Hope you enjoyed it, Brooklyn. That’s the most NBA excitement you’ll have for the next 12 months at least.
Questions, Thoughts, Insights & Outsights:
–The Lakers added Lonzo Ball AND Villanova’s Josh Hart? One was the second pick in the first round, the other the final pick of the first round. Lots of folks had Hart as their Naismith winner after two months last season. He’s one of three first-round picks this year who played for an NCAA champion (Tony Bradley and Justin Jackson, UNC).
–The Portland Trail Blazers landed arguably the two most talented big men in the draft: Gonzaga seven-footer Zach Collins and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan. Let’s go to a live look-in to Bill Walton’s Wavy Gravy Tent to see just how excited Big Red is about those two picks. He’s going to LOVE Collins’ toughness.
–Sacramento selects Harry Giles of Duke, a frosh who has already undergone two major knee surgeries. Is he Greg Oden or is he Dwight Howard? We’ll see. One of three Duke players taken among the top 20 picks. How did they fail to reach the Final Four again??? Is Coach K on the hot seat?
–The Indiana Pacers made an outstanding pick in UCLA’s T.J. Leaf, who led the Bruins in scoring last season. It’ll be funny to see which UCLA Bruin from 2016-17 Paul George winds up playing with a year from now, but that’ll have a lot to do with the drama that Lonzo and LaVar bring to Staples.
The Pacers finally have their own Jimmy Chitwood
–The Bulls add seven-footer Lauri Markkanen while also undermining any current contenders’ (Cavs, Celtics) shot of landing Jimmy Butler by trading him. You have to think/hope that Butler is smart enough to stay in Minnesota, where Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins assure that the future is very bright. Gonna miss Zach Lavine up there, though. Chicago is going to be SO average, if not just outright bad.
–You have to love the Motown went with a white boy band singer in Duke’s Luke Kennard. He’s got game, but we’re yet to see how it’ll translate to the NBA level. One of the smartest, if not THE smartest, player I watched on the court last season.
–You know who, besides their remaining fans, really despises the New York Knicks’ selection of French guard Frank Ntilikina? The headline writers at The Daily News and New York Post. How do you have any word play with that?
–Here’s hoping for years of a California rivalry between Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and LA’s Lonzo Ball. As you know, Fox put up 39 on the Bruins when Kentucky ousted them from the tournament. When is the last tie Sac-Town had a player you were this excited to see?
—Josh Jackson to the Suns. The right move and the closest thing to a 21st-century Walter Davis. A starting five of Booker, Bledsoe, Jackson, Marquese Chriss and Alex Len will be fun to watch.
–Jayson Tatum to the Celtics. Hmm. It’s difficult to create when Isaiah Thomas has the ball in his hands. I like but do not love this pick.
—Markelle Fultz. For the second year in a row, the Sixers land the No. 1 overall pick who played for a team that failed to be one of the 68 teams to make the NCAA tournament. Should that matter?
I don’t trust The Process. The Sixers look like a very good AAU team, but will they have a winner’s pedigree?
In Phoenix, locals are remaining indoors, planes are grounded, and rattlesnakes are becoming more visible as the Valley of the Sun braces for a potential fourth consecutive day of record heat. Monday: 118 degrees. Tuesday: 119 degrees. Yesterday: 116 degrees. All record highs for June 19, 20 and 21st, respectively.
More than 50 flights were grounded on Tuesday. In hotter weather, planes need more speed to achieve lift, and the runway at Sky Harbor is not long enough to accommodate them.
As for the rattlesnakes? They’re always the perfect side dish to hellish circumstances.
2. Burger Is Well, Done
Perhaps you can see why French model and fitness blogger Rebecca Burger was so popular on Instagram. Last Sunday Burger, 33, was killed when a faulty whip cream canister exploded and the siphon struck her in the chest, inciting cardiac arrest.
I have no words. I mean, I do, but they’re probably not appropriate at this time. Let’s move on…
3. Inside Sedition
Police in India arrested 19 people for celebrating after Pakistan defeated India in a cricket match in England last weekend. They celebrated with firecrackers, distributing sweets and raising slogans of ‘Long live Pakistan,’ ” police officer Ramasray Yadav, who is investigating the case, said. “They expressed hatred toward India and friendship toward Pakistan. They are charged for sedition and criminal conspiracy.”
