I, Daniel Blake Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Dave Johns Movie

Although I have not finished writing about this year's essential movies .. so many of you have asked me about my list.. so here is the tease in order .. Doc's are a separate list

Reel Deal: Movies that Matter the top 15 movies of 2016
!: I Daniel Blake
2: Moonlight
3: Hacksaw Ridge
4: Manchester By The Sea
5: Snowden
6: Little Men
7: Nocturnal Animals
8: Hidden Figures
9: Miss Sloan
10: Things to come

11: Love & Friendship
12: Christine
13: The Handmaiden
14: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
16: Sworn Virgin

docs are a separate list

WHY POP CULTURE MATTERS IN THE RESISTANCE TO THE TRUMP AGENDA

Jim Fouratt "Thinking OUT Loud"

Recently there has been a lot of chatter on the Internet about how can we be thinking of awards and art when the "world is falling apart?"

An almost hysterical blindness to the role that popular culture plays in shaping the public's consciousness.

We now know the the dark side of "reality" television and the dumbing down of public discourse  by reducing  any real depth and/or  nuance to a 140 character tweet.

Most of my political work has been in the area of popular culture .. the movies. books, music, theater we consume.  I now write about film in Westview News and blog  Jim Fouratt's Reel Deal : Movies that Matter, ,  Listen Up or Radiosexbeat. I use social media Facebook, Twitter etc to raise consciousness and endorse others who are taking action.

I do this not to alert you to the latest larger than life action film or fantasy animation film that has little to do with actual life itself.  But to expose you to the creative work of artists looking at life and and trying to reflect back in narrative and documentary film, theater, cabaret, and in popular and experimental and avant music who we are today and how to regenerate hope in this moment of both depersonalization and  at the same same time the heightening of a false sense of individualism. I do this to remind myself and you that “their” real  goal is the creation of market in this moment of the triumph of Capital.

Let me talk for a moment about Identity politics which has been under attack from both the right and the left in this moment of triumph for the DTs or should I name it : CAPITAL

As someone who played a critical role in the construction of a modern lesbian and gay identity post the Stonewall Rebellion as a political identity informed by radical feminist politics and the reality of oppression . Unlike identities based on biological or physical signifiers or race my collective tribe can usually assumed to be hetrosexual unless we "come out" and say we are not. The same can be said today of many people whose gender expression or subjective identity are not what gender behavior boundaries demand in behavior or expression,. In the late 60's androgyny was the path out of body and gender commodification Today there is a new language to explain identity. I desire to go back to the original goal of discovering how one is different from the role imposed by dominant society, It was simple . Know yourself . Be self-defining . Come out and claim your identity to first yourself and then to others . That was for people like myself only step one . But for many because of the politics of separation and the creation of market the first step became an end of the process . But it was not the intent of my tribe of radical activists. Knowing and naming oneself was an act of authenticity that allows participation in community unburdened with imposed inauthentic self. This identity was what in theory would allow one to find what is shared with others unlike yourself in desire,.. be it class, gender , economic condition, race etc.. I say this because at this present moment it is critical we see each other authentically. We can acknowledge our differences but most importantly we can find what we have in common. I see creativity and community as the path to unity So I say be bold, be visible, be sensitive to difference and most importantly seek solidarity with others to collectively make change.

So back to how I see popular culture

I do try to get you to discover and support artists in community. Mine is New York City. Artists  who are not afraid to speak their own inner truth. Here are some NYC people who I find doing the work as engaged artist :  Penny Arcade, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Pamela Sneed , Joseph Keckler, Jack Waters and Peter Cramer , Chavisa Woods, Steven Winter, Barbara Hammer, Sarah Schulman, Toshi Reagon,  Bonnie Finberg, Karen Finley, Dane Terry, Tom Leger, Carol Lipnik , Margo Channing, Taylor Mac, Reno, Machine Dazzle, Amber Martin, Nicky Paraiso

Pamala sneed remembering friends loss to AIDS

Sam Green, Bizzy Berkley,  Erin Markey, Shane O'Neill, Bonny Finberg, Jaque Servin  to name  a few that don't get the just attention paid to Patti Smith or Bruce Springsteen, Common or Lady Gaga for example. These are the people being creative in these dark times in my geographical world ..sometimes they may visit your neighborhood, Find the people in your own community that are the creative flashlight lighting the way to resistence,                                  x

Here are some of the books I have read this year

(click image) i addition I would suggest two books to put hope back into this moment of presumed loss:

1: The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism author Michael Lerner 

2: Depression a public feeling

author Ann Cvetkovich

I asked you who are in NYC to support and attend the work being developed at places like La MaMa, Dixon Place, The Owl, Pangea, The Stone, Bowery Underground, Roulette and  Issues to name a few and the seemingly endless pop up venues all over Brooklyn and now Queens. Find those places in your own home town.

Grassroots means local is cool.

I think is my job as a cultural critic is to make sure you know about events at Revolution Books or the Bureau of General Services, Queer Division, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Film Forum, BAM,  etc etc etc ...  I go and I hope to see each one of you there.  When I had my own venues it was how I programed. With a conscious choice of relevance not to fame but to the intersection of art, creativity, survival and yes I will say it: JOY, erotic, spiritual and intellectual .

Now that I got that off my chest, let's look at why I think why  a discussion of awards and recognition for creative work is essential to keeping hope alive.

Movies : It really depends on what films are being paid attention to by me and you:

Has anyone besides me see Alex Gibney's ZERO DAYS?. About  CYBER-WARFARE and the US role as the world's leading the hacker? Critical in any discussion of the fog of Russian hacking. ZERO DAYS trailer

Or the British film "I, Daniel Blake"  about what happens to an older worker who loses his job and can not find another one and faces the insensitivity of the "welfare " system to see him and help him? I Daniel Blake trailer

Or "Moonlight" about the intersection between identity , family values and drug culture in a minority  neighborhood?  MOONLIGHT trailer

Or the Jessica Chastain political thriller "Miss Sloan"  (about lobbyists in Dc and the revenge of corporate interest like the NRA when they don't get what they want?)  Miss Sloan trailer

Or "Little Men"   Ira Sachs' exposure of how gentrification and economic disparity affects not only neighborhoods but also families, friendship and neighborhoods.  Little Men trailer   

(Ira Sachs lives in Greenwich Village )

Or the documentary "13"  Ava DuVernay’s documentary ab the US constitution and the reality of systemic racism in the US and the dignity of the oppressed ?  Now on HBO on Demand 13 trailer

Or "Trapped" about the the fight of two separate older Southern women to keep open their abortion clinics open to  give women the right to control their own bodies? Of the black MD who moves from NYC to help themNow on HBO on demand   Trapped trailer

Or  "I AM  NOT YOUR NEGRO” Raoul Peck’s giving voice to an unfinished work by James Baldwin with Samuel Jackson being the voice of Baldwin. I Am Not Your Negro trailer

For example:  Pop Culture can actually help us see the machinations of the Trump agenda. I believe it is in pop culture that the battle for the minds of the public is going on . Without the incisive humor of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, the public's did not have their laser insights  and acute ability to cut through  fake news and political machinations to focus on the real issues. What socially aware comics and performance artists, like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, CItizen Reno and Penny Arcade can do is bring insight through their outrageous heightened sense of humor and satire during the last months of the presidential campaign.

I believe It is critical that we each educate ourselves in order to be able to sort through political spin, fake news etc and engage our friends in this conversation in the street, the lounge or over a good brew,

Who here has actually read the Wiki-Leak DNC or Podesta emails? I read as many as I could . And was shocked at the dirty playing at the highest level of the DNC to destroy Bernie Sanders , Yes, Sanders was the candidate I supported. When he was out of the running I endorse Clinton for one reason only : the Supreme Court . I suggest the contents of those emails are as important to understand how the DNC under Debbie Wasserman Schultz and with full complicity of the Clinton campaign undermined the Sanders campaign despite the fact that he actually won in those swing states like Wisconsin who would later vote Trump over Clinton.

But let me not point fingers now . We are here together I hope in resistance. But do not let the very politicians who were complicit nationally or locally steal our thunder of outrage and anger and desire for real change . This is where we can start in a common point with many Trump voters .

Much of the fog of Russian hacking is a cover up for the actual content revealed to the American public , Why, when Trump called for hacking by Russia of Clinton's  emails or called for someone to take Clinton out or chanted "lock her up" , did not the FBI arrested him for threatening a candidate or calling on foreign government to intervene in a democratic process?  Where was the FBI?   Or  Obama's  Attorney General? ..Why has not Giuliani's role in getting the FBI head to  suggest in the last week of the campaign that Clinton had violated national security? No public official , certainly none of my State's (NY) elected officials called for the FBI or the Attorney General to intervene.

Of course we do not have to agree. But please let us talk together.

Please, don't get caught in the quicksand of who hacked as the most important and only question. Educate yourself on how the DNC undermined the political process and opened the door for Bannon types on hate radio and online posts to rally people to express legitimate anger and channeled that anger into a  fear vote. Understand how the US, not Russians,has been the biggest user of CYBER-WARFARE . When all the cards are on the table .... than WE THE PEOPLE can begin to figure out how TOGETHER we can resist the Trump/Bannon agenda..

Remember : WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT .. and we need to learn how to row together,  Remember: THE RIGHT TO BE DIFFERENT is a core American value .regardless of color, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex,  ... etc.

Your turn

OH My ... Look who is coming to Lincoln Center : Laura Mvula - Show Me Love (Official Video)

This winter's AMERICAN SONG BOOK has been programmed in a way that I want to camp out on 65th street .. Was quite surprised to learn that one of my favorite artists of the year, Laura Mvula,  will be one of the performers .. and here is one of her music videos.. please check out the whole calender (http://www.lincolncenter.org/festival/lincoln-center-s-american-songbook)

When the president of Sony Music called George Michael a faggot. read below George came back with thie video George Michael - Outside

When the president of Sony Music called George Michael a faggot.  

No one seems to remember the incident between George Michael and the president of Sony Music America.

I do.

George Michael set up a meeting with Tommy Mottola, then the Sony U.S. president. Michael by then had sold over 80 million records worldwide, reaping huge profits for the company.

Michael was not happy with how his new album was being marketed. Suddenly, from behind closed doors, the Sony staff could hear Mottola shouting: "Get this FAGGOT out of my office!" 

George left.  Mattola's homophobia shocked him.

Homophobia is at the root of this story -- internalized by George and practiced by Mottola. I was shocked when a Sony employee told me about this incident

He went back to England.  Sued Columbia and spent six years without a release in the US

Finally David Geffen signed him to his new label DREAMWORKS after settling the lawsuit which give Dreamworks all rights in the US  for a new George Michael album. A hit. George Michael was back on thr charts in the US ,

Than the arrest in a public bathroom on Sunset Bloavard in Beverly Hills. happened. A public bathroom that had been the frequent target of police entrapment of gay men.  The arrest made headlines across the world.

Michael (finally) came out.

He made this video celebrating human sexuality and vamping on cops who criminalize adult consensual acts.

Not much has changed when it comes to the corporate music industry.  They're happy to see their artists remain closeted and make them money.  (Look at hip-hop; kudos to Frank Ocean.) America is the worst, with its dishonest Puritan policing of adult sexuality.

Very sad to learn of George's passing.  But he stood up for himself after he was very publicly outed. Yes, he could have come out earlier -- but Mottola's action gives one insight into why he did not. I wish Elton talked about this part of Michaels's life. He knew about it, but has not...so far.

WOW ! Joey Arias and his jazz quartet at Rubin Atrium at Lincoln Center 12:22:16

A very good taste of what wowed me and Carol Lipnik and everyone else at Lincoln Center's Rubin Atrium at the free Holiday gift LC  and Joey gave to us ... Joey is everything a Jazz Diva should be .. oh my THANK YOU JOEY and the band Ben put together ,, keep them ...

I HATE THIS SEASON but LOVE The Dandy Warhols - Every Day Should Be A Holiday

I hate this time of year where love and respect is supposed to be expressed in the BUYING of gift .. So I welcome this song by the Dandy Warhols .. this is how I feel about resisting the assimilation of my culture and every day we find a way to resist the normalization of this nightmare I call the DT's is a HOLIDAY to me .. and to all the people I love and respect .. you make me feel alive when the zombies are stalking .. kisskiss ... so somebody tell where Courtney is today please? I bet Berlin!

WHY POP CULTURE MATTERS IN THE RESISTANCE TO THE TRUMP AGENDA

Recently there has been a lot of chatter on the Internet about how can we be thinking of awards when the "world is falling apart?"

And almost hysterical blindness to the role that popular culture plays in shaping the public's consciousness.

We now know the the dark side of "reality" television and the dumbing down of public discourse by reducing any real depth and/or nuance to a 140 character tweet.

Most of my political work has been in the area of popular culture .. the movies. books, musicin , theater we consume. I write about film in Jim Fouratt's Reel Deal : Movies that Matter and in music Listen Up or Radiosexbeat, not to alert you to the latest larger than life action film or fantasy animation film that has little to do with actual life itself, but to expose you to the creative work of artists looking at life and and trying to reflect back in narrative and documentary film and in popular music who we are today and how to regenerate hope in this moment of the depersonalization and at the same same time the heightening of a false sense of individualism. To eremind myself and you that the goal is the creation of market in this moment of the triumph of Capital.

I dto ry to get you to discover and support artist in your own community. Mine is New York City. Artists who are not afraid to speak their own inner truth. Here are some NYC people who I find doing the work an engaged artist should do: Penny Arcade, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Pamela Sneed , Joseph Keckler, Jack Waters and Peter Cramer , Chavisa Woods, Steven Winter, Sarah Schulman, Toshi Reagon, Bonnie Feinberg, Karen Finley, Dane Terry, Tom Leger, Carol Lipnik , Margo Channing, Taylor Mac, Reno, Machine Dazzle, Amber Martin,Sam Green, Bizzy Berkley, Erin Markey, Shane O'Neill to name a few that don't get the just attention paid to Patti Smith or Bruce Springsteen, Common or Lady Gaga for example.

I asked you to support and attend the work being developed at places like La MaMa, Dixon Place, The Owl, Pangea, The Stone, Bowery Underground, Issues to name a few and the seemingly endless pop up venues all over Brooklyn and now Queens.

That I think is my job as a cultural critic: to make sure you know about events at Revolution Books or the Bureau of General Services, Queer Division, the Film Society of Lincoln Center etc etc etc ... I go and I hope to see each one of you there. When I had my own venues it was how I programed. With a conscious choice of relevance not to fame but to the intersection of art, creativity, survival and yes I will say it: JOY, erotic, spiritual and intellectual .

Now that I got that off my chest, let's look at why I think a discussion of awards and recognition for creative work is essential to keeping hope alive.


Movies : It really depends on what films are being given attention Has anyone besides me Did anyone besides me see Alex Gibney's ZERO DAYS?. About CYBER-WARFARE and the US role as the country leading the attack?

Or the British film "I, Daniel Blake" about what happens to an older worker who loses his job and can not find another one and faces the insensitivity of the "welfare " system to see him and help him?

Or "Moonlight" about the intersection between identity , family values and drug culture in a minority neighborhood? MOONLIGHT trailer

Or the Jessica Chastain political thriller "Miss Sloan" (about lobbyists in Dc and the revenge of corporate interest like the NRA when they don't get what they want?) Miss Sloan trailer

Or "Little Men" Little men trailer Ira Sachs' exposure of how gentrification and economic disparity affects not only neighborhoods but also families, friendship and neighborhoods. Or the documentary "13" 13 trailer Ava DuVernay’s documentary ab the US constitution and the reality of systemic racism in the US and the dignity of the oppressed ? Or "Trapped" Trapped trailer about the the fight of two separate older Southern women to keep open their abortion clinics open to give women the right to control their own bodies?

Or "I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO"

about James Baldwin

For example: Pop Culture can actually help us see the machinations of the Trump agenda. I believe it is in pop culture that the battle for the minds of the public is going on . Without the incisive humor of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, the public's did not have their laser insights and acute ability to cut through fake news and political machinations to focus on the real issues. with an outrageous heightened sense of humor and satire during the last months of the presidential campaign.

I believe It is critical that we each educate ourselves in order to be able to sort through political spin, fake news etc and engage our friends in this conversation in the street, the lounge or over a good brew,


Who here has actually read the Wiki-Leak DNC or Podesta emails? I read as many as I could . And was shocked at the dirty playing at the highest level of the DNC to destroy Bernie Sanders , Yes, Sanders was the candidate I supported. When he was out of the running I endorse Clinton for one reason only : the Supreme Court . I suggest the contents of those emails are as important or maybe even more to understand how the DNC under Schultz with full complicity of the Clinton campaign undermined the Sanders campaign despite the fact that he actually won in those swing states like Wisconsin who would later vote Trump over Clinton.

But let me not point fingers now . We are here together I hope in resistance,

Much of the fog of hacking is a cover up for the actual content revealed to the American public , Why , when Trump called for hacking by Russia of Clinton's emails or called for someone to take Clinton out or chanted lock her up, did not the FBI arrested him for threatening a candidate or calling on foreign government to intervene in a democratic process? Where was the FBI? Or Obama's Attorney General? ..Why has not Giuliani's role in getting the FBI head to suggest in the last week of the campaign that Clinton had violated national security? No public official , certainly none of my State's (NY) elected officials called for the FBI or the Attorney General to intervene.

Please, don't get caught in the quicksand of who hacked as the most important and only question. ..Educate yourself on how the DNC undermined the political process and opened the door for Bannon types on hate radio and online posts to rally people to express legitimate anger and channeled that anger into a fear vote. Understand how the US, not Russians,has been the biggest user of CYBER-WARFARE . When all the cards are on the table .... than WE THE PEOPLE can begin to figure out how TOGETHER we can resist the Trump/Bannon agenda..

Remember : WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT .. and we need to learn how to row together, Remember: THE RIGHT TO BE DIFFERENT is a core American value .regardless of color, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex, ... etc.

Your turn

Do the Media Glamorize Drugs? Panelists discussed whether and how various media forms glamorize drug use and whether this affects personal behavior. There was also heated discussion over whether government policies can impact drug usage. They also took questions from the audience.

WOW .. look what I just found .. a discussion on Does the Media Glamorize Drugs. It took place,  not yesterday .. but it could have,  but 20 years ago in Washington DC and was broadcast on C-Span .. Beside me,  the panel included  the ever handsome and smart John Leland, John was the former Editor of Details and is now a New York Times reporter.. I was at the tiime  a Senior VP of A&R at Mercury Records..  It is really a smart discussion .. it took place in a Presidential campaign year and as I said, it could have been the same conversation in 2016

please give a listen .. and it gets better as it goes on .. do let me know what you think

https://www.c-span.org/video/?76281-1/media-glamorize-drugs

CRITICAL RESOURCES re hacking and Russians .. who did what and why

CRITICAL ALERT" Edward Snowden first interview in America after he fled took place at SXSW to an audience there for the tech part of SXSW .. GEEKS ..He choose to speak to people in the silicon valley community . I was privileged to be present. Why I post it now is because what he wanted to talk about was the responsibility of the Tech world to pay more attention to  protecting the privacy of the citizens of the United States .. I consider him an American Hero. Few in Washington DC felt the same way . Hillary Clinton called him a criminal. I suggest strongly you watch this talk and think about what he had to say  two and half years ago.

And the documentary Zero Hour (Short -list for this year's Academy Award  for documentary)  that puts into context how the US has led in the cyber warfare that the US public is just now becoming aware of .... it is on HBO . Watch it

and the Press Conference in Berlin that had the festival in an uproar... 

Final Gathering of 60's Anti-War tribe: Vietnam Power of Protest Tom Hay...

It was Tom Hayden's birthday last week. I wanted to share my last time I saw him in public.. his thoughts are relevant I think today: In a Gathering of this Anti-War tribe: Vietnam Power of Protest and what we learned, Tom Hayden gives the closing speech after a two day gathering of veterans of the Anti-war movement of the 60's Yes we and the Vietnamese people won. The war was finally stopped. The US was defeated, Here in his speech and in the many workshops of the conference much attention was placed on what this generation had learned from our activism them,to pass on to the younger movement emerging today like BLM On a personal note, Tom Hayden from the Point Huron statement which spark plugged Students for Democratic Society along with Carl Whitman' s GAY MANIFESTO written in the same period moved me into more conscious political understanding and cultural and political work. This was the last time I was with Tom in public , I am at an age when people die not of AIDS or OD's but of age related issues . A death like Tom's affects me differently A comrade falls and we are left to honor and continue the struggle not with the arrogance of age but with a continued compassion and desire for change.Tom opened his remarks saying "This may be the last time we gather as this group ,,,,,,, thank you Tom for living a very human life of positive revolution , I am committed to carrying it on .. give a listen ..,it's a good way to climb into that boat  there is space for all of us in all our differences as we stay visible opposing the DT takeover.

KEEPING HOPE ALIVE Bernie Sanders And Keith Ellison On How To Save The Democratic Party

GIVE A LISTEN

Kristen Stewart unleashed her inner bad girl and rides the new he Rolling Stones single - Ride 'Em On Down

Kristen Stewart unleashes her inner bad girl and rides the new  Rolling Stones R&B seeded single - Ride 'Em On Down like a woman on fire. WHEW! It looks like her only chance to star in a Roger Corman LA landscape   B-movie ... and she seizes it with the passion of the Stones themselves

Kristen Stewart is our GARBO .. fill of mystery and sensual lubrication ..watch her put her "bad girl" butt into  a baby blue classic convertible driver's seat and lets out  her  Easy Rider "out of my fuc*ing way " attitude. So Stones don't ya think?

Ed Sheeran - Masters of War (Acoustic Cover)

Here is the Bob Dylan song Patti Smith sang at the Noble Prize ceremony .. and Lucinda Williams sang in NYC one week after 9/11. Ed Sheeran is a british singer/songwriter and outside the US sells millions of records . I post this because I was so moved when I hear Patti sing it and remember well that night at the Beacon when Lucinda came on after a finishing her performance ..we were all still shell shocked .. and in clear, serious voice and full memory sang the complete song ,,,as Sheeran does here .. listen to the words please.

ACTION ALERT :Let these business know that until they stop supporting the NRA you will not support then , You will not use their services . Period.

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.... The right to be Different is a core American value!

70th Annual Tony Awards 'Bright Star' hope you were as lucky as me to see this musical on Broadway this year ...i loved it

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT: gays against guns - Attention Holiday Shoppers

ACTION ALERT :Let these businesses know that until they stop supporting the NRA you will not support then! You will not use their services! Period !!!

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.... The right to be Different is a core American value!

We ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT: IDEAS for PROTEST Political Funeral A Performance Protest

ARTIST ALERT: find your way to make a statement ..here is one powerful statement as relevant today as it was in 1994.. PLEASE STEP UP your flash lights are need to light up the caves of real fear of the DTs regime . The treat to kill Affordable Health Care and medicaid ... will cause suffering

Jack Shamblin writes "Political funerals were public processions of AIDS victims held by ACT UP during the early 90's. Artist Tim Bailey's march resulted in a riot with his AIDS ridden corpse being dumped on the White House Lawn. That was his original wishes but ACT UP hadn't planned on carrying it out. They told him they loved him to much to do such a thing. The police and White House security cards tried to prevent the legal and peaceful procession. Their interference resulted in a heroic uproar by activists. Theodora Skipitares' asked me to write and perform a piece inspired by this account. It was part of her play, Under The Knife, The History of Medicine and was performed at La MaMa Annex at various runs from '94 -'96. To create the piece, I imagined what Tim might have said had he awaken from the dead for just five minutes."