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The Ultimate Playlist of Noise: Listening for Life

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One of the strangest popular sub-genres in the last decade has to be the ‘teen cancer’ genre.

Having risen to prominence in recent years, there appears to be an ongoing interest for learning to experience one’s life when faced with an often-deadly disease. From the good (The Fault in Our Stars, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) to the forgettable (Then Came You, Midnight Sun), there are countless films in the last decade that embrace the dark realities of trauma, usually with mixed results. It may seem counterintuitive but these have often become defining films for a generation of teens who are looking to experience life by staring into the face of death. In Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise, the outcome lands somewhere in between by offering a relatively charming film that still feels somewhat lacking.

Directed by Bennett Lasseter, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise tells the story of Marcus (Keean Johnson), a high school senior who is so infatuated with music that he creates mixtapes for his friends to meet their various needs. When an unexpected seizure reveals a tumour in his brain, Marcus is stunned to learn that the impending surgery will leave him without hearing. As he grapples with his future, Marcus leaves home on a road trip with the intent of creating the ‘ultimate playlist’ of sounds that he wants to experience while he has still the opportunity to do so.

It’s worth noting that Playlist does have a certain sense of style. With its love of 70s rock (!), cassette tapes (!!) and handwritten text, Marcus is a young man who seems to yearn for tangible experiences. What’s more, the chemistry between Marcus and potential love interest, Wendy (Madeline Brewer) produces enough moments of energy to prevent Playlist from losing its way. Though it’s hardly the best example of modern teen drama, the two leads work well together, creating some fun banter and ‘life moments’ that will resonate with its target audience.

Even so, the film still feels hollow at times. It’s hard to explain but, amidst its exploration of what’s real, the film doesn’t always feel like it’s being honest. Side plots like Wendy’s ex-boyfriend and his parents ‘desperate search’ to find him never seem fully resolved. In addition, it is somewhat troubling at times to see the way in which Playlist wrestles with the prospect of deaf culture. Unlike Darius Marder’s stunning Sound of Metal, Playlist seems to wash over the concept of hearing loss for the most part. While it’s entirely understandable that Marcus would be terrified about losing the sense that he holds most dear (as exemplified by his love of music), it is somewhat surprising how little the film explores the potential of his new life.

But really, this isn’t a film about losing your hearing. 

Rather than focus on life after Marcus’ surgery, Playlist leans more heavily into the imminent nature of change. (In this way, Playlist takes more of its cues from The Fault in Our Stars than it does Sound of Metal.) As a coming-of-age drama, the film takes the time to appreciate the smallest things in life that we take for granted. As Marcus embarks on his journey, he discovers an almost lyrical quality to the smallest of sounds and moments, be it a thunderstorm, roaring chainsaw or the moo of a cow. As is often found in these sorts of stories, Marcus’ playlist is really about discovering and experiencing what’s real for himself. While his mother attempts to prepare him for the next phase of his life with ASL classes and church events, Marcus is more concerned with closing the book on his life up to this point. For Marcus, his loss of hearing is an oncoming wall to which he cannot see past. As a result, he needs to believe that he’s actively ‘lived’ before he begins to lean into the future that approaches.

While the film carries charming performances and some moments of joy, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise does play a little too fast and loose with its subject matter to ever feel like it fully rings true. Even so, though it may not be the best entry into this unique sub-genre, there’s enough to enjoy about this Playlist to give it a spin.

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise is available on Hulu on Friday, January 15th, 2021.

Happiest Season: Everyone’s Story has a Place

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I’ll get right to the point: if you’re looking for something charming and funny as we cautiously look to the end of 2020, Happiest Season is everything you could possibly need.

Personally, I can handle about zero angst in movies right now. Call it a casualty of 2020, but my tolerance for anything overly serious or dramatic is essentially nonexistent, especially if it’s in a movie I’ve never seen. Now granted, there is the relational angst that is often the central conflict in holiday films, and Happiest Season totally has that covered. But it was a good angst, and I’ll explain why.

