Remembering one of David Bowie's weirdest performances ... CalTech's snowflake expert ... Piano Bar 101 ... 2 bad and 2 good reasons to become a marine biologist ... 5 Every Week gets your butt off the couch
Oscars 2016: From troubled divas to politics — the Academy Award-nominated documentaries
Off-Ramp correspondent R.H. Greene examines the Academy’s nominees for the Best Documentary Feature of 2015.
“Amy,” directed by Asif Kapadia
I have mixed emotions about Asif Kapadia’s vibrant and in many ways convincing biographical documentary “Amy.” Kapadia has made much of the fact that he wasn’t an Amy Winehouse fan when Universal Music Group selected him to direct this work on the strength of “Senna,” his other film about doomed celebrity.
UMG knew what it was doing. Kapadia and his collaborators unearthed a treasure trove of private videos and B-roll oddities to create an exceptional and intimate portrait of a familiar star. Yet the agenda — to make Amy Winehouse into a victim of larger cultural forces as embodied in the casual cruelty of the mass audience — seems both well-taken and emotionally false.
Celebrity crushes artists routinely, and often seems to damage even those who eventually outrace its grasp. But there was something disturbingly different about Winehouse’s public embrace of her own downward spiral. “Rehab” — her biggest hit — couldn’t be more direct as a self-depiction by a willful and entitled star shrugging off an intervention. Yet Kapadia strives mightily to make Winehouse’s self-immolation “our” fault.
Turning Winehouse into that hoariest pop culture cliche — a martyr crucified by her audience’s callousness — is a convenient position for a filmmaker enlisted by a record label to reinvigorate a back catalog, because it transforms the scary details into something comforting and familiar. While I won’t deny Kapadia convincingly states his claim, “Amy” still feels like half a truth at best. The elusive part of the story — the relentlessness of Winehouse’s drive toward self-obliteration — is obscured in favor of a tragic narrative that is easier to stomach, but ultimately harder to digest.
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” directed by Liz Garbus
Of the two pop biographies on Oscar’s 2016 Best Documentary list, “Amy” is the presumptive frontrunner. More’s the pity, because Liz Garbus’s sprawling portrait “What Happened, Miss Simone?” has greater depth, a more resonant protagonist and celebrates a far more vast and compelling musical legacy.
Like Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone found success suddenly and seemed destined to be destroyed by it. Bipolar in an era of psychiatric primitivism, black and female in a period of livid racial and gender divides, Simone resonated to her times almost uncontrollably.
Initially presented as a kind of black Julie London for cocktail sophisticates, Simone was radicalized by the civil rights movement, eventually becoming both peer and muse to Martin Luther King as well as an adjunct auntie to the Malcolm X clan. But King’s assassination deeply embittered her.
What's gonna happen now? In all of our cities?
My people are rising; they're living in lies.
Even if they have to die
Even if they have to die at the moment they know what life is
Even at that one moment that ya know what life is
If you have to die, it's all right
Cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life.
— "Why? (The King of Love is Dead)"
Simone’s music became increasingly strident, even advocating for violent change, and she ultimately left the United States for exile — first in Liberia and ultimately in Europe.
Fueled by the vivid and frequently uncomfortable memories of Simone’s daughter Lisa and by a wealth of radiant archival clips of Miss Simone in action, Garbus is unflinching in charting both the intricacies and the failings of a tormented musical genius. Unlike Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone proved a survivor, who lived out a 70-year span. But her tragic life was made no less complex by her 2003 death, and Garbus is savvy enough to leave Simone’s contradictions intact. Among the most enduring of Simone’s enigmas: How did a woman who came to hate the country she was born into create one of the most sustained and most American of musical legacies?
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” understands that the answer to the question of its own title is one Simone herself might not have been able to give.
“The Look of Silence,” directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
The remaining three documentaries nominated for an Oscar move from the personal to the political.
