"Kerouac and the Beat Generation", Friends & Lovers

Kerouac and the Beat Generation (Kerouac et la Beat Generation. Une enquête, French original title)- Jean-François Duval

Who would have guessed? Don't want to sound pedantic, but I have devoted a very remarkable amount of my time reading about the beat generation, so, being honest, when I received "Kerouac and the Beat Generation" (a birthday gift) I thought it was going to be a waste of time. How wrong I was.

Jean-François Duval looks to me like the quintessential beat obsessed, but he is wise enough to use his vast knowledge on the subject to look for something else. He doesn't aim to build yet another chronicle of the times and lives of the Beats, but instead, find the surviving "starrings" of these era and let them speak, allowing them to explain, to unveil a vivid picture of the Beats, as revealing as refreshing.

Shifting the focus from the investigator/author to the opinions of the people interviewed makes "Kerouac" a lightweight and engaging read. But that doesn't make the book "simple". On the contrary, different personalities result on a very complete, multi-directional, look to the Beats. In particular on his most famous member: Jack Kerouac. The six personalities interviewed can be divided into two categories. First, the survivors: close friend and pivotal member of the movement (although it is dubious there was one) Allen Ginsberg, plus Carolyn Cassady, Neal Cassady's wife, and Joyce Johnson, both once Kerouac lovers. And second the "next generation beats", counterculture propelled by the first beats, like poet Anne Waldman, LSD guru-icon Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, writer and Merry Prankster leader, arguably the one who tried to make "On the Road" a larger-than-life experience outside Kerouac's pages (and with too many drugs involved). Duval has read it all, so he knows what the questions must be, but that means he knows (we know) the real story? The answer is not really.

For a confessed fan like myself, it was puzzling to realise we have been living with the myth, the image portrayed by the books and the impact-influence of their literature, as well as the supposed aesthetics-attitudes related to it, believing that was the truth. Well, that's the constructed truth, half the truth if you prefer. Jack Kerouac slowly killed himself because he couldn't get along with his myth. Cassady, in the words of his wife, was a guy struck between his father-husband obligations and his will to explore the world. Kesey and Leary wanted to go "Further" not because they were experimenting with drugs, but because they were convinced life as we know it is not all it should be. In a way, America needed the Beats to offer a definition of the changes the country was going through, building a generation from very different personalities, literary ambitions and attitudes... I can go on, but I don't want to spoil "Kerouac", a book that, needless to say, is incredibly absorbing, and also one that I'm sure will stimulate more reads.

My only complaint about the book? Longer, I wish it had been much much longer!

SCORE: 9/10

"The Spirit of '45", the 99%, back then

The Spirit of '45

So glad to see Ken Loach back on track. "The Spirit of '45" is a moving documentary and a crystal-clear tribute to the British people that, together, were capable of leaving behind the scourge of the II World Wars, and along with the '45 Labour government rebuild the country. A new England under a new vision: a fair and united society. Tories, Republicans, Merkel fans, PP voters... all right-wing devotees, as well as Tony Blair or Zapatero nostalgics, 80-90s socialists, you should stop reading right now. This is going to give you hives (skin rash).

Loach doesn't care about the possible (obvious) criticism he has/is going to face. I assume he's got so used to the accusations of being heavily biased that he probably doesn't waste a single second to read critics opinion (who cares about the right-wing opinions anyway? we all know they are all crazy). After all, "Spirit of '45" is the next step of a director who has always had a coherent political speech, something showed in his long filmography. 

As expected as well, Loach is not interested in portraying a flamboyant, state-of-the-art documentary. He combines footage from the vast British archives with contemporary interviews, many of them people who were there and, with their answers can define how dramatic was the situation after the war, how the changes arrived with the labour government. The film is not the most dynamic, but on the other hand, is powerful and determined to get its point exposed: there's an URGENT NEED of another SPIRIT OF '45.

Co-operation, solidarity, unity, support, but also nationalisation of any economic-productive sector that was pivotal for society, and the creation of a welfare system (health, education, subsidies). Does it sound familiar to you? Yes, that's the same social protection system our despicable politicians in Europe are trying to destroy. Or the national health program Republicans from the States would qualify as evil (meaning communist, of course). Keynes against the "market law", now updated into an even more criminal version, Friedman's privatise-everything (that serves to my only benefit) law, packed with shameful speculation. Sorry, but like Loach, I have decided it makes no sense to waste my time trying to be more "polite/tolerant" with the people who are the reason of the disaster we are in now. Let's say it out loud and clear: we have enough of criminals who are there just for their own greed. 