But first, let’s start with the cast. I have two words for you: Dan Levy. Yes, THAT Dan Levy of sweeping Emmy wins for Schitt’s Creek, one of People magazine’s Sexiest Men of Alive, and all around beloved by basically everyone these days. I don’t even know if he’s considered a main character or not as best friend John, but his presence alone is a reason to watch. Of course, stars like Kristen Stewart, Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen, Aubrey Plaza, Mackenzie Davis, and Alison Brie (what a cast, amiright?) elevate this heartwarming story into something special.

Perfect couple Abby and Harper (Stewart and Davis respectively) make plans to visit Harper’s family for Christmas. But there is one *major* wrinkle in the plan – Harper’s parents don’t know she is gay and in a relationship with the “orphan roommate” she has brought home.  Compounded by her parents’ stress surrounding Ted’s bid for major (Ted and Tipper are played by Garbor and Steenburgen), Harper keeps Abby at arm’s length and back in the closet. Naturally some old flames of Harper’s show up, including her first girlfriend Riley (Aubrey Plaza). Between sisterly competition, pressure to impress, and secrets uncovered, everything compounds on Christmas Eve, and this seemingly perfect family explodes into disarray.

I’m going to leave it there as far as plot, because I’m hoping you will watch the film. (Make sure that you watch the credits too for the pictures that continue the story.) From here, I’m going to get a bit personal, so I hope you’ll stick around and indulge me for a moment or two.

Representation in film is something that I am becoming increasingly aware of because I believe that film is for everyone. Everyone should be able to look up or at a screen and see themselves. As a straight, Christian woman, I am not at all offended by a lesbian-centric storyline. It’s about telling the stories that are happening every day all over the world. It’s totally ok for good stories to be just that – good stories. And those stories aren’t limited to heterosexual relationships.

Maybe there wasn’t necessary anything “new” per se in Happiest Season but it was genuine and sweet. But, most importantly, the film is about loving your own story and those who are a part of it. And that’s a lesson we can all embrace. 

Happiest Season is available on Hulu now.

Ramy – Searching for God

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“I feel that the problem’s really that I just don’t know what kind of Muslim I am. Like there’s Friday prayers and then there’s Friday night and I’m, like, at both. I wanna pray. I wanna go to the party.”

The Hulu original series, Ramy, takes us into the world of a young Muslim man as he struggles to live out his faith. Ramy (played by Ramy Youssef, who created the show and co-wrote most of the episodes) is from an Egyptian-American family living in New Jersey. His life is directionless. He and his friends are concerned with, but not always observant what is halal (permitted) or haram (forbidden). Ramy does not drink or do drugs, but he sleeps around and watches a great deal of porn. He wants to be a good Muslim. He is clear that he believes in God (“God God, not yoga”). But he’s not sure how to live up to the calling of being Muslim.

The fact the Ramy is Muslim is important to the story, but it should be noted that the kinds of struggles he goes through are really not that different than they are for someone seeking to be a good Christian, a good Sikh, a good Jew, or a good Buddhist. He recognizes that there is more to being Muslim (or any religion) than just prayer and worship. If one doesn’t shape one’s life to the teachings, what good is the religion?

It is hard to characterize the series. On the surface it is a sitcom that looks at Ramy’s life with his friends and family. He and his sister Dena (May Calamawy) are thoroughly at home in American culture. His parents (Amr Waked and Hiam Abbass) still hold on to many of the ways they brought from Egypt. Ramy also struggles in his job working for his rude bigoted Uncle Naseem When the film is in sitcom mode it often relies mostly on sexual humor (sometimes crude sexual humor). But then an episode will come that is heartbreakingly serious. Some of those serious episodes center on one of Ramy’s family members. We get a chance to see their struggles with living in two cultures as well.

There are two seasons of the series currently available on Hulu. In Season 1, we follow in Ramy’s failing search for balance in his life. He keeps looking for ways to live in accord with his faith, but not only comes up short, he often makes even bigger mistakes. He understands that his life is sinful, but seems powerless to overcome himself. At the end of the first season, he makes a trip to visit family in Egypt. This is a pivotal event. He meets and falls in love with his cousin (Rosaline Elbay), but he also discovers Sufism, a more mystical movement within Islam that speaks to him.

