On this weekend 17 years ago — in the heat of the Democratic primary of 2008 between Hillary & Obama — I started BrianHassett.com.
Every month since then for 17 years I’ve written at least one new piece for the site.
“17” has been a weird number that’s followed me around my whole life from my hockey team jersey as a kid through the books I’ve written to today’s anniversary – a date I never think about, except this year I did . . . on the 17th year!
From my book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac . . .
Strangely enough, the piece more people click on year after year is Famous People Who Don’t Have Kids! This page was started back in 2010 when someone made a smart-aleck comment that anyone who had kids was superior to anyone who didn’t. I thought it was so ridiculous/repulsive a statement that I figured I’d jot down a list of few influential folks who didn’t have kids. It’s continued to grow over the years and is now over 500 people from Jesus to Janis, and it’s still read by people every single day.
Crazily enough the second most popular piece in the site’s history was last year’s Why I Love Joe Biden because it went viral when not that many people were coming out and saying it.
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The third most popular is one I’m particularly proud of because it took a lot of work — The Beatles: Get Back – Time-Coded and Annotated. When Peter Jackson’s epic documentary came out in 2021, it was so overwhelming that I started my own little cheat-sheet to be able to find songs and quotes and stuff within its 7½ hour span. That just kinda kept growing with each time I’d watch it, and I realized this would be valuable to others, so I really filled it in with every deet from every scene and transcribed whole passages to get the quotes in print. Over the years I’ve heard from both college professors and high school teachers in both the U.K. and the U.S. thanking me for doing it because they use it in their classes.
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The fourth & fifth most popular all-time are also a bit of a surprise – my Carolyn Cassady Tribute and last year’s piece about Anne Murphy and her book about Neal Cassady. This is some sort of proof that both the Beats and the Cassadys are more popular than commonly thought.
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Six & seven were also both recent but maybe not as surprising – Taylor Swift, The Grateful Dead and The Beat Generation, and Taylor Swift from a Deadhead’s Perspective. They both got another huge bounce in readers this past weekend when Bob Weir & Taylor were photographed together at the Grammys and it went viral and all these Deadhead Swifties came out of the closet. I thought the connection between the two artists and their fan bases was obvious from the get-go, but it’s nice that it’s now a bit more of an accepted fact.
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Number eight was also not that surprising – a piece about the only photo known to exist of Jack Kerouac actually writing at a typewriter. He posed for a bunch once he got famous, but this was taken before then by a girl he was chasing on the sand dunes of Provincetown. The piece ended up being a cover story in Beat Scene magazine, and The Beat Museum in San Francisco made a big deal about it, and it kinda rightfully got celebrated far & wide.
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The tenth is something that keeps coming up so keeps getting read — Beat versus Beatnik. It was written after years of having to beat back (ha-ha) self-appointed know-it-all-wannabes saying that if someone ever used the word ‘beatnik’ they were either using it as an insult or because they were uneducated about the Beats. I had to correct this nonsense so many times I decided to just write one piece so I could use it as needed. Turned out to be a super popular idea.
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There’s now nearly 300 pieces on the site — articles, features, reviews, book excerpts, firsthand Adventure Tales, some fiction & poetry — but those are the Top Ten most read.
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Some that didn’t make the Top Ten but were close and maybe shoulda . . .
The Northport Reportabout the Big Sur reading on Long Island in 2001 with the Cassadys and a cast of thousands.
One of the nice things about living in Manhattan — you often bump into and sometimes get to talk to really smart people on the sidewalk. When they’re famous, mostly you just nod acknowledgment and smile — like seeing Robin Williams walking and playing with his son on Fifth Avenue, or Timothy Leary in line at a street vender, or Colin Powell walking on the double military-straight in his uniform near the U.N.
But one of my favorites was seeing Arthur Miller crossing Third Avenue near my apartment on 70th Street. I was going one way and he was coming the other and I looked up and, “Oh my gawd, that’s Arthur Miller!” He was kinda looking at the ground and seemed lost in thought, so as usual I respected his space and didn’t bother him. But I stopped on the other side of the avenue and turned back to soak in what was happening.
I’d studied the hell out of Death of a Salesman. Maybe it’s obvious and too-often stated, but it’s the greatest American play ever written. What Huckleberry Finn is to American novels.
I saw a production of Salesman back when I was a teenager in Winnipeg. It was one of those moments when the lightbulb went on and you suddenly appreciated some great work of art that adults always praised but you’d been too young to understand.
When I moved to Washington Square North in Greenwich Village, I started going to plays and reading them. The legendary actress Uta Hagen & her theater school founder husband Herbert Berghof lived in the apartment next door, and Phyllis & Eddie Condon’s apartment where I lived was a library of the greatest books ever written. I went deep down rabbit holes of Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill and bought and saw a ton of Sam Shepard. But Salesman was always in a class of its own.
I was in the orchestra for the Broadway production with Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Kate Reid, Stephen Lang & David Huddleston, and they made a televised version for CBS which I taped on VHS and played over and over again, unconsciously memorizing whole passages. Different lines have come back to me over the decades in all sorts of situations.
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I stood there looking at him from the other side of the avenue thinking about all this stuff and how much his art meant to me. He’d stopped and was looking in the window of one of the little stores on the Upper East Side back when there were still places like shoe repair shops and hardware stores. It was still a little neighborhood like any Main Street in any little town in America.
I thought of the story Kerouac tells of his architect friend Ed White suggesting he carry a notebook like architects do to sketch things he sees, and Jack stopping at a storefront and sketching in words what he saw. And there was the wordsmith Arthur Miller mentally sketching a little old-world storefront on a quiet summer afternoon in Manhattan. He was in no hurry. He was already on Mount Rushmore. He had nuthin left to do in this lifetime but enjoy the view.
After the light changed back to green I thought, “There’s Arthur Miller. I gotta go talk to him and thank him.” So I crossed back over the avenue and he was still standing on the empty sidewalk in the quiet afternoon sunshine looking into this small storefront window. I walked up, and said hi, and he was a tallish fellow, and there was Arthur Miller’s big bald head above me, looking exactly like every picture I’d ever seen. .
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My dad had recently passed, and sadly he was something of a Willie Loman, and we’d never really gotten along. But when he was getting near the end, I remembered the Salesman’s mother’s impassioned admonition — “Attention must be paid.” .
It comes in her powerful Act One monologue — “I don’t say he’s a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.“
That passage about respecting a low-man’s passing guided me through the final scenes of my father’s drama — and it was this very playwright a million miles away from the Canadian prairies who wrote the motivation for how we played out our final act. .
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So I told the smiling gentle face, “I just thought you should know how your words helped my family through a difficult time before it was too late.”
“Well . . . you’re welcome,” he smiled in his giant Buddhistic beatific way. “Thank you for saying that,”
It’s not all that often that an artist changes the life your family lives — and it’s even rarer that you get to thank them. I’m forever grateful to the Great Spirits that this moment happened, and that he stood there appreciating a simple storefront so I could tell him how much I appreciated him wrapping up my relationship with my father with respect.
Here’s what I riffed to social media after I got home from the advance screening on December 18th . . .
Caught the sold-out “A Complete Unknown” IMAX screening in Toronto last night — and boy was it GREAT to see it on a giant screen with loud crystal-clear 360º sound! During the concert & club scenes, the applause was behind you as though you were sitting in the front of the audience at the show.