4. Rupp’s Arena
You’ll likely be asleep, since the race will start at 1:09 A.M. Eastern time (even though it is being staged in Sacramento), but the U.S. 10-K Championship is being run tonight and Galen Rupp is striving for his NINTH consecutive win. That’s pretty damn impressive. Not televised. NBC Sports Net will be running a re-run of the Nitro Games at that hour.
All of this is taking place, by the way, as the USADA suggests strongly that Rupp and five other Nike Oregon Project runners violated anti-doping rules.
5. Close, But No, Seager
Missed this from two nights ago, but in the Dodgers’ 12-0 drubbing of the Mets (oh, Mets were drubbed alright), reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager hit a solo homer, a two-run homer and a three-run jack.
Having already hit those three bombs, Seager stepped up to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases juiced and the opportunity to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit all four types of home runs, in terms of number of men in base, in one game. Alas, he lined out to left.
Oh, Cody Bellinger also hit a home run in that game. He’ll be this year’s NL Rookie of the Year. Both Seager and Bellinger are 23 or younger. The Dodgers are the new Cubs.
Reserves
On the first day of summer, Game of Thrones releases its “Winter Is Here” Season 7 trailer. Coincidence?
Music 101
American Girls
By the time this Berkeley-based band released this perfect-for-summer song in 2002, Counting Crows had already jumped the shark with critics and too many of its original fans. I was still hoping they’d pull out of their nosedive, as I loved their first two albums (the soundtrack of many fabulous weekends spent in San Francisco in the mid-Nineties). Damn, I’m oversharing again…
A Word, Please
Anodyne (adj.)
Not likely to provoke dissent. Inoffensive, often deliberately so.
Remote Patrol
NBA Draft
7 p.m. ESPN
Finally, an NBA event this month filled with intrigue and excitement. There’s a good chance De’Aaron Fox will fall to fifth, which in five years will seem incredible to me (it already does).
Last winter brought the most rain ever recorded in northern California and in the high Sierras, that meant a lot of snow. More than 200 inches worth.
So as we awake to the summer solstice, you should know that Squaw Valley is still open for skiing, perhaps through August, but that it’s also warm enough also to hang out in the pool. It’s like, what if a Coors Lite commercial actually happened?
California, land of the endless summer, is now also land of the endless winter…
2. Race Tragedy in Alaska
At the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb race south of Anchorage last Sunday, 16 year-old Patrick Cooper turned around after reaching the halfway point, accidentally veered off the trail and got lost. The next creature he encountered was a black bear, who gave chase. Cooper had time to frantically phone his brother and inform he was being pursued, but he could not escape the bear.
This is just what bears do.
Race crews found Cooper’s body and the bear guarding it. A park ranger shot the bear in the face, but it simply ran away.
3. Dough-nation*
*The judges will also accept “Goodwill Hunting For Cash”
In Zanesville, Ohio, Dan and Lynette Leckrone donated bags of old clothes to Goodwill and inadvertently included a duffel bag stuffed with $97,000 in cash. The workers who found the cash initially thought it was play money, but after realizing that it was not fake, tracked down the couple and returned it to them. Which was quite a magnanimous gesture of…good will.
4. That Escalated Quickly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn7GICsLTp8
The dash cam video of the shooting and killing of Philando Castile has been released. Watch for yourself. Officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted for shooting a man who was legally possessing a weapon and informed the officer that he had the weapon. So you can understand why the National Rifle Association is so, pardon the expression, up in arms about this incident. Oh, wait. The NRA hasn’t said a peep? Interrrrrresting.
5. De’Aaron Fox (Cont.)
Remember—cuz I keep reminding you—about four to six weeks ago how I told you that a plethora of draftniks would soon over Kentucky guard De’Aaron Fox (as I have) and continue to elevate him as the NBA Draft (Thursday) approached? Here’s the latest, from Bleacher Report‘s Jonathan Abrams, breathlessly informing the Philadelphia 76ers that they’ll regret not having selected him.
Dig: If the Sixers take Markelle Fultz, the Lakers are selecting Lonzo Ball (I think, even though they should take Fox). That leaves it to the Celtics, who I fear, for my Suns’ sake, will select Josh Jackson. If all this unfolds, Phoenix has a sticky choice: Select Duke forward Jayson Tatum, who better fits their need area, or take Fox, giving them a FIFTH Kentucky guard on the roster (for now).