For me personally, perhaps the single biggest Oscar disappointment in recent memory was the Academy’s failure to honor director Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” as Best Documentary of 2012. A surreal fusion of raw testimonial and unhinged reverie, “The Act of Killing” illuminated a forgotten genocide — Indonesia’s “anti-communist” massacres of the mid-1960s — through delirious self-portraits of the unapologetic killers. In a remarkable demonstration of Oppenheimer’s ability to win his subjects’ trust, elderly former members of Indonesia’s death squads not only shared every detail of their violent work, they also re-enacted their private fantasies and memories for Oppenheimer’s lens.
Oppenheimer’s 2015 film “The Look of Silence” takes him back to Indonesia for an equally potent portrait of violence’s victims. A quieter film but no less powerful, “Silence” tracks the odyssey of Adi, a door-to-door optometrist, who uses the odd access granted to a man of his profession to interrogate the killers responsible for the death of his older brother in 1965.
The symbolism is almost too perfect. Both in the film and in life, Adi’s function is to bring a hidden world into focus. It’s a dangerous calling in a country where the death squads of the past are the rulers of today. In Adi, Oppenheimer has found the one thing “The Act of Killing” lacked: a hero, capable of startling us with his bravery and of worrying us with his reckless disregard for his own safety and that of the people he loves.
A brilliant film that stands on its own, “The Look of Silence” is also the second half of a monumental documentary achievement, specific in its milieu but universal in scope. Here’s hoping the Academy recognizes that in giving Oppenheimer another nomination, Oscar has also given itself a second chance to get its award right.
“Cartel Land,” directed by Matthew Heineman
As bullets fly and meth cookers bubble in tight close-up, “Cartel Land” becomes one of those documentaries that leaves you gasping at the sheer physical courage of the filmmakers. Inspired in part by the immediacy of Jehane Noujaim’s 2013 Oscar nominee “The Square,” director Matthew Heineman decided to examine the Mexican drug cartels by infiltrating the anti-drug vigilante movements on both sides of the border.
In dramatic terms, there is a wild imbalance between the relatively staid Arizona Border Recon in the U.S. and Mexico’s ferocious paramilitary Autodefensas, who become a national phenomenon as Heineman’s serpentine camera watches in awe. The disparity of the stakes faced by the two groups is unfortunately emphasized by Heineman’s decision to juxtapose them through simple crosscuts, as though they’re equal sides of a single coin.
In Arizona, militia leader Tim “Nailer” Foley blathers on in the by-now-familiar parlance of the American Constitutionalist malcontent, occasionally rounding up a handful of illegal border crossers for good measure. Meanwhile in Mexico, the Autodefensas and their charismatic leader Dr. Jose Mireles ignite a populist revolt, fielding a virtual citizens' army against the drug lords before becoming corrupted by infiltrators and by mass adulation.
As “Cartel Land” unspools, Heineman proves shrewd enough to know the better story is on the Mexican side of the border, and Foley’s Arizona group recedes until barely a subplot. In staying close to Mireles, Heineman and company do a superb job of demonstrating not only how revolutions rise but also the many reasons they lose their way. To make their point, Heineman and crew brave so many dangerous situations they leave the viewer constantly on edge. In the year of “The Look of Silence,” I honestly don’t know if “Cartel Land” deserves an Oscar. But if there’s some documentary equivalent to the Medal of Honor or the Purple Heart, consider my vote rendered.
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom,” directed by Evgeny Afineevsky
The street-level view of a revolution is often among the most riveting as well as the most incomplete. You can’t fault Evgeny Afineevsky and his film “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” for finding the Ukrainian revolt against the Russian puppet President Viktor Yanukovych a compelling subject, but you can ding him — deeply — for his unblinkingly partisan assumptions, which render his film woefully incomplete.
The obvious touchstone for “Winter on Fire” is Jehane Noujaim’s 2013 Oscar nominee “The Square,” which told the story of the Egyptian rebellion that overthrew Hosni Mubarak from the vantage point of mass protests in Tahrir Square. In “Winter on Fire,” the collection point is Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), where radicalized Ukrainians engage in protest and street battles to unseat a corrupt regime.
Like “The Square,” “Winter on Fire” works mostly as triumphalist propaganda, a raw and robust vision of evil vanquished and democracy proclaimed. Both films have long been overtaken by current events, and by political intrigue murkier and more intricate than Afineevsky’s anti-totalitarian politics are able to contain. Compelling in its immediacy, “Winter on Fire” is still somehow an instant period piece.
At the Golden Ram barbershop, it's almost like the Rams never left Los Angeles
The return of NFL football to Los Angeles has inspired celebration from civic leaders, disdain from many St. Louis football fans and, at one barbershop, tears of joy.
The Golden Ram barbershop sits near the intersection of Goldenwest and Westminster in the northern Orange County town of Westminster. From the outside, you see a somewhat plain, dirty, gold fluorescent sign. On the door, there's a piece of cardboard saying that as of November 2007 the shop's owner, Sal Martinez, now charges $17 for a haircut and only takes appointments.
Inside, the walls are covered floor-to-ceiling with Rams football memorabilia: jerseys, posters, photos, helmets, news clippings.
"People come in and ask me if they have to be a Ram fan to get a haircut," said Martinez. "No, but you do get a better haircut if you're a Ram fan."
Martinez has been a fan of the now Los Angeles Rams since he was 7 years old. Now 53, he stayed loyal to the team for its 20-year tenure in St. Louis.
On learning the Rams were leaving Los Angeles in 1995
I'll never forget where I was at. I was in my room and KFI radio — when they finally announced it that it was official — I kind of had a feeling like three years prior. Because from talking, a lot of the rumors and talking to people, I kind of felt like it was eventually gonna happen. I could start seeing some of the moves that the Rams were making. It was almost as if they were pretty much rolling up and getting ready to leave town.
My heart was broken. But I just kind of... an analogy I use is like you have a puppy that you love and you can't keep him. You want him to to go to a good home. You want to be able to visit your puppy, and hopefully the person caring for him is taking care of him. It was never the same, but it was still the Rams. So I just blocked out the city and everything else.
I flew out to St. Louis at least three games a year, since they've been gone, for over 20 years. It's almost as if you have a childhood friend you grew up with, and he moves away to another state. And he's gonna get married, and you go visit him and it's like he introduces you to his new friends, and they're good people, but it's just not the same when it was just you and him.
I met a lot of new fans and a lot of people in St. Louis, they treated me well. But it wasn't Los Angeles.
On learning the Rams were coming back
I was at my shop. Once they announced it and it was official. I close at six, but my last customer left at 5:40. I'm watching it on TV, trying to hold down my emotion. But people always asked me how I was gonna react once it became official. And I didn't really know how to answer that.
But once my customer left at 5:40, I turned off the lights and I started walking back towards my shop. I started crying like a baby. I just totally lost it.
It was so overwhelming because of the past five years, every day I would follow the possible relocation of the Rams back to Los Angeles. So for me, it was building up, building up for over five years, every day.
Martinez and Rabe finally accept that the NFL is returning to LA
A few months ago, Take Two's A Martinez and I refused to jump on the bandwagon and act like the NFL was going to bring a team to Los Angeles, so we said, "We'll believe it when we see it."
After all, as The Los Angeles Downtown News' Jon Regardie pointed out in an Off-Ramp commentary, we'd been fooled before.
As a public service, here is the list of local sites that have been trotted out as potential homes for the NFL: the Dodger Stadium parking lot, the Coliseum in Exposition Park (twice), the City of Industry, the city of Carson, Hollywood Park, the Rose Bowl, Anaheim, and AEG’s South Park.
And here are the teams that have been confirmed, mentioned or rumored as candidates to move to L.A.: the Rams, Raiders, Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Jaguars, Vikings, Saints, Seahawks and Colts. That’s more than one-quarter of the NFL teams.
