Death/The 4th Movement (1973-1979) – 2 Fan Albums

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

Death is a classy early punk band that packed politically charged lyrics with aggressive and funky playing. They’re great players, which shows in a lot of my favorite songs of theirs being instrumentals. Still, “Politicians In My Eyes” is an iconic track. Their catalog is a bit confusing. It consists of the occasional non-album single and three LPs recorded with the classic lineup, one of which was not released for decades; then they reformed without their deceased guitarist David Hackney and are still actively recording. On top of all this, the bundle has gone through many name changes. I’ve defined the band as whatever includes its two constant members, Bobby Hackney on bass and vocals and Dannis Hackney on drums. Another amusing discovery is that before David died, the other two members formed a new band called “Lambs Bread” and released several obscure albums. If you consider that even in the music labeled “Death” the guitarist changed, then there’s no reason not to consider Lambs Bread more of Death. The cherry on top is that the guitarist of reformed Death, Bobbie Duncan, had played in Lambs Bread. It is worth noting that much of Lambs Bread is so obscure that I couldn’t find it online. I will still list the info I found.

Another frustrating fact is that while a lot of 70s classic lineup demo material has been released, some doesn’t come with a recording date. The release with this problem is listed as being cut vaguely from 1974 to 1976. It’s also said to mostly predate the band’s 1975 studio recordings. How I’ve ordered things, any song without a known recording year I’ll assume is 1976, which leaves one album’s worth of material with confirmed dates of some 1973 or 1975 and a follow up. However, I suspect that if I did have all the dates the first album would be the 1973 tracks and a ton of demos, then the second would be the studio sessions and what came after. Fortunately, the sequences I’ve made are still strong regardless.

Death – A Tribe Called Death (1975) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Introduction By David” (Recorded 1975)
2. “People Save the World” (Recorded 1973)
3. “RockFire Funk Express” (Recorded 1973)
4. “Free” (Recorded 1975)
5. “Bobby Bassing It” (Recorded 1975)
6. “First Snowball In Detroit” (Recorded 1975)
7. “Keep on Knocking” (Recorded 1975)

SIDE B

1. “Rock-N-Roll Victim” (Recorded 1975)
2. “Let the World Turn” (Recorded 1975)
3. “You’re a Prisoner” (Recorded 1975)
4. “Freakin Out” (Recorded 1975)
5. “Where Do We Go from Here???” (Recorded 1975)
6. “Politicians in My Eyes” (Recorded 1975)

Alternate ideas for this album title were the group’s early name RockFire Funk Express, their first album’s name …For the Whole World to See, or my Spotify playlist Introduction By David. I picked the one I did as it’s been a little joke that’s run through my mind for a while. This album is a bit longer than I’d have liked, but some of the band’s completed albums are similarly lengthy. Also note that for the World album, originally Death were to record twelve tracks, but only got to do seven. This resulted in a little under thirty minutes. Thus, you can imagine that those twelve songs may have totaled around forty-five minutes if completed. Another concern is that the album is front loaded with too many instrumentals, but I wanted to preserve the actual sequencing for World within this one. Otherwise, I might have moved one of the instrus to around the middle of side b.

Death – Can You Give Me A Thrill??? (1979) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Can You Give Me A Thrill???” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
2. “People Look Away” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
3. “The Storm Within” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
4. “David’s Dream (Flying)” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
5. “We Are Only People” (Recorded 1976)

SIDE B

1. “North Street” (Recorded 1979 Or 1980)
2. “Restlessness” (Recorded 1979 Or 1980)
3. “Open Road” (Recorded 1979 Or 1980)
4. “Dannis On The Motor City Drums” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
5. “Views” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
6. “The Masks” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
7. “The Change” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)
8. “World Of Tomorrow” (Recorded Between 1974-1976)

The 4th Movement (1980) – YouTube, Spotify

The 4th Movement – Totally (1982) – YouTube

Anything I couldn’t find by Lambs Bread is simply not linked. However, you can find some of their material for purchase on their website: https://www.lambsbreadband.com/

Lambs Bread – Truth Of It Is… (1986) – YouTube

Lambs Bread – International Love (1988)

Credited to “The Hackneys” (1992)

1. “Our Story”
2. “Under Siege”

Lambs Bread – Sign of the Times (unsure)

1993

1. “Let’s Go Flying (Musical Dub)”

Lambs Bread – Reggae Mood (1993)

1995

1. “Fire Up De Ganja (Revisited)”

Lambs Bread – The Hotter, The Better (1995)

Then to Now’s unreleased tracks (unsure of recording date)

1. “African Princess”
2. “Dread At The Lambsbread Controls”
3. “You’re A Big Girl Now”
4. “Sharing and Caring”

Lambs Bread – Brown Bag Special (unsure)

Lambs Bread – One Sweet Day (2011) – YouTube, Spotify

Death – N.E.W. (2015) – YouTube, Spotify

Finally, here’s every stray track after 1980 I could find, plus one oddity – YouTube

1. “Politicians in My Eyes” (Early 1974 demo)
2. “Yes He’s Coming” (1992 (Featuring Death’s classic lineup))
3. “We’re Gonna Make It” (1992 (Featuring Death’s classic lineup))
4. “The Masks” (2011)
5. “Keep On Knocking” (2011)
6. “Cease Fire” (2017)
7. “Give It Back” (2018)
8. “World In Disguise” (2023)

There are modern-era live recordings and a documentary for those interested. Considering how there are no released demos of the studio material of the 70s and 80s other than just once, I bet there are some that were recorded, but not released. Hopefully they will be in due time. More new music, such as LPs, would also be nice.

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

youhitmetal17times_everyday Days 1-65 (2023-2024) Review

The first frame of most installments.

This piece of media can’t be truly appreciated with any kind of discussion beforehand. Just watch it first.

While my interests in media have been mostly relegated to material which exists in a long lasting and understood way, films that get preserved on reels and presented like they always have or books dedicated to text which contains all you need about the art and its message, there are fascinating and difficult to define alternative ways of telling and hosting stories that can be moving and complex in its own way, even offering an experience more or less unique to it. While it’s questionable if youhitmetal17times_everyday hopes to say anything, its nature of delivery as a series of videos you can choose to scroll through in a row, skip through, or read the comments of is unlike much before. I watched most of these multiple months in the project, with people hyping up the series and the experience of watching it in the comments. For just over a month, the same video was uploaded each day, which is a common thing to happen on Instagram, where the series is posted. Despite this repetition, the experience wasn’t nearly as boring due to how short the first video is and the comments. Instagram even sometimes makes a comment visible automatically. The comments that were at the top of the feed were the more amusing or insightful, reflecting the various thoughts a newbie will think. Is it just going to be one video forever? Is everyone else getting bored at the same point? I treat the comments as part of the experience due to their nature being predictable, probably with the creator of the series, Adrian Gray, aware ahead of time of what the comments would be like and how that would affect newcomers.

As you go through the same segment over and over, possibly without knowledge it will ever change, a numbing effect occurs, with it seeming increasingly ridiculous that one would keep watching these. You then overcome significant relief when the story finally changes. After the first change there’s typically a formula of the same video just a few times, then a new swap. While it makes sense to stay true to the concept of repetition, these lose the impact of the initial cycle due to not happening enough to be mind numbing or little enough to not just get annoying. A solution would be hard to find for this due to the nature of the story. To stay true to the origins of the series and themes of being trapped, It does make me hope that the tale ends with something open-ended enough to seem like there’s more coming, then it just repeats over and over again.

Everything we see is a bit off and surreal. As an example, we mostly just get protagonist Mikaeli’s perspective and are asked to relate to him by him having very relatable and typical goals, so any short without him is automatically especially off-putting. That off-putting world is seemingly the “real one”, with Mikaeli in a fake one. This reversal parallels modern life to some, those who relate more to the internet than the real world. Another element of strangeness is that the simplicity of the protagonist and his wants essentially tricks us into rooting for him despite him not having much character or personality. He’s often given little quips that make him memorable. This is not uncommon in media, with us relating to real game show contestants for similar reasons. The notable example is Mikaeli’s “Fair enough” comment. If one just sees the first video once, you might not think much of that, though that line becomes catchy and telling about the character simply by it being emphasized and repeated. Even on a base level, it’s funny that that line always seems to come up.

SPOILERS

Meta-textuallty, we are essentially being put in the time loop by watching all of these, feeling the struggle of Mikaeli to a degree. You can also laugh at the fact that unlike Mikaeli, we don’t have to. We probably do it out of some arbitrary sense of “completeness” or for the extremely minimal differences there sometimes are to two otherwise identical shorts. The sense of being part of an event and being supported by others creates enough fun and enjoyment to watch what is on paper boring and unmarketable. That in itself becomes part of the joy of it all, that it is so different and random. It would be difficult to replicate this experience on film.

Taking the narrative at face value, some of the segments are less interesting than others, basically being set up that has comparatively less humor. The main appeal story-wise is seeing what happens to Mikaeli. The Fair Enough song is the prime example of how potent the comedy can be, while also sticking to the themes. It seems that this series is about being trapped in a cheesy tv show, which would have things like musical numbers. Its music and comedy are both much more clever than you’d expect, with this sense that reality is bending to conform to weird television ideas. By comparison, it’s less realistic to have you from the future show up, though such a concept was still funny. Hopefully that’s resolved, as it hasn’t yet been addressed.

OVERVIEW

Due to the modern medium of a social media app, this may be a commentary on the cyclical nature of quick content, which often falls into numbing patterns. It is important to keep videos short for attention spans, and have a hook. The fact the footage is based on 1980s television draws comparison between both types of mass entertainment. Both game shows and social media videos are criticized as filler for the mind. This series at least seems to treat this particular show as especially formulaic and inane. Whether or not that is connected to Instagram or is given more of a point and payoff remains to be seen.

Watching these day after day might bring with it a vastly different experience to binging. The numbing effect is probably more apparent with the binging, being more invasive on the mind. Unlike with traditional movies, those viewing methods make for two separate feelings from youhitmetal17times_everyday. As such, it’s a wonderful gander into what it’s like to be the type of person that watches things like this with some possibly accidental meta-commentary to boot. It’s a decent watch, even if you end up skipping around, though trust that if you do you’re missing something.

The Beatles – 40 (1981) Album Edit

For those not in the know, fan albums/album edits are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The recent release of the “final” Beatles single got me wondering how long of a Beatles “reunion” album you could make and if that could become a fan album. Considering that the John Lennon demos come from the late 70s or early 80s, ideally the other tracks would come from that same time period. That didn’t get very far, so I decided to include cases after the band’s breakup where there’s just three members together and extend the timeframe out more. This created two issues. The album is still too short and there’s a severe lack of Paul. Paul and George almost never seemed to collaborate after the breakup. Thus, I turned to some sources that might be too strange.

The best is an edit of “Grow Old With Me” by “Rarebeatles” that surprisingly effectively mixes John’s vocal, George Martin’s orchestration, and the backing track of the Ringo cover that featured Paul on bass. An edit like this may have been an ideal “b-side” to “Now and Then”. Another source was the mid-90s jam between everyone but John, for obvious reasons. These may be too informal, but I like them. Note that tracks that don’t feature all three Beatles or were originally from released albums are excluded, to not have duplication. Finally there are two tracks from the “Everyday Chemistry” edit, which takes stems from different solo Beatles songs. They were mainly included to give more length and I simply like them.

This edit is not very fluid, due to the different sources, but I found it an interesting listen. Other similar concepts for this lower the number of Beatles needed to just two or stay in one time frame. Those are indeed more cohesive, so this should be looked at as an experiment to be more Beatley in numbers than style. This is pretty much the closest we’ll ever get to a “true” reunion we can actually make. I also worked on this project months ago and only now got around to finishing and releasing it. For those that want a little narrative for this album, here is what I thought of:

After John Lennon returned to music in 1980, he decided to get the other Beatles together to record an album. After some resistance, he barely managed this. The band began recording, often not together, before John tragically died. The others were not terribly keen on continuing the project, so took a break before realizing John would want them to finish it. Thus, they decided to play by their own rules and do some informal jams, as they were prioritizing having fun, before the daunting task of adding overdubs to some unused John recordings. Due to knowing that he wouldn’t be on every track, and being more interested in their solo projects, the remaining three figured why bother being on every track if it was already fine by their standards? A 1973 outtake called “I’m The Greatest” that happened to feature everyone but Paul was dug up and included as “the imagined single that carried us to this point”. Its mocking lyrics of Paul were favored by George and Ringo due to him not wanting to contribute his own songs to the LP. The album was then named 40 in reference to John. The cover was a then-recent picture of the band. The record received negative reviews, with critics noting the severe lack of cohesion. There was more praise for the tracks that used all the band members and didn’t draw from many or informal sources. Some considered just releasing the singles, “Free As A Bird/Grow Old With Me” and “Now And Then/Real Love”. The remaining members were not new to such criticism and didn’t much care, having solo careers waiting for them.

The Beatles – 40 (1981) – YouTube

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Now And Then”
2. “All Those Years Ago”
3. “Real Love”
4. “Raunchy/Blue Moon Of Kentucky/Baby, What You Want Me To Do?”
5. “Grow Old With Me”

SIDE B

1. “Anybody Else”
2. “I’m The Greatest”
3. “Thinking Of Linking/Mr. Gator’s Swamp Jamboree”
4. “Free As A Bird”

PERSONNEL

• John Lennon – lead vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5-6, 9), backing vocals (tracks 1, 7), piano (tracks 5, 7, 9), guitar (tracks 6, 8b)
• Paul McCartney – bass (tracks 1, 3, 5-6, 8b, 9), lead vocals (tracks 1, 4, 6, 8a, 9), backing vocals (tracks 1-3, 5, 9), guitar (tracks 1, 3-4, a, b, 8b, 9), piano (tracks 1, 3, 9), electric harpsichord (tracks 1, 3), percussion (tracks 1, 3), harmonium (track 3), ukulele (track 4c), synthesizer (track 9)
• George Harrison – guitar (tracks 1-4a, b, 6-9), backing vocals (tracks 1-4, 9), synthesizer, lead vocals (track 2, 9), percussion (track 3), ukulele (tracks 4c, 9)
• Ringo Starr – drums (tracks 1-4a, b, 5-9), percussion (tracks 1, 3, 4c, 7), backing vocals (tracks 1, 3-4, 9), lead vocals (track 7)
• Neel Hammond, Adrianne Pope, Charlie Bisharat, Andrew Bulbrook, Songa Lee, Serena McKinney – violin (track 1)
• Ayvren Harrison, Caroline Buckman, Drew Forde, Linnea Powell – viola (track 1)
• Mia Barcia-Colombo, Giovanna Clayton, Hillary Smith – cello (track 1)
• Mike Valerio – double bass (track 1)
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals (track 2)
• Denny Laine – backing vocals (track 2)
• Al Kooper – electric piano (track 2)
• Herbie Flowers – bass (track 2)
• Ray Cooper – tambourine (track 2)
• Jeff Lynne – backing vocals, guitar, producer (tracks 3, 9)
• Joe Walsh – guitar (track 5)
• Jim Cox – piano (track 5)
• Allison Lovejoy – accordion (track 5)
• Rhea Fowler – violin (track 5)
• Bianca McClure – violin (track 5)
• Lauren Baba – violin (track 5)
• Isaiah Cage – cello (track 5)
• Billy Preston – organ, piano (track 7)
• Klaus Voormann – bass (track 7)
• Jérôme Leroy – conductor (track 1)
• Paul McCartney, Giles Martin, Ben Foster – string arrangement (track 1)
• Jack Douglas – string arrangement (track 5)
• George Martin – orchestral arrangement (track 5)

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

Doctor Who: The Giggle // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 3

One of the creepier images in the episode, though the VFX leaves much to be desired.

The finale of Doctor Who is a novel little concept that has in fairness been tried many times. The issue with ever doing it is who can handle not having this franchise? Even if the series managed such low ratings and disinterest that the BBC would in turn cancel it, maybe in ten or fifteen years it could be rebooted? The Giggle has never been sold as or committed to being a finale, but it does include many elements of it that do seek to offer a sense of closure. This is mainly done in the “explanation” of why the Doctor regenerated back into the Tenth Doctor and what happens after it, with it I guess seeming that the Doctor knows this is his most popular incarnation and the one who seems ideal for such a thing? We also get some returning albeit minor characters from the classic series. Will we ever get a Susan appearance? While the idea of giving the show a finale; a fake finale (which this definitely is); and regenerating into past Doctors, especially to make a point, is really fascinating and not as worthy of disdain as some would say, all these ideas are not handled nearly as well as they could have been.

The Giggle serves as the closest of the specials here to a sixtieth anniversary, though it is still light on much celebration of the past. A big thing we get is Tennant. Tennant returning is a good idea. It thematically shows how no matter how much this character changes, he remains the same and offers closure to this tenure in theory, though these specials are even light on references to the Russell T. Davies era. Considering how the Doctor witnessed a lot of strange things be done with regeneration by other time lords it works that part of the Doctor would want to be a bit strange and revisit a past experience. What other past elements we get comes in the form of a few verbal references; the welcomed but minor companion Mel, played by Bonnie Langford, predictably Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and the more fascinating return of the Toymaker. While the Toymaker’s one previous appearance was in one of the worst Who serials of the 60s, his ability to essentially shift reality and create impossible games for people to win is a phenomenal idea. Neil Patrick Harris brings a menace to him as someone who appears so bored with everything that he feels a need to be so destructive.

Thus, it’s a huge disappointment that much of this narrative is setup with little payoff. This is epitomized by a scene of Donna being approached by creepy dolls, which serve no purpose and prove no threat. The two meaningful-to-the-plot games he plays are seeing who can pick the higher card and later don’t drop a ball. Both are played as comedic, but due to their inclusion in this supposed serious finale that is trying to do so much, it muddles the tone. Beyond Harris’ performance, Tennant does sell the intensity of the Doctor’s emotions in his stress and anguish when it seems like something bad is about to happen, which comes out in a few all too brief scenes. The Doctor and Toymaker make the best of the story when talking about their experiences and specifically how they differ from humans. They’re to a degree being compared in how traumatizing it can be to go through as much as they have, which also explains why the villain acts how he does. Thus, it’s sad how little he appears.

A lot of time is spent setting up just how bad the situation is, hearing about all the things the Toymaker has done and admittedly getting some solid visuals, like the toy burning, only for a lot of this to eventually be brushed to the side. A very sudden twist is included and that just takes up the ending. Why not have the threat of the Toymaker be more connected to the twist? Maybe we could have had this be two specials, one dealing with the Toymaker with the twist part of the cliffhanger, then the last is only about the latter element. As is, this episode is so rushed. Random characters explain a lot of the plot, the cliffhanger of last episode and how it’s being resolved is similarly discussed before suddenly being pushed aside, “the Vlinx” was established as a character only to do nothing, as does Kate’s insults, Mel and more importantly Donna are barely in this, and some of the faster paced moments play as fairly comical. The scene of the Toymaker in a black tuxedo doesn’t have him even doing anything, which suggests something was cut. Same with the Doctor’s clothes regenerating with him when he first became #14. That suggested there was some weird space anomaly, but that’s not the case according to this episode.

SPOILERS

We get a really quick scene of two UNIT soldiers walking towards the Toymaker, the Doctor tells them to stop, they get killed, then he tells Kate they indeed died. It all is just very silly. Earlier, the Doctor said to Donna he wasn’t sure he could get her out alive, which is not something that weighs on the situation nearly as strongly as it should. This turmoil needs to mean something. That confession, as well as the Doctor seeming fed up with the cruelty of humanity, are good character moments in a vacuum, but come across as tossed in to make the story “deep”. The Doctor talking about order and chaos could have represented a theme that would play through to the end. Why not have it tie into how he defeats the Toymaker? The actual way he goes is absolutely absurd, losing a fairly easy game when apparently everyone else ever has lost to him. Him bragging about who has been defeated just feels like a waste of time, seeing as the Doctor doesn’t really have to do much to succeed. What if he either has to die or sacrifice Donna in order to win? What if he simply gets the Toymaker to go away, but the latter’s destruction is not even fixed?

Some of the better aspects of the story is the explanation of how the Doctor initially met the Toymaker and how the Toymaker got to Earth. The Doctor is later very clever in outsmarting the villain into letting them go. He probably understood how hopeless things were, so manipulated the Toymaker with what he knew he would want. At the same time, the Toymaker manipulates the Doctor by knowing how to cause him emotional turmoil. As such, the Doctor is often clearly fearful of him. He even offers him something… The Doctor and the Toymaker traveling together would have been a really fascinating idea. Makes you wonder if the Toymaker would steal the TARDIS. This is reminiscent of the time in the audio adventures a Nazi was a companion of the Doctor.

Ncuti Gatwa does a fair enough job, though his incarnation of the lead is devalued by this episode really just being about Tennant until the end. He doesn’t even get a chance to follow the tradition of acting really weird from the post-regeneration haze, being more about giving a bit of dialogue to the Tennant Doctor. What would have been better is if the regeneration occurs at the very end. Considering that the Tennant Doctor apparently has all the interesting baggage about the character, with Gatwa’s more of a clean slate, Gatwa’s era will probably feel like a spinoff or remake, as it might not be following many of the developments to the character that shaped the Doctor. The two Doctors saying goodbye feels like a symbolic passing of the torch, like the Doctor we’ve really known from William Hartnell to David Tennant is bowing out.

Something not covered much in the series is what causes the Doctor to regenerate into the face he does. Such a thing could tell us a lot about the character, at least making for a solid episode. The Fourteenth Doctor era hopes to offer such an explanation, with it seeming to be that it was subconscious, so he could find Donna and retire. This is concocted as something Donna just thought up, which is a lot less satisfying than if it was something the Doctor had to discover. This also spits in the face of a lot of past moments. The Doctor likes adventure, though admittedly has at times wanted to retire but felt he was unable. Wouldn’t he justify to himself now that he can do twice as much life saving? Coming up with a reason for him to call it quits isn’t impossible, but it should take a lot longer and be more about an internal struggle unlike what he’s seen before instead of being done in a few conversations in at best three episodes, but really just this one. The Doctor has already experienced the death of loved ones and failing to help people as much as he could. What’s different about now? The show must not even really believe in this, as the Fourteenth Doctor is left with his own TARDIS, which strongly suggests this isn’t the last of him. 

Hopefully it isn’t, as this “ending” is so quick and unearned. It doesn’t even distinguish itself from the many breaks of the Doctor. The emotional gravatas it is given feels like a trick just waiting to be retconned. 14 saying how happy he is retired feels way too easy, ignoring the aforementioned breaks he’s done, like between series nine and ten. The need to help that would push someone that’s gone so hard and so long fighting isn’t just going to go away. The best way to interpret this is as just a finale to the previous Davies era, as that was just a few years instead of sixty and almost every episode of it starred Tennant. A lot of the various eras of the show feel a bit distinct, but this episode still asks to be so much more and ultimately invites more questions. Even if the Tennant incarnation is just tired and wants to be both alive and retired, what about the others? Will 14 not one day die and perhaps be replaced by another risky adventurer?

While bigeneration isn’t a bad idea, it does only seem to be here for the sake of giving us more Tennant if it’s ever needed, instead of it really being dug into. A lot of exploration could occur for it and admittedly it might happen. A bit more would help the episode. There have also been a few times where we’re supposed to see Tennant off, so it’s increasingly ridiculous when he’s brought back. It does in a way make sense the Doctor could not let go of being Tennant, considering he felt he could do so much more in The End of Time. Those trying to calculate our hero’s age usually have the Tenth as around the youngest tenured, so perhaps to the Doctor, he is the one that got away? Still, it’s probably for the best that he avoids this incarnation considering that 10 cheated death once before in series four, with this episode featuring his third regeneration, all relatively soon after the last one.

OVERVIEW

Obviously it’s not objective what the best interpretation of what the Doctor is is, but Russell T. Davies’ approach of the character being essentially anything, such as that he can now do what’s shown in the episode or affirming the Timeless Child story, erases the Doctor really even being a character. He doesn’t have any wants or drive, as in an instant he could be something else. This admittedly is a problem that plagues any long running character, such as superheroes. It can get to the point where it might seem too boring to some to not go in a “this person is basically Jesus” way. It was so much more special when he was just a weird alien with a box that admittedly didn’t aspire as massive of change. As the Twelfth Doctor once powerfully said, he does what he does just because it’s kind, but that message is diluted when it’s suggested he does so because he’s really so great and special. Due to the frankly broken story of The Giggle, including the blatant attempts to force emotions out of a hat, all this comes off as laziness. What if Davies’ real reasoning is wanting an excuse to make simply a sci-fi show under the Doctor Who name instead of understanding the legacy he is a part of? He would not be the first to change things up, but he might be the first to really run with radically transforming what the Doctor is or acts like.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Review

Is this a Wes Anderson movie?

Everything Everywhere All At Once is, true to its word, everything. Much has been read into this film in terms of commentary on the world and general themes. I must think that at some point a movie will come out and be hailed as a complex masterpiece, only for the filmmakers to at some time admit it really meant nothing and just hit the expected beats of a narrative, with far more being read into it. (I’m sorry, Duck Soup, I still love you.) At its heart, Everything seems to be firing for a simple idea of family and togetherness. Especially around the ending, it was reminiscent of a thousand other movies that were solely about “Let’s just love each other.” It’s hard to know what to think of this, whether it’s a beautifully simple resolution or anticlimactic after the very busy and complicated film it’s a part of.

To put it simply, this movie is stimulating. To be less nice, overstimulating. The film often leans into extremely fast montages that don’t always convey necessary information. One example is when we see someone “verse jump” over and over to explain where they’re getting a certain ability from. That, just like quite a lot of the story, is blinding novelty and entertainment value. You can tell some involved love old action and Kung-Fu movies, especially Chinese ones, and wanted to include fights that evoked them, while implementing elements like absurdist humor. However, something like the dildo fight or better yet a man jumping pants-less in slow motion intending to land sitting on a trophy shaped like a butt plug feel designed to only be attention grabbing, especially to a gen-z audience.

For better and for worse, the film does appeal heavily on a multitude of levels, like as a light popcorn flick, something where any little element can be looked at as commentary on several-hundred year old philosophical concepts, or anywhere in between. It might even be designed to be a bit confusing for someone on their first viewing, in hopes of repeat ones. Based on the strong focus for comedy and spectacle, it can feel like there is little to say, especially when it gets to the point of someone just yelling to be kind, instead of that particular message being discovered or earned. However, some messages are discovered or learned. Another issue is the pace, where the film can rev up to a hundred, then stops before starting again. The pessimistic view of this is to say it is edited essentially like a music video to just appeal to perceived short attention spans. No matter what the intention is, the impression is that certain elements that are built up don’t matter, as after the intensity of them being laid on, everything cools down for the next big idea.

All of the cast have a very good understanding of their manic roles. The hardest would probably be the lead Evelyn Quan Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh. She is initially an every woman before quickly having to get with the program. You can argue Evelyn should have had more time to figure it out, but there is a serviceable explanation for that. Her feelings are not delved into deeply, other than her main goal of trying to save everyone. Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang grounds the film into more emotional territory, with him often giving some realism to the tale, which is ironic as he is the first sign of chaos.

Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang gives the best performance, bringing a consistent nihilism and desire to find support. Her face often has a look of fatigue on it. Due to the youthful energy of the story, she might work due to being the youngest cast member and thus having the most ability to relate. My favorite performance is Jamie Lee Curtis as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, who brings a dry wit and inherent absurdism due to how out of place she looks and how much fun you can tell Curtis is having. She’s easy to love. The supporting cast are consistently wonderfully charming and entertaining, but arguably serve as filler.

SPOILERS

Based on how quickly Evelyn was to embrace the multiverse, even to the point of punching Deirdre and possibly considering killing her daughter, you could imagine the movie would end in a twist that no supernatural events occurred and the lead is just off her rocker. It’s at least surprising her family isn’t more critical or concerned about her behavior. This idea of coming off as nutty about something is an old trope the filmmakers might have enjoyed. Based on the ending, where everyone seems fine, was there any need or point to Evelyn punching Deirdre? What about all the destruction at the IRS or the marital tensions between Evelyn and Waymond? Same with Evelyn apparently stabbing Waymond.

The heart of the story are the discussions between Evelyn and Joy’s alter ego Jobu Tupaki. They discuss their opposing views on the world, showcasing the nature and thought process of Jobu, ultimately proving she’s misunderstood. So much information about Jobu being portrayed by her just telling Evelyn is rather boring, though the expressive and symbolic visuals help in making up for that. Later, we are thankfully shown Evelyn overcoming Jobu’s strength and nihilism through the visuals. The best example of this is when they’re rocks, which is beautifully and creepily simple. Same can be said for when Evelyn adopts googly eyes on her as a rock and Jobu in turn rolls off a cliff.

Whether or not the reconciliation of Evelyn and Joy is earned is up for debate. It is too easy, with Evelyn merely saying to Joy she wants to be with her, which could have already been figured. This does summarize the main issue of the style of the movie not being able to sustain its substance.

OVERVIEW

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a very good spectacle, benefitting from how rich and colorful it looks. It’s an extremely lovable and watchable work that will probably serve to influence many people that see it. While some say that a thing that tries to appeal to everyone appeals to no one, this might be the exception that proves the rule. Though it can come off a little disjointed, the constant stimulus that also gives a lot of food for thought to those looking for it works in the film’s favor. However, due to its limitations and how “2022” it feels, there is the concern of the movie soon going out of date, with down the line a new story essentially filling this role of delivering some very typical messages in the flavor of the time, such as not demonizing your children. The lack of subtlety could be seen as positive or in vogue, but grow stale later. The picture still deserves and probably will have some legacy going forth. Also, I was genuinely rooting for Raccacoonie and its owner. I’d also like to have hot dog fingers and play the piano with my feet with Jamie Lee.

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 2

A frame from the episode

Wild Blue Yonder at its heart is a simple and effective mystery. Wisely, it uses the space-filling scenes of walking and talking to give some degree of development for our leads. As such, there is a lot to like here, though as a whole the product suffers serious issues. While much of the information we learn about the story of the episode is nice, it mostly comes down to “The Doctor can’t figure it out, so he wanders around until it clicks.” At one point the antagonist explains part of it for the Doctor, which is a trope that doesn’t allow for real intrigue. Why would a villain do that? However, just like last time, David Tennant and Catherine Tate clearly know the show well and handle the absurdities admirably. Their interaction with Isaac Newton, played by Nathaniel Curtis, is very funny for what it is. It would’ve been nice if this episode was more about them flying around to different time periods and having such novelty adventures. Seeing Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott again is heartwarming. It is wonderful we got to see him before he died, which he did before even filming all his scenes for these specials.

Both The Doctor and Donna have scenes where we get a good look at the sorts of stressors and trauma they’ve gone through. The scenes of The Doctor are especially good, due to it following the general theme of The Doctor trying to force down the pain of adventures gone wrong. Donna talking about her family moving on falls flat due to the stakes never being very high. However, it would work under a more intense situation. The episode sets up the threat as particularly villainous, but once again the Doctor can almost magically think a way through. Donna, who generally is not going to give up without a fight, seems too quick to here.

This episode’s antagonist and sets are not unlike how such are handled in the budget episodes the show does, where the Tardis team and usually other characters are on a ship and a baddie tries to get them. As such, it is a real shame this is supposed to be part of a very short anniversary series when we could be focusing on something that either tackles the main story of why the Doctor regenerated into Tennant or the history of the show. Even the structure of the story is similar to other cost-friendly outings. This episode would work a lot better with the next Doctor and companion. This could explore how those two think and will interact with each other. Maybe the next companion is the type to quickly become so stressed she is convinced she will die and thus she discusses her wish for her family to move on from her, as Donna does here?

The visual look of the story and the baddies are both effectively creepy and unsettling. With the latter, it can be looked at as a metaphor for confronting your own personal demons. The exploration of the lead’s inner emotions, especially in response to the villains, feels like a tease when the episode would feel more complete if it came to some resolution. This doesn’t mean to fix their problems entirely, just to make them seem like it led to a point. One episode that did this quite well is Vincent and the Doctor, which looked at how the depression of a person both informs themselves and those around them. Another issue is how convenient a lot of it is, such as the salt shaker.

SPOILERS

The pacing could be improved, like in the beginning when the leads cool off emotionally, so the Doctor and Donna are seemingly about to start the usual of exploring a new environment. Next, the Tardis goes away, they both get inflamed, and the Doctor uncharacteristically judgy, before going back to exploring. What would work a lot better and be more suspenseful is if the two wander around, problems start arising, so they decide to leave only to find the Tardis is long gone. That could continue the escalation of tension, instead of setting it up. Seeing as the Tardis has never “run away” before, it’s ultimately a disappointment when the issue was so low scale and easily beatable.

The Doctor comes off as idiotic for leaving Donna behind. This could’ve served the story or themes by tying into the Doctor feeling like he could’ve handled the situation with the Flux better. Alternatively, what if the Doctor deliberately did this so as to defeat the baddies? Maybe he needed to use the Tardis to analyze fake Donna in some way? Can we at least see some fury from Donna for how horrifying and traumatic that would be? How can she ever forgive the Doctor for that? Here, she seems cordial with him in the end.

OVERVIEW

Similarly to the last special, my takeaway is that while this is a decent piece of Doctor Who, it is lacking in much real adventure or meaning that could make the tale more engaging or meaningful to the overall narrative of this era. This episode has several different tones, from goofy absurdist sci-fi, to drama, to everyone severely lacking confidence, to having it in droves. Why not treat these three stories with Tennant as a coda to his era, which admittedly would be a bit difficult due to The End of Time essentially being that? New ground these 2023 episodes could cover is how the Doctor impacts the family of his companions well after they’ve met him. It could cover what would lead him to regenerate into a past life. While that will probably be detailed next special, it could’ve been more prevalent throughout. We could also see more past characters. Following all this, the first series with Ncuti Gatwa could have all the concepts of these Tennant episodes, but spread out. One episode is committed to being absurdist, another focuses on a historical figure, another is really depressing, etc. Regardless, Wild Blue Yonder is fair enough when taken on its own terms, though is too by the books.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 1

When did this show become normal to me?

The Star Beast is more style over substance. Those that are getting back into Doctor Who for Russell T. Davies will find a lot of his trademarks, which maybe were emphasized more heavily for this outing that is designed to appeal to people that had fallen off the show since Davies left in essentially 2009. In fact, a lot of it is laid on a little too thick. Essentially at random, David Tennant as The Doctor can burst into some witty or comedic tangent. The mock trial is the prime example. While that and many other scenes do a disservice to the tone, they are at least entertaining. Tennant himself is very breezy with the material, doing a better job than most would at balancing all these disparate tones.

The opening scene of Tennant and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble monologuing about their past encounters and where their minds are at proves succinctly that these actors have a solid grasp of their characters, even when their lines are extremely unnatural. To give the writing some credit, it seems this opener is not even supposed to be canon, just being here to establish the episode. Much of the information is said later on in the story, so why even have this? Tennant is also in front of a greenscreen of space, which implies he’s just out in the stars standing on literally nothing. One of the biggest issues with the 2000s-present era of Doctor Who is how it can be mostly serious, but include odd bits of absurdity that really pull you out of the moment. While it’s good and also common for this show to go for these stylings, some scenes really ask to be taken seriously and they just can’t be because of this sort of thing. They can be balanced a lot better.

The pacing also is often very fast, with little time to let us sit in a certain situation, which makes that situation feel pointless. A lot of information is shot out in long exposition from characters in ways that don’t feel realistically written or it doesn’t make sense why they even would be monologuing. The music choice can also be offbeat, like the light guitar music after the opening titles that sticks out against the intimidating setup. A very common problem in the show that is especially bad here is when the heat gets down on the Doctor, but then he pulls his sonic screwdriver out and saves the day with far too much ease. Later, there’s a wheelchair that also just seems to be able to do whatever is needed for the plot.

The best performance in the episode is the relatively lowkey Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble. Sylvia is rightfully terrified that her daughter might die, though then when required the character will stay off to the side, even when you’d think she would want to be more active and trying to keep Donna safe. Her pain is also played for laughs, when it could make for a really touching and dramatic plot point if taken seriously. You regardless can’t deny how heart wrenching it is when she’s yelling at Donna that the alien right in front of her isn’t real, because she’s so afraid of what will happen. Catherine Tate herself is very effective in her role of a selfless mother and person in general that always wants to do the right thing, while being easily agitated.

Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble gives a fine portrayal, as well. It would’ve been better if her story of feeling like an outcast connected more to the main plot. It arguably does a little, but the general disconnect makes her feelings come off as tacked on. That being said, it’s certainly not uncommon for shows like this to include relatively blatant commentary of whatever is going on culturally. Also, Rose being trans does play into the storyline and it couldn’t easily be replaced with something else. It does feel like we are being given a message, as opposed to a story, when this comes up. Rose is supposed to be fifteen, though Finney was eighteen and looks a little older.

Note that this episode is pretty much the closest thing to the 60th anniversary special. It aired on the 25th of November, two days off of the actual day of the 23rd. Thus, it’s disappointing how few references there are to the history of the series. Hopefully such a thing would be included in the later episodes with Tennant, possibly whenever it’s explained why the Doctor looks like a past incarnation. Considering the fact that it was established on the 50th anniversary that the Doctor may regenerate into his “favorite” incarnations essentially explains this.

SPOILERS

Rose trying to hide Beep the Meep from everyone else doesn’t serve much purpose. Donna immediately finds the Meep. There’s not even a scene where Rose’s sneaky leanings lead anywhere. Later, Rose talking about feeling like she has gotten over her issues and is finally herself is pretty silly. Her problem was with feeling like an outcast due to dealing with transphobes. Those people have not gone away, nor has her dysphoria. While of course it is possible to change your mindset with that stuff, she would not just get over her stress in a second. This is a very ham fisted way to tie up Rose and her story, which could have just left her an open book that could be explored later. It also would’ve been interesting if the episode covered the fact that if she had not trusted Beep the Meep, the Meep may not have been able to do as much damage as was done. The Doctor was similarly loosely responsible for some of the deaths the Meep caused, which is not taken very seriously or even looked at.

The Doctor seemingly made Donna remember him so she knew what buttons to press, but couldn’t he have just told her which to press? The scene of him realizing that Donna will have to die just flies in seemingly at random, like the script will contrive any reason to make it appear Donna will be killed. Tate and especially Tennant do a good job portraying this struggle, despite some theatrical dialogue and some yelling which furthermore is desperate to pull at the audience’s heart strings. What would’ve made this land better is if this was all covered over a few episodes. Maybe the Doctor feels Donna is destined to die, but he tries to keep her safe, then after a few hours of screen time he realizes he can’t? He even shows off things like the sonic screwdriver, which could remind her. That sort of moment would fit a lot better in a story just about Beep the Meep and new characters and not Donna.

One highlight is Donna acting brassy like she’s done in the past, being annoyed with herself for giving up her lottery winnings. With very little difficulty or fanfare, the day is saved essentially by the Doctor and Donna pressing a lot of buttons, as opposed to something more complex. Beep the Meep has a very over the top villain voice and overconfidence, yelling about how the Meep will win immediately before being defeated. Beep the Meep literally destroying the streets before that is undone is such an absurd way to “save the day”. Why even show such destruction if it means nothing? The workaround for how Donna can live after getting her memories back is quite clever, other than her and Rose to a degree just “letting it go”.

The sudden cliffhanger is, just like much of this episode, a little too convenient. Seeing as Donna is now learning about her past, why not just have her decide to go with the Doctor, instead of it happening by accident? I feel bad for Sylvia.

OVERVIEW

As a Doctor Who fan, I really enjoyed this. However, The Star Beast suffers in delivering a structured and competent narrative, feeling like a collection of tropes. As an example, there are points where the heroes would be worse off if something happened even a few seconds off from when it did. Embracing the silliness of this concept, as seems to be done by the way the creatures look and their names, works in isolation, but it should’ve been married to a story that will let that thrive. The lightness of the threats and how clean most of the issues are does not fit with the fifteen year long storyline of Donna and her threatened safety, which asks for something more serious.

Barbie (2023) Review

A frame from the film

Barbie might’ve seemed like it would be some schlocky fair, but strived for greater things and more nuance. While it fairs better than the worst of it, it is not without major faults. The dialogue has no subtlety. Even the “real world” characters very clearly describe their emotions. A notable example is how the character of Sasha talks to Barbie when they first meet. Who would just lay into a person like that, and in that way? Some of the special effects, like when the Ryan Gosling Ken is surfing, are very fake looking. They look weird, though that is probably intentional. The mix of live action actors and digital effects don’t gel well.

The performances are consistently very flat and undistinguished. Michael Cera as Allan is the worst offender, acting like himself without providing much of a purpose to the story. He just stands around. At least the average Ken gets a few good lines or moments. Ncuti Gatwa is a personal favorite. The best performance is Will Ferrell, as he’s not taking it seriously. Admittedly, he, Cera, Kate McKinnon, and a few others give the same performance they often do. The “Will Ferrell” role works a little better here than Cera’s does.

The leads, Gosling and Margot Robbie, don’t act like they know what’s going on and are sitting backseat to the spectacle. That’s fine, but the ending clearly wants us to care about their characters and what’s happened. Barbie doesn’t ever show that she’s changed, but then acts like she’s different for no real reason. Parts like Gosling Ken crying may have been intended to be big character moments, but there’s nothing to emotionally distinguish it from other emotional states he was in.

The movie feels derivative, as it had so many movie parodies. Aping 2001: A Space Odyssey for no reason is especially egregious, though Barbie being depicted in her original outfit in that scene is a really clever and funny shot. It’s a very striking visual. Barbie getting ready in the morning introduces the atmosphere well. It’s funny how almost everyone is named Barbie or Ken, with the characters always seeming to know who is being talked about. The look of the film, especially when it comes to moments that are blatantly ridiculous, usually have charm. It sometimes tries too hard to be cute.

The pacing is very choppy, with us going from one situation to the other quickly. Despite this, the plot is little more than the “Hero’s journey”, so you think it’d be structured better. That also makes what will happen incredibly obvious, with little deviation on typical formulas. The ending is especially so, though the final joke is quite funny. The film lacks substance that doesn’t feel manufactured…

While it is good that the film critiques the failings of Barbie, like its beauty standards, it plays those cards lightly and doesn’t come off as particularly thoughtful or daring in those observations. If the movie had not referenced these matters, it would probably be mocked for it, so it makes sense they are there. It seems the message is supposed to be that the brand has learned to improve and was never that bad in the first place, so go buy their products. Not to say Barbies are so bad, but the messaging is hollow when the movie is most concerned about commercialism.

SPOILERS

Why would Sasha actually believe Barbie is a Barbie doll enough to criticize her so hard? Sasha and her mom Gloria seem way too calm about literally going to what they thought was a fictional place. Why would Gloria just let her daughter go to this strange place, led by a stranger? It was funny that apparently one can get to Barbie World in any direction. Same with fake advertisements for “Depressed Barbie”. The cure to the brainwashing just being to talk about the hardships of women doesn’t make much sense and only seems like its purpose is to act like the movie is empowering women by seeming like it understands them.

The message being that women should have more autonomy and not be expected to do what others want or be monolithic is certainly a good one, but so predictable and handled plainly that it is tiring to sit through, like we’re not supposed to expect it. It arguably is insulting how easily the Barbies are manipulated by the Kens. The movie acts like what Gosling Ken did was no big deal and is forgivable, when he tried to subjugate all the women. The movie also doesn’t acknowledge directly that the Barbies really mistreat the Kens, though not to the same degree as the Kens did at the climax. This can be read in the subtext, which is probably handled better than it would’ve been if the message was more apparent.

More daring than this is the message of how people can focus on tribalism or tradition, like how the Kens just try to look pretty and not really do anything, instead of earlier trying to be their own individuals. The film does suggest that this treatment does happen and is wrong, both of which are true, though of course not at the same extent as women. Similar can be said for how the movie treats patriarchies as childish and something that comes from resentment and a lack of understanding of others. It’s not hard to find people who act like patriarchies are ideal, with that message mainly being targeted at lonely men. The toys representing Ken’s society being big hits shows that this mentality can and is sold to people for money, at the cost of other’s rights.

OVERVIEW

Barbie would work better just by being made much longer ago. Imagine a 70s movie where Lynda Carter is Barbie? Being released in 2023, it’s simply and sadly behind the times, though not behind what most would’ve expected of it.

Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (2021) Documentary Review

Despite how many documentaries, biographies, and otherwise depictions of the story of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys there are, they generally falter on capturing the fact that we’re talking about real human beings and not mythical figures. The reasons for this problem are ripe for discussion, but one I will note is that there’s often very little time. The biopic The Beach Boys: An American Family is three hours long and only covers around 1961-1974, but still suffers from not showing enough from even that time frame. Imagine if it bothered going further? While brevity is never a guaranteed deathblow, Long Promised Road does not escape that, feeling a little bullet point. It covers the most surface level stories, but admittedly with a few nice insights from Brian and overall a few good surprises.

Brian gets buttered up a lot. This documentary feels extremely formulaic. Save for a few moments, this could be made by a computer. There’s far too much willingness to treat Brian like he can do no wrong, while a few lows are tossed in for the sake of not making that as obvious as it could be. Brian’s first wife Marilyn Rovell was not interviewed. That may have been done consciously so as to not have her say anything negative about him. Elton John says Brian should receive accolades for his personal life, as in being a family man. Not to say this story is true, but he must not have heard when Marilyn claimed Brian gave their young children cocaine (Brian has also corroborated that).

Brian seems uncomfortable. One moment that feels especially awkward is when he’s really praising interviewer Jason Fine. You either get the impression Brian feels forced to say it or he’s like a scared child clinging to a relative. At one point the two are even holding hands. In the studio with his backing band, there’s a sense of this feeling staged, like everyone and everything is about too perfect. You can imagine he probably did not want to do this documentary, so seeing him here feels wrong, especially when the camera watches Brian tearing up when he learns of Jack Rieley’s death, which feels exploitative.

A common problem with documentaries about musicians is unfortunately caught here… Elton John insinuates that Brian Wilson is better than the Beatles, because the Beatles were produced by George Martin, while Brian produced himself (during the most well-known era of his career). This constant comparing to the Beatles basically proves that the Beatles are better, at least in a cultural sense, because that’s what people go to. I say this as someone who likes many music bands and artists more than the Beatles.

There’s a few fun moments here and there. It’s amusing to see Dennis sweet talk a female interviewer talking about the music, unable to not sugar up ladies. Taylor Hawkins amusingly speaks about Dennis quite a bit before quickly saying something about Brian, as if forgetting this was a documentary about the latter. It’s pretty hilarious when Eugene Landy says only two quick sentences before there’s a sudden cut to his face as vocal harmonies start playing, but not for the right reason.

The best parts of the film are Brian talking about his brothers and the old footage. It’s also nice to see Brian listening to the music he or his brothers made, contemplating it. Brian discussing Dennis and them doing cocaine together makes for a nice break from how glossy this film is, especially in how Brian doesn’t seem to think much of Dennis’ self-destructive behavior, with him lightly calling him a “crazy” guy. That actually tells us a lot about Brian. He has criticized his own drug use, at least in the past, so imagine the mentality that would lead him to not fret much on his brother that died essentially from drug abuse? It’s also a lot of fun seeing footage of Brian’s 1976 birthday, which features celebrities and touching when we see Dennis and Carl showing their affection for Brian. The brothers also show they really care about him in some nice concert footage.

OVERVIEW

It’s odd that at the end of the film, when Brian and his band are performing “Long Promised Road”, most of the vocals and footage are of the band members and not Brian. Why not show a Brian-focused video and song, especially one he wrote? There’s been quite a few discredited attempts to detail the story of the Beach Boys and Brian WIlson. Long Promised Road seems destined to be the next in line. Especially when the Beach Boys’ music comes into the public domain, hopefully we’ll get a more accurate detailing of the lives of this band, probably from the fans. In terms of its own proper value, it dug up a few fun bits of footage, gave us some stories of Brian with his brothers, and is a document of the later years of Brian’s life.

I’m not sure if I ever heard Brian curse before, so that was novel. Also, hopefully Jason Fine didn’t look at his phone while driving, which he may have done at one point, when Brian asked him to put on a song.

Stars of Bedlam: The Rise & Fall of the Marx Brothers (2021-2022) Review

Groucho (yes, Groucho!), Harpo, Gummo, and Lou Levy (top to bottom)

Stars of Bedlam: The Rise & Fall of the Marx Brothers is a fascinating read that details exactly what it says on the tin. The writer, who goes by “the Holy Bee”, details the story of the brothers from when their parents were born, and more extensively when Chico and Groucho began their careers, from around 1905 all the way to about 1930. You’ll note that that’s not when the brothers broke up (Depending on how you look at it, it’d be 1941, 1949, or 1961; I’d go with the first). Part 7 of this eleven-part story is when things get much brisker. Admittedly, that is essentially “the point”. As the Holy Bee states, the “rise” from 1905-1930 is not so well documented, with the only recordings of the group being the first two movies, Too Many Kisses, and a little home movie footage; the earliest of which is from 1925.

Starting around the start of the movies, other history books pick up and continue on, probably because we can actually see what they’re referring to. Even then, the “fall” isn’t covered so much either. The coverage of the Marx Brothers’ poor later films have the excuse of being something you can watch, thus that’s why the old plays are covered in detail, while the movies are in much less. However, the eleventh and final installment covers about thirty years, starting with the beginning of the brothers’ last film, Love Happy. There’s a decent amount of 60s and 70s material, and a lot of 50s, because they were tv stars. While you could say, “But that stuff is viewable!”, the behind the scenes stories aren’t so documented and a good chunk of the tv content is indeed missing or unavailable.

The first six parts make you hunger for more of the brothers, especially from that timeframe. “Why couldn’t television or the internet have been around, at least sound cameras, so the Marxes youthful anarchy could be viewable?” Some have speculated that a lot of their greatest moments are on the stage and are lost to documentation. Even if they were replicated in the movies, there would be factors working against them being as good or accurate. While each part of this biography is reasonably long, time isn’t wasted, with lots of juicy information that details our understanding of what this group would’ve been like. One favorite is James Beury and the $10,000 story, which seems like it was taken from a comedy. Zeppo apparently was briefly working with the group in 1914 and 1915, which is sometimes overlooked. It’d be nice to know why, especially as he’d later hang around sketchy characters.

There’s little on what Gummo was like on stage. Maybe the info here is all that we got, but if not there should’ve been more included? We get excerpts from an interview where Gummo basically says it was right for him to be removed from the act. He is funny there, so more of that interview would probably be worth including, for the sake of giving him a presence. At least we know he can get a laugh in how he discusses himself.

Past 1930, you get a good understanding of how the brothers deal with different egos, who often have power; movie producers, directors, women, responsibilities of being a public figure. It seems that if the brothers were well to do financially and never had to worry about money, Room Service could’ve been their last film. We get a little on how they felt about having to go on, especially Groucho. Groucho can seem very sad in his older years, battling loneliness and the public image of being a character he’s grown beyond. His self destructive behavior apparently drove people away, but the specifics should be there. Did he say or do anything different from one wife to another? Was there a final straw? If so, what was it? Did he have moments of extreme weakness? If so, what? One really good story not in here was that the solo film Copacabana was reasonably successful, with people emphasizing him being a duo with Carmen Miranda. It seems Groucho didn’t want to be in a group and didn’t continue a potentially very lucrative career path. Why he wouldn’t in detail would’ve been a fascinating read, at least mention that incident.

The Holy Bee essentially doing reviews of the movies does feel out of place, especially after so many installments pre-anything to review, but that might be worthwhile to their fanbase. The series generally takes an objective look at the brothers, not being opinionated. The reviews can at times drown out the biographical part and once there are no more movies, the last segment is somewhat bullet point. Perhaps they didn’t feel anything was worth adding? A 2014 biography of theirs called Zeppo = Zero? A Totally Unexamined Life covers many tidbits not in Stars of Bedlam. Maybe they were excluded because they were already there, but the consequence is that Zeppo does seem strangely absent, especially because his dedicated post was reasonably quick and brisk.

When Groucho dies, that’s essentially treated as the end of this story, with Zeppo’s later death almost a footnote. Despite Gummo and Zeppo’s lack of attention, Minnie did get a reasonable amount of coverage when she was alive. There’s a photo to commemorate Minnie, Frenchie, and the three main brothers when they go, but not for Gummo, Zeppo, and Margaret Dumont. The quality of Holy Bee’s writing is demonstrated due to how heartbreaking it is to get to the point where everyone is falling under poor health and ultimately dying. Based on this look into their lives, those deaths feel personal, especially as the three main brothers were all working the year before their passing.

OVERVIEW

For a Marx fan, Stars of Bedlam: The Rise & Fall of the Marx Brothers is definitely worth a read, as is Zeppo = Zero? A Totally Unexamined Life, which perhaps should be read as a spiritual twelfth part, due to covering the end of the life of the last lasting Marx brother. Despite some spelling mistakes and other mentioned criticisms, it does collect so many goodies, both stories and high quality photos.

There’s some nice information on the dates and roles of people that worked with the Marxes, sometimes considered at the time to be just as important and starring in the act as the brothers themselves. I will flex my love of graphs and include a table of membership. This article was not my only source for it and there could be inaccuracies.