In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Julia Stiles for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). She grew up in a loft in Manhattan's SoHo district, and her mom was and is a ceramic artist and novelist. Julia is most famous for her co-starring role in the Bourne film series. Now she has directed Wish You Were Here, a romantic drama film due Jan. 17. She also appeared in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and and Netflix's Dexter. [Photo above of Julia Stiles courtesy of MTV Films/Paramount]
Here's Julia with Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy, one of five Bourne films that changed the action genre. Julia was in four of the five...
Here's the trailer for 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), a hit film that put her on the map...
And here's the trailer for the upcoming film she directed, Wish You Were Here...
My favorite streaming series, ranked...
- Babylon Berlin
- My Brilliant Friend
- Killing Eve
- The Crown
- The Americans
- Band of Brothers
- Landman
- Friday Night Lights
- The Old Man
- Feud: Bette and Joan
- Downton Abbey
- The Blacklist
- Goliath
- The Gentlemen
- Turn: Washington's Spies
- Unbelievable
- Justified
- Voiceless (Bella da morire (2020/MHz)
- Black Doves
- Web Therapy
Just viewed and highly recommend...
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)—Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film last year garnered 10 Oscar nominations and walked away with 0. An outrage. In this Western about the murders of members of the Osage Nation, who became rich when oil was discovered on their land, Robert De Niro delivers one of his finest career performances. Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio also were deserving. A long film at 3 1/2 hours, it's worth every minute, and you'll never even look at the clock. (Apple TV+)
Here's the trailer...
Have viewed and starts soon...
- American Primeval S1 (now/Netflix)
- Back in Action (Jan. 17/Netflix)
- Zero Day (Feb. 20/Netflix)
- Long Bright River (March/Peacock)
Recommended series, films and documentaries...
TV series
- The Affair—(2014-2019/Hulu)
- Alaska Daily—(2022/Prime)
- The Americans—(2013-2018)/Prime)
- Anatomy of a Scandal—(2022/Netflix)
- Apples Never Fall—2024/Peacock)
- Babylon Berlin (2017-2024/MHz via Prime Video)
- Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix)
- The Bay (2019-current/BritBox)
- Black Doves (2024/Netflix)
- The Blacklist (2013-2023/Netflix)
- Belgravia—(2020/Prime Video)
- Blue Lights—(2023/BritBox)
- Bosch—(2014-2021/Prime)
- Bosch: Legacy—(2022-current/Prime)
- The Crown—(2016-2023/Netflix)
- Cherif—(2013-2019/Prime)
- Dark Winds—(2022/AMC)
- The Diplomat—(2023/Netflix)
- Downton Abbey—(2020-2015/Prime)
- The Dropout (2022/Hulu)
- Elizabeth 1 (2005/Max)
- Emily in Paris—(2020-present/Netflix)
- Feud (S1): Bette and Joan—(2017/Hulu)
- Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans—(2024/FX, with streaming on Hulu)
- Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
- Friday Night Lights (2006-2011/Netflix)
- The Gentlemen—(2024/Netflix)
- Godless—(2017/Netflix)
- Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
- The Gilded Age—(current/Max)
- High Water—(2022/Netflix)
- Homeland—(2011-2020/Showtime)
- Jane Eyre—(2006/Britbox)
- Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
- Killing Eve—(2018-2022/Netflix)
- Life & Beth—(Seasons 1& 2, 2022-present/Hulu)
- Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
- Lioness—(2023-current/Paramount+)
- Loudermilk—(2017-2020/Netflix)
- MI-5, the Series—(2002-2011/BritBox)
- Monsieur Spade—(2024/AMC)
- Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Parts 1 and 2—(2023/Lifetime)
- My Brilliant Friend—(2018-current)
- 1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
- 1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
- The Old Man—(2022/Hulu)
- Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
- The Perfect Couple—(2024/Netflix)
- Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
- Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
- Ripley—(2024/Netflix)
- Scott & Bailey (2011-2016/Prime)
- Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
- Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
- Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
- Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
- Voiceless (Bella da morire—(2020/MHz)
- The Watcher—(2022/Netflix)
- The Way Home—(2023-current/Peacock)
- Who Is Erin Carter—(2023/Netflix)
- The Woman in the Wall—(2024/Showtime)
- The Veil—(2024/Hulu-FX)
- Web Therapy—(2011-2015/Fandango)
- Wilder—(2017-current)
- WPC 56—(2013-2015/Britbox)
- Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
Films
- The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
- American Gangster—(2007/Max)
- Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
- The Ballad of Lefty Brown—(2017/Netflix)
- Blackout (2022/Netflix)
- The Bricklayer—(2024/Netflix)
- The Commuter (2018/Netflix)
- The Dig—(2021/Netflix)
- Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
- Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
- The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2024/Prime)
- The Great Lillian Hall—(2024/Max)
- The Family Man—(2000/Netflix)
- Fury—(2014/Netflix)
- God's Country—(2022/Hulu
- Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
- I Used to Be Funny (2023/Netflix)
- Jack Reacher (the movie)—(2012/Paramount+)
- Just My Luck (2006/Paramount+)
- Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
- La Palma (2024/Netflix)
- Knight and Day—(2010/Roku)
- Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
- Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
- The Little Things—(2021/Netflix)
- Lonely Planet—(2024)/Netflix)
- Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
- Manchester by the Sea—(2016/Prime Video)
- MI-5—(2015/Max)
- The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
- The Night Agent—(2023/Netflix)
- Nobody—(2021/Prime)
- Nobody Wants This—(2024/Netflix)
- Ordinary Angels—(2024/assorted platforms)
- The Pledge—(2011/Peacock)
- Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
- The Queen—(2006/(Paramount+)
- The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
- Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
- Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
- Ruthless—(2023/Hulu)
- The Secret: Dare to Dream—(2020/Netflix)
- Self Reliance—(2023/Hulu)
- Seraphim Falls—(2006/Netflix)
- Some Girl(s)—(2013/Amazon Prime)
- Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
- The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
- Spy(ies)—(2009/Prime)
- The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
- Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
- The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
- Up in the Air—(2009/Max)
- Woman in Gold—(2015/Max)
- Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)
Documentaries
- Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
- The Beach Boys—(2024/Disney)
- Carole King: Live in Central Park—(2023/PBS)
- The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
- Cunk on Earth—(2022/Netflix)
- Cyndi Lauper: Let the Canary Sing—(2023/Paramount+)
- Facing Nolan—(2022/Netflix)
- Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
- Jane Fonda in Five Acts—(2024/Max)
- Kate Hepburn: Call Me Kate—(2023/Netflix)
- Only Girl in the Orchestra—(2023/Netflix)
- Suzi Q: Suzi Quatro—(2019/Prime)
- The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
- 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here
Morgan Ames (above), the great composer and lyricist who has lived in Los Angeles and Palm Desert forever, sent along the following last night after receiving my Jack Sheldon post yesterday:
Marc, thank you especially for the first two paragraphs of your Jack Sheldon post. I read them several times for comfort. L.A. holds my life’s history, other than the New York years.
Many friends in L.A. have evacuated or have suitcases by the door. I've been told by musicians who have lost their homes that everything in Malibu is up in smoke. The winds have been unbelievable.
I live in Palm Desert where this morning the sky was silky blue and the mountains sharp and clear. I feel a California split for the first time. And while I love your optimism, I don’t know. Not just the houses but the landscape is gone and even the roads by the ocean. I’m sad today, but nobody I know is dead, which I'm grateful for given what has been going on.
Thanks for Jack Sheldon, who is synonymous with the West Coast jazz scene. I first met him in Burbank, where we both lived when I was 14. My first big band rehearsal. He was an old dude to me, but he had a pack of Lucky Strikes in the sleeve of his T-shirt, which I thought looked so cool. He was a goofball even then—until he played his trumpet.
