Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (Reprise, 1974)

As the chief architect of country rock, Gram Parsons epitomized fusing the thing and not the thing which means Grievous Angel was bound to be greeted with indifference by the audiences for both country and rock in 1974. Indeed, it peaked at a pitiful 195 on the Billboard albums chart, better than the previous year's outing, GP, which missed the chart altogether, but 24 places below The Velvet Underground and Nico's high of 171. Now, of course, it's long since entered classic status even though the most country thing about it is how it emulates the mishmash quality of the average country album - covers, originals, live cuts, filler if you want it. But what it lacks in gestalt, it more than makes up in originals that outshine the covers. The masterpieces are "Return of the Grievous Angel" and "$1000 Wedding." Both feature lyrics and song structures as knotty as anything in Steely Dan's oeuvre, e.g., Genius thinks "supposed to be a funeral" is the latter's chorus, and yet both remain super catchy (also like Steely Dan); you don't know whether to hum "Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels" or "And I remembered something you once told me" once the album is over. And while "In My Hour of Darkness" concerns the recent deaths of several Parsons contemporaries, including the beautiful actor/country music hopeful Brandon DeWilde, it sounds like it was written alongside "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" in 1907. 

Grade: A

The Holdovers (Alexander Payne, 2023)

I wanted to adore The Holdovers. This is the kind of warm, cozy film I can imagine someone keeping on in the background during that odd interzone between Christmas and New Year's Eve when those lucky enough to be off work have no clue what to do with themselves. Indeed, The Holdovers takes place across that very week when Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa, gangly and totes adorbs) gets held over for the holidays with several other unfortunate students at the New England boarding school they attend. Largely as a result of his curmudgeonly behavior, classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is tasked with supervising the holdovers and much tension arises when he expects diligent study from the misfits under his care. Payne, along with screenwriter David Hemingson and cinematographer Eigil Bryld, deserve whatever Oscar nods may come their way for evoking moments when something could happen. With an empty campus as their canvas, the film's architects paint situations pregnant with possibility, to quote Margo Channing in a film underestimated for its warmth, including the possibility of sitting on your ass and doing nothing at all.

Would that the film progressed in such a lazy fashion. But alas, the lash of narrative progression must strike down upon us. It's ye olde vertically compelling, horizontally moribund problem of mainstream cinema once more. In a crusty deus ex machina, the group of holdovers gets broken up when one student's rich father arrives on campus via helicopter and airlifts all of the the boys save Angus to a ski trip. That leaves Angus alone with Paul as both Come To Terms With Things and Payne abandons the polyphonic density of, say, Paul Thomas Anderson's greatest film Licorice Pizza (2021) for story beats that march forward in lockstep. In a career-defining performance I hope/predict will earn her an Oscar, Da'Vine Joy Randolph airs out the proceedings a bit as Mary Lamb, a cook mourning the loss of her son in the Vietnam War. But the depth she provides is not enough to swerve away from the predictable spectacle of Paul finding a heart and Angus learning valuable lessons on the cusp of adulthood. Still, I expect to enjoy The Holdovers in fitful chunks around 2038 on whatever streamer is left standing long after they've all adopted ad-supported plans.

Grade: B+

A Game of Thrones listicle!

Lord of the Rings bored me to criminal distraction. The few Harry Potter films I saw failed to rise above standard-issue Oedipal hand-wringing. I'm not even all that ardent of a science fiction fan (if that matters), e.g., I cannot stand Star Wars even though I loved it when I was seven and the Death Star was my favorite toy ever. And I'm much more a film snob than a TV enthusiast even though I wrestle with the serial beast on the regular. So I was astonished by how much I adored Game of Thrones. I want to write more formally on it in the future. So herein please find a listicle that sums up my major thoughts/feelings on the experience. 

MASSIVE SPOILERS!

Coolest name (albeit a repulsive character): Septa Unella (played by an unrecognizable Hannah Waddingham)

Character I’m so not mad at for blowing up the Great Sept of Baelor because it wiped out the evil Sparrow religious sect and their leader the High Sparrow (played with icy, face-punchable cruelty by Jonathan Pryce) even though it also killed Loras and Margaery who was playing the Sparrows to get out from under their torture: Cersei

Great Canadian theorist whom I would like to apply to an analysis of the communication systems of Westeros: Harold Innis

Slight structural problem/Catch-22: Killing Ned Stark so early in the series. It was a Wun Wun-sized shock. But once you off your Tony Soprano, any character is fair game to get eliminated. Which is to say that while I didn't predict the Red Wedding, its shock was (somewhat!) diluted by the series' structure. Similarly, I thought Arya was dead for sure when she was stabbed by the Waif.

Funniest line of the entire series: Wun Wun the Giant to Eddison Tollett: “The fuck you lookin’ at?”

Single most redolent line of the entire series: Beric to Jon Snow: “I’m not fighting so some man or woman I barely know can sit on a throne made of swords.”

Second most redolent line of the entire series: Tyrion to Cersei: "Your reign is over. But that doesn't mean your life has to end."

Genuinely scary: the Night King especially the staring contest with Jon Snow after the wight hunt

Coolest voice: Davos'

Character I severely underrated early on because I thought Robb Stark was hotter and more confident: Jon Snow

Hottest character: probably Renly Baratheon

Most underrated (maybe even never rated) character: the officious clerk Samwell encounters when he first gets to the citadel 

Favorite character: Choosing a favorite character goes against what I loved most about the series which was a critique of power-besotted individualism. I would've chosen Tyrion early on but he got too emo towards the end. I adored Samwell and Brienne of Tarth so I was happier to see them on the small council with Tyrion than whoever wound up on whichever throne. Is it cheating to choose Ghost? He's such a good boy!

Aspect I could've used a bit more on but not too much for fear the series would tumble into world-building dreariness: the Iron Bank of Braavos

Level of anger I experienced re: the later seasons and the finale: Almost non-existent. As a non-fan of fantasy and world-building, I probably enjoyed the series overall more than its most foam-drenched fan-detractors.

Shorthand I used to describe locales and characters because I couldn't remember them all: Quality Court (the place where Arya trains to be all face pulling and badass), Celine Dion ([visits Wiki of Westeros to find name] Ellaria Sand), Pedro Pascal (whoever he played), Daktari (Dothraki), etc. 

Number of predictions that proved incorrect: Many, mostly concerning Arya. I thought she would transform into a White Walker to kill the Night King or Jamie Lannister to kill Cersei. And I thought Bran would do something more than just send out ravens and get all moony.

Number of George RR Martin books I've read: 0

Number of George RR Martin books I may read: 1

Number of George RR Martin books I will probably finish: 0

Remotely related (please don't start a genre border skirmish with me) type of book I'd like to read now that I've finished Game of Thrones: The Once and Future King by T. H. White 

Masterpiece YOU should watch after you've finished Game of Thrones: The 47 Ronin Parts 1 and 2 (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1941-1942)

Numbers of episodes I've currently seen of House of the Dragon: one and digging it 

Dreary franchise I may now finish in the spirit of open-mindedness, Joan grant me the strength: Lord of the Rings