Director Ron Howard is not known for his documentaries. But Pavarotti manages to capture the essence of the flamboyant opera singer. I’m not a huge fan of opera, but I have a couple dozen CDs of various operas (mostly Mozart) and opera singers (mostly Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and Renee Fleming). Ron Howard manages to interview Pavarotti’s ex-wife, his daughters (one of whom had completely broken with her father), various managers, some of Pavarotti’s mistresses, and friends. Yes, there’s plenty of music in Pavarotti but Ron Howard is more interested in exploring Pavarotti’s life instead of his opera performances.

For all of Pavarotti’s flaws, he clearly had a good heart. When his friend, Jose Carreras, wanted to return to the stage after a year of cancer treatments Pavarotti joined with Placid Domingo and Carreras to become The Three Tenors. Their concert was historic and the CD became the best selling opera recording ever. Over his career, Pavarotti’s recordings sold 100 million copies. He was on the cover of TIME and even starred in TV commercials. Pavarotti became the most well-known opera figure of his time. And, of course, Pavarotti’s voice was one of the best of the 20th Century. Luciano Pavarotti was a complicated man (even though he called himself a “simple peasant”) and Ron Howard’s documentary shows many aspects of his multi-faceted personality. Highly recommended! Are you an opera fan? Do you like Pavarotti’s music? GRADE: A

FX Network is pulling the plug on Legion after these 8 episodes air. Legion features Dan Stevens as David, a powerful mutant who has been treated as a patient with schizophrenia when in fact he was possessed by an alien. This final season blend psychedelic aspects with Alice-in-Wonderland references. This MARVEL series specializes in quirky characters–a woman who can switch bodies just by touching you, a time traveller, and two mutants who share a body, etc. Episode One started off with an assault on David’s cult by the strike team of Division 3 (the organization responsible for dealing with mutant threats). David dies, but time travel saves him. More incredible plot twists ahead! If you’re in the mood for something very, very different, I recommend Legion. GRADE: B+

Kevin Bacon plays a bent FBI agent, Jackie Rohr, who teams up with an African-American District Attorney, Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge), to solve a series of armored car robberies. If this has the look and feel of Homicide: Life on the Street, the explanation is the show-runner for City on a Hill is Tom Fontana–the guy who created Homicide: Life on the Street. Fontana grew up in Buffalo so there’s a local connection. Although it’s supposed to be set in Boston in 1993, City on a Hill is shot in Brooklyn with scenes from Boston weaved in. I like the roguish demeanor of Keven Bacon’s character. I like the earnestness of Aldis Hodge’s character as a rising star in a racist bureaucracy. Plenty of cop shows reside on cable and the Networks, but I’ve found after just a couple of episodes City On a Hill is a cut above the rest. GRADE: B+

Yesterday begins with Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling musical performer, getting hit by a bus just as the world is plunged into darkness during a weird electrical shutdown. Jack wakes up in a hospital with bumps and bruises and missing a couple of teeth. But in a short time, Jack realizes he’s the only person who remembers The Beatles. Everyone else has no idea who The Beatles were. They’ve been erased.

Yesterday is a high concept movie and either you buy into this alternate reality or you’ll not like this movie. Jack’s manager, school teacher Ellie Appleton, is the only person who believes in Jack’s dream of becoming a successful musician. Of course, Ellie is in love with Jack but for a decade Jack has only focused on his seemingly dead-end music career. But now that Jack is the only one who remembers The Beatles and their great songs, he decides to sing “Yesterday,” “Hey, Jude,” and “Eleanor Rigby” online. Suddenly, Ed Sheeran shows up at Jack’s door offering him a gig as Sheeran’s opening act. And, as you can expect, Jack’s songs fire up the crowd and stardom beckons. But as the crowds grow and Jack’s songs rocket up the charts, Jack becomes more unhappy. He’s guilty because he’s “stealing” The Beatles songs. And Jack finally realizes he loves Ellie. At its heart, Yesterday is an old fashioned love story. Danny Boyle juggles all the high concepts and Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love, Actually) provides a clever script. And, of course, if you’re a fan of The Beatles’ music, you’ll enjoy Yesterday. Are you a Beatles fan? Do you have a favorite Beatles song? GRADE: B

Jerry House mentioned that an early draft of Philip Jose Farmer’s epic “Riverworld” novels was published back in the 1980s. I’d heard rumors about this book, but until Jerry jogged my memory, I’d forgotten all about it (making River of Eternity a truly “forgotten” book in this case). I tracked down a copy of River of Eternity and read it in one day.

