Greatest Song Evah 7/5/24

A mini-newsletter today for the holiday weekend: hope everyone is spending quality time with friends and/or family

I’ve Got a Feeling

Kicking off side 2 of the Let It Be album, I’ve Got a Feeling is a melange of two song snippets separately written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It turned out to be one of the hardest rocking bangers in the entire Beatles discography. The majority of the song came from Paul, but the contrast between the two sections - and the difference in the vocal tones - is what makes this song so special.

Paul was in his shouter mode here; he dials it down a notch from the full Little Richard type singing that he often used in the harder rocking Beatles tunes, but this is still a full throttle performance. John’s portion essentially serves as the song’s bridge and it gently eases into a more soothing and melodic dynamic. The Peter Jackson documentary put to lie the belief that the Beatles were irrevocably fragmented by this point; they sound just as tight as they ever had.

There has always been a bit of controversy over the Phil Spector mix of the Let It Be album. The Wall Of Sound production in this song is perfect, it explodes out of the speakers. The signature characteristic of the Spector sound was that he used dozens of musicians. In this case it’s only the 4 Beatles plus Billy Preston, yet it sounds like much more than that. It seems impossible that such a sonic boom came from only 5 musicians.

Overthinking Things

The next couple of days are crucial for the Biden campaign. By Tuesday or so it is safe to say that he will have either withdrawn fromthe race or made the commitment to go all in. Either option has its share of danger, which makes it difficult for me to decide which one I prefer. Whatever the ultimate decision, I remain adamant on this point. If Biden does in fact bow out, nominating anyone other than Kamala Harris would be a fatal blow to the campaign. The risks of going with someone else are simply too high.

I have heard rumblings about a different option, which IMHO would be the absolute worst strategy. There is some talk that it would make sense for Biden to immediately resign so that Harris could then campaign as an incumbent. No, no, no! It might not be the easiest argument to sell the public on, but if he bows out he would need to assure the public that while his age would make a 4 year commitment untenable, he is certainly able to do the job for the final 6 months of his term.

Here is why he cannot resign. Doing so would mean that instead of a West Wing or even a Veep scenario, we would have a 24 scenario. In the event of a Biden resignation, Harris could not simply name a replacement VP. The House & Senate would need to approve her choice, and we know how the current GOP rolls. The Senate would not be an issue, but do we honestly believe the House would approve a Harris VP? That would mean not only is there no veep to cast tie breaking votes, but there would be a critical gap in the line of succession. In the current climate, would we feel assured with the knowledge that Mike Johnson is the next in line? I’m not joking, the level of security surrounding a hypothetical President Harris would need to be doubled, if not tripled.

Every existing option is worse than the one before. Whatever eventually happens, an immediate resignation is not the answer.

Forget It, Jake

Describing Chinatown as the greatest script in Hollywood history has been said so many times that it’s practically cliche by now. That doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate. The twists and turns in the plot, John Huston’s monologues, it really is something special. The man who wrote those words, and several other spectacular screenplays, Robert Towne, died this week at the age of 89.

Like many of his contemporaries he originally came up in the Roger Corman finishing school, initially as an actor. He eventually became a script doctor for hire, making uncredited contributions to such classics as Bonnie & Clyde and The Godfather. He soon moved into full time scriptwriting; in addiction to Chinatown he wrote the likes of The Last Detail and Shampoo.

He also started directing his own screenplays with such movies as Personal Best and Tequila Sunrise. In one of those Hollywood oddities two different biopics on long distance runner Steve Prefontaine came out at the same time. Without Limits, the one that Towne wrote and directed, which starred Billy Crudup, was the one which was the keeper. In a sad bit of timing, that one also co-starred Donald Sutherland as famed Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman.

Still, Chinatown will always remain the crown jewel of his filmography. That script has been closely studied in film schools for a half century and that will continue to be the case long after we are all gone. It’s all about the future, Mr. Gittes!

The Oscar Mulligan - 1987

Best Picture: The Last Emperor

Other Nominees: Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck

In a lot of ways The Last Emperor is a classic example of the sort of Oscar bait that I generally cast aside. It’s an impressively made epic story that relatively few people talk about or rewatch today, but I liked this one much more than most other movies of this ilk. The story of Puyi, the final emperor of China’s Qing dynasty, the events of the film take place amidst the backdrop of the tumult of the 20th century. For myself personally, I wish that I had taken more courses in school which focused on far eastern history. All of the world history classes that I took had a Euro focus, so I feel that this is a gap in my education; Puyi’s story is inherently fascinating. He was only 2 years old when he inherited the throne. Think back to how s***ty most of us were as children, believing that the universe revolves around us. Now think of a child ruling a vast empire. As a sign of how effective the movie is, despite my negative feelings towards monarchies of all types, I could not help but feel deep sympathy for the man as his fortunes tumbled during the Japanese occupation and the Maoist revolution. The Last Emperor was a wonderful movie, but it would not be my choice.

My actual choice goes slightly against the grain. Most of the other nominees are well-established members of our collective pop culture, with the requisite memorable quotes/scenes/characters. Alex Forrest will not be ignored, and we will never look at bunnies quite the same way, but the gender politics of Fatal Attraction date it a little too much for me. Moonstruck brims with great quotes, and Nicolas Cage was full-blast Cage even at that young age. However, even if Cher tells me to snap out of it, I like one of the other nominees much better.

Broadcast News was one of the greatest movies of the 1980’s. Its prescience is very reminiscent of Network, anticipating the way that network corporate overlords would soon stop looking at their news divisions as loss leaders and demanding that they become moneymakers. And if you want a movie filled with legendary scenes, you’ve come to the right place. There was Joan Cusack’s mad dash through the newsroom to deliver a tape to the control room. There was the breaking news bulletin sequence in which Holly Hunter’s guidance of William Hurt played out as a sexual metaphor. Most notably, there was Albert Brooks’ uncontrollable sweating as he filled in on the anchor chair.

The 3 leads were perfectly cast. 1987 was still the height of Hurt’s classic era, in which seemingly every movie that he made was a huge success. Only a few months after Raising Arizona came out, this movie fully cemented Hunter’s budding stardom. And in 1987 it was unusual to see Brooks in a movie that he had not written & directed himself. This movie proved that others could properly harness his essence. Also keep in mind that James L. Brooks wrote and directed Broadcast News; this professional connection helped make Hank Scorpio possible.

All due respect to both Moonstruck and Fatal Attraction, but I believe that Broadcast News is the deserving winner here.

Closing Laughs

Hope you are all enjoying the long weekend and that none of you tried to keep pace with the hot dog contestants. See everyone again on Monday.