Let's go back to the documentary then. It's so evident Loach is trying to tell us we can't give out hope today. Yes, the bastards are everywhere, and extremely powerful and the situation is extremely difficult. But was it worse than 1945? Don't think so. And then, the 99% of Great Britain decided it was time for a change, a revolution. And so came the change. Loach rediscovers history to show it's time for another revolution. That we can fight and succeed.

I personally missed the voice of young people, believing it would have been nice to confront the current generations with the memories and thoughts of the elders. Also I'm kind of dubious of the last-minute attack to Thatcher. Don't get me wrong, Thatcher can't be condemned enough, but it's kind of tricky the way it is exposed. She introduced the criminal (sorry liberal) economic policies in the country, trying to dismantle the Welfare System. But Loach doesn't take the time to explain how the monster arrived to Downing Street, and she wasn't alone. What about John Major? And Blair? Aside from that, a documentary to watch and think about it.

SCORE: 7/10

"Pistol", the Elvis of Basketball

Pistol. The Life of Pete Maravich- Mark Kriegel

Sadly, I was too young to watch Pistol Maravich in action, and when I really got into NBA, he was already dead. But as a basketball addict I quickly discovered the talents of Pete "Pistol" Maravich, an American icon and, foremost, a unique ballplayer that made that elevated that sport to unparalleled levels of spectacle with his never-ending talents (watch video below or links). I believed that I already got the chance to knew a bit of his turbulent life, but after reading this addictive biography, I realise I didn't have a clue of what really went on with Pistol. For good and bad.

Writer Mark Kriegel achieves what I thought it was impossible with this sort of "commercially appealing" biographies. There's very little, if any, bias from the author. Zero hagiography, instead a highly documented work, fuelled with the opinions of countless who were there, plus a will to make no prisoners, but tell a story that is shocking, powerful and touching enough by itself.

Have you seen any "Behind the Music" program? Sure, after seeing too many they look rather silly and cliche-bounded. But it also shows the classic structure of rise-fall-final rise (redemption) that is so recurrent on American mythography (literature, music, cinema...). The Maravich tale is no different... with one exception. This time it seems it was completely for real. The Elvis of basketball.

This is a tale of obsession as much as frustration, with basketball being the joy and ruin of the Maravich's family. Father Press lived for the sport, to push the game forward and making his son Pete a child prodigy fated to be "the million dollar contract kid". Pete even surpassed the expectations, averaging the never to be beaten mark of 44,2 points a game at Louisiana State University. He became a legend, a Southern icon capable of building venues thanks to his presence, more like a rock icon. But also his worst enemy too. The dream  quickly transformed into a terrible nightmare once he went professional, one where playing the ball, always his shelter, turned also to be his curse.

Kriegel does a fantastic work in showing us all. The nature of Pistol's myth and his endurance among generations, his role on transforming the game. The impossible father-son relation, leaving alone their doomed wife-mother, the contradiction between his flamboyant, individual genius style on a team sport, his incredibly lacking social skills and struggle with fame against his will to be the focus of attraction on court, and all his obsessions, including the final and relieving finding of Catholicism. And how his legend and fate haunted his family even after his death. "Pistol" is an incredibly absorbing read, even for non-basketball fans. But hey! don't just believe my word, just watch the Pistol play...



SCORE: 8,25/10

Hear Basia Bulat's new album "Tall Tall Shadow"

Sometimes words fall short to describe what music can achieve... I'm completely taken away by Basia Bulat's new album, "Tall Tall Shadow", set to release on Monday 30th. As expected, the new record is amazing. Well, is much more than that, is a blast. But you don't have to believe me, just judge yourself by clicking on any of the following links, where you can stream the whole record entirely.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/listen-to-basia-bulats-new-album-tall-tall-shadow,103233/

http://www.rockdelux.com/audio-video/p/basia-bulat-tall-tall-shadow.html

Happy Birthday Boss (with covers)!

No, I'm not getting mad, Bruce Springsteen wouldn't normally be included on this blog (a lot of respect but not really my taste). But as the Boss turns 64 today, I thought it was a good opportunity to pay him a little homage remembering a few covers of his songs done by some of my favourite artists. Happy B-Day Boss!