Love all your work, every obsessive word about jazz.
Royce Campbell, one of my favorite jazz guitarists and who recorded with Henry Mancini, sent along an email:
Hi Marc: Back in 2007, I recorded a solo guitar CD. For some reason, I got it in my autistic mind that nobody would be interested in a solo guitar CD. So I never promoted it. I didn't even send a copy to radio stations. Recently, I went back and listened to it again. Now I think it's one of the best albums I've done. Fans have told me they like my solo stuff best of all. It does give me a chance to show my knowledge of advanced harmony. I hope you enjoy it.
Here's Royce's wonderful The Art of Chord Solo Guitar. You'll land on the first track, In a Sentimental Mood. Let YouTube play and you'll hear the rest of the songs, which are in the right-hand column. Dig Royce's juicy chords and harmony...
Bess Bonnier was a jazz pianist, composer and educator who was born in Detroit and remained there throughout her career. Blind from birth, she raised three children as a single mother. Bonnier began her recording career in 1958, when her trio was featured on Theme for the Tall One (Argo). She was 30 then and backed by Nick Fiore (b) and Bill Steen (d). Born in 1928, she died in 2011 at age 83.
Last week, Bil Kirchner sent along a link to her marvelous album Love Notes (Noteworks), from 1997, backed by Cary Kocher (vib), Paul Keller (b) and Pete Siers (d). As Bill notes, "Bess was considered a peer by fellow DetroitersTommy Flanagan, Roland Hanna, and Barry Harris." Go here...
Artie Shaw recorded Tadd Dameron's bop-hued composition and arrangement of Fred's Delight, in 1949, with an all-star band: Don Fagerquist, Don Paladino, Dale Pierce and Victor Ford (tp); Sonny Russo, Porky Cohen, Fred Zito and Bart Varsalona (tb); Artie Shaw (cl); Herbie Steward and Frank Socolow (as); Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (ts); Danny Bank (bar); Gil Barrios (p); Jimmy Raney (g); Dick Nivison (b); Irv Kluger (d). [Photo above of Artie Shaw]
If you think this chart is easy to play, listen again and then check out current bands on YouTube trying to play it.
For Shaw's air-tight rendition, go here...
Speaking of Shaw and Chick Webb. In my Chick Webb post, I neglected to mention that Stephanie Stein Crease has authored Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America (Oxford/2023), a biography of the drummer that's loaded with information about his brief but influential career and the era in which he thrived.
Also in 2023, Barnett Singer and Jesse Read authored Artie Shaw: Icon of Swing (McFarland), which is less about nitty-gritty biography and more focused on impressions of Shaw's recordings, with Shaw widely quoted from Singer's interviews with the masterful clarinetist, bandleader and arranger.
Music to your eyes. Three videos I came across last week:
Here's Tony Bennett on TV's What's My Line in October 1964...
Here's Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra in the early 1960s. No one, except perhaps Pearl Bailey, beat these two for cracking up during a song and keeping track of the lyrics when they picked it up again a few bars later...
Nat King Cole appeared on the BBC special An Evening With Nat King Cole that aired in the U.S. in October 1963. Composed by Joe Sherman and George David Weiss that year, That Sunday, That Summer was a No. 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit for Cole in 1963. A month later, Kennedy would be assassinated, sending the country into a spiraling depression that wouldn't lift until February 1964, when the Beatles arrived in New York following the release of their album Meet the Beatles during the Christmas holiday week. Music for pre-teens and teens would quickly dominate the marketplace going forward. Go here...
And finally, a tribute to L.A. Here are five trumpet solos that have always reminded me most of Los Angeles and now sound like a fitting salute to the torn city. Heartbreaking to watch on TV and hear about the destruction and loss from friends who live there. [Photo above of Malibu in the 1950s]
Here's Uan Rasey on trumpet...
Here's Don Fagerquist...
Here's Jack Sheldon...
Here's Conte Candoli...
And here's Chet Baker...