By Skidmore Music Co. Inc. – https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-4f77-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99#/?uuid=510d47da-4f77-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75609690
There were 13 #1 songs in 1923, 100 years ago. Yes! We Have No Bananas was two of them. Frank Silver and Irving Cohn wrote the song for the 1922 Broadway revue Make It Snappy. Eddie Cantor sang it in the revue.
The Wikipedia page offers context. “Silver explained the origin of the song to Time Magazine: ‘I am an American, of Jewish ancestry, with a wife and a young son. About a year ago, my little orchestra was playing at a Long Island hotel. To and from the hotel, I was wont to stop at a fruit stand owned by a Greek, who began every sentence with ‘Yes.’ The jingle of his idiom haunted me and my friend Cohn. Finally, I wrote this verse, and Cohn fitted it with a tune.'”
In addition to those listed below, recordings by the Great White Way Orchestra with Billy Murray got to #3, Benny Krueger to #8, and Sam Lanin to #15 that same year.
It was later covered by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Spike Jones & His City Slickers, and at least five dozen other versions.
The tune also inspired a response song, “I’ve Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues”, recorded by Cantor, which got to #2, and Belle Baker to #11, also in 1923.
I’ve made a concerted effort to see as many 2023 Oscar-nominated films as possible, all at the cinema. I try to see them in the movie theater because I can “give in” to the film easier, without the distraction of the phones or the cleaning that needs to be done.
If I watched it, there’s an asterisk (*) before it. And if I reviewed it, I link to it. I’m not predicting anything here, only noting my rooting interests.
Indeed, I’ll not watch the awards show on Sunday, March 12, though I may record it to watch a few highlights.
*THE FABELMANS; Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
*TÁR; Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, and Scott Lambert, Producers
TOP GUN: MAVERICK; Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS; Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers *WOMEN TALKING, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Frances McDormand, Producers
I’m rooting for EEAAO, which I found, beneath its veneer of weird, told a compelling immigrant story. My second pick would be All Quiet On The Western Front. I also liked The Fabelmans, partly because of this spoiler-laden essay in Think Christian.
Avatar would be my last pick, which among other things, was trying to be too many movies at once. Triangle of Sadness was at my local theater again early in 2023, but life got in the way; it’s playing once next week, and I may go. Also the new Top Gun is returning, which I hope to see before Sunday, March 12.
While Farrell played a convincing nice dolt, Butler embodied Elvis. But Fraser was excellent.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
*CATE BLANCHETT, Tár
ANA DE ARMAS, Blonde
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH, To Leslie
*MICHELLE WILLIAMS, The Fabelmans
*MICHELLE YEOH, Everything Everywhere All at Once
I’m pulling for Michelle, either one, though Yeoh a little more. Blanchett is always excellent. BTW, I thought the investigation of Riseborough’s campaign was a nothing burger.
Conversely, the suggestion that Danielle Deadwyler (Till) and Viola Davis (The Woman King) were subjected to misogynoir is credible. In any case, Riseborough’s surprise nom almost certainly came at the expense of Deadwyler, which Riseborough does not discount.
Sustenation
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
*BRENDAN GLEESON, The Banshees of Inisherin
BRIAN TYREE HENRY, Causeway
*JUDD HIRSCH, The Fabelmans
*BARRY KEOGHAN, The Banshees of Inisherin
*KE HUY QUAN, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Supporting roles are so varied. Hirsch came in for filming a few days, but Gleeson shows up throughout. Yet Ke Huy Quan will, and should win.
*JAMIE LEE CURTIS, Everything Everywhere All at Once
*STEPHANIE HSU, Everything Everywhere All at Once
I saw all of the performances in this category! And I like them all. Bassett has… presence. Hong Chau was the window to the outside world. Condon was the glue that allowed for communication between the two men. This is Curtis’ first nomination after 40 years in the business. If I had to pick one, it would be Hsu, a worthy antagonist.
Scribes
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
*ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, Screenplay – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY, Written by Rian Johnson
*LIVING, Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
TOP GUN: MAVERICK, Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
*WOMEN TALKING, Screenplay by Sarah Polley
Women Talking, though I wish I’d seen the new Knives Out.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
*THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, Written by Martin McDonagh
*EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
*THE FABELMANS, Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
*TÁR, Written by Todd Field
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, Written by Ruben Östlund
EEAAO by the Daniels, though TÁR was interesting.
Action!
DIRECTING
*THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, Martin McDonagh
*EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
*THE FABELMANS, Steven Spielberg
*TÁR, Todd Field
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, Ruben Östlund
Any of the ones I saw I’d consider, though I’m leaning slightly toward Field.
Cinematography: I saw three of the five, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, ELVIS, and TÁR. I thought the former’s war motif was most striking.
Of the three films I saw in the Costume Design category, EEAAO blew me away, though BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER was very impressive, and ELVIS wasn’t shabby.
For film editing, EEAAO doesn’t work without great skill in this area. ALL QUIET is the only International Film I saw, though THE QUIET GIRL is coming to the area. Makeup and hairstyling: THE WHALE is in a strong category; I did not see THE BATMAN.
Musical score: BANSHEES; I didn’t see BABYLON. Production design: the four I saw were all good, but the second AVATAR is mesmerizing; ditto for its Visual Effects. Sound: ALL QUIET.
I’ll deal with the shorts in a separate post. I have seen none of the documentary features.
Russ Feingold, Elaine Chao, the late Louie Anderson
Here are some people born the same month as I was. The crux of the matter is that all this year, I’ve been briefly mentioning folks born in 1953, and I will continue to do so. But these ones are my fellow Marchians. Martians? Whatever.
Chaka Khan (23rd): She was born Yvette Marie Stevens in Chicago. I first knew her as the vocalist for the band Rufus, who had hits such as Once You Get Started in the mid-70s. As a solo artist, I’m Every Woman (#21 pop, #1 for three weeks RB in 1978), written by Ashford and Simpson; and I Feel For You (#3 pop for three weeks, #1 for three weeks RB in 1984, gold record, Grammy winner), penned by Prince.
Also check out I’ll Be Good To You (#18 pop, #1 for two weeks RB in 1990, Grammy winner) from from the great Back On The Block album by Quincy Jones; this track features Ray Charles and Chaka on a song written by and originally performed by The Brothers Johnson.
But my FAVORITE song of hers has to be the Rufus track Tell Me Something Good (#3 pop for three weeks, #3 RB in 1974, gold record, Grammy winner), written by Stevie Wonder.
She’s been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seven times, four times with Rufus, and thrice as a solo artist.
My endorsement
Russ Feingold (2nd) served as a United States Senator (D-WI) from 1993 to 2011. He “cosponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act)… Russ was the only Senator to vote against the initial enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act during the first vote on the legislation and was well-known for his opposition to the Iraq War and as the Senate’s leading opponent of the death penalty. “
He is now the President of the American Constitution Society. And in 2005 (!), I wrote in this blog that he was my preferred candidate for President in 2008.
Armen Keteyian (6th) is a reporter on both the hard news and the sports beats. “An 11-time Emmy award winner, he has spent 30 years as a network television correspondent for World News Tonight, CBS Sports and News,… and 60 Minutes. He has also authored or co-authored 10 books.”
More music
Jimmy Iovine (11th) co-founded Interscope Records, co-produced the Oscar-winning film 8 Mile that starred Eminem, and scads more. I know him as a producer for albums by Patti Smith, Meat Loaf, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Dire Straits, Stevie Nicks, U2, Pretenders, and many others. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Carl Hiassen (12th) “was born and raised in a bizarre place called Florida, where he still lives. His books have been described as savagely funny,riotous, and cathartic. Oddly, they are beloved even by readers who’ve never set foot in the Sunshine State.”
Louie Anderson (24th) was a ubitiquitous comedic presence on television. In a show called Baskets (2016-2019), which I never saw, he played the mother figure and won an Emmy. He was on a lot of game shows, including a particularly lame one called Funny You Should Ask (2017-2019); he did not look well. Louie Anderson died on January 21, 2022. His website is still up so you can still buy his books, but I can’t find a mention of his passing.
Elaine Chao (26th) was Secretary of Labor (2001-2009) in the George W. Bush administration, making her the first Asian-American to serve in a Presidential cabinet. Then she was Secretary of Transportation (2017-2021). She had been the target of racist verbal taunts by her former boss, Trump. Her husband since 1993, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has not responded publicly to the comments. But now she has.
The movie Women Talking should get a truth-in-advertising seal. It really is about women talking. It’s what they are talking about that’s noteworthy.
The narrative is based on Miriam Toews’s 2018 novel of the same name. In turn, it was “based on a true story of vicious serial rapes in an insular, ultraconservative Mennonite community in Bolivia.” The geography in the movie is not stated, but there is a specific reference to the 2010 Census, which suggests rural locale in the United States, though the speech pattern suggests Canada, where it was filmed.
In the real-life Bolivian community, “from 2005 to 2009, nine men in the Manitoba Colony, using livestock tranquilizers, drugged female victims ranging in age from three to sixty and violently raped them at night. When the girls and women awoke bruised and covered in blood, the men of the colony dismissed their reports as ‘wild female imagination’–even when they became pregnant from the assaults–or punishments from God or by demons for their supposed sins.”
Some of this narrative is incorporated in the movie, briefly shown in flashback. The men in the community are in town, but they are returning in 48 hours. What should the women do? They vote to choose among three options: stay and do nothing, stay and fight, or leave the colony. And since none of them can read or write,the tally sheet required pictures to insure that the women knew their choices.
The latter two options tied for the lead, so three families of women are appointed to meet in a barn and decide for the collective. And in doing so, figure out, e.g., what “stay and fight” would mean.
More than rhetoric
I know Women Talking could be perceived as another #MeToo movie, and I have seen reviews that suggest just that, which I think is a bit surfacy. Here’s a piece of one review: “WOMEN TALKING is a movie for people who think ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is too subtle an allegory about women being suppressed by the patriarchy.” No; just no.
What intrigued me was how the conversation was framed by their faith in God. Should the men be forgiven? What kind of God is there that would have the women do so? Another review summary I hated: “For all talk of a new order, Women Talking is eager to reassure us of its lack of interest in really rocking the boat, even outright including the phrase ‘not all men.'” These women are are doing a Brand New Thing, and they’re figuring it out, not coming out the gate with the proper framework.
The cast is stellar. It includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, and Ben Whishaw. Sarah Polley, the director and writer of the screenplay, made a deliberate choice of the not-quite-black-and-white motif, perhaps to echo the ambivalence of their choices and the consequences of same.
Incidentally, I really liked Polley’s 2013 documentary Stories We Tell.
My wife and I saw Women Talking at a Saturday matinee in mid-February. There were about a dozen and half people in the theater; there was at least one other male in the audience.
Pictured: Sydney Joyner, Caitie Grady, Rebecca Jade, Joy Yandell, Janaya Jones & Angela Chatelain Avila.
Manufactured outrage: phneh and giving a horse an apple and Super Bowl edition
How Poland, Long Leery of Foreigners, Opened Up to Ukrainians
SCOTUS will consider whether tech giants can be sued for allegedly aiding ISIS terrorism. You need to know about Section 230, the most important law for online speech.
MTG’s dream of a “national divorce” deserves a serious response
Masks Revisited. Despite common misreporting, a recent Cochrane review, limited in scope and problematic methodology, does NOT show that masks do not work. Check out this
Now I Know: The Crows Didn’t Mind Dick Cheney, Though and When Bees Get Too Buzzed and The Worst House Money Can’t Buy and The Secret Writer’s Secret and The TV News Program’s Key Mistake and Why This Reindeer Looks Like It Has a Lightsaber Hat
Culcha
BAFTA Awards. Two days after the awards came out, someone told me several of their friends posted online that the Oscars had taken place. Nah, it was lost in translation; probably, the friends missed that it was the so-called “British Oscars”
The book “Side by Side in Eternity:” by James Robert McNeil and J. Eric Smith is now available. I have my copy. There’s a chapter about Apollo 1, one defining event growing up.
The six-year making of the Wait But Why book What’s Our Problem: a self-help book for societies
Ana de Armas Thinks Social Media Has Ruined the “Concept of a Movie Star.” “For the most part, we’ve done that to ourselves — nobody’s keeping anything from anyone anymore.” This has been self-evident for a long while.
Milestones
60 of 23 and Michael Jordan donates $10M to Make-A-Wish for 60th birthday
Rebecca Jade, the first niece, was nominated for FIVE San Diego Music Awards, which will be taking place on April 25. You can VOTE EVERY DAY. Vote in category 20, Best R&B, Funk, or Soul Song for Show Me; category 21, Best R&B, Funk, or Soul Album, for A Shade of Jade (available for $9); category 25, Artist of the Year; category 26, Song of the Year; and category 27, Album of the Year. You could also vote in category 4, Best Jazz or Blues Album, for Peter Sprague Plays the Beatles – Day Tripper, featuring vocals by Rebecca Jade, which one can download for $10.
Rebecca ALSO appears in a musical called RESPECT about the great music of the female singers of the 1960s at Lamb’s Player Theater in San Diego through April 9. (Picture above.)
I’ve made a concerted effort to see as 
Here are some people born the same month as I was. The crux of the matter is that all this year, I’ve been briefly mentioning folks born in 1953, and I will continue to do so. But these ones are my fellow Marchians. Martians? Whatever.
The 