On the NFL’s side, it’s been a brilliant business tactic, as every secondary market scared of losing a team has coughed up the cash for a new stadium. And what happened to TV revenue without an L.A. team? It grew fatter than the Farmers Field blimp.
Well, the Rams are coming to Los Angeles after all, and A Martinez - sporting his new beard - joined me in the Off-Ramp studio to talk about it.
Marine biologists take vow of chastity, poverty. Otherwise, it's a great job.
Career advice from Dr. Milton Love, an actual marine biologist at UCSB and author of "Certainly More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast."
It’s the time of year when high school student seniors, finally addressing what the hell they want to do with their lives, email me and ask about becoming a marine biologist.
So you want to be a marine biologist? Well, why don’t you just sit down, stop fidgeting, and let a real marine biologist give you some damn good advice.
First of all there are two really, really bad reasons to want to be a marine biologist.
Bad Reason Number One: "I want to be a marine biologist so that I can talk to dolphins."
When we real marine biologists hear this, our impulse is to thwack you a good one on your keister with a frozen haddock.
And why is that? It is because, and please listen carefully, while you may want to talk to dolphins, dolphins do not want to talk to you. That’s right. Mostly dolphins want to eat fishes and have sex with other dolphins. And that pretty much cuts you out of the equation, doesn’t it?
Just be honest with yourself. If you want to talk to dolphins you don’t want to be a marine biologist. What you really want to do is explore your past lives, get in touch with the Cosmic Oneness, and conduct similar-minded individuals on tours to Central America looking for evidence that We Are Not Alone.
Bad Reason Number Two: "I want to be a marine biologist because I want to make big, big bucks."
Okay, here’s the bottom line. By federal law, marine biologists have to take a vow of poverty and chastity. Poverty, because you are not going to make squat-j-doodly in this job. And just how squat is the doodly we are talking about? Well, five years after finishing my PhD I was making slightly less than a beginning manager at McDonalds.
And chastity? Well, who’s going to date someone who persistently smells like a thawed haddock with an attitude? Not even a dolphin.
But there are two really, really good reasons to want to become a marine biologist.
Good Reason Number One: "You can dress and act almost any way you want."
This is true. Marine biologists are almost entirely free of any of those silly restrictions that blight the professional landscape of our fellow proletarians. This is because no one really cares about what we do or what we say. You want to come to work dressed in scabrous khaki shorts and a torn black Sandman shirt? Fine. You want to grow a scruffy beard, get a tattoo of a gooseneck barnacle on your arm, or burp at inopportune moments? No problem, just do good work.
Good Reason Number Two: "If you like it, just do it."
Look, the reality is that you only go around once in life and if, by chance, you do come back, knowing how you have behaved in this life, you will undoubtedly come back as a slime mold. And most slime molds cannot be marine biologists ... unless they go into management. So just go out there and do what you enjoy. The ocean is an exciting, never-dull place that is perfect for piddling away your existence. And just think, you actually get paid to think cool thoughts and do cool things.
And so what if you will never have sex again?
Joey Arias on David Bowie's legendary, weird Saturday Night Live appearance
In 1979, David Bowie gave one of his weirdest TV performances on Saturday Night live.
It was three songs: "The Man who Sold the World," "TVC 15" and "Boys Keep Swinging."
Each song featured a different costume: In one, he donned a huge Bauhaus-style costume that was so heavy and rigid he couldn't move. In another, he's a flight attendant walking with a stuffed pink poodle at his side. In the final performance, a weird — possibly NSFW — puppet:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7nzkv_david-bowie-klaus-nomi-tvc15-boys-k_music
You can view the entire performance here.
His backup singers were the late avant-garde performer Klaus Nomi (wearing black) and Joey Arias (in red). Arias now makes his living performing a Billie Holiday tribute, and he told us the story of the now legendary TV appearance:
We were at the Mudd Club, and we were getting ready to leave. It was about 4 in the morning. And a friend of ours said, "Well good night, we're leaving. Are you going to say good night to David?"
