Cartoons Sunday!

Plus a Best Film list (mine) and Leonard Cohen joined by Sonny Rollins.

Greg Mitchell’s new award-winning film, with a focus on nuclear dangers today, will start streaming via PBS, and screening, on PBS stations, on July 12. Last week the companion e-book with the same title was published: “The Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero—and Nuclear Peril Today.” It includes previously unpublished images and provocative material from the film and much more. Read more here. Thanks.

Here we are again, trying to bring a bit of light, or at least music and cartoons, to sad, violent, Trump World. Did you see this?

No Spartacus in sight::

President Donald Trump wants UFC fight on White House grounds

Plus:

Switching to a (usually) more pleasant subject: You’ve probably seen the hype over the past couple of weeks for The New York Times’ rundown of the alleged Best 100 movies of this century, as chosen by a mixed bag of critics, actors and directors, writers and other not exactly subjective characters. The top two chosen—”Mulholland Drive” and “Parasite”—can pretty much tell you where it was heading, and probably no need to cite that there are two Wes Anderson flicks in the top 22 (remember, of the century).

Naturally, there were relatively few foreign films picked, you know, the ones with subtitles. Believe me, when you get to my age and your hearing starts slipping, you’ll love subtitles as much as I always have. The Times also offered casual readers a chance to submit our own Top Ten and even make a little graphic out of it, see mine below. The readers’ poll didn’t differ all that much from the elite one but mine is pretty fringey, though reflects my “taste” nowadays.

About half of those are very firmly placed but I might want to swap out three or four. If I did here are others strongly considered: A Prophet, Spotlight, The Florida Project, Barbara, The Act of Killing, Children of God, Brokeback Mountain, Amour, Beanpole, Short Term 12, Mystic River, Away from Her, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and Two Days, Shoplifters, To Leslie, In Bruges.

No new tunes to find this busy holiday weekend so will go with one of the greatest TV spots ever, Leonard Cohen joined by….Sonny Rollins, who takes over, on “Who By Fire.”

From Tunes to Toons

Steve Brodner: