Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Classic WOF Podcast: LUSH LIFE - Alcohol in the Movies

 One of my favorite podcasts from 2024 was this one I did about drinking on film.


"April is Alcohol Awareness Month. To mark the occasion, The Words On Flicks Show will look at how alcoholic drinks have been portrayed in film over the years. Joining host Janine Coveney will be frequent guest, journalist, essayist, and cultural critic Michael A. Gonzales. Join us as we take a tour through a bar’s worth of  martinis, whisky shots, champagne cocktails, Cosmos, gin and tonics, and green fairies, as well as the drunk tanks, dry outs, brawls, pratfalls, and bottom scrapings of movie characters who imbibe
."

Though we discuss such films as Days of Wine And Roses, I'll Cry Tomorrow, Lost Weekend, Arthur and others, Michael and I end up telling a lot about our own alcohol habits. A little true confessions, if you will. Enjoy by clicking the arrow below. . 


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The Words On Flicks Show: Courtesans



For the June 2025 Words On Flicks Show podcast, I created a video to talk about Courtesans on film, but only made it through two films! 

My idea was to discuss narratives that focus on the courtesan. Here I am a contemporary AfroCaribLatina woman who is fascinated – OK obsessed -- by stories about these white women from another era. Why? I don’t know. It could be that I’m always interested in how people, particularly women, survived amid societies and cultures that are very different from our own. How women have always been separated into saints and sinners, Madonnas and whores, and courtesans managed to walk a thin line between these labels.

 I was talking to a friend of mine not that long ago about the Lerner & Lowe musical Gigi, which he said he had never seen. I started with “It’s about a girl in the year 1900 in  Paris being trained as a courtesan –”  

“What’s a courtesan?” he asked. 

And I had to stop. Maybe everyone is not aware. 

So here's the WOF breakdown of Gigi and Camille. Enjoy! 


Sunday, June 1, 2025

Classic WOF Podcast: Father's Day Show with Multiple Guests from 2022

The Words On Flicks Show for June 2022 is celebrating Father's Day with a very special show of memories, reflections, analyses and more. Everything from The Godfather and Wattstax to Good Morning Vietnam and Claudine, with a little James Bond, Robin Hood, and Blacula thrown in for good measure. Sure to be a fun and insightful show with past WOF guests: Juliana Jai Bolden, Leslie Hunter-Gadsden, A. Scott Galloway, Michael Gonzales, Tonya Pendleton, and Karen Thomas

Songs: "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare," Gladys Knight & the Pips; "Song For My Father," Horace Silver; "Color Him Father," The Winstons; "Son of Shaft," The Bar-Kays; "Papa Don't Take No Mess," by James Brown; "Your Daddy Loves You," Gil-Scott Heron; "Dance With My Father," Luther Vandross; "Dat Dere," Oscar Brown Jr.; and "Papa," Paul Anka Live.  

Give a listen below by clicking the arrow. 


Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Tragedy In Operatic Terms: "Emilia Perez"

 EMILIA PEREZ

directed by Jacques Audiard
Starring Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir and Édgar Ramírez



I saw the multiple Oscar nominee Emilia Pérez, finally. I didn't LOVE it, but I did enjoy it. Nominated for 13 Oscars at this year's ceremonies, including best picture, best director, best actress, and best supporting actress, it has definitely stirred up the film world. 

 The story was original, with touches of other south of the border crime stories like Sicario and Traffic, but overlaid with this unique situation of a notorious drug cartel kingpin hiding in plain sight by changing not only their identity, but their gender as well. And by making the real desires and needs of people who are transgender a key part of the drama but not really the main drama itself, the story of Emilia Pérez truly stands out. Ostensibly the story is about reinvention, not only physically but philosophically. It's about whether the things we do today can atone for the things we did yesterday, and how what happens in the dark always comes to the light. 

The film begins when Rita Mora, a struggling Mexico City lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña, is coerced by her boss to mount a false defense for their murderous client, which ultimately wins their case. She is immediately contacted by Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón), a notorious underworld kingpin, offering a huge sum of money to help him carry out a very unique mission. Already caught in a mesh of thankless work in a corrupt legal system with no real way to get ahead unless she sinks -- or rises if you will -- to new levels of corruption herself, her sense of disgust and futility sweeps her into the life of the title character. 


While the extent of the crimes and atrocities committed by "Manitas" are glossed over, the new Emilia is still a force to be reckoned with, maintaining access to their ill-gotten riches while motivated to help regular people whose loved ones have been disappeared due, we have to assume, to cartel violence. Emilia keeps her identity secret to all but Rita, the lawyer she at first bullies and corrupts and then adopts as her closest friend and confidant. Emilia's motive for changing her sex fulfills a lifelong desire, but also conveniently serves as a smokescreen for Manitas to escape retribution from the law and the people she's wromged or crossed while still a man. Still, this made me wonder about the lives and secrets kept by those who are transgender, people who are forced by society's judgment  to keep their reality under wraps or who choose to "dead" their former identities for various reasons and how difficult and painful that must be.

The musical aspect of the film was also unique. While many people are complaining that the music is awful, I thought it added a layer of freshness in terms of revealing the inner emotions and motivations of each character. Rather than being a musical where each song stands on its own and has a catchy hook and pop structure, EP reminded me more of an opera. As a longtime fan of classical and modern opera, I resonated with the exploration of character and furtherance of the story through musical arias, recitatives and choruses that are more about mood and narrative than about singable tunes.  In researching my review, I see that French director and composer Jacques Audiard did indeed base the film on his opera libretto of the same name. So my impression that this is an opera is totally on the mark. 


Saldaña -- a veteran American actress of Dominican ancestry who once trained as a ballerina -- is extraordinary. She gave us fierceness years ago in 2011's Colombiana, but now we see a completely different character whose every emotion is heartrendingly etched on her face. Her character also requires her to dance and sing, in Spanish and English, and she is mesmerizing. Gascón, who plays the title character, is  the first transgender actress to receive an Academy Award nomination. Gascon is compelling as someone with a strong will, whether it is to undergo a medical transition, to safeguard her family, or to make a difference in her community in a way that only she can. And Selena Gomez is appropriately beautiful, unhinged and resentful as a spoiled Mexican mafia wife who realizes too late what is really going on. Apparently, Gomez had to brush up on her Spanish to play the role. 

While the Oscars have given it the most accolades possible with nominations, there is also backlash, by those who complain that it's not a real musical,  it does not accurately or fairly represent Mexican life, that none of the leads are in fact Mexican (Saldaña and Gomez are American, Gascón was born and raised in Spain), that it wasn't even shot in Mexico (mostly shot in France). I say get over yourselves. This is a surreal dramatic fantasy, not a documentary. 

In fact, this story is operatic on several levels; it is really "The Tragedy of Emilia Pérez" told from the point of view of Saldana's character, much in the way that the character of Che reveals the story of Evita Peron in the rock opera Evita. Tragedies only end one way, and they are supposed to teach us something about human nature. If you don't get the lesson, fine. That reveals something about your nature.

Friday, December 6, 2024

The Wonder of "Wicked"

 Wicked Part I

Directed by Jon M. Shu
Written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, with songs by Stephen Schwartz
based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire
Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum


Elphaba and Galinda against the world (or just Oz).


I watched Wicked in the theater. And then I got an opportunity to see it again, just to reconfirm some of my initial thoughts and feelings. 

Admittedly, I have never seen Wicked on the stage. I did read the Gregory Maguire book, which left me confused and despondent. It's a dark and tangled tale. But the original Oz books were anything but straightforward or careful of juvenile feelings. As a child I was consumed by reading all the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, and there are quite a few -- 14 in all. The tales delve much further into the politics and characters of Oz, which includes humans, talking beasts, and sentient creatures such as the Tin Man and Jack Pumpkinhead. There was a map of Oz in every books, so it was easy to become obsessed by this fairytale country and its endless array or characters and internecine struggles. 

Which brings us to Wicked the film musical. So many people love this story as developed for the stage, and the marketing for the film has been nothing short of epic. The story of Wicked is unique as it reveals what led to Elphaba's fateful -- and fatal -- interaction with Dorothy Gale, child interloper from Kansas. who we discovered is an unwittingly pawn of the politically motivated Wizard of Oz.  

I was prepared to be blown away by the film, but I was left sort of ... Meh. Maybe I have reached the grumpy old woman stage where nothing seems as good as the screen musicals I saw in my youth. Where the sheer amount of dazzling detail stuffed into each cinematic frame and the overwhelming number of costumed extras stomping through the backgrounds in overwrought choreography has become too much for me to process. A stage where my brain, already chock a block with decades of music from jazz, rock, R&B, hip-hop, pop, classical, and musical theater, cannot latch on to these new semi-formed self-styled anthems that I'm supposed to love.  Admittedly, I have not been in the best of moods lately and I need to shake that off in order to consider the thing in its proper light. That's why I watched it again. 

OK. 

Wicked is an amazing achievement on many levels. It looks glorious, with the candy colors one would expect of a fantasy locale. Shiz University looks like a place the Elves of director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings would have been at home in. It's a visually dazzling film and the music production is stellar.

Of course, Cynthia Erivo was wonderful. She can't be anything but, she is a gift to the performing world. She really made us feel Elphaba's journey as a perennial outsider struggling to gain control over her powers as a witch, to come to terms with her place in her family, and with acceptance into Ozian society. Her vocals are sheer bliss, and her performances of "The Wizard And I" and "I'm Not The Right Girl" are absolutely transcendent. I enjoyed Ariana Grande's performance as Galinda/Glinda as well, with its comedic echoes of original Glinda Kristin Chenoweth's chirpy narcissism. Erivo and Grande's voices together truly do conjure magic as they melded into seamless harmonies. I have to say that I found the flying monkeys to be just as terrifying in this story as they were to me as a youngster in the original 1939 Judy Garland Wizard of Oz. Those monkeys with their wizened faces and winged shadows filling the skies seemed just as horrible to me now, even more than even the green-faced witch herself. 