And we were like "What are you talking about?" And she said "David!"
And she pointed against the wall, and there's David Bowie sitting there with a group of people. And we stood there, like frozen. And we walked over and we bypassed the bodyguards. He tapped David on the shoulder and said, "Mr. Bowie, I want to introduce you to Joey and Nomi," and he turned around and went "Nomi? Oh my god! I just got back from Berlin and I know your friends! Everyone was talking about you, I can't believe I'm meeting you!"
Anyway, they exchanged numbers. And actually, David went to a loft and was looking at films of the shows that we had been doing and told Klaus, "This is what I've been wanting to do!"
And then somehow it all changed up. And Klaus would tell me what was going on. And then after like two, three weeks — maybe a month, even — he said, "You're not going to believe it, but they're going to do Saturday Night Live, and he's asking if you'd be available."
I thought to myself "Are you kidding? Yes!"
We met on Monday, and we were together every single day for like 10, 15 hours a day. So we got to really know each other very well. On the second day, they gave us a thousand dollars each. We went out shopping and we found these costumes by Mr. Thierry Mugler, now known as Manfred Mugler.
It was all based on Bauhaus — Klaus and I were naturally, the way we moved — I mean David was just like completely fascinated and blown away by us. And you know, we actually choreographed ourselves. David hardly did anything. He kept saying, "I wish I knew you guys since the Diamond Dogs days, I would've fired everybody immediately and just had you guys."
He said, "I got this costume that I can't move in, based on Bauhaus." And he put it on and we carried him.
Oscar nod for Pixar's Indian-themed short, 'Sanjay's Super Team,' debut film for Sanjay Patel
Update: 1/14/2016: "Sanjay's Super Team" has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated). Congrats to Sanjay Patel and his whole team!
KPCC's John Rabe and animation expert Charles Solomon talk with Pixar animator and director Sanjay Patel about "Sanjay's Super Team," the short that opens with "The Good Dinosaur" November 24.
"I told (Pixar's) John Lasseter that every morning my dad worshiped his gods in his shrine, which were the Hindu gods, and every morning I worshiped my gods in my shrine, which wee the superheroes and my shrine was the TV."
-- Pixar animator Sanjay Patel to KPCC's Off-Ramp
It's a simple premise: A little Indian boy tries to watch super hero cartoons one morning, as his father tries to worship at his household shrine. The father shuts off the blaring TV and makes his son come pray with him. The boy falls asleep and has a dream in which superheroes morph into his father's deities. Good triumphs, the boy awakens, and at the end, son and father have new respect for each other.
It's only seven minutes long, but it tells a story that's millennia old and as new as the next baby and his doting father. It's "Sanjay's Super Team," the directorial debut (and avowed finale) of longtime Pixar animator Sanjay Patel, whose parents moved him from Great Britain to San Bernardino County to run a motel when he was only five.
"The one deity that felt like it was at the bedrock of the short was Vishnu. In the Vedic cosmology, there's Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. Brahma is the god of creation, Shiva is the god of destruction, and Vishnu is the god of preservation and balance. And this trinity works to keep things in balance. I always knew Vishnu was going to be this perfect mirror to my father. In many ways, he had this tightrope that he walked in terms of someone who was really grounded in the East, but had to walk this line in the West in terms of balancing his identities and figuring out a way to survive as an immigrant. His job was bringing us to this country and helping us balance the priorities of both cultures and helping to keep one alive without rejecting the other."
Patel -- who also writes and illustrates books like The Little Book of Hindu Deities -- says he and his father were very emotional when they watched the short together ... his father not having seen a movie since "The Sound of Music" in 1960s England! Patel also adds that -- not surprisingly -- having a two year old son of his own has given him a new appreciation for his father and mother.
For much more with Sanjay Patel, listen to the whole interview by pressing the arrow in the audio payer.