Everybody’s talking about Timothée Chalamet’s performance or Bob Dylan being the subject, but my takeaway was James Mangold, the director and co-screenwriter, which I believe the French call an “auteur.”
This is *fantastic* cinematic storytelling.
Besides Chalamet and Edward Norton being shoe-in Oscar nominations, does Mangold get a Best Screenplay nod? And Best Director and Picture? And it probably also deserves one for both Production Design and Sound Mixing.
But the main takeaway is how expertly Mangold tells in 2¼ hours a tale that spanned 4½ event-filled years — from “a complete unknown” arriving in New York City … to becoming the most influential musical artist on the planet.
This could be effectively done devoting an hour to each year — but as it is, it moves at a lightning pace — and not in a bad way, but in a the-story-never-drags way. It’s a domino tumble of scenes with a rapidly changing protagonist.
And it’s massively fictionalized — in a good way. It’s still a helluva lot more factual than any account Dylan ever told of his life — and it’s a master class in dramatic cinematic storytelling.
There was a taped Q&A with the main cast afterward and Mangold said Timothée plays 26 different Bob songs in the movie (!) and as you may have heard they’re all performed live on camera.
And nobody’s talkin about Monica Barbaro who plays Joan Baez. I gotta think she’s gonna become more of a household name after this.
And Edward Norton as Pete Seeger — fugetaboutit!
Oh and it’s *funny*! Probably a dozen times the entire theater burst out laughing!
And in notoriously reserved Canada, the audience broke into spontaneous applause as soon as it ended! And then again after the credit roll wrapped. (!)
If you love movies and music and cultural history you’ll wanna be makin plans to see this in a theater at your earliest.
This film has now joined a pretty cool sub-genre in movie history — biopics of musicians — telling the story of giants of music … made by giants of film . . .
Rhapsody in Blue, Young Man With A Horn, The Glenn Miller Story, The Benny Goodman Story, The Gene Krupa Story, St. Louis Blues, Lady Sings The Blues, Bound For Glory, Leadbelly, The Buddy Holly Story, The Rose, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Amadeus, Sid and Nancy, La Bamba, Bird, The Doors, Great Balls of Fire! What’s Love Got To Do With It, Selena, The Pianist, Ray, Walk The Line, Control, Nowhere Boy, Miles Ahead, Love & Mercy, Born To Be Blue, Straight Outta Compton, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Respect, Elvis, Maestro . . . movies that racked up scores of Oscar wins & nominations over the decades.
I love that right out of the gate the ads for this movie use the phrase “*inspired by* the true story of Bob Dylan,” and that Timothée Chalamet said in his first interview for the film (with Zane Lowe at Apple Music), “This is interpretive. This is not definitive. This is not fact. This is not how it happened. This is a fable.” Director Mangold referred to the arc of the real story as “Shakespearian” and “like a fairy tale” and that it’s so naturally dramatic “it sounds like a movie pitch.”
The film is like a Dylan song — a poetic interpretation inspired by something that happened. Sadly some Bob ‘purists’ don’t grasp the concept and are booing an electric guitar they haven’t even seen yet.
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It was Bob’s own management company who optioned the book Dylan Goes Electric!according toits author Elijah Wald, and Bob’s longtime manager Jeff Rosen is a producer, just as he was on Masked & Anonymous, No Direction Home, The Other Side of The Mirror (Newport ’63-’65), Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue, and the 2021 Odds & Ends. Before they even had a script or director, it was Bob’s team who first enlisted Timothée Chalamet — who was Oscar nominated for Best Lead Actor at the ripe old age of 22 (for Call Me By Your Name).
. Dylan’s team were intalks with both HBO and Amazon but ultimately went with Searchlight because they wanted a full theatrical release. They first approached the Coen brothers to adapt it since they’d already made the Oscar-nominated Inside Llewyn Davis about a folk singer in Greenwich Village in the same early-’60s period, but as Chalamet tells it, “Joel Coen, before we had Mangold involved, I asked him ‘Why don’t you direct the Bob Dylan movie?’ And he said, ‘It’s impossible.’ And I asked, ‘Why is it impossible?’ And he goes, ‘Because it’s not about a singular moment. How do you, in a two-hour movie, encompass the miracle that is the breadth of what he wrote and how much he got out. It’s like watching paint dry, cuz how do you make lyric writing interesting, basically.'”
And that’s why I maintain that what James Mangold has achieved is so extraordinary. Even Joel Coen thought it was “impossible.”
It’s just an observation / theory of mine, but, as we all know, in the main, Dylan goes his own way. However, when it came time to create a public home for his archives, he went to Tulsa because the Woody Guthrie Center had planted the flag there. I think that he (and his team) went to James Mangold because he had written & directed the Johnny Cash / June Carter Oscar-winning biopic Walk The Line (2005) — about a musician Bob knew well and respected. They went to where the flag was planted.
And Dylan didn’t just sign off on this — he spent five full days with the director one-on-one, including performing the entire script together with Dylan reading all the Bob parts and offering insights and even new lines that made it into the finished film. I’m betting one of them was, “These chords I learned from a cowboy named Wigglefoot.” 😅
Bob’s a longtime cinephile having loved movies since he was a kid. He’s mentioned them in his lyrics, starred in them, written songs for them, made his own a couple times, and proudly had his Oscar on stage with him for years.
He has a well-thought-out understanding of what makes a good film, and he’s embraced and blessed this particular auteur. According to Mangold, the first thing Bob said upon meeting was how much he loved his Cop Land movie (1997). And he certainly knew that the musical performances in Walk The Line were the actors singing live — something the director repeated on camera with all the performances in A Complete Unknown.
When Mangold first explained his vision to Bob, “I knew he didn’t want a 20-minute pitch. I said: ‘It’s about a young guy in Minnesota who’s suffocating and feeling desperate and who leaves everything – friends, family – behind and, with just a few dollars in his pocket, makes his way across the country and creates a new identity and makes new friends, finds a new family and blossoms, becomes successful, then starts to suffocate again and runs away.’” Then Mangold says, “He smiled and that was all. He didn’t have anything more to say, but I knew that meant, to me, that he didn’t take issue.”
Mangold has also talked about how much he likes making films about artists, and that he considers his other Oscar-winning biopic masterpiece Ford vs Ferrari to be about two artists — a race car designer and driver. He has a history of successfully bringing real artists to life on screen.
Something else writer-director Mangold said in a recent interview that I’ll never forget and applies to the pacing I mentioned in my first-viewing riff (above). You can hear the whole 5-minutes here, but he says — “The best advice I can ever give is advice that was given to me which is to write like you’re sitting next to a blind person at the movie theater and you’re describing the film, and if you take too long to describe what’s happening you’ll fall behind because the movie’s still moving.“
He’s made a 2¼ hour film about a story that took place over 4½ event-packed years. The guy understands audiences and how to keep them engaged and the story flowing. Funnily enough, there were several scenes that I would have enjoyed going on longer — like Bob and Joan bantering and bickering about songwriting in a small Greenwich Village apartment circa 1962, or when he finally gets in the studio with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper to cut Highway 61 — I coulda watched a whole movie about either of those scenarios! — but Mangold always has the big picture in mind and keeps the bluegrass-pickin’-pace rollicking along.
After writing a great script and choosing the right director, the most important thing in filmmaking is casting, and, boy, Mangold nailed that, too.
As I mentioned, Chalamet was the first person Team Bob approached. We know they’re smart, but this was brilliant. Timmy (as he’s known to those around him) was the same age as Bob in ’64 when this was first set in motion, but then the Covid shutdown and the SAG/writers strike delayed production for five years, during which time he immersed himself in “the church of Bob” (as he calls it).
People wonder why movie stars sometimes get such ridiculously high paydays but it’s in part because everything is riding on their ability to pull it off. It doesn’t matter how good a supporting actor is or the cinematography or the soundtrack . . . if the audience doesn’t believe and love the lead, the movie ain’t gonna work. And this kid, now age 28, delivers the goods.
In tales reminiscent of Daniel Day-Lewis, he would stay in character all day on set, was listed as “Bob Dylan” on the call sheets, and for the first time on any of his 20+ films, he shut off his phone and had no communication with friends or family. As he explained to Rolling Stone for their cover story, “I had three months of my life to play Bob Dylan after five years of preparing. So, while I was in it, that was my exclusive focus. He deserved that and more.”
The smartest foundational choice Mangold made was to pull back the camera from a songwriter writing lyrics and include the other people in the room — namely Pete Seeger (and his wife Toshi), Joan Baez, and his Freewheelin’ girlfriend Suze Rotolo (whose memoir was also used as source material, and her name changed in the film at Bob’s request because she wasn’t a public figure).
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This is no longer a loner iconoclast’s story but one that’s experienced by the audience as a series of relatable conflicts — where “everybody wants you to be just like them,” when a person’s torn between two lovers … two directions … two loyalties. The real story is historic (and well known) but the drama is made personal.
And this idea of having to pare down the story to just a few key characters is why historic figures like Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Allen Ginsberg — both very much in Bob’s life during this time — got left on the screenwriting floor. As Mangold said, “If you have all these people, you end up with a parade. Let’s say 40 percent of the movie is music, right? Now you only have 75 minutes left to tell the story. It’s incredible how fast you have to pick and choose what you investigate.” And boy does he make effective use of lyrics to help tell the story in that 40 percent!
The casting of these elevated characters was essential to the film’s success — and number one was Pete Seeger who has the second most screen time in the film. Originally it was going to be the appropriately tall & lanky master thespian Benedict Cumberbatch, but with all the rescheduling he wasn’t available when the time came, and with just three months to prepare Edward Norton jumped in. He so moves, sounds & looks like Seeger this viewer forgot it wasn’t really him.
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All these actors had to learn to sing live on the reels like the real people they were playing, and obviously no one was going to have a higher mountain to climb than to reach Joan Baez’s soprano vibrato. The casting of Monica Barbaro, who only had four film credits to her name before this, was the boldest casting leap Mangold made, and, boy, did he get it right. Sure, she’s got the acting chops to bring the character to life, but wait’ll you hear her sing! Baez herself eventually saw the movie and joined Bob in praise of her actor’s portrayal. “I loved what she did in the film. She looked enough like me and had my gestures down. Kudos to her for taking the role on.”
Bob’s pre-fame girlfriend, named Sylvie here and played by Elle Fanning, made me choked up when she got choked up, so she was transmitting the emotion from the screen to the seats. And she was the favorite part of the movie for the 21-yr-old female film student / Dylan fan I happened to sit beside.
Boyd Holbrook has the unenviable task of playing Johnny Cash in a movie made by the same guy who directed Joaquin Phoenix to his Oscar-nominated performance in Walk The Line (who only didn’t win because Philip Seymour Hoffman played Capote the same year). Holbrook (no relation to Hal) has a really well drawn character written for him, and he delivers the mannerisms, intensity & gravitas that the real father figure had.
Two other supporting performances worth noting are Dan Folger as Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, who Mangold has written as comic relief. I’m sure The Screenwriter’s Handbook doesn’t suggest turning a famously tough & gruff manager into a lovable Oliver Hardy — but it happened! The other is an actor who speaks zero lines but has lots of screen time, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie, who was bedridden with Huntington’s disease by the time Dylan showed up in 1961. Actors spend their whole lives learning how to deliver lines and move around a stage, and this person brings vividly to life the tortured soul of a singer unable to speak or “walk that ribbon of highway” any longer.
P.J. Byrne, who played great frazzled frantic characters in both Babylon and The Wolf of Wall Street is wonderfully similarly cast as panicky promoter Harold Leventhal. And I was happy to see a guy I did a number of Kerouac shows with back in the day, Peter Gerety, as the one-eyed half-blind judge in the first Pete Seeger scene.
The film echoes Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in how it features real-life legends of the ’60s played by A-list actors placed in dramatic settings with some artistic license and all with an incredible soundtrack and Cinemascope framing. Both films also share masterful production design bringing that decade to life. Once Upon a Time won the Oscar for it, and there’s no question this’ll at least get nominated, as it did by the industry branch, The Art Directors Guild. They also both enlisted the same consummate costume designer, Arianne Phillips, who was Oscar-nominated for Hollywood and may well be again here. Besides the 67 costumes for Bob alone, and all the other leads, she dressed 4,500 background actors!
Curio – Sharon Tate carrying a promotional bag for
Bob’s Tarantula in 1966. The book’s release was held
off after the motorcycle accident,
but the publisher was ready to run with it. .
Like most of us, I love eye-candy cinematography — swooping cameras from wide to tight, flying thru windows and such — but this is wisely shot no-frills because they didn’t want to distract from the story.
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael said it was 90% location shooting with very few sets. They would dress whole blocks of streets and interiors, and there were no marks the actors were expected to hit — they could use the spaces instinctually as their characters saw fit in the moment.
Not only were all of the songs performed live on camera but they were performed in full takes as you see them in the film, and Bob’s climactic three-song electric set was filmed in its entirety without breaks.
But I’ll tell ya, that’s one shitty downside about this film — you can never watch a movie with music being lip-synched again!
And something your average filmgoer may not notice much, but the sound mixing is something else I reckon they’ll be Oscar nominated for. All the sounds of walking around the Village streets, and the chaos of all the club and concert scenes — what you need to hear, you hear — but it’s all within a real-world cacophony of life. Plus during the concert scenes they mix the surround-sound so the clapping is behind you and beside you as though you’re sitting in the audience. I thought this might’ve just been an IMAX feature but it also happened in the little 1914 art house theater I saw it in as well.
And of course any Dylan story wouldn’t be complete without the Beats. In his memoir Chronicles, Bob mentions Jack Kerouac as often as he does Woody Guthrie. As he’s widely quoted as saying, “I read On The Road in maybe 1959. It changed my life like it changed everybody else’s.”
Not only are legendary Beat haunts like the Kettle of Fish and the Gaslight featured prominently, but when Joan looks at Bob’s desk for the first time, sure enough there’s a 1958 Signet copy of On The Road on top of a pile!
And when Bob goes to a fancy party at promoter Harold Leventhal’s apartment in 1965, a bearded bald bespectacled Allen Ginsberg can be seen frolicking in the background, including standing next to Alan Lomax when Bob & Pete sing When The Ship Comes In.
This also gives you a feel for the Cinemascope framing.
And not fer nuthin, but this whole movie is like one big Kerouac novel. Pretty much everybody in it is a real person, and it’s all based on slightly fictionalized real events put into a dramatic structure. Somewhere Sal Paradise is smiling.
Just as Walk The Line builds to Cash’s career-changing performance at Folsom Prison, Complete Unknown builds to Dylan’s career-changing performance at Newport. But whereas Walk The Line ends with a conventional resolution scene, Complete Unknown simply ends with an evocative image that foreshadows another major event to shortly occur in Dylan’s life. And not fer nuthin, but I prefer a movie that climaxes with a triumphant musical performance rather than a shootout.
Besides all these cinematic triumphs — this is just plain FUN. And funny. In both the big and small theaters, people were getting the humor and laughing out loud.
And I’ve never known of a movie in my lifetime that was experienced as intergenerationally as this has been. An inordinately high percentage of the online comments are from people who saw the it with their children or grandchildren or parents. And in almost all the comments they say something like “I’ve tried to turn my kids (or spouse) onto Dylan for years, and this movie did it in two hours.”
This is as close as we’re ever going to get to Bob making his own life story as a movie. It doesn’t have the flashy pizazz of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, or the creative cinematography of Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, but what it has is good old-fashioned storytelling. And that’s something I’m sure both its subject and his fans will appreciate. . .
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Here’s the first time Chalamet talked on camera about playing Dylan (a month before its release). It’s super insightful for anyone wanting to know how this creation happened. And this 20-something is an intelligent, articulate, self-aware, honest, dedicated, focused artist. (51:06) .
Here’s a fascinating conversation between director Mangold and his Oscar-winning & nominated sound team talking about how they recorded & mixed the music and sounds in the movie. (1:11:10)
Here’s director Mangold talking about how ‘writer’s block’ doesn’t exist and how he writes screenplays. (5:31)
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Here’s a great conversation with director about how he created the movie. (30:54)
Here’s an inspiring conversation with Mangold for Minnesota radio about Bob’s roots, and the director’s tips on living a creative life. (15:10)
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Here’s he is talking about writing the script and facts vs storytelling, and about Milos Foreman being his mentor and teacher. (12:10)
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Here’s a pretty amazing mini-doc about the Production Design & Set Decoration including how they created Bob’s apartment, the Columbia recording studio, Pete’s cabin, Woody’s hospital, Folk City, the record store, MacDougal Street, Newport, the musician’s hotel . . . my Gawd what a passionate precision labor of love made by masters of their profession! (39:51)
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Here’s a great interview with Edward Norton talking about the concept behind the film, Chalamet’s historic performance, and the idea of portraying iconic virtuosos. (8:58)
This is a great clip you’ll be happy you listened to — the priceless story wonderfully depicted in the movie of a young Prankster and how he walked into a room … and into the pages of history. Kooper’s shared this story many times, but this is the most complete and fun version I’ve ever heard. (8:37)
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Here you can see the great Beat & culture historian Douglas Brinkley’s smart & cool summary of Dylan’s long love affair with the movies — on the “CBS Sunday Morning” show from December 22nd, 2024.
Here’s my Master Movie list with mini reviews of nearly 900 films conveniently broken down into genres . . . like the best Music Movies . . . the best Biopics . . . the best filmmakers by Auteur and other categories.
Another cinematic masterpiece interpretation of Dylan — I’m Not There — in an article I titled “Tarantula meets Chronicles in a Masked & Anonymous Prequel.”
Here’s something I wrote in preparation for seeing A Complete Unknown — “The Benefits of Biopics“
I was just living in Taylor world for the ten days she was in Toronto doing six sold out stadium shows — something no other artist has ever come close to doing here.
Six stadium shows … and you couldn’t get a ticket.
Well, you could if you wanted to pay $4000 for one on the resale market and trusted people and electronic ticketing, but there were scams going on all over the place.
I haven’t watched a single minute of American news since the election but watched live-streams of her entire 3½ hour shows two of the last three nights.
Her fan base is unlike anything I’ve ever known to exist with the possible exception of Deadheads (which I and others have compared them to).
At the 2025 Grammy Awards.
A ton of Swifties connect with a handful of different streamers who then function like live television directors flipping between different camera angles to broadcast the entire show.
Fans who attend spend the whole night holding up their phones so they can share the show with those who can’t be there, like Dead tapers would forgo their own dancing pleasure in order to share the music with others.
This is the most spectacular, complex show ever staged by humans.
Theatrical rock was invented 50 years ago by Alice & Bowie & company, and Madonna & Beyoncé & others expanded it with dancers & sets & costume changes, but nobody has created entire worlds for 10 different ‘eras’ and for each song within them.
A friend groused recently about the price of Beatles tickets in the ’60s versus Taylor today, but that’s comparing a bicycle to a spaceship.
It’s no wonder Paul McCartney is a friend and fan of hers. He’s the only composer who comes to mind whose mind wrote as many different catchy melodies.
And then there’s the lyrics. I had cause to listen to a couple Shania Twain albums on a recent Road trip — the (Canadian) woman who was the relative equivalent to Taylor 20-something years ago — and after soaking my ears in Taylor’s poetic universe for the last year, my gawd were those before-times lyrics insipid.
This woman is doing so much good for the world — giving these now multiple generations of particularly young women something to aspire to in their own lives. Not only is she a kind and generous person, but she’s creating art that inspires others the way Bob Dylan raised the bar. A rising tide lifts all boats.
This biggest global tour in the history of human culture wraps up in a couple weeks in Vancouver. I won the lottery for tickets to the Dead’s Fare Thee Well shows in Chicago, cuz maybe if there’s karma I was meant to. I didn’t feel bad that this 60-yr-old grey-haired dude wasn’t picked for this similarly historic event. This is meant for another generation and another gender. I’m so sad for those who couldn’t go, but so happy for all those who did.
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Whether you like her music or not, this is somebody who’s doing a helluva lot of good for a helluva lot of people. While we all grieve for a woman who didn’t get a chance to do the same thing in another field in America recently, be Grateful that this woman is out there inspiring millions of souls to be smart, creative, gracious, joyous, playful and kind.
The ideas didn’t work, the policies didn’t work, the empathy didn’t work, the life story didn’t work, the billion dollars in fundraising didn’t work, the millions of volunteers didn’t work, the field offices didn’t work, the phone banking didn’t work, the door knocking didn’t work, the huge rallies didn’t work, the inspiring speeches didn’t work, the debate didn’t work, the flawless convention didn’t work, the perfect V.P. pick didn’t work, the all-star campaign team didn’t work, Barack and Michelle on the trail didn’t work, the banning of abortion and referendums on ballots didn’t work, the publishing of “Project 2025” didn’t work, the stacking of the Supreme Court with extremists didn’t work, the January 6th hearings didn’t work, the jury convictions didn’t work, the dementia and racism on display every day didn’t work, the millions of TikTok videos & viewers didn’t work, the group Zoom calls didn’t work, the endorsements didn’t work, the interviews didn’t work, the late-night talk shows didn’t work, the joy didn’t work . . .
In America, you could do all of that, and lose to a sociopathic pathologically lying lifelong racist and proud rapist.
Kamala Harris is an Empath — Donald Trump is a Sociopath
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One candidate is trying to scare bitter people into voting out of fear and resentment toward the world.
The other is appealing to “the better angels of our nature” as Abraham Lincoln so poetically put it 150 years ago.
One candidate sees beauty in the world and in the diversity of humanity — and the other sees evil in others — a projection of himself.
One candidate wants to lift people up — as in, a rising tide lifts all boats.
The other, for purely personal gain, exploits the weak’s resentments and feeling of not fitting in or getting a fair shake in life — just like every cult leader in history has done. He’s preying on the weak, the lonely and the vulnerable — straight from page one of the dictator’s playbook.
One candidate spent their entire adult life as a civil servant — the other his entire adult life trying to take as much as he could from as many as he could.
One is an empath who feels others’ pain and wants to help. The other is a sociopath — also known as a psychopath or antisocial personality disorder — unable to feel empathy or remorse, or to tell right from wrong. You can read the Mayo Clinic’s full description, but here’s the first paragraphs:
“Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to purposely make others angry or upset and manipulate or treat others harshly or with cruel indifference. They lack remorse or do not regret their behavior.
“People with antisocial personality disorder often violate the law, becoming criminals. They may lie, behave violently or impulsively. They have difficulty consistently meeting responsibilities related to family, work or school.
“Symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include repeatedly:
Ignoring right and wrong.
Telling lies to take advantage of others.
Not being sensitive to or respectful of others.
Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or pleasure.
Having a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated.
Having problems with the law, including criminal behavior.
Being hostile, aggressive, violent or threatening to others.
Feeling no guilt about harming others.
Doing dangerous things with no regard for the safety of self or others.
Being irresponsible and failing to fulfill work or financial responsibilities.”
This ^ is the person nearly half the country has been conned into supporting — probably the biggest cult the world has ever known.
By contrast, Kamala Harris is an empath.
WebMD defines empath: “While it’s not an official psychological term, empaths are generally understood to be people who are extremely attuned to the feelings and emotions of others. The term stems from the word ’empathy,’ which is the ability to understand another person from their point of view rather than your own — in other words, to put yourself in their shoes. It’s not quite the same as sympathy, which means you feel concern for someone who’s going through a hard time. People with high levels of empathy tend to have strong social, communication, and leadership skills.”
One — and only one — of these two types of people will be in charge of the United States for the next four years
There’s never been a person as mentally unfit this close to the job of President in the history of the country.
It seems like every presidential election we hear the phrase — “the most important election of our lifetime.”
At least in the 50 years I’ve been involved in these things, there’s never been as extreme a fork in the road as there is this time. I hope this is the last election that I hear that phrase.
America’s character and future is on the line. And if we unite and choose the empath, the cult leader will not be an option again in four years at age 82 with a long list of criminal convictions and judgements against him.
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Here’s my electoral college prediction — unchanged since Sept 14th. I may still flip PA & NC before Nov 5th — but I may not. 😉
This is the original Merry Prankster Bus Trip footage finally turned into a theatrically released film.
This is a GREAT movie —
I first saw it at its premiere at TIFF — the Toronto International Film Festival
and also watched it with Carolyn Cassady at her house.
Made by Alex Gibney — who WON the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2008 for Taxi to the Dark Side (about U.S. interrogation techniques in Afghanistan)
and co-directed by Alison Ellwood — Gibney’s long-time editor who was kicked up to director.
* This is a MASTERPIECE of editing — both video and audio. Watch for it. Blending of historical footage with Prankster footage.
Interestingly — the guy who made the greatest Beat doc The Source
made by Chuck Workman who is an editor so
the best Beat doc and the best Prankster both made by Master editors
Great directors often have editors they work with and create together on every film.
Gibney also made — * Gonzo (2008 Hunter Thompson doc)
Kerouac was to the ’50s — what Kesey was to the ’60s — Thompson was to the ’70s
Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room — nominated for Best Documentary Feature
TheRolling Stones: Stories From The Edge
narrated byStanley Tucci — friends with Alex Gibney
Point #1 — the movie includes footage of the last time Jack & Neal ever saw each other — Sunday, June 28th, 1964 — thanks to Neal’s friends The Merry Pranksters. It appears 1 hour into the movie.
Tonight you’re going to see more film footage of Neal Cassady than you’ve ever seen in your life.
There’s actually even more live footage of Neal synched to his audio in the Prankster version — “North To Madhattan” — including a couple more mins from the NY party with Jack.
Three Keseys on the Bus — Ken, his brother Chuck and his musician cousin Dale.
#2 — both Kesey and the filmmakers point out how important Jack Kerouac was to what they were doing — including going On The Road.
Fun Tip — at around 34 mins — when they’re talking about Sometimes a Great Notion — they show the back cover — and there’s Kerouac’s quote!
“This guy Ken Kesey is really very good! A great new American novelist.” (!)
They went to NY in part to do press for Notion but he did none!
#3 — Original Prankster George Walker is going to join us via Zoom after the movie if his internet is working.
There’s TONS of George in this film — from beginning to end.
When they show somebody leaning over into the Bus engine — that’s George.
Prankster saying “On the Bus or off the Bus.”
Kesey said of George “He’s either On the Bus or Under the Bus.”
When they introduce Jerry Garcia late in the movie — he standing right beside George.
When they show somebody leaning over into the Bus engine — that’s George.
* Clue in early to what he looks like – his blond-ish hair — clean shaven, great smile, movie star handsome face — and his voice — he’s in virtually every scene —
and his voice — TONS of him narrating the action
and you can ask him questions when it’s over
George & I did “Jack & Neal Ride Again” at LCK in 2017.
George’s Prankster name was HARDLY Visible — but he’s HIGHLY visible in this film!
George was the only mechanic on the Bus. Without him they wouldn’t have gotten out of California.
Cassady couldn’t fix anything to save his life. Tell story about broken down cars at Bancroft house in Los Gatos.
And speaking of names — don’t miss the sign “NEAL GETS THINGS DONE” on the front windshield.
The Pranksters said and wrote that about Neal in 1964 . . . and his wife Carolyn say that about me in 1994.
Funny story of me seeing it on the screen at TIFF — and “Did I just see that?!” got to Carolyn’s, watched it, hit pause — “That’s what it says!!”
Neither of us could believe it.
#4— I’m gonna talk more about the film than the Pranksters cuz this is a film event —
but they were the first band of counter-culture experimental Life-as-art people who spawned the Grateful Dead — and things like The Living Theater and the bright colors of a just a few years later.
Because of The Bus — The Who wrote Magic Bus, The Beatles did their Magical Mystery Tour, and when network TV tried to capitalize on the idea of a family of musicians called The Partridge Family in 1970 — they put them in a painted school bus!
Made from 30 hours of 16mm film like Pull My Daisy was shot 5 years earlier.
with no sound, which had to be painstakingly matched up from original audio tapes.
Stanley Tucci will explain some of this in the opening of the movie.
It took 6 years to restore and synch up footage.
The Scorsese-led Film Foundation funded the repair the footage using technicians from UCLA.
Kesey & Babbs’ Intrepid Trips finally made their version of this in the ’90s
2 parts — “Journey To The East”
and “North To Madhattan”
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SUPER Psychedelic Graphics
Watch for the different psychedelic graphics — used many times in the film — particularly BEAUTIFULLY — the opening graphics you’ll soon see —
and over the recording of Kesey’s acid trip when he first took it under medical supervision
— and the acid trip when stuck in mud in Wikieup
— and the crumpled postcards unfolding into title-card locations.
Artwork in the film was directly inspired from Ken Kesey’s Jail Journals.
The directors hired Imaginary Forces animation house to create acid effects.
They do the graphic effects for the Paris Olympics, the Emmy Awards, the movies Dune, Mission Impossible, the Transformers movies, and Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire
and they succeed in creating acid trip-like visuals better than pretty much anything else I’ve seen in a film.
Got approval of Pranksters at private screening in Eugene.
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Narration by Actors
Four of the narrations you’ll hear are read from the John Teton interview transcripts done in the mid-’70s by actors — particularly for Gretchen Fetchin, Zonker, Stark Naked and Jane Burton — because the original audio was either lost or useable — but they had the typed transcripts.
all top voice actors — Veronica Taylor (Jane Burton) 229 film credits
But all the other voices are real — Kesey, Cassady, Babbs, George Walker
Ethan Hawke did this with his 2022 Paul Newman documentary “The Last Movie Stars” using different actors’ reading interview transcripts.
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Larry McMurtry
50 mins into the movie they get to Houston —
same advanced writing class at Stanford 1960 – Malcom Cowley teaching!
around the time he was writing The Last Picture Show — made into a hit movie by Peter Bogdanovich — Timothy Buttons — and Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd’s first films
— and years before he would write Lonesome Dove and Terms of Endearment etc.
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Robert Stone’s voice appears when they get to NY an hour in.
Friend of Kesey’s from early days — visited in Mexico when Kesey hiding out.
That’s him in the white shirt playing a drum at the NY party.
He wrote Dog Soldiers which won the National Book Award for Fiction
He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation Who’ll Stop The Rain
features Nick Nolte in a very Neal Cassady-like role —
in fact it was the role he played immediately before playing Cassady in Heart Beat.
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Also, watch for Gene Wilder’s name playing Billy Bibbit in the credits for Cuckoo’s Nest on Broadway along with Kirk Douglas as McMurphy.
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Some of the Kesey interview clips you hear are from a 1989 interview with Terry Gross for Fresh Air on NPR.
Probably the best interviewer we have in America these last many decades — and here’s Exhibit A
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The Grateful Dead / Warlocks
Neat little tidbit — when the Dead appear during the Acid Test segments late in the film — it’s mid-1965 when they were still The Warlocks — didn’t become the Dead until November — and the filmmakers wanted to stay accurate — so they use Warlocks pre-Dead live recordings. “Mindbender” and “Can’t Come Down“
You also get nice Morning Dew,Brokedown Palace and Truckin.
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* Birth of Documentary Films
Important to know the context of the filmmaking time —
George talks about waves —
This was a wave of filmmaking innovation that changed documentary filmmaking forever.
The was The Birth of modern documentary filmmaking.
Robert Drew — Alfred & David Maysles — D.A. Pennebaker — and friend of Jack’s Robert Frank & others — all of them in Manhattan.
Pull My Daisy was shot silent — all the audio was in a recording studio. Shot Jan thru April — first screen at MOMA in May ’59
Robert Drew & the Maysles shot Primary about the Kennedy campaign in April 1960 — first documentary film to use audio connected to the camera. Pennebaker also worked on it.
Penny & the Maysles understood the problem of synching up live sound to footage shot in the field — and they each independently invented ways of hooking up a reel-to-reel to a camera.
Problem was reel-to-reels were huge machines at the time — you’ll see a couple of them inside the bus — these were not mobile units.
Then some were made for remote audio recordings — but they were never intended to be hooked up to cameras.
Great picture of Pennebaker filming Don’t Look Back wearing a top hat looking thru the lens of a 16mm camera on his shoulder with probably the smallest reel-to-reel he could find hanging on his other shoulder.
Penny’s homemade cameras were like black square metal breadboxes — he take part from other cameras to build in the metal box.
And these cutting-edge filmmakers were capturing the cutting edge of society — Maysles making doc of The Beatles arrive and 1964 tour — Penny filming Dylan’s tour in England in 1965 that became Don’t Look Back.
And here’s the Pranksters filming their own cutting edge.
But didn’t know the first thing about filmmaking.
The directors said on the commentary that in all the 20-30 hours of footage they used a clapper-board to synch things up ONCE. 🙂
And then they immediately stopped shooting right after. 😀
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Here’s the evening’s special guest George Walker recounting how Kesey would cite the bus as his greatest work and how they came to buy it
One thing to remember about 2020 vs 2024 numbers — 4 yrs of old trump voters have died off and 4 yrs of young pro-Roe liberal-leaning voters have come onto the rolls. Trump’s rallies are significantly smaller & fewer than 2016 & 2020; there’s far less yard signs up around the country; and there’s a lot of evidence (on-the-ground interviews, focus groups, polling) that show a significant diminution of his non-cult Republican support.
David Plouffe said on Wed (10/30) that he expects all seven battleground states to each be decided by 1% or less.
Here are the seven states that will decide who the next president will be:
Pennsylvania — 19 electoral college votes (270 needed to win) 2016: trump by 0.7% (44,000 vote difference) 2020: Biden by 1.1% (81,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 21st
Popular Dem Governor Josh Shapiro laid down barnburner of an endorsement at the Harris–Walz launch in Philly (Aug 6th). Senate: incumbent Dem Bob Casey vs David McCormick.
PA & GA are the only swing states trump has reserved ad time in.
Democratic Governor — so trump cultists won’t be able to thwart certification. Jill Stein is on the ballot in two swing states — here and in Michigan.
Michigan — 15 2016: trump by 0.2% (10,700) 2020: Biden by 2.8% (155,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 21st
Governor Whitmer & the Dems improved the ease of voting, including by mail; plus there’s nine days of early voting; and same-day voter registration; and no-hassle absentee voting. RFK Jr. is still on the ballot — draws votes from Trump. Senate open seat: Dem Debbie Stabenow stepping down. Dem Elissa Slotkin vs Rep Mike Rogers. Repub state party chair ousted and they’re fractured and in disarray.
Democratic governor.
Jill Stein is on the ballot in two swing states — here and in Pennsylvania. Allows voter registration up to & including election day.
Wisconsin — 10 2016: trump by 0.7% (22,000) Hillary infamously never went there once during her entire campaign. 2020: Biden by 0.6%(20,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 16th
The second closest of the swing states (after Georgia). Senate: Dem incumbent Tammy Baldwin vs Eric Hovde.
Democratic governor.
RFK is still on the ballot — draws votes from Trump.
Allows voter registration up to & including election day.
If Harris holds “the blue wall” ^ — these three states get her to 270.
North Carolina — 16 — the closest of the 7 swing states that trump won 2016: trump by 3.6% (173,000) 2020: trump by 1.3% (74,000) — the narrowest win for trump
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 11th (or in person during early voting Oct 17 – Nov 2) The closest state that Dems lost in the last Presidential. They have a Democratic Governor so bullshit manipulations by Maggots won’t float. Plus there’s a bat-shit crazy GOP Governor candidate on the ballot (Mark Robinson) – which will cause some Republican voters to stay home.
Plus migration to the state over the last many years (including the last four) is professionals moving to the booming urban markets. The older rural voters are dying off and being outnumbered by a newer more liberal electorate. Plus, like most of the country, there are not trump signs all over like there were the last two cycles.
NYT poll released Aug 17th has Harris up by 2%. (!)
There is a new completely rebuilt & energized Democratic party in the state that has never existed before.
New voter registrations are up by hundreds of thousands since Kamala got in the race and the debate happened.
Maybe THE key vote to watch on election night. Polls close at 7:30 Eastern, and they can begin processing the mail-in votes in advance, so this will give us the earliest indication of results election night. If Kamala wins North Carolina, she’s going to be the next President.
Georgia — 16 2016: trump by 5% (211,000) 2020: Biden by 0.23% (11,779 — trump on tape saying “We just need 11,780 votes.”)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 7th
Massive voter repression laws passed since 2020. Dems really well organized; Stacey Abrams secret weapon.
32% Black population — largest of the swing states.
Trump has been insulting popular Repub Governor Brian Kemp at rallies prompting multiple local Republican strategists to say, “He just lost Georgia.”
GA & PA are the only swing states trump has reserved television ad time.
Arizona — 11 2016: trump by 3.5% (91,000) 2020: Biden by 0.3% (10,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 7th Abortion on the ballot — will drive women & pro-women voters to the polls — and women are favoring Kamala by 15% — and as of Oct 30th, women nationally are outvoting men 53% to 45%. Trump campaign has absolutely no ground game — no door knocking or GOTV of any kind.
Senate race: Ruben Gallego vs crazy Kari Lake — who will, like in NC, drive blue votes to the polls. He’s up by a solid 7% in mid October. Former GOP party chair facing felony charges for election interference in 2020.
Nevada — 6 2016: Hillary by 2.4% (27,000) 2020: Biden by 2.4% (33,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct 8 by mail; online or in person until election day Abortion on the ballot.
Universal mail-in voting.
New polling stations & drop boxes on Native reservations.
Allows voter registration up to & including election day. Senate: incumbent Dem Jacky Rosen vs Rep Sam Brown.
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. And I’m still keeping an eye on:
Texas — 40
2016: trump by 9% (814,000)
2020: trump by 5.6%. (631,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 7th Margins have gone from 16 to 9 to 5 in the last three Presidentials. RFK Jr. is on the ballot. Senate: incumbent Republican Ted Cruz vs Colin Allred.
Florida — 30 2016: trump by 1.2% (113,000) 2020: trump by 3.3% (371,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 7th Abortion referendum on the ballot — could make a big difference as it has every time it’s been on a ballot ever since Roe was overturned.
Also marijuana legalization on the ballot — both will drive single-issue voters to the polls — and they won’t be trump supporters.
Florida has the largest Haitian population in the country — and trump’s racist demonization stemming from non-reality has not played well Haitian ex-pats around the nation.
Republican party chair ousted after allegations of rape and video voyeurism. (!)
Senate: Dem candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is amazing and can put Rick Scott in the trashcan of history.
Ohio — 17 2016: trump by 8% (447,000) 2020: trump by 8% (475,000)
Voter registration deadline: Oct. 7th Senate: Dem incumbent Sherrod Brown vs Repub Bernie Moreno.
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National General Election Results
2016 Electoral college: trump: 306 — Hillary: 232 Total votes: Hillary: 65.8 million — trump: 63 million Percentage: Hillary: 48% — trump: 45.9%
2020 Electoral college: Biden: 306 — trump: 232 Total votes: Biden: 81.3 million — trump: 74.2 million Percentage: Biden: 51.3% — trump: 46.8% (4.5% difference) .
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Here’s my 2024 electoral college calls (as of Sept 14th — when I flipped NC blue) . . .
The events of Sunday July 21st 2024 into Monday the 22nd then all the days that followed reminded me and most of us politicos of the political ‘birth’ of Barack Obama in early 2008. Whether you experienced that on January 3rd when he won the Iowa caucus, or on the February 3rd Super Bowl weekend when will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” video went viral, a seismic change shook the country.
I said within a couple hours of the Biden withdrawal announcement, “You watch — by tomorrow there’s going to be memes like crazy for Kamala, and in days there’ll be songs.” And by the time we woke up Monday morning we found out she was “brat” . . . and by Tuesday Beyoncé had granted her permission to use Freedom, and by Thursday the campaign used the song to launch the campaign.
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The Sunday night of the announcement, Win With Black Women had their weekly group Zoom call — and it drew 44,000 people. By Thursday another call aimed at white women 160,000 people and “broke Zoom” as the headlines read.
And speaking of breaking records, in the 24 hours after Joe stepped aside, the Harris campaign received $86 million in donations, the largest single-day giving in American history. By the end of the week it was over $200 million, with 65% first-time donors, and 170,000 volunteers had signed up to the campaign.
In the weeks following Biden’s historically disastrous debate, I along with most Democrats I know slipped into an ever-deepening depression. Not only was Joe losing, but his televised interviews to try to clean it up only made matters worse in that he didn’t know what had happened. I reached out to several experts in senior care whom I know, including octogenarians, and they universally observed that something was wrong. But Joe wasn’t budging. Until Sunday.
By Harris’s first rally on Tuesday, the audience spontaneously started chanting “We are not going back” — and to me, “spontaneous” is the most important word there. It’s the same thing about all the memes and gifs and videos people are making on their own.
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In the entertainment biz where I spent most of my life, the industry tries to create a buzz for everything for everything from books to movies, but none of the million-dollar ad campaigns and promotional strategies can’t make tens of millions of girls start making friendship bracelets like they came up with on their own for Taylor Swift. Madison Avenue can’t make women of all ages start wearing pink and filling movie theaters in record-breaking numbers like they did for Barbie. Groundswells rise organically, and that’s what’s happened here from the day Joe stepped aside.
By Monday, every Democratic state party had endorsed Harris, and by Wednesday she had enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. A week after the announcement I saw a focus group of trump supporters who were to-a-person had fear on their faces over the enthusiasm they were seeing on the Democratic side. And furthur, I began to receive phone calls and messages from people I haven’t heard from in years reaching out to talk about this. People who were worried America won’t go for a Black woman were giddy about being wrong. People who were devastated that Hillary didn’t break the glass ceiling were empowered that this time ‘we the people’ would not repeat the 2016 mistake. And many talked about Kamala’s likability, something that Hillary didn’t really engender. They talk about loving Kamala’s laugh as opposed to Hillary’s cackle. They love that she can prosecute a case . . . and that she’s running against a criminal. And they way Kamala went there in her very first speech. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds.” Epic pause. “I know donald trump’s type.” Explosion of applause.
And I wanna point out something I haven’t heard anyone mention: her mastery of ‘the pause.’
As a performer I have studied it and practiced it for decades. It’s one of the hardest things to do on a stage with an audience of eyes staring at you. Non-performers have no idea how hard it is — where a tenth of a second feels like a hour, and the irresistible temptation to jump in and start speaking again. Master comedians can do it. Steven Wright comes to mind. The entertainer I’ve seen pull it off like no one else is Taylor Swift. She can stand there and let a wave roll through an entire stadium before saying another word. And Kamala Harris is probably the most gifted at this skill of any politician I’ve ever seen.
She also clearly wins the old “Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” contest — and she’s an absolute master performer in front a mic.
And in the More Good News Department: the Biden campaign staff was already rocking it with creative ads and rapid-responses, and they’ve all shifted to Kamala, and what they’re creating is next level. Check out this ad, one week into the campaign . . .
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Her mother was Indian-American and her father’s Jamaican-American. Her husband is Jewish, and she’s in a loving blended family. That the sitcom “Modern Family” became one of the most popular and award-winning shows this century is a sign that America is not as afraid of unconventionality and diversity and some would like us to think.
Her name is pronounced “comma-la.” She loves Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and R&B in general. She loves to dance, and is quick to laugh. Her and her one-and-only husband are in love and are best friends, and his ex-wife said of their family, “Since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
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All hands on deck for the next 3 months / 14 weeks / 90-something days.
This is the Acid Tests … in a two-billion-dollar spaceship!
I’d been reading about The Sphere for years before it was ever built. It sounded too wild to be true! And of course I immediately thought how perfect it would be for the Dead to play there! And play they did. And play we did!
The Strip in Las Vegas is unlike anything else in America. It’s like the old Times Square — but goes on for miles. It’s Bourbon Street — but 50 stories high. It’s the Grand Canyon of architecture and just as awe-inspiring to raft thru — except there’s hundreds of people passing every second and you’re not stuck in the same boat.
All the visitors to Vegas are in a great mood, as is everyone who works there. It’s a party that’s just getting started, not winding down — and I mean 24-hours-a-day, 365.
Then add to that 20,000 Deadheads a night. 🥳
snapped a split-second before the house lights went out
The Dead action is concentrated in the northern part of the Strip — the (relatively) small area of the Venetian, the Mirage, the Flamingo & the Tuscany — where you couldn’t walk but a few feet without seeing some beaming sparkling fellow tie-dyed ‘Head.
I was not thinking about the music going in. People were saying the band was on fire but I kind of dismissed it because I was going for The Sphere. But boy — they have kicked up the tempos and intensity, and John Mayer is really taking Garcia’s foundation to new places. They’re crackling, in synch, having fun, and pushing each other & the music Furthur.
The most unique Sphere-centric part of the show — and thus my favorite — is Drums, where they make the best use of the venue’s sound capabilities, sending the instruments spinning in a circle around the whole Sphere. Plus, the visuals are working with each sound created on stage making graphic representations of the pulsating beats. And then — this is when the haptic seats kick in and shake your pelvis so much women were having orgasms and men were spilling drinks! 😀
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photo by Good Trouble— with the planet drum around Mickey
pulsating to the beats & sounds he, Oteil & Jay made
For the post-Drums ballad they simplify, no visual effects, just a giant B&W movie-screen-shaped image of the band, who were stage-lit like a jazz combo in the 1950s when Vegas began. This was Duke Ellington … on the Millennium Falcon.
I found myself focusing on the four young guys — Mayer, Jeff, Oteil & Jay Lane — and how completely plugged into the music they are — and how their execution and innovative improvising is jazz level.
And thinking how over the decades, one-by-one, the originals have dropped out, and their position filled by a top cat joining the ongoing experiment — the group absorbing and assimilating each new member. It’s been organic and gradual. And now weir down to two originals. And the four new guys really are the band.
The show is called “Dead Forever” because these musicians (and the millions of others like them) are playing this music and taking it to new places, and will continue to do so “Forever.” It’s not unlike how The Beatles’ music transformed into a new sphere with the Cirque du Soleil “LOVE” show for 18 years, performing (until July 6, 2024) just a mile from the Dead’s circus in Las Vegas.
photo by Good Trouble
The Sphere is the most technologically advanced entertainment venue ever built. It projects an image from your feet to above your head, from turning left to turning right. It’s all-consuming. Imagine your living room high-def flatscreen filling all your walls and ceiling. And with a really good band playing in the room. 😁
An IMAX movie is a great experience — but the Sphere is all around you.
photo by Jason Elkins
photo by Carrie Branan
Then add to it that the sound is precision perfect. There’s 167,000 speakers pointing your way to hear precise sound. It’s not about volume, it’s about clarity.
This is a sacred church of music.
Red Rocks is the greatest outdoor venue in America, and Radio City the greatest indoor — and the Dead pioneered both! — and now they’ve laid down the early gauntlet for what the futuristic Sphere can be.
photo by Stephanie Bystrak
I hope I live many more years to be able to experience what these visionary visual & musical artists come up with. This is just the beginning. As Bob Weir told Variety last week, “As we work with these folks, we’re going to try to get more dynamically involved with each other. I think we’re only scratching the surface here.”
The musicians are streamed three stories high in 16K resolution. (!) I could read the time on John Mayer’s wristwatch and see how Jeff Chimenti’s fingernails are trimmed. And their images were surrounded by swirling visuals as great as any psychedelic trip could conjure.
photo by Jeffrey Zoni
photo by Joseph Stone
This is the Acid Tests in the 21st century — where the liquid light gel projections pioneered in San Francisco in the mid-’60s progressed to. In fact, they replicate a bona fide gel-glass light show at one point, looking like a liquid slide show from 1967, but it swirls from floor to ceiling — and can project multi-story close-ups of any musician in the middle of it.
photo by Anton Bodor
The band has been involved in this production for many months, and gawd-bless John Mayer for taking the lead role in the interface between the visuals and the music, as you can read about in this highly-recommended in-depth account of how it was created. “This is sensory hijacking,” he said. “And it’s very fun to be behind that mischief.”
In fact, the Bay Area band connected with their cinematic neighbor George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic to create the opening & closing sequences of a close up of their home at 710 Ashbury that pulls out to outer space before returning to the house at the end of the show.
I thought a couple months ago — “How long until the Academy Awards are held in this place?!” Then the NHL (of all things) beat them to it, hosting their player draft there in June 2024.
This venue, by its very existence, is going to change how we experience live shows.
It’s not just a planetarium — it’s aurally designed as a concert venue. And here’s the crazy thing — the 300 and 400 level sections are the best seats! In every show you’ve ever been to, the seats closest to the stage were the most desirable. In the world of the future — which is here now — the upper levels are the best seats in the house. (!)
I always said about the Grand Canyon — “No matter how big you think it is, it’s bigger.” It’s the same thing here. No matter how high your expectations . . . it’s going to exceed them. Everybody was saying that online before I went . . . and they were right.
photo by Jason Elkins
I hope everyone I know is able to experience this. As much as I describe it, or as many photos as you see or videos you watch, it’s not possible to get it until you’re in it.
If you don’t make it this residency, the Dead are gonna come back next year. Or if there’s any band playing there you remotely like, make it a priority to go. Concert ticket prices are insane now anyway, so you might as well go to something that is light years ahead of any other experience you’ve ever had.
Taylor Swift is also doing an amazing similarly long 3½-hour visually spectacular show — but it’s in a football stadium. This is in a relatively small enclosed dome that’s designed specifically for visuals and sound … not football.
As I wrote mid-show — “How did we ever do concerts before?!” 😄
This changes everything.
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photo by Mark Vallem
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If you want to read more of my writings on the Grateful Dead and company —