Hoping the Celtics take Tatum so the the Suns can select Jackson. But if they take Jackson, the Suns should take Fox and deal with the fallout later. Everyone’s right. This kid’s gonna be a star.
p.s. If I’m the Lakers, I’m consulting Kobe as to whom he’d take at No. 2. I trust his opinion better than Magic’s.
Music 101
It’s The Sun
On the longest day of the year in terms of sunlight (I mean, all days are 24 hours long, after all), let’s enjoy this 2002 ditty from those Dallas hippies, The Polyphonic Spree. I saw them at Irving Plaza in 2004 or ’05 and it’s one of the five best shows I’ve ever attended.
Last week the New York Times released its list of the “25 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far),” a few of which the typical moviegoer had actually seen. Then we asked our favorite film critic, Chris Corbellini, to compile a list for us, which he did. It is far more accessible to the non-pedant and is in our opinion, simply a better list.
Because the exercise is so tempting, the MH crap staff has compiled one of our own. A few caveats and notes: Yes, Ruth, the 21st century did not begin until January 1, 2001, but we’re going to give ourselves that one more year; second, it is to us indisputable that this century has provided far superior fare in television than in films (or music). Ask us to put a list of Top 25 Films of the 1990s and we’re off like Dennis Hopper driving the bus in Speed; for this century, though, that’s a tougher task.
One reason we/I compiled this list is because our/my list does not dovetail that closely with either of the aforementioned lists. Only two films—The Hurt Locker and Mad Max: Fury Road—appear on all three of our lists. The other? I’ve got a little more “down time” (inside joke for Newsweek staffers) on my hands now.
I think Chris put it best in terms of how to evaluate what films deserve to be on one’s list: “these movies simply got to me, or wowed me on a technical level, or both. It was and should be the only standard that matters.” The “chills” standard, be it from fright or awe or suspense, matters. The best movies leave not scars but goosebumps.
This is far from an empirical list: some lauded films I simply have yet to see (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, City of God, Moonlight, Twelve Years A Slave) and others I wish I hadn’t: Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Boyhood. Has there ever been a period in film with such a plethora of self-important, charm-and/or-humor-free films? Finally, I added some docs but I don’t consider the OJ “30 For 30” a cinematic release. And that’s why it isn’t on this list.
(p.s. The “Just Missed” list is at the bottom…)
(p.p.s. An asterisk means neither previous list included this film.)
Here goes….
Pitch Perfect (2012) *
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpYccBQH-Lg
There’s truth in advertising, as this smart, snarky and wildly entertaining film’s title attests (I’ve added this film to the list after an oversight yesterday because, to be honest, there are not 25 more films, not even 10, on this list that I’d prefer to see again before seeing this one). From a shower duet of “Titanium” (“that’s my jam”) to the riff-off to a surfeit of funny put-downs, this film is a ca-awesome. I’m sorry I forgot to include it yesterday.
Match Point (2005) *
My heart told me to write Midnight In Paris, but my head pointed to London for this Woody Allen film of deceit and adultery. An incredibly dark film—Hannah and Her Sisters on the Thames—but a spell-binding one. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers conveys the tension of his self-induced entrapment (i.e. “unforced errors”) and ScarJo is the other woman whom Bill Murray would not have been able to resist.
Lost In Translation (2003)
So many people on this planet and so many things to do, but all most of us really yearn for is a soulmate. When Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen find one another, they realize their relationship is ephemeral, but they’ll enjoy while it lasts.
Gravity (2013)
Primordial moment
A film that begins in outer space and ends with a creature emerging from the sea and taking its first, unsteady steps on terra firma. How’s that for turning evolution on its, ear, HAL? Like Mad Max: Fury Road, this is a story revolving around a heroine and a chase for survival, but unlike that one, it is also a portrait of Mother Earth in all her grandeur. Just SEEING this film is more than half the reward.
Whiplash (2014)*
J.K. Simmons starts out as Louis Gossett, Jr’s drill sergeant from An Officer and A Gentleman and then adds five layers of malevolence. Fully engrossing with a dynamite final scene.
Wow Moment: The dining room scene.
Argo (2012) *
Kudos to Ben Affleck for marrying a suspenseful, true-life story with some comic relief in the personages of Alan Arkin and John Goodman. The scene in which Affleck, who produced this Oscar-winning film, suggests to Arkin that he could pose as the fictitious film’s producer and is immediately shot down is some wonderful navel-gazing. Argo f___ yourself!
