By Alan Flusser
As we all spend more time at home trying to buffer ourselves from this extraordinary patch of upheaval in our lives, I’d like to share with you a trove of films and series that have resonated with me over time. The selections are not meant to denote some kind of definitive collection, but just those that I feel strongly enough to recommend. Most tend to be documentary in nature as I love learning about one thing or another and especially about people who have done something memorable with their lives.
As a writer with not a lot of free time, I’m less interested in entertainment as a vehicle for passing time than as a conduit into a different world or a new take on the one I know. As for subject matter, my ideal would be a style-filled visual treatise by someone whose taste can inform my own. Whether this takes the form of fashion, photography, art, music, or societal goings-on, I’m happy to uncover even a snippet of personal eccentricity that resonates with me. I’m always on the look-out for someone who knows how to capture moments of extreme stylishness, such as the photographer Slim Aarons.
Music is another big interest as is comedy, although I backed off from overwhelming you with my Mel Brooks classics, assuming many of you know your way around them. Okay, one that doesn’t get a lot of attention and was not a box office smash is History of the World, Part 1. Watch the first little opening scene where Moses receives three tabernacles from God each with five commandments, drops one, and ends up with ten commandments. After that, it’s off to the races. Lose the next cavemen section and proceed directly to the Roman Empire where an anthology of Mel Brooks jokes and gags follow until THE END. No one will watch this with my daughters or me as we will compulsively fill in the joke lines before they arrive.
A special shout out goes to my younger daughter Piper who is responsible for introducing me to many of the treasures before you. She has an inexhaustible grasp of the “now” in the sense of what’s of interest and entertainment value to both the traditional and non-traditional thinker, especially in the TV and movie worlds.
Music Documentary
Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll – The life and music of pioneering legend Chuck Berry. Keith Richards invited a host of great musicians to honor him to commemorate his 60th birthday. In my humble opinion, this is the greatest film about Rock and Roll ever made. My favorite bit- Chuck Berry teaching Keith Richards how to do one of his classic guitar riffs, which Richards has made a career out of doing at least as well as Chuck. If you want to know about the real history of Rock and Roll, you get to hear it straight from the mouths of Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis, et al, and the man himself, Chuck Berry, who is responsible for the Stones and Beatles becoming musicians and forming bands. He’s the Father.
The Last Waltz – On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, The Band gave its final performance at Bill Graham’s Winterland in San Francisco. A Martin Scorsese rockumentary, on hand to say goodbye were the most acclaimed musicians of the late 60’s and 70s. Dr. John, Neal Young, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan. In my opinion, the other great Rock and Roll documentary next to Hail, Hail, Rock n Roll.
The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert – So many iconic musicians gather to produce a truly special concert. But it’s made especially exciting by the performance pairings: Smokey Robinson with Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel with Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt with James Taylor, John Fogerty with Bruce and the E Street Band, and my favorite, two guitar royalties – Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy. Simon and Garfunkel reunited to perform better than anything I'd ever seen them do. It's right up there in the pantheon of great rock music concerts.
Pavarotti – Academy Award winning Ron Howard conducting here. It contains never-before-seen footage of concert performances and intimate interviews with the famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti. The man was bigger than life, and so is his life story.
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice – a musical biography of one of the most successful female singers and recording artists of all time. No singer has had so many gold records based on so many different kinds of music, from pop to rehabilitating the Great American Songbook with Nelson Riddle, to a gold-selling album of Mexican classics and even Light Opera. This is a story about a woman who refused to be typecast by the male-dominated music business, frequently changing career directions against the advice of her music publisher and manager to enjoy success in every music genre she decided to take on.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown – Another great story of the focus and efforts of one man, Gordy Berry, to birth a sound and then bring all of that music to life. Motown is responsible for more number one hits than if you added up those of the Stones, Beatles and Elvis together.
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives – He discovered Janis Joplin, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Aretha, and you can’t believe how many more unknowns who he made into mega-stars. This is the biography of a Jewish, Brooklyn-born boy whose parents died a year apart leaving him an orphan with no money at age 16. Picking himself up, he went on to Harvard Law School, transitioned from a law practice into music management, and then went on to become the ultimate music man. Like Ralph Lauren, a true Horatio Alger-type histoire.
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary – A wonderful exploration into the short life of the iconic jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane.
Echo in the Canyon – From the Byrds to the Beach Boys, Lauren Canyon created a sound that defined the 60’s. Really great stories, interviews, and music from one of the culture’s major music-making environs where everyone knew each other and popped by every evening to catch up on each other’s progress.
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool – This maybe the finest Jazz documentary I’ve ever seen. And no one can dress or toot like Miles. So much great commentary and exploration into the evolution of classic and modern jazz.
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Other Documentary / Profile
The Bill Murray Stories – Such fun - a series of people’s stories about spontaneous encounters with Bill Murray who touches everyone by simply showing up at the most average of family venues. Bill becomes like a Buddhist bodhisattva in that he shows up unexpectedly and uninvited to share his celebrity and encourage people by just hanging out with them and even helping to do the dishes. Very inspirational.
Slim Aarons: The High Life – No photographer captured more stylish people, set in more stylish settings, doing more stylish things than Slim. His Kings of Hollywood portrait lives today in the homes of many fashion designers. He captured a time during the 50s, 60s, and 70s that doesn’t exist anymore when the privileged really knew how to live, entertain, and dress. The original Slim Aarons book, A Wonderful Time published 1974 sells nowadays for upwards of $2,000 in excellent condition. Talk about art imitating life.
Portraits: Picasso – The life and loves of the legendary painter and sculptor are profiled here. Across the 20th century, Picasso courted controversy and challenged norms to leave an unforgettable mark on the art world. There are many pieces on Picasso, this one is among the best.
Scotch: A Golden Dream – Against a backdrop of stunning Scottish landscapes, you explore the artistic and scientific building block of making whisky. I have never had a gulp of whisky but this film held my attention and wonder throughout.
Gregory Peck: His Own Man – A wonderful story about the man in front and behind the camera. He loved an acting challenge, especially those roles with the most moral fiber from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird to Elia Kazan’s study of anti-Semitism in Gentleman’s Agreement. One of the real people and good men to come out of the Hollywood film factory, a humanitarian both on and off the screen.
Grace Kelly – Just looking at her doing nothing is a treat. Probably the classiest looking blond to ever beautify a movie still. A society dame who became a real-life Princess and whose life was a study in style, humanity, and beauty.
American Masters: Basquiat – From anonymous graffiti writer to epoch-defining art star, Basquiat emerges as one of the most important artists of his generation exhibiting in museums all over the world. Kind of a new age Picasso, such a talent as the art world has ever seen.
American Masters: Basquiat
Film
High Society – Remake of the Philadelphia Story. This is probably one of the few opportunities to witness high-class style in manner, dress, and interior design. Anyone not familiar with this movie and interested in fashion, decorating, or taste should become so. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra hoof and sing together, Grace Kelly looks epic, and Sachmo gives one of his most memorable and coolest musical dispositions on the essence of playing and performing Jazz. If Ralph Lauren and St. Laurent were to choose their five top films, this would be one of them.
Les Girls – A Cole Porter musical based on a dancer publishing her memoirs and sued by two other members of her troupe. Gene Kelly, Kay Kendal, Mitzo Gaynor, directed by the great George Cukor. Lovely story, wonderful 50’s glamour, gorgeous sets and clothes, and award-winning cinematography.
The Band Wagon – One of my favorite non Ginger and Fred movies. Oscar nominated and co-starring Cyd Charisse and the English Fred Astaire – Jack Buchanan. Fred and Jack get to dance together, and Fred romances Cyd in Central Park in probably the greatest outfit ever captured on celluloid. The opening scene of Fred exiting from the train and strolling down the tracks I used to introduce my first fashion show along with Bruce Weber photos at the Union League Club back in 1983.
My Man Godfrey – Landmark screwball comedy from Hollywood’s Golden Age. My Man Godfrey follows the madcap antics of a ditzy debutant Carole Lombard who stumbles upon a “forgotten man” at the city dump (William Powell). She determines to help him, and what ensues is not only funny, but upper class hi-camp building into a great moral tale. The clothes, interiors, and style are memorable, its message, as relevant as always.
Ford v Ferrari – Based on a true story and what a story it is. For any car freaks or those who just love a great action story, the screen play and acting are uncommonly fine. It was nominated for several Oscars; I’ll admit to having seen it three times.
Honorable Mentions: Sabrina (original), The Thin Man, Topper (Cary Grant), The Birdcage.
Ford v Ferrari
Series
Unorthodox – A Hasidic young woman from Brooklyn flees to Berlin and is taken in by a group of musicians. The acting and story are really superb. Afterwards, there is a separate five-minute retrospective called Making Unorthodox by the firm’s creative team which must be viewed. It gives you tremendous insight into how they were able to recreate two such differing cultures so authentically as well as the underlying motivations behind the story’s successful telling and enjoyment.
Sherlock – Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this contemporary version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories. I’m not big on serials or seasons but in this production, each episode is like watching a mini-film, and the dialogue and acting is West End superb. As for who-done-its, the story lines are impossible to predict, the outcomes always out of left field, and the movement fast, quick-witted and totally mesmerizing. Cumberbatch became a star through his eccentric and brilliant acting as the “sleuth of all sleuths.”
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – Jerry Seinfeld’s hit show interviewing comics and picking them up for coffee in some outrageous vintage automobile that he feels reflects the personality of each comedian. If you like comedy, this is for you. Recommended interviews include President Obama, Larry David, Chris Rock, Alex Baldwin, Bob Einstein’s “It’s not so funny”, Don Rickles, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.
Madam Secretary – For me this is the most inspirational TV show in the Trump era by a landslide. Other than The West Wing, I can’t remember watching any political drama that not only taught me so much about the geopolitical realities of the world, but how domestic governance and international diplomacy should be conducted in service of the larger picture this most American of political experiments, the democratic way of life. Madam Secretary is wonderfully played by Tia Leoni as a shrewd and determined former CIA operative, bending international protocols to lead opposing parties towards higher ground to solve their differences. Dedicated to balancing work and family, half of the show is a domestic drama with the relationship between the secretary and her husband being one of the most loving and supportive of any TV creation. Everyone should be so lucky. Considering what is playing out before all of our eyes in May 2020, this is an opportunity to savor how your government is supposed to look and operate. Its characters struggle with issues of morality and decency, leaving you feeling better for having experienced public servants who signed up for all the right reasons. You’ll definitely feel better than when you sat down.
I hope you enjoy!
-AF