Season Two has a much different vibe. Having returned home, Ramy learns of a Sufi center near him, and connects with its leader, Sheikh Malik (the fabulous Mahershala Ali). The Sheikh is initially uncertain about taking Ramy on as a student. He senses that Ramy is too self-centered to truly learn. That self-centeredness becomes an ongoing issue in Ramy’s life through this season. But soon, we see Ramy begin to mature. He seems to be living into his faith for the first time. He even gains the romantic attention of the Sheikh’s daughter, Zainab (MaameYaa Boafa). But the more he seems to mature, the more he risks losing if he fails. And indeed, his self-centeredness will prove his undoing.

Ramy is the most spiritual show I’ve seen on TV in many years. Although it is centered in Islam, it offers insight for people of any (or no) religion. It treats religious faith as an important part of life. At the same time, it makes it clear that following a spiritual path can be very difficult. It also gives us some insight into some of the barriers that we can place between ourselves and God. Is it enough to follow the rules? Even that seems beyond Ramy’s abilities. Do we improve ourselves by helping others? Or is helping others only a way of making ourselves feel better about our shortcomings? It even raises a difficult question of if we practice a religion because of ourselves or because of the God in the center of the religion?

Near the end of the final episode of Season Two, Ramy, his life in ruins hears a CD made for beginners in Islam. It quotes the Quran: “Truly God loves those who come unto him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves”. I suspect this is part of the framework for the next season. It is also an important concept for Ramy (and us all) to come to terms with. It suggests that God does not turn away from us even when we fail in living in God’s ways. It also suggests that the recovery of spiritual wholeness begins by our turning again towards God. I am reminded of one of the most significant phrases in Islam is three words (in Arabic) that are put at the beginning of all but one of the Suras in the Quran. They translate as “In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful”. It is the compassion and mercy of God that many of us—across religious boundaries—rely on.

HotDocs ’17: Becoming Bond

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“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” – Winston Churchill

Opening with the above Churchill quote the documentary Becoming Bond may be the strangest example of story-telling in recent memory.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum, Becoming Bond tells the story of one-and-done Bond actor George Lazenby—or rather, allows Lazenby to tell his own story. Combining both interview, archival footage and dramatic recreations of his life, the film recounts Lazenby’s life from a young Australian ‘larrikin’ until after his role as the famed British agent in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  (Incidentally, the film even explains the surprising reason why Lazenby only took on the iconic role once.)  Sharing his relationships, sexual conquests and, of course, his experience as Bond, the film is both character piece and classic comedy at the same time.

In his interview segments, one can see why Lazenby—now seventy-six years old—was offered the Bond role in the first place.  While he comes from modest roots (he was actually a used car salesman prior to this acting debut), Lazenby still has incredible charm, confidence and a playful sense of braggadocio.  In many ways, he is the underdog that you cannot help but cheer on.  (No spoilers but his account of how he actually locks down the James Bond role is so bizarre that you simply won’t believe it.)

And, herein lies the irony of Becoming Bond.

While Lazenby seems earnest in his desire to share openly all aspects of his life, the film constantly seems to wink at the audience in the most playful of ways.  Through its use of studio sets in the historic re-enactments, the imagery takes on an ‘old Hollywood’ look (incidentally, not unlike the Bond films themselves).  By casting recognizable actors (Dana Carvey, Jane Seymour, Jeff Garlin, and more) in key roles, Greenbaum also manages to take the audience out of the documented moment, giving it the feel of a television sit-com or Monty Python sketch. Through the use of all of these stylistic devices, the film spins its narrative in such a way as to be both convincing and unbelievable.

While not necessarily it’s goal (or is it?), Becoming Bond actually raises some interesting questions about the nature of truth in this regard.  Is an event true because it’s how we remember it?  (After all, when asked how much of his story is true, Lazenby seamlessly answers “How could I remember it if it isn’t true?”)  Is it objective? Becoming Bond seems to land somewhere in between, where truth is a living construct, constantly moving in the ebb and flow of memory. In the end, Lazenby’s tale is one you absolutely want to believe—but does that mean it’s actually true?  After all, as Lazenby believes, “You can defy what people expect of you and write your own story.”

This is a story that is so intriguing, you’ll have to see it to believe it.

Trust me.

Becoming Bond is playing at May 3, 8:30 pm, TIFF 1; May 4, 3:45 pm,Isabel Bader; May 5, 7 pm, TIFF 1