Philip Jose Farmer is known for his mind-blowing concepts and Big Ideas. How Big are Farmer’s Ideas? How about a River 40 million miles long! How about every person ever born on Earth resurrected and living along this incredible River! Is that Big enough for you?

Admittedly, Philip Jose Farmer’s Ideas are his strength. His weakness is sketchy characterizations. When Farmer introduces Samuel Clemens, I’m not seeing Mark Twain. There are mysteries and puzzles to solve in Farmer’s “Riverworld” series. River of Eternity has a complicated history that Farmer discusses in his “Author’s Introduction.” I’m glad Phantasia Press published River of Eternity back in 1983, but it reads like a rough First Draft of something much more complex and involving. Are you a fan of Philip Jose Farmer’s “Riverworld” series? GRADE: C+
RIVERWORLD SERIES:
To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) – Hugo Award winner
The Fabulous Riverboat (1971)
The Dark Design (1977)
Riverworld and Other Stories (1979) (a Farmer anthology with one Riverworld story titled “Riverworld”)
The Magic Labyrinth (1980)
Gods of Riverworld (1983; later published as The Gods of Riverworld)
River of Eternity (1983) – an earlier version of Riverworld
Tales of Riverworld (1992) (includes one story written by Farmer: “Crossing the Dark River”. A second story, “A Hole In Hell”, was written by Farmer under the pseudonym Dane Helstrom)
Quest to Riverworld (1993) (includes two stories written by Farmer: “Up the Bright River” and “Coda”

When I was kid, I spent summers listening to music on my transistor radio. The Sixties transformed America with changes to our society, culture, and music. The 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs: The Ultimate Collection features plenty of great Summer songs. Probably the biggest hit on this CD is The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City.” I love Billy Stewart’s classic version of “Summertime.” I wish this collection included one of my favorite Summer songs, Robin Ward’s 1963 hit “Wonderful Summer.” A girl kissed me while that song was playing in 1963 so it’s imprinted on my brain. Do you have a favorite Summer Song? GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. Summer In The City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
2. A Summer Song – Chad & Jeremy
3. Summertime, Summertime – The Jamies
4. Vacation – Connie Francis
5. Wipe Out – The Surfaris
6. Summer Means Fun – Bruce And Terry
7. Dancing In The Street – Martha And The Vandellas
8. Sunny Afternoon – The Kinks
9. In The Summertime – Mungo Jerry
10. Happy Summer Days – Ronnie Dove
11. Sealed With A Kiss – Brian Hyland
12. The Theme From A Summer Place – Percy Faith And His Orchestra
13. On The Beach (In The Summertime) – The 5th Dimension
14. Summer Wine – Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazlewood
15. Summer Sand – Dawn
16. Here Comes The Summer – Jerry Keller
17. School Is Out – Gary U.S. Bonds
18. Palisades Park – Freddy Cannon
19. Lets Go Trippin’ – Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
20. Beach Party – Annette
21. Lost Summer Love – Shelley Fabares
22. Gonna Hustle You – Legendary Masked Surfers
23. Wombling Summer Party – The Wombles
24. Summer – War
25. Summertime – Billy Stewart

And so it begins. Tonight’s Democratic Presidential Debate features Elizabeth Warren who leads the pack in poll numbers and intelligence. Warren has policy positions for all the common issues: immigration, international trade, Iran, climate change, gun control, abortion, etc. Yet, I get that sinking feeling that 2020 America is NOT going to choose a woman to be President. The Zeitgeist is all wrong for that. Can any of these 10 candidates beat Trump. In my opinion…no. I have my doubts about Biden given all the gaffs he’s already committed. Is the country ready for Sleepy Joe? Do you have a favorite Democratic candidate? I’m still skeptical that any of these candidates can beat Trump.