The Tillman Story (2010) *
The unnecessary death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan is only half of an American tragedy. The other half is how the most trusted figures in American government, such as Donald Rumsfeld, covered their asses and betrayed the very ideals for which Tillman fought. An honest, emotional film that should have you enraged and heartbroken as the lights come up. There are no other Pat Tillmans out there.
Moneyball (2011)*
I’m not letting this entire list go without at least one Aaron Sorkin-penned film and I’ll take this over The Social Network. This may be Brad Pitt’s best role since Thelma & Louise and the script is so well-done (Update: there’s another film lower on this list that I did not realize is a Sorkin script but I should have because it’s so well-written: Charlie Wilson’s War).
Wow Moment: When Jonah Hill plays the tape of the batter falling and the crowd cheering because, unbeknownst to him, he hit a home run. Do you get the metaphor, Mr. Beane?
Syriana (2005) *
Watch it again and see how prophetic this tale of big oil, the Middle East and big government is.
Wow Moment: Matt Damon’s character explaining to the Arab prince what the rest of the world thinks of his country’s economic strategy.
La La Land (2016)
Overrated? Slightly, but the opening number, followed closely by “Someone In The Crowd,” an upbeat let’s-go-out-and-meet-Mr.-Dreamy tune that literally ends with a splash, and then a short time later by the Gosling-Stone duet, are all movie musical moments that will live forever. The story lagged as soon as John Legend and reality made their entry, but that’s okay. La La Land won me over in the first 20 minutes and I never revoked its pass.
Wow Moment: The opening number. Sunshine and bumper-to-bumper traffic are as L.A. as it gets.
Sexy Beast (2001) *
Ben Kingsley inhabits a character, Don, that is as antipodal to Gandhi as he could possibly find. Don is simultaneously terrifying and hilarious, the archduke of not giving two shits about the consequences of his words or actions. He’s profusely profane. Ian McShane is fabulous as the top gangster Teddy Bass. “Where there’s a will – and there is a fucking will – there’s a way – and there is a fucking way.”
The Great Beauty (2013)*
An impressionist painting of a film, this Italian Best Foreign Film Oscar winner is an elegy on the fleeting nature of time as well as a celebration of life and Rome. Don’t worry too much about the plot, just absorb the feeling of this film through your pores. This one definitely got to me.
Michael Clayton (2007)
In one scene, Tom Wilkinson was so captivating and surprisingly lucid (was he the template for Chuck McGill?) that he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and he might should have won. This is my favorite George Clooney performance and, as Chris previously wrote, he only left his car (and saved his own life) to see those horses in the dawn mist because he had a tiny smidge of his own soul remaining.
The Hurt Locker (2008) *
War is the drug and Jeremy Renner’s main character is our addict. The scene in which the local man is booby-trapped to a bomb and Renner realizes that he won’t be able to save him in time and that all he can do is express his regrets is a microcosm, I’d argue, of the Iraq War.
Once (2007) *
Sometimes the best love stories are asexual (or at least that’s what many women have told me 🙂 ). Glen Hansard is winning as the Dublin busker who’s given up on being happy until he meets an Eastern European muse.
Wow Moment: The scene at the recording studio as the engineer puts down his magazine, genuinely surprised and captivated by “When Your Mind’s Made Up.” More than a song, it is the sound of someone’s dream coming true.
In Bruges (2008) *
Colin Farrell has never been more sympathetic or charming and Ralph Fiennes does his best work since Schindler’s List. An idiosyncratic film in an idiosyncratic setting and a magical little story about consequences, intended and unintended.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Redefining “Bitch on wheels.” A brief prologue and then a mad thrill ride through a dystopian desert. This is NOT the type of film I normally enjoy, and yet I bought my ticket, got past the “You Must Be This Tall To Ride This Ride” screening, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It never hurts to have supermodels as human cargo and Charlize Theron as the earth mother/heroine. Like the parched citizens of that community, you’ll need a cold shower after this one.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) *
I was legitimately surprised that this Spanish film, a fairy tale and horror flick at the same time, made neither list. It was engrossing and terrifying and magical, all at once. I’d take this film over all three Peter Jackson hobbit films without thinking twice about it.
No Country For Old Men (2007) *
“Call it.” Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is more than a hired hit man; he is fate coming to exact its due. Who died and made him boss? Does it matter? Fair point by our friend CC that the movie loses something in that its three main characters—Chigurh, Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones)——never share a scene together, not even two of the three. Still, it’s a tantalizing chase and, like death itself or one’s own shadow, it is impossible to shake Chigurh.
Wow moment: The scene at the gas station between Anton and the attendant.
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) *
Tom Hanks’ most charming role this century and Julia Roberts is a hoot. Their sexual chemistry crackles. But it is the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman as CIA operative Gust Avrakotos who steals the film with every scene in which he appears. Like Argo, a genuinely authentic look at government/foreign relations in the Carter/Reagan era.
Wow Moment: When Gust tells off his superior, played by a slimy John Slattery, smashes his office plate glass (for a second time), then asks a secretary “How was I?” as he makes his triumphant exit.
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013) *
A love story between a man and the art of living well. On a surface level, Shep Gordon is a manager of musicians and other talented artists. Beneath the surface, he is a legendary character who once shared a cat with Cary Grant and swept Sharon Stone off her feet at the height of her superstardom (and dated her for a few years). Mike Myers produced this film and you will be wowed by the extraordinary life that Shep has led. LOVED this film.
Wow Moment: In his first night in LA, Shep breaks up what he thinks is a sexual assault at the pool of the budget hotel where he is lodging. Turns out the two people involved were Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and they were making out.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Quentin Tarantino does not write screenplays as much as he does phenomenally tense and at the same time funny scenes, which he then slaps together to make a film. The opening scene in this film, and the German beer hall scene (you have to know how to signal “3” in German or it can cost you your manhood) are unforgettably great. This film never surpasses its opening 10 minutes (the La La Land curse), but there’s no shame in that.
Gladiator (2000)
Mad Max, meet Mad Maximus. The special effects, particularly the opening scene, laid the groundwork for what would follow in Game Of Thrones. When this film first came out, I equated it and Crowe to the NBA playoffs and left-for-dead superstar willing his unlikely team to the NBA Finals. LeBron, this could be you in five years….
Grizzly Man (2005) *
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUd_Zglcpyo
I don’t know that any film had a greater effect on me or any character more of one than Timothy Treadwell. Is he narcissistic, delusional and manipulative (with his girlfriend, who would also die)? All of the above.
On the other hand, who is to say that he didn’t live a more fulfilling life than most of us, trapped in cubicles and hoping to do a safari or a drive through Yellowstone one day? The world is a magical and miraculous canvas of wonders, and most of us are too busy shopping at Target to pay attention. Who’s the idiot here?
Wow Moment: The closing moment, as the bush pilot sings along to Don Edwards’ “Coyotes” and we see shots from behind of Treadwell walking across a meadow trailed by a fox or down a stream bed. To this day I get chills watching it. Life is but a dream, and this man realized his.
The Hangover (2009) *
Most comedies limp to the finish line in their third act (I’m looking squarely at you, Anchorman), but this one sped to the finish as if it were trying to make a wedding in Brentwood with no time to spare. There’s not a wasted scene in this comedy, the throwaway lines (“I shoulda been a cop,” or “They gave out rings at the Holocaust”) are gold, and just when you think you’ve had enough surprises and laughs, there’s a foul-mouthed wedding singer to keep you chuckling. The Hangover wasn’t just by far the best comedy of this millennium, it’s one of the most seamless movies. And I’m more than happy to defend that “take.”
By the way, the filmmakers give us a HUGE clue as to where the missing groom is early on, but I’m venturing to say that, like me, you did not pick up on it.
Almost Famous (2000)
“So, Russell, what do you love about music?”
“To begin with…everything.”
And THAT is how you end a film that is one long thank-you letter from someone who fell in love with music at an early age and was saved by it forever. Cameron Crowe’s film is extremely quotable (“You’ll meet them all again on the long journey to the middle”) and once again, limited doses of Philip Seymour Hoffman are ambrosia. It’s no coincidence that we title every daily entry on this blog “It’s All Happening!” (stated by a young Jay Baruchel).
Just Missed: I’m sure I forgot some film that I would want on this list, but for now: Napoleon Dynamite, The Departed, The Witch and The Imitation Game.
Footnotes: I did not see There Will Be Blood until last winter. I understand that it was well-acted, etc. but I’m not sure I was all that entertained by this Citizen Crude tale.
I’d belatedly like to add the documentary Senna as well as the F/1 film Rush to the Just Missed list. Two other films that are related that I enjoyed: Munich and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. With a few tweaks the latter could have been an excellent film. Alas, it was too confusing to really get on the first viewing.
On the season finale of Better Call Saul, vindictive and psychosomatic big brother Chuck McGill kicks over a lantern, intentionally. The next shot we see, from the exterior, is the ugliest home in Albuquerque in the first stages of going up in flames.
Having been handed a “Get Out of Our Lives” $3 million check from Howard Hamlin (with a promise of two more to come), and having told his little brother, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you have never meant that much to me,” and having already been embarrassed in front of his ex-wife, there was no future for Chuck. Kudos to writer Gennifer Hutchison for the flashback at the opening of the episode with Chuck and Jimmy in a tent, reading by lantern.
The big question for next year? Who gets all of that Hamlin money Chuck has left? Is Jimmy in the will (NO!) and will he contest it?
p.s. Did you notice in last week’s penultimate show of the season as Jimmy was giving the hard sell to the ladies at Sandpiper what movie was playing in the background? Night of The Hunter. There was Jimmy fooling an audience of rapt believers as a black-and-white charlatan in the background, played by Robert Mitchum, did the same. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould reward you for paying attention.
2. Otto Warmbier
The death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, after 17 months in captivity in North Korea, is a deadly reminder that not all countries have the same idea of justice. Warmbier, then 20, was traveling in China in December of 2015 when he signed up for a five-day tour of North Korea through a Chinese company that promoted their excursions as “budget travel to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.”
What came next, after Warmbier ripped down a propaganda poster, probably to bring home as a keepsake, was basically a hybrid of The Island and Brokedown Palace.
There is no happy ending here, and the weird part is that North Korea still holds three Americans in jail.
3. Eager Beavers
Harrison’s grand slam brought the Beavers out of the dugout
The Oregon State baseball team has won 23 games in a row…for the second time this season. The Beavers routed LSU 13-1 at the College World Series yesterday to move to an unearthly 56-4 on the season and 2-0 since the CWS launched in Omaha.
Adding a layer of awkwardness and bizarre to the Beavers’ odyssey is that they’ve won their last seven without their ace, Luke Heimlich, who removed himself from the team (for the postseason) after it came to light that he had molested a four year-old family member a few years back. The lefty was 11-1 and led the nation in both ERA (0.76) and WHIP (0.78) when he took himself out of the rotation earlier this month.
First baseman K.J. Harrison hit a grand slam in last night’s win, the first in the new TD Ameritrade Stadium during a CWS. The Beavers do not play again until Thursday.
4. Glastonbury
The original European music festival, Glastonbury, kicks off tomorrow and runs through Sunday. On the bill: Radiohead, Lorde, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry, Kris Kristofferson, Haim, Ed Sheeran and Liam Gallagher.
The inception of this event took place in 1971 and featured David Bowie, Traffic, Melanie and, I shit you not, a band named The Worthy Farm Windf*ckers.
5. Another Pitch For The Sellout
Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for his brilliant and hilarious novel about race, political correctness, and the propriety of segregation in the right circumstances
Near the end of Paul Beatty‘s brilliant 2015 satire about race in America, the narrator, Bonbon, casually mentions that he put down his copy of Catch-22. That’s hardly a throwaway line, since in spirit and in tone I’ve never read a book that comes as close to Joseph Heller’s classic.
I can’t do justice to how shake-your-head, he-didn’t-just-write-that-did-he funny this book is, but the New York Times Book Review did a decent job of it. They’re also correct that the second half of the book cannot keep up with the promise of the first, but it’s not a steep drop-off and there are so many gems about race and hypocrisy (and The Little Rascals) within that you won’t mind.
If Spike Lee hasn’t already optioned the rights to this book, I don’t know why not.
Music 101
He Stopped Loving Her Today
By April of 1980 country music legend George Jones had not had a No. 1 country single in six years. Then he released this song, written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam, and not only did it skyrocket to No. 1 but remained there for 18 weeks.
Remote Patrol
Mets at Dodgers
10 p.m. ESPN
For those of us who have yet to watch rookie Cody Bellinger, who now has 21 home runs and is the West Coast’s answer to Aaron Judge.
