Movies: Leave the World Behind

I can’t remember the last time I reacted this negatively to a film’s ending. The premise: A vacationing family led by Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke find themselves in an unraveling world — a ship barrels ashore while they are luxuriating on a beach; then cell phones and internet quit working (the ultimate horror). It goes further downhill from there in a what’s-going-on puzzle that continually teases the viewer with vague clues such as mysterious animal behavior. Meanwhile, another couple arrives to add cultural and political tension to the mix (groans). 

The movie strongly reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan’s notorious The Happening (with less wind) and, to a lesser extent, Stephen King’s novel Cell. At its best, Leave the World Behind weaves several tense threads together in thrilling fashion and achieves a compounding sense of dread, but the film then simply ends as things appear on the verge of greater calamity without providing any resolution apart from the daughter's quest to see the final episode of Friends. I know that sometimes a filmmaker wants us to be left with a puzzle to ponder, but it just doesn’t work here. It’s an infuriating ending, and, while I do not condone violence, it left me wanting to throw large objects at director Sam Esmail.

Now streaming on Netflix  //  2 hours 21 minutes  //  2.5 stars out of 5

Some true things about Milli Vanilli

 Ok, Eddie … This one’s for you.

The Paramount+ documentary Milli Vanilli spends much of its time portraying the fake duo’s surviving member Fabrice Morvan as a sympathetic figure, a victim of show business and, particularly, producer Frank Farian, who lured the naive duo into a contract that they did not read or understand. But, late in the documentary, Morvan has the gall to say that yes, a small part of him still feels that he deserved that Grammy award for all the hard work they put in touring the world for promotion while eating caviar and living the life of a star. The moment underscores the sketchiness that tainted everyone involved.

One of the actual lead vocalists, Charles Shaw, is positively seething throughout the documentary, and rightly so. To its credit, the show brings to light the fact that Farian was a repeat offender who previously undertook similar shenanigans with the immensely popular Boney M. The other person with the most screen time is Farian’s business manager/girlfriend Ingrid “Milli” Segieth, who gives the scandalous details of the real singers sneaking in the back entrance after hours and her love for Rob Pilatus.

The documentary goes on for a very long time — at least a half hour too long as it dwells on Morvan’s lmaudlin reflections — yet it manages to largely gloss over the appeal of the music, a triumphant string of five top five U.S. singles, including three consecutive number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of the songs aren’t even mentioned by name, although Dianne Warren does appear for about 15 seconds to acknowledge her contribution. The song “Girl You Know It’s True” sounded like nothing else on the airwaves in late 1988/early 1989. Farian is a clever producer who also made hits for the likes of La Bouche, No Mercy and Le Click, and I would like to have heard some talk about how he cooked up the winning Milli Vanilli sound. To my ‘80s pop loving ears, the best of the bunch was the version of “Baby Don’t Forget My Number” that appears on the greatest hits album — likely a single remix. Of the album tracks that didn’t get released as singles, most of them are unremarkable, but there was one potential hit left on the table — “Take It As It Comes” — a Climie Fisher co-write that is as instantly catchy as the album’s hits.

Through the whole documentary, there’s a galling lack of anyone accepting any genuine responsibility for what transpired, from record label executives who appeared shifty and unprepared for basic questions to Morvan himself. And there was a surprising lack of consequences once the jig was up. Yes, Rob Pilatus arguably lost his life as a direct or indirect result and there was the public shaming of being stripped of the Best New Artist Grammy, but a lot of people made a lot of money and carried on with their merry lives. It does feel like something that should rise to the level of criminality. When it was discovered in the 1950s that game shows were making up the outcomes, there wasn’t just outraged headlines — there were congressional hearings and strict new rules at the TV networks. But when the music world made up Milli Vanilli, everyone involved said: Ah, just blame it on the rain.

Music that moved me in 2022

The blog reignites this week with a belated look back at the music of 2022. This ritual has occurred most every year since 2005 and must carry on, regardless of what life throws my way.

One of the most interesting developments of the year was courtesy of the Netflix show Stranger Things — I would never have believed Kate Bush would have a big top 5 hit at this late date, and it was great to see a quirky ‘80s tune like “Running Up That Hill” sprinting up the chart.

Looking at music released in or not too far from 2022, heritage acts pretty much defined my year in music as tabulated by last.fm based on both my streaming and local listening. Tears for Fears claims both the album and single crown with The Tipping Point and “No Small Thing,” respectively. Duran Duran’s stunning Future Past was the number two album (it also took the runner-up spot for 2021), and ABBA took number three with Voyage. I was obsessed with the lyrics to “Don’t Shut Me Down” for much of the year (like a dream within a dream that’s been decoded, etc.).

My first reaction to The Tipping Point was to walk away from it, because the pomp and grandeur of TFF does not, at first listen, seem to be there. It is, though, on a more subtle scale. The gentle guitar strums that open the album on “No Small Thing” are a fake-out, as the song gradually builds to an intoxicating crescendo. It is a beautiful album that, in the TFF cannon, bears the most resemblance to the post-split Elemental. This would be a fine swan song, but I hope they have another one or more in them.

The heavy rotation of Future Past placed a stack of songs in the top 50: “Wing,” #15; “Future Past,” #28; “Invisible,” #35; “Nothing Less,” #36; and “All of You,” #46.

I had a pretty good bit of memorial airplay going on in 2022, bringing Vangelis in at #27 with the rousing instrumental “Chariots of Fire” and Olivia Newton-John at #78 with the rousing ‘80s pop of “Physical.” Meat Loaf is in there as well with three six- to eight-minute placings from the Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell album.

What’s so hot about the Hot 100? // This year again finds three points of crossover between my chart and the Hot 100, surprisingly all in the top 10 of the Hot 100.

— As It Was • Harry Styles // #2 Billboard, #72 Me

— Ghost • Justin Bieber // #8 Billboard, #49 Me

— Cold Heart (Pnau remix) • Elton John and Dua Lipa // #10 Billboard, #58 Me. This one actually topped my rolling chart with a long run at #1 in the second half of 2021 and finished at #38 for 2021. I love it that Elton John, after being frozen out of the pop chart for the last couple of decades, made the top 10 of the year on the Hot 100 with this fantastic mashup.

Click here to go down the rabbit hole with past years' recaps.