In Wicked, there is truly a lot of story to take in, numerous characters to consider, and this only Part I!  We are left wondering what will become of the animals and how Elphaba is able to establish her own castle and army to try to fight what she believes is wrong in her country. Because the story contains more political intrigue than the average kiddie musical, not to mention a raft of emotional issues surrounding identity, friendship, courage, love, disability, skin color bias, and sacrifice, it resonates with so many along the age spectrum. The film does well in unpacking the central theme, which I find fascinating: the fact that villains are not born, they are made. This is an idea that has been explored in nearly every superhero flick where the antagonist/villain experienced some kind of trauma that turned them "bad," but it's only bad from a certain perspective. The interesting thing about Elphaba is that by nature she is not a malicious person; she is forced into a corner where her actions to correct wrongs are misunderstood and intentionally mislabeled, compounded by the fact of her unusual appearance; the way in which the Wizard of Oz and Madame Morrible use Elphaba for their own ends is truly reprehensible. And when she discovers the truth and is no longer willing to participate in their plans, they cast her so thoroughly into the role of a "wicked" witch that she is feared and reviled by all the citizens of Oz. How many outcasts, misfits, and standouts are wrongly judged, ostracized, and even assaulted simply because of their differences? 

In addition, Wicked is a fair examination of the ebb and flow of female friendship, how friends can grow together and then grow apart. There is the ideological struggle between the one who leaves and the one who stays, each for their own legitimate reasons. What is precious about Wicked is that Elphaba and Glinda each wish each other well on their journeys despite the fact that their lives diverge. It's a bit heartbreaking, as is their mutual love of Prince Fiyero for different reasons, but that's life -- even in  a kingdom as magical and fantastic as Oz. 

It's the mix of music, magic, emotion and action that gives Wicked its fuel, even if certain scenes drag the film to almost three hours. It's worth seeing if only for Cynthia and Ariana, whose intense bond is palpable throughout. The whole premise of the story is made more compelling because we already know the outcome -- it's how we get to it that provides the intense compulsion to keep watching until the thrilling denouement. And while it's disappointing that we have to wait until Spring 2025 to see how it all plays out in Wicked Part II, that gives us just enough time to thoroughly digest Part I

By all means, go see it. Just so you won't be the only one who hasn't seen it when you sit at your Christmas dinner table. 

The Words On Flicks Show (May 30, 2019): Musical Biopics with Guest A. Scott Galloway

 Looking at Musical Biopics!


In this look back at a key show from the weekly run of the podcast in 2019, host Janine Coveney chops it up with veteran writer and musicologist A. Scott Galloway.  Here's the notes from the original broadcast

The long-awaited Elton John biopic Rocketman opens this weekend. So this week, Words On Flicks will take a look at what makes a successful musical biopic, why films can rarely capture all the facts, Hollywood’s hits and misses with casting, story arcs, and music, and much more. The films we’ll likely touch on include Bohemian Rhapsody, Ray, What’s Love Got To Do With It, Miles Ahead, Walk The Line, Get On Up, and more. This episode will feature a very special guest, Los Angeles-based entertainment journalist and prolific liner notes scribe A. Scott Galloway.

Mr. Galloway’s work has appeared regularly in Urban Network, Wax Poetics and the U.K.’s Blues & Soul.

 Among the 300-plus liner notes projects he’s written are  the 25th anniversary Deluxe 2-CD reissue of Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly,” “The Reel Quincy Jones,” “The Best of Shaft” compilation of songs and cues, the Motown time capsule “Cooley High,” Gladys Knight & The Pips’ “Claudine” w/ “Pipe Dreams,” and the compilation “Super Bad On Celluloid.”


Click on the mp3 player below to hear the original podcast: 

The Words On Flicks Show from May 2022: Los Angeles Film Classics with A. Scott Galloway



I Love L.A.! Los Angeles Film Classics


 Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 3 pm ET/12 noon PT 
TEASER VIDEO:



 This month, host Janine Coveney is joined by music journalist extraordinaire and fellow film fan A. Scott Galloway for a talk about classic Los Angeles screen gems.

Up for discussion: Singing In The Rain, Boyz N Tha Hood, L.A. Story, Shampoo, WattStax, Jackie Brown, and much more!

 
A. Scott Galloway is a prolific Los Angeles-based Music Journalist who has been writing about music since 1988 for magazines that include Urban Network, Wax Poetics and the U.K.’s Blues & Soul. His specialty is composing liner note essays for reissues and compilations of classic recordings. Those credits include the 25th anniversary Deluxe 2-CD reissue of Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly,” “The Reel Quincy Jones” compilation, “The Best of Shaft,” a pairing of Gladys Knight & The Pips’ “Claudine” w/ “Pipe Dreams,” and the various artists compilation “Super Bad On Celluloid.” Mr. Galloway is also the Editor of the 2013 Hal Leonard deluxe coffee table book “Down The Rhodes: The Fender Rhodes Story.” And he wrote the foreword for Les McCann’s book of photography “Invitation to Openness.”

You can give a listen to the Los Angeles flicks episode by clicking the mp3 player below: