We The Animals (2018)

During the last decade, there have been many indie films of a small to minimal budget that tell the story of people who face economic and/or social marginalization, mainly told from the point of view of a child or a teenager. These films resonated with the critics and with wider audiences than they dared hope for. They include (chronologically) "Winter’s Bone" (2010), "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012), "Tangerine" (2015), "The Florida Project" (2017), culminating with last year's surprise Best Picture Oscar winner, "Moonlight". We have two such movies this year, Debra Granik's long-awaited follow-up to "Winter’s Bone", "Leave No Trace", as well as a film directed by Jeremiah Zagar, who had until then only directed documentaries and shorts. The film is based on the loosely autobiographical novel by Justin Torres, "We the Animals". This is also the film's title. I watched it a couple of hours ago, found it thoroughly fulfilling - and have decided to talk to you about it. There will be some spoilers - I'll try not to overdo it though.

"We the Animals", which takes place in the 1980s, tells the story of Jonah (an amazing first-time actor Evan Rosado), a nine-year-old at the film's start, along with his older brothers, Manny and Joel (two also great first-time child actors, Isaiah Kristian, and Josiah Gabriel), and their volatile parents (exquisite acting by "Looking"'s breakthrough Raúl Castillo and Sheila Vand).

The family's very modest house is surrounded by picturesque forests, rivers, and lakes (it was filmed in upstate New York). This beautiful landscape sometimes contrasts this family's shoestring existence and more often illustrates the characters' feelings, whether they be joy, love, pain, anger, or frustration.

The father works as a security guard, a Puerto Rican with an easy and charming personality but also equally easy and often chilling outbursts of anger. He drifts from job to job, