1/19/15: The week's Top 3

Hello everyone! Happy New Year!

After going away from the blogosphere for a while, I'm back... Let's get to it.

Three things I'm excited about this week (in no particular order):

1. Let's give it up for Madonna. http://www.madonna.comYeah, I know it's already been a month since she released the first six tracks from her upcoming album "Rebel Heart", and yeah, I've always been a bit mad for Madge...regardless, I'm still totally digging these songs. "Living for Love" -- gospel-infused dance pop at its best -- and in my opinion her best single in a decade. It reminds me a little bit of "Like a Prayer" fused with "I Will Survive" and should pair nicely with her iconic classic when she tours this summer. "Devil Pray" -- continues on the pseudo-spiritual theme begun by "Living for Love." This is confessional Madonna with a message -- drugs will only get you so far. If you want true happiness and fulfillment, you've got to find it within yourself and turn your back on the Devil. The opening acoustics give way to a dark, somewhat menacing bass thump. Initially, this was my favorite track of the new set. "Ghosttown" -- a nice mid-tempo power ballad with a post-apocalyptic theme. One of her best ballads in years. "Unapologetic Bitch" -- currently my favorite track. I didn't know what to make of this reggae-tinged kiss-off at first but it's definitely grown on me after repeated listens and it contains one of my favorite lyrics in recent memory: "You know you never really knew how much you loved me 'til you lost me/Did you?/You know you never really knew how much your selfish bullshit cost me/Well, fuck you." This pretty much sums up the theme of the song. Next up, "Illuminati", another track that improves over time. While Kanye West, who co-wrote and produced the song, commands us to "Bounce" in the background, Madonna gives us a lesson on The Illuminati, the cabal of high-powered celebrities, politicians, and personalities who supposedly run the world, at least according to Internet conspiracy theorists. This isn't really a song per se...in fact, I'm not really sure what it is. All I can really say about it is that it's weird, vaguely creepy, and would be great to dance to in a subterranean dance club at four in the morning. Oh, and the lyric "Everybody in this party's shining like illuminati" sticks with you longer than it has any right to. And finally, "Bitch, I'm Madonna" featuring Nicki Minaj: a schizophrenic 21st century party anthem that's got Miss Minaj written all over it. I can take it or leave but it is kind of fun. All in all, some of Madonna's best new material in years. It probably won't convert a new generation of listeners, but it proves for those of us who have followed her for most our lives (like me), it proves she's still a creative force to be reckoned with and bodes very well for the new album, due to hit March 9th.
2. "Boyhood." Gosh this film is good, unlike anything I think I've ever seen. Flawlessly acted and seamlessly written, directed, and edited, this is a little movie writ large over the span of twelve years. Part of its power is that because you literally watch each of these characters (and the actors playing them) age, you completely believe them. And while I knew, obviously, it was Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke playing the roles of the estranged parents, I totally believed them as the characters they were playing. This isn't a movie with big plot twists or exciting action sequences. Rather, it's a film comprised of life's moments, all of which we can relate to, all of which we have experienced -- whether you're a parent or not -- and some point in our lives. The film is universal in its theme and brilliant in its execution.
3. "Velvet." http://www.antena3.com/series/velvet/I recently discovered this gorgeous and shamelessly addictive Spanish dramatic series on Netflix where the first 16-episode season is now available for streaming. Set in a high fashion department store in Madrid in the 1950s, it plays like a Spanish version of "Downton Abbey" with its depictions of the comings and goings and interminglings of the 'downstairs' sales staff and the wealthy and glamorous 'upstairs' owners of the store and their customers. The production values are stunning -- and the huge cast, led by the beautiful Paula Echevarria as the faithful and hapless seamstress Ana, and the smoldering Miguel Angel Silvestre (probably the best-looking guy on TV right now...anywhere) as Alberto, heir to the "Galerias Velvet" throne, this is a feast for the eyes and the heart. While it glosses over the politics of Franco's Spain -- actually, at least in the first ten episodes I've streamed thus far, the sociopolitical conditions are non-existent -- it succeeds in sweeping you into the story and it never lets go. Only season one, which debuted in Spain in 2014,  is currently available on Netflix. Season Two is forthcoming and Season Three is currently airing in Spain. If you're looking for your next TV binge, "Velvet" is definitely binge-worthy.

Enjoy!

TV Review: My "Spiral" Addiction

Hi everyone!

I must confess to a new addiction. If you haven't heard of or checked out the French police procedural drama series "Spiral" on Netflix streaming, you're missing out on something quite wonderful. As so much European television does these days, "Spiral" (or "Engrenages" as its called in France) provides yet another reason to bemoan the state of most American television.

I just finished Season One. Seasons Two and Three are currently available on Netflix and the most recent Season Four is set to debut in the next few months. When it debuted in France in 2004, it was hailed as a milestone in French television and is the country's most successful television show, having been exported to 70 countries. I read online recently that a U.S. version is in the works. Unless it is being planned for HBO, FX, or Showtime, I don't imagine it'll have the same grit or bite of the original. Remember the U.S. remake of "Prime Suspect" from a season or two back?

What makes "Spiral" so addictive are the various interconnecting plots and characters that weave and spiral and spin at a measured yet at the same time breathless pace. The main story deals with the disappearance and deaths of two young Romanian women who become entangled in an international sex crime syndicate that reaches the top of the French government. Pierre Clement (effortlessly played by the impossibly good-looking Gregory Fitoussi) is the prosecuting attorney investigating the case. He is assisted by police chief Laure Berthaud (an appealing Caroline Proust) and her not incorruptible police squad, one of whom, Fitou (an amazing Thierry Godard), has a severe cocaine addiction that more than interferes with the investigation. A separate but still connected plot focuses on a driven young attorney (Audrey Fleurot) with questionable ethics who works with a disbarred lawyer who was formerly imprisoned on rape charges. Added to this already earthy mix is the investigation of a nanny who brutally murders the infant in her charge, a case surrounding the torture and penile dismemberment of a young man involved in a North African gang in Paris's infamous banlieues, and a particularly surprising twist involving drug trafficking. Somehow, over the course of Season One's eight episodes, it all comes together but not before you find yourself gasping in shock--and often horror--and screaming at your TV from the twisted audacity of it all. Once Season One ends, I guarantee, you'll be ready to immediately launch into Season Two.

Word of warning, however: "Spiral" is not for the faint of heart. There are autopsies and gore galore, the depiction (and occasionally the mere suggestion) of the crimes is visceral, and it does paint a very bleak portrait of contemporary society. This is definitely not the Paris of honeymoons and romance. Also, because France's legal system is based on the Napoleonic Code, it differs from what those of us in the U.S. and Britain are used to. I'm still not entirely sure what Pierre's U.S. equivalent would be. He seems to be both investigator and judge, but this doesn't at all detract from one's enjoyment of the show.

In my opinion, "Spiral" is one of the best crime procedural dramas ever written for television. If you're a fan of "The Wire," "Prime Suspect," "MI-5", or even "Law & Order," you'll be hooked.

Now on to Season Two...

Ciao.