When Levon Helm passed away on April 19th in 2012, thousands of friends, neighbors, and fans filed past his closed coffin, and hundreds lined the streets of Woodstock, New York, as a Dixieland processional marched to his funeral. He was laid to rest next to The Band’s bassist, Rick Danko, who died in 1999. Part of Route 375 in Ulster County has since been designated by the governor as Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard.

In his final years, despite being diagnosed with throat cancer, Helm never lost heart. His solo career began in 1977 and he had an amazing revival over the last several years. His success came as much from his skills as a singer and songwriter as from his brilliance as a drummer. He won three Grammy awards: Best Traditional Folk Album 2007 for Dirt Farmer, and two for Best Americana Albums, one in 2009 for Electric Dirt, and in 2011 for Ramble at the Ryman. That last album kicked off the idea for a series of what Helm called “Midnight Ramble” Sessions at his studio in Woodstock, where he held informal public performances featuring a stellar lineup of guests such as Jackson Browne, JD Souther, Maria Muldaur, and Donald Fagen. Top session musicians like Anton Fig and Tony Levin also joined in, as well as Helm’s own band and others, including fellow Arkansan Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters.

The film Ain’t in It for My Health at the    READ MORE ...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is a hypnotic study of control and manipulation and possibly a love story, but one that evokes the emptiness and quackery at the dark heart of America. The film is built around a simple premise: an emotionally damaged, itinerant, alcoholic sailor named Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) crashes a party aboard a yacht hosting the wedding of the daughter of Lancaster Dodd, the leader of burgeoning cult named The Cause. Dodd takes a shine to Freddie, perhaps challenged by his possibilities as a “noble savage” to be tamed, but a closer viewing reveals a deeper connection for Dodd. “I’ve seen you before,” he says. “I know you.” He sets out to tame Freddie’s base nature and to train and condition him by way of the methods of The Cause.

Much has been made of the fact that Anderson is riffing on America’s vulnerability to cults. In our short history, we’ve certainly had our share of weird religions and wacky causes. In 1823 Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni:   Read more ...

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It is the perfect moment for Noah Baumbach, director and writer of the candidly bittersweet The Squid and The Whale (and whose scripts with Wes Anderson have been so clever and enchanting) to collaborate with actress and writer Greta Gerwig, a performer whose big-hearted persona has been waiting for just the right vehicle. Add to that more than a dash of French New Wave via a low-budget, black and white production, a backdrop of nouveau, hip, young Brooklyn, and you have Frances Ha, an indie classic that makes a star out of Gerwig. Like some of the best New Wave films of the ’60s, the movie brims with the giddy optimism of youth.  Read More .......