 2021

(Comedy Central/VOD) I revel in hearing comedians discussing their process, when they bomb, when they kill, what it took to get from the former to the latter, and Michael Bonfiglio’s examination of Patrice O’Neal, who passed in 2011, is an exceptional example of a documentary about a comedian that provides insight while pulling no punches.

The doc handles his backstory more in-depth than most comedian documentaries by having a fair amount of access to his childhood family, friends, even the headmaster of his high school. While his family and friends keep the majority of their remarks polite and affable, the comedians chosen for the doc, certainly do not. The comedians that appear are all ones that you’d recognize if you been paying attention to stand-up in the 90s (Colin Quinn, Denis Leary, Bill Burr, Jim Norton — a lot of TOUGH CROWD folks) and while they all respected his comedic skill, they make it very clear that O’Neal was an absolute asshole, and would double-down on bad engagement and bad opinions. Of course, they also hand wave a lot of that away as “truth telling”, but that’s a subject for another time.

It’s a surprisingly frank portrayal, especially given that comedian Von Decarlo, his fiancée, was the executive producer of the documentary. It’s also a welcome one, if the subject matter interests you and you can overlook the macho approach of much of the comedy.

THEODORA GOES WILD (1936)

March 6, 2021

(YouTube/DVD) THEODORA GOES WILD is a screwball comedy that not only features winsome repartee between leads Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas, but is also about liberating men and women from cultural shackles.

Dunne is Theodora Lynn, a Sunday school teacher by day, but racy, explicit romance author by night. No one but her publisher knows about her writerly habits, at least until Michael Grant (Douglas) the progressive cover artist of her book, discovers her secret and finds himself hellbent to convince her to come clean and live an open life, one where she be proud of her achievements and can actually spend her well-earned novel money. Consequently, he shows up in Theodora’s small town and weasels his way into her life posing as a gardener, and antics ensue.

It’s a tightly scripted, rollickingly good time from director Richard Boleslawski, based on a story from Mary McCarthy (who certainly pitched it as a story she wanted to see on screen). Yes, there’s some dated content, but it has aged remarkably well.

BATES MOTEL (1987)

March 5, 2021

(DVD) This isn’t the recently completed BATES MOTEL TV series, but a made-for-TV film that was shot in-between PSYCHO III and PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING (which was actually shot after BATES MOTEL).

This isn’t a great film but an interesting curio. (Granted, one could say that about -all- of the sequels.) It’s worth noting that Anthony Perkins doesn’t appear in it; instead, Kurt Paul — Perkins’ stunt double in the prior Psycho films — portrays him. BATES MOTEL takes place after PSYCHO (ignoring PSYCHO II and III) and features Alex West (Bud Cort) who killed his step-father as a youth and was then thrown into the same asylum as Norman Bates. Bates befriended Alex and, upon dying, bequeathed him his hotel. Alex, along with the assistance of Willie (Lori Petty) a plucky young woman, fix up the hotel while fending off fears that the place is haunted by Mrs. Bates.

Meanwhile — and slightly jarringly inserted — a woman (Kerrie Keane) checks into the hotel, as — feeling old, alone and unloved after a recent divorce — plans on killing herself. As she’s about to do so, she’s is interrupted by a teen girl (Khrystyne Haje) who invites her to an after-prom party where she woos a young Jason Bateman and realizes there’s still some life in her bones after all. Then — hardly a spoiler, as it’s telegraphed from the get-go but letting you know just in case — it’s revealed that the teen killed herself in the very same room years ago.

If you read the above and thought: ‘Hey, that sounds like a story I’d see in a 80s TV anthology!’ you can pat yourself on the back. BATES MOTEL was a feature film masquerading as a TV pilot, where each week would tell the dovetailing tales of troubled hotel guests. While BATES MOTEL takes far too much time getting the hotel in Alex’s hands — including a lot of padding involving him simply trying to locate the hotel — and it is far too enamored with the Scooby Doo-ish pratfalls that occur afterwards, the B-story is satisfying enough that I wish they’d moved forward with the show. Obviously, they didn’t and we only have this TV film to show for it.

(Then again, I also unabashed love the TV anthology series FRIDAY THE 13: THE SERIES, which similarly has little to do with its namesake.)