Camera Obscura- Tougher than the Rest


Basia Bulat- Glory Days


The National- Mansion on the Hill


10.000 Maniacs- Because the Night


Arcade Fire- Born in the U.S.A.

"Phil Spector", Wall of Muted Sound

Phil Spector
It's quite strange. Being objective, "Phil Spector" doesn't have any big flaw. Good acting, a serious script, and a point of view that wants to offer something different, something more: a trial film no focused on the trial itself (something that would had been very dear to Hollywood), a drama without willing to "sell the drama" or win thanks to its impact, and a look to fame quite distant from the cliche-prone that celebrity biopics tend to be. But despite the remarkable virtues, the film is quite empty, lifeless.

Now go figure, the movie is about Phil Spector, a myth now in jail, a music producer legend transformed into the perfect example of an eccentric celebrity wasted away. What a potentially irresistible candy this could be in the hands of a greedy producer or/and an ambitious director. But that's not the case, prestigious director and writer David Mamet transforms a potential blockbuster into a radically unexpected proposal. A pretty obscure investigation/analysis of the clash between society and justice: was Spector convicted because a murder or because his fame and odd lifestyle?

And to show the dilemma Mamet delivers a script heavy on dialogues to two heavyweight actors: Helen Mirren and Al Pacino. To be honest, I was expecting nothing but another solid performance from Mirren and she doesn't disappoint in her role of defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, but I was quite scared with Pacino, thinking that with such an eccentric and extreme character he could create another abomination like his Tony Montana (sorry Brian de Palma fans, not my cup of tea, to be polite), grotesque and annoying. But on the contrary, Pacino's Spector seems real, the rage episodes balancing admirably with the fragile looks of a wasted old man. Frustration and ego dramatically colliding on a person that really believes he should be treated like the legend he is.

Indeed, the elements are there, but the movie never really grabs you. It's a very cold movie, probably too analytic and little rewarding for the viewer. But aside from the emotional, then subjective, factors, the fact is "Spector" doesn't go further on the actual events of the case, there's zero detail about what went on court, which might be a brave or at least coherent move from Mamet. The director wanted to depict the relation between the music producer and his attorney while pointing out the "shadows" of a process too full of other elements than just the need to clarify if there was evidence enough to condemn Phil Spector as the murder of Lana Clarkson, but really ruins the whole point about the film. Once the trial begins, the film ends, so the spectator has the feeling the he has been watching the whole preparation of the trial just to be left without it. The way the whole thing concludes makes Mamet's proposal look biased and incomplete. This shouldn't be called "Phil Spector", but rather "The Phil Spector's defense preparations". That's enough to make a solid film? I have some serious doubts about it...

SCORE: 5,75/10

"Dodgeball", good fun for a plane

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Only on a plane someone would end watching a film like this. Hey! I'm not complaining with the affirmation. Just pointing out that I don't see myself looking for a film like this one if not on a particular circumstance like the aforementioned. Which it is a bit unfair, considering how many advertised and announced terrible films (don't get me started about "Gatsby" again). Sure, this is not a indispensable film, a masterpiece, or even a movie that you could define as really "worth watching". The fun is silly, agreed, but it gets going, you will laugh, and lacks any pretension. More than many Oscar-worthy numbers, teen terror stupidities, state-of-the-art movies, or 3-D bluffs that saturate theatres every year.

"Dodgeball" doesn't have a lot to be remembered in terms of storytelling as Director and writer Rawson Marshall Thurber is not worried at all about his script, a mere copy of the underdog tales seen a million times in this sub-genre of sports films, now with dodgeball, an uncommon practice out of the States (at least in Europe to my knowledge), an excuse to design a series of physical sketches based on the irrational but universal fun of seeing how someone is hit by a ball. Plus White Goodman, Ben Stiller's character, a villain so grotesque that's completely hilarious and steals the whole show. The whole Globo Gym, a few other secondary roles (the ESPN 8 announcers of "The Ocho", Gary Cole and Jason Bateman on top), the end of the credits, and an easygoing, little demanding vibe overall is quite enough to make you watch it, and for the majority of time, enjoy it. Then you have Lance Armstrong playing the mentor/oracle role, the living example of human success thanks to not to giving up when all hope seems to vanish to the hero (a not very funny Vince Vaughn). What an incredible gag done by accident (or better said, because of the hypocrisy/greed of someone who was a hero for many).

Trivial, but fun enough to be an ok choice to watch on a plane.
 
SCORE: 5,5/10