Pops Flicks Picks Part 2

“Punch the keys, for God's sake!”

That's one of my favorite lines, from one of my favorite movies. Here's another from the same movie:

"Be sure to write."

I don't know that it is fair to call it a trend or not, but a few years back, there was an emphasis of sorts among evangelicals to call men to a manly-man spiritual worldview. One of the key tenets was that every guy needs an "accountability" partner or small group.

Having a small group of guys to hang out is a good thing, which probably goes back to cave-man days, although I'm not certain of that, I'm not quite that old. My diploma says I have a "BS in Sociology" so I should know the history and dynamics of male-herdness, but I don't. It would seem though, that traditionally, small bands of males could normally be observed gathered around a card table, golf course, local watering hole or coffee shop. The agenda might include topics like: sports, politics, regularity, new (and old) jokes and the allusion of being Masters of Our Domain.

These new groups though were about accountability--checking in with one another to make sure that we were in fact the master of our domain, that we were being faithful in spiritual matters, etc. 

I will confess: the idea of accountability to another guy or group of guys was not and is not appealing to me personally. But for a lot of guys it worked and was important to them. I just couldn't get past the idea that I was somehow or another so lazy, dim-witted, unmotivated, undisciplined or whatever, that I needed yet someone else to tell me to floss, drink a lot of water, pray, go to the gym, etc.

The fact is that I am who I am, when I'm at my best, because there have been people who cared enough about me to push me, to challenge me, to inspire me, to set examples for me. That was true when I was six and it's true today at 60-something.

The beauty of this "people need people" reality is at the heart of the two protagonists of Finding Forrester, one of my Picks for great movies. One of the characters is William Forrester, played by Sean Connery. William is a pulitzer prize winning author who has become a recluse and hasn't written anything in years. In a weird crossing of paths, he meets Jamal, a high school age, afro-american kid who loves basketball and writing, but he keeps that passion to himself because it just doesn't fit his culture.

It is a wonderful story of two very disparate guys, who are united by a life in the Bronx and their value of writing. In their weird and wonderful relationship they make each other better human beings, or as my friend Mako Fujimura would say: they re-humanize one another.

William and Jamal from Finding Forrester

This is why Finding Forrester is an important film and on my lists of Pops Flicks Picks.

The two lines from the movie that I started this post with are metaphors and themes for the challenge each offers the other. When William tells Jamal to PUNCH the keys (of his old manual typewriter) he is calling forth an authority and boldness in Jamal.

The line from Jamal to William: "Don't forget to write," comes toward the end of the movie as the two are parting as fast friends. Jamal is not just saying, "write to me," he is saying William you ARE a writer, do what you do.

Thank you; to all of you, who have been so affirming to me, who have been relentless in holding me accountable, knowing how much I dislike that idea. Thank you for telling me, "DO WHAT YOU DO."

Now, if I may be so bold: DO THIS--Watch Finding Forrester. I am holding you accountable to do so.

Good Story

Thanks to all who played the game--you know the one in this post: And The Winner Is...

Several, who just by recognizing the typeface used in the titling of the show, correctly identified my pick for the Best TV Drama Ever. The type face is called FrizQuadrata and the show is Law & Order.

Now if you have a few minutes let me tell you why Law & Order (the original) is important; and the best ever. 

You could talk about its importance by citing things like: 

• It's the longest-running crime drama on American primetime television. Its record of 20 seasons is a tie with Gunsmoke for the longest-running live-action scripted American prime-time series. Both series are surpassed only by the animated series The Simpsons (in its 25th season as of 2013).
• It's the largest drama franchise with several spin-offs including the still running Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
• It continues to have a strong syndication presence and is now on NetFlix®.
• It has the coolest theme song and sound effects of any show ever. It's DONK, DONK sound effect on scene changes is iconic.

But to me, the real importance of Law & Order is that it is one of the very few examples we have of superb writing, character development, relevance, and excellent acting. How did they do it week after week for 20 years?

It has all the elements of great story--something that is becoming extremely rare these days. Sadly! Not only do we not have good stories written for TV and film, but it seems like we are as humans living mostly boring stories.

One of my favorite is books is by Robert McKee called "Story."  Robert McKee teaches writers in sold-out audiences around the world. He himself has written numerous TV and feature film scripts. His "Story" class is considered the ultimate class for screenwriters and filmmakers.

In his book, he talks about the demise of good stories. He gives several causes and then writes:

"The final cause for the decline of story runs very deep. Values, the positive/negative charges of life, are at the soul of our art. The writer shapes story around a perception of what's worth living for, what's worth dying for, what's foolish to pursue, the meaning of justice, truth--the essential values. In decades past, writer and society more or less agreed on those questions, but more and more ours has become an age of moral and ethical cynicism, relativism, and subjectivism--a great confusion of values. As the family disintegrates and sexual antagonisms rise, who, for example, feels he understands the nature of love? And how, if you do have a conviction, do you express it to an ever-more skeptical audience?
"This erosion of values has brought with it a corresponding erosion of story. Unlike writers in the past, we can assume nothing. First we must dig deeply into life to uncover new insights, new refinements of value and meaning, then create a story vehicle that expresses our interpretation to an increasingly agnostic world. No small task."

That, dear friends, is not just good advice for writing good story. It's vital to living a good story.

Agree?

On The "To Read" List for 2014

A BUNCH OF PEOPLE (4 or 5) HAVE ASKED ME WHAT'S ON MY TO-READ LIST FOR 2014.
A list? I don't have a list. But then as I thought about it: I do have a list, of sorts, a least a partial one.

Another question that comes up: how do you decide what to read? Sometimes I'll hear or read a review on NPR or in The New Yorker, which I read every week. Also, for several years now, I've included some of the books that are on the list of the Reader's Guild of the International Arts Movement.

And then there are some people I know I can trust for a recommendation, like: My sons Corey and Kyle, Rob Carmack, Kara Wynn, Alissa Wilkinson, Andrea Gandy, Amy Merrill, Kevin Roose. Most of these people you can find on goodreads.com.

I try to include some fiction, non-fiction, some history, some poetry, some humor and a classic or two. I'm always looking for good recommendations, so let me know if you have one for the list.

Here's what I have so far:

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• The Moth (Book) Stories from the Public Radio program
• Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace
• The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
• The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• Hopkins: Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter
• This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

I've finished the first two on the list: The Goldfinch and The Moth. The Goldfinch is nearly 800 pages and at 750 pages in, I still wasn't sure where the story was headed. Several times I got weary of the pages of pages of character development and subplots, but hang in there. The time will come when you will be grateful for it. It is worth the trip.

The Moth is a collection of stories that are typically spoken stories at Moth events. You can find out all about it at www.themoth.org. My son Corey gave me this book for Christmas. If you love telling and hearing stories, as I do, you will really appreciate this book and The Moth project.

Please, let me know what you're reading. 

And The Winner Is...

THE VERY BEST TV DRAMA EVER AWARD GOES TO:

This is not an official announcement by some academy, guild or randomly-selected panel of "people." This is my humble opinion about which drama would win if there were such a competition.

We're in the midst of a lot of awards shows right now. Often these are frustrating to watch; because I seldom agree with the conclusions drawn, but not always. Take the Grammy Awards in 2011. I don't know who was on the panel, but they obviously understood that the Grammy Awards are MUSIC awards. It seemed like Justin Bieber's name came up as a nominee in most every category. Each time I would cringe.

But then something happened that had me on the edge of my recliner. The category was Best New Artist. The nominees were:

• Justin Bieber
• Drake
• Florence + the Machine
• Mumford & Sons
• Esperanza Spalding

My pulse quickened: surely with four chances out of five for the judges to get this right (actually give the award to a musician) they won't mess this up. You know how when you're watching a clutch game with seconds left and it all hangs on a last second free throw or field goal. Depending on your allegiances, you try to send a subliminal spell, chanting quietly: miss (or make) it...miss (or make) it... miss (or make) it...

Well I was sending out: Esperanza, Esperanza, Esperanza. In case you're not familiar with Esperanza Spalding, she is a phenomenal musician: double bass player and jazz singer. Although I knew that as a jazz musician she had little chance, still: Esperanza, Esperanza, Esperanza...

And the winner is: ESPERANZA SPALDING!!! I couldn't believe it. My faith in awards ceremonies was renewed (for a while). I stood straight up and gave the judges a well-deserved Standing-O. My Amazing-Missus just looked at me and shook her head.

Esperanza Spalding

The 2011 Grammy Awards were full of great musical moments. There was a performance that celebrated the new moment for folk music along with one of the fathers of folk. Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan together!

Other awards that night went to real, authentic musicians: not just creations of whatever machine it is that takes young people, shapes them, molds them, auto-tunes them and spits them out as something to satisfy pop culture appetites like some real-life version of the Hunger Games.

For example:

• Best Rock Song: Neil Young for "Angry World"
• Best Alternative Music Album: "Brothers" – The Black Keys
• Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals: "Imagine" – Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono Nº1, Jeff Beck, & Oumou Sangaré
• Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: "Helter Skelter" – Paul McCartney
• Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Crazy Love" – Michael Bublé

O.K. Back to my award for Best Ever TV Drama. I'm not going to reveal my pick in this post. I want to invite you to take a guess. For the first 10 to guess correctly, I will send an About POPS guitar pick. "But wait," you might be saying, "I don't play anything that needs picking."

Here's a tip: Exposing a guitar pick in your pocket when you reach for your keys or loose change can give you sort of a temporary Rock Star status. When someone sees it and says, "I didn't know you played guitar!?" You simply reply: "Oh, the stories I could tell." That's it. The rest is left to their vivid imaginations. You relish the moment with a clear conscience because you haven't said or done anything untrue.

Here's how we're going to play this game. I'm going to give you a hint about The Best TV Drama Ever. From this hint, you take a guess. You can either post your guess as a comment here or you can email it to me at hey.pops.hey@gmail.com.

Are you ready? This is the beautiful typeface used in all of the titling on the show. Recognize the typeface--you'll know the show right away.

Good luck!