Comic book companies like DC and MARVEL love crossovers. Well, this is one of the strangest crossovers I’ve encountered: Batman meets the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes, Shredder shows up with his menacing Foot Clan. Shredder is stealing all the high tech in Gothem City…but why? Batman and the Turtles start off battling each other, but of course they come to their senses and start to work together to solve the mystery. As you should know by now, I’m a fan of these silly DC Animated feature-length movies. Some of them are very dark, but Batman VS. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles provides much lighter fare. If you’re looking for Summer escapism, I recommend the clever Batman VS. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cowabunga, dude! GRADE: B+

Nolan Gasser is a composer, pianist, and musicologist. He’s also the genius behind the Music Genome Project that powers PANDORA Radio. Nolan developed his algorithm back in the early 2000s so that listeners to PANDORA could listen to music that appealed to their tastes. In Why You Like It, Nolan explains how music taste works. He also shows how he designed and help build a system that would benefit the millions of listeners of PANDORA to find the music they wanted.

Although the story of PANDORA is fascinating, Nolan’s book goes beyond the story of founding an Internet company to an analysis of music itself. I found some of Nolan’s discussions a bit technical for me, but those of you who play an instrument and can read music will be able to make more sense of what Nolan is saying. However, I did appreciate Nolan’s analysis of why people like “Proud Mary” by Credence Clearwater Revival.

Nolan explores Pop, Rap, Rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Jazz, Electronic, and Classical music. I learned a lot by reading Nolan’s analysis of all these musical genres and hope to listen to some of the music in these genres that he recommends. If you love music, you’ll love this book! What kind of music do you enjoy listening to? Do you listen to PANDORA? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface p. ix
Introduction: In the Ear of the Beholder p. 1
1 The Rise and Rebirth of the Savage Beast p. 13
Part 1 A Gift of the Gods p. 43
2 Under the Musical Hood: An Orientation p. 45
3 Melody: The Face of Music p. 49
Interlude A The Evolution of Musical Taste: Music and Anthropology p. 70
Part 2 Bar Bands in Andromeda p. 89
4 Harmony: The Internal Body of Music p. 91
5 Rhythm: The Movement of Music p. 119
Interlude B It’s the Overtones, Stupid: Music, Math, and Physics p. 150
Part 3 Unity and Heterogeneity p. 173
6 Form: The Shape of Music p. 175
7 Sound: The Personality of Music p. 219
Interlude C The Singing Cerebrum: Music and the Brain p. 253
Part 4 Musical Metaphors p. 295
8 The Musical Genotype p. 297
9 The Pop Genotype p. 306
Interlude D At the Cellular Level: Music and Cell Biology p. 329
Part 5 Parlez-Vous Gamelan? p. 355
10 Rock Genotype p. 357
11 The Jazz Genotype p. 377
Interlude E Listening with an Accent: Culture and Musical Taste p. 400
Part 6 Questioning the Omnivore p. 429
12 The Hip Hop Genotype p. 431
13 The Electronica (EDM) Genotype p. 455
Interlude F Staking Your Claim: Intraculture and Musical Taste p. 480
Part 7 Who Are You, Anyway? p. 511
14 The World Music Genotype p. 513
15 The Classical Genotype p. 542
Interlude G Mind Over Music: Psychology and Musical Taste p. 590
Part 8 Your Hit Parade p. 627
16 The What and Why of Musical Taste p. 629
Epilogue: Living with Music p. 633
Acknowledgments p. 647
Glossary p. 649
Notes p. 661
Index p. 695

Mindy Kaling wrote and stars in Late Night, a movie that is being marketed as a comedy–but is actually a drama. Emma Thompson brilliantly plays Katherine Newbury, the only woman hosting a late night U.S. talk show. The character of Katherine Newbury is arrogant, acerbic, and driven for Perfection. Newbury doesn’t bother to learn the names of her writers, she simply assigns them numbers for identification (Mindy Kaling’s character, Molly Patel, is Number 8).

The obvious problem confronting Katherine Newbury is that her show is losing its audience. Ratings are falling. Newbury ignores the Internet and Social Media which alienates her from attracting a younger audience. The Network plans to cancel Katherine Newbury’s show. Although Newbury has no friends or children, she does have a husband played by John Lithgow who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. And that becomes a problem, too.

The movie starts out focused on Molly Patel breaking into an all white male writers room, but shifts to Katherine Newbury’s struggle to hold on to her TV show. Yes, there’s humor. Emma Thompson performs a stand-up session where she initially fails to connect with the audience, but then finds her mojo and leaves them laughing. Very clever acting and writing.

It’s early in the movie season, but I’d nominate Emma Thompson for Best Actress based on this performance. GRADE: B+