Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Showing posts with label Art Garfunkel. Show all posts

Friday, November 25, 2022

Why the "Flowers Never Bend" Performance in The Orville 3.9 Will Last Forever

This sweet soulful rendition by Gordon (Scott Grimes) and Charly (Anne Winters) of Simon & Garfunkel's "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall" this past July on the 9th episode of the 3rd Season of The Orville certainly wasn't the first vocal performance in a TV drama or comedy that wasn't a musical. It's not even the first sustained singing in a Star Trek or Star Trek inspired TV show. Uhura sang "Beyond Antares" in a memorable scene with Spock (in "The Conscience of the King,” episode 1.13 of the original Star Trek series in December 1966) and a couple of other times on the USS Enterprise on television back then.

But "Beyond Antares" was an original song, from the 23rd century, when it was heard for the first time in Star Trek, and therefore couldn't evoke any of the memories and feelings that Simon & Garfunkel's "Flowers" brought forth a few months ago, rooted in the dozens of times in millions of homes and cars in which Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (the LP which contained "Flowers") was first released, heard, and loved in October 1966, enriched by the increasing number of people who would continue to hear that song in the years ahead, as Simon & Garfunkel, both together and individually, became and continued to be musical icons.

That was the main reason Grimes and Winters' beautiful performance really struck me the first time I heard and saw their performance in July. The other reason was the assembled group from The Orville, who were fortunate to hear this rendition in person. Not only who they were -- the species and role of their characters in the series -- but their expressions as Gordon and Charly sang for them were just perfect.

But this one minute and thirty seconds has really stayed with me since the summer. I now consider it easily the best musical performance in any science fiction on the screen. And I think I know why.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

It's because we learned, as season 3 progressed and concluded with its 10th episode, that Charly singing "my life will never end" had a meaning and resonance that Paul Simon couldn't have foreseen when he wrote those lyrics way back in the 1960s. In that 10th episode, Charly's life does bravely end. Her heroic sacrifice would have been hard to forget in any case. But making that sacrifice after singing that line was a masterstroke. Surely, Seth MacFarlane (and co-writers Brannon Braga and André Bormanis) must have known what would happen to Charly in the 10th episode when they decided to have her sing that song with that line in the 9th episode.

And I'd expect the actors in The Orville would have known about Charly's fate as well. Look at Kelly's face around 30 seconds into the video. She's standing next to Ed, both really enjoying the performance, smiling, but at 30 or so seconds she momentarily almost loses that smile. And that's right around the time Charly sings, "pretend, my life will never end". Coincidence? I don't think so. Was she directed to briefly lose that smile? I have no idea -- perhaps Adrianne Palicki, who plays Kelly so well, was consciously or unconsciously in touch with what she knew was going to happen to Charly, and was hit by that awful irony.

A beautiful, haunting song, brought to life by two beautiful voices and acoustic strings, strummed and plucked, in a scene that I predict will be seen and heard in the corridors of unique science fiction forever.

Renew The Orville!

Friday, July 29, 2022

The Orville 3.9: Why It's Become Better than any Current Star Trek

Having just watched The Orville 3.9, let me explain why I think The Orville is better than any current Star Trek series, as well as in the same league with The Original Series and The Next Generation.

It's because The Orville is not beholden to any prior or current Star Trek, not burdened with being true to all that was Star Trek before, and is Star Trek now. The Orville can plot its own course, take its own chances. And now that it's on Hulu not Fox, The Orville is also free fromall the network constraints, including length of episode and language.

Spoilers ahead ... ]

Episode 3.9 makes use of, and epitomizes all of those advantages. It was unafraid to kill off a semi-major character, Admiral Perry (played by Ted Danson) and a major, vibrant new character introduced just this season, Ensign Charly (played by Anne Winters). Charly was so impressive, she even sang some great harmony and lead when she and Gordon performed Simon and Garfunkel's "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall" in Grayson's family cabin. And the lyrics of this song -- "I'll continue to pretend, my life will never end" -- have a special, pang-in-your-heart significance, given Charly's extraordinary sacrifice at the end of the episode. This accentuates the ethical incandescence of Charly doing this to save the Kaylon, whom she understandably hated up until the episode before last.

The story line was also top-notch, for a bunch of interlocking reasons. "The Orville" has increasingly become a continuing story this season. Episode 3.9 picks up on the Moclans leaving the Union, and they form an alliance with the Krill against the Kaylon. And by the end of the episode, the Kaylon (impressed by Charly's sacrifice) are aligned with the Union. These seismic shifts are conducted with subtlety and apt motive. For example, the Moclan at first balk at giving the Krill co-command of their military, because the Krill leader is a woman. And we see the Kaylon leader very aware of the enormity of Charly's sacrifice.

The battle scenes were also outstanding, especially the spaceship dogfights between the Union and the Kaylon vs. the Moclan and the Krill. All of this was reminiscent of an extended scene from a movie like Star Wars, and was possible because "The Orville" as been given room to the breathe on Hulu, in this case, an hour and nineteen minutes.

Next week is the season 3 finale. I'm very much looking forward to that, and to many seasons to come.

Joel McKinnon and I discuss Star Trek, The Orville and much more

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Sunday, September 16, 2018

Paul Simon Farewell Concert at Prudential Center: "Don't Give Up"

Tina and I just got back from Paul Simon's Farewell Concert at the Prudential Center. We both thought it was one of the very best concerts we've ever attended - and that includes at least two concerts with Simon & Garfunkel decades ago.

Paul Simon was always as much a poet as a lyricist and songwriter, which is not something you can say about even the greatest lyricists, like Lennon and McCartney, whose words only occasionally reached the realm of sheer poetry. Simon does that almost every time, in every song. I knew that before tonight, but his words leaped even more out at me than I recall in the past. He has a nonchalant profundity almost rolling off his tongue, from "Call Me Al" and "Late in the Evening" to "Crazy After All These Years" (his line "I fear I may do some damage one fine day" has always been one of my all-time favorites).

And his new songs have it too. The fun and sass of "Rewrite" is as good as "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," the haunting beauty of "Questions for the Angels" as memorable as "For Emily," and the keen watercolor imagery of "Rene and Georgette Magritte with their Dog After the War" is right up there with the brush strokes of "Hazy Shade of Winter".

And if the music and singing and band weren't enough, Simon's repartee between songs was worth the price of admission. He talked about a song he gave to someone else, and he now wanted to reclaim as his own. I thought he was perhaps talking about "Red Rubber Ball," which he wrote and was a big hit for The Cyrkle. He wasn't. He was talking about "Bridge Over Troubled Water," the big Simon & Garfunkel hit, mostly sung by just Garfunkel. Talk about a dis - I don't why Simon harbors such anger for his former partner, but this was a rapier thrust all the way back to 1970.

But in many ways the best line was what Simon had to say about these Trumpian times we live in, without mentioning his name. "Don't give up," he said quietly to a cheering audience. And then he sang an especially meaningful "American Tune" ... "I don't know a soul whose not been battered ..." And we all were tearing not cheering, then applauding.

You know what - I don't think this and his next few, concluding performances on his farewell tour will be his last. The audience tonight had too much groove, and Simon far too much joy and commitment to his performance, for that to be true.

Look for my review here whenever he does his next series of concerts.

"challenging fun"
- Entertainment Weekly

e-mail received from a reader:
Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchildren. Thanks! Tom

I of course happily replied...

42 reviews of The Plot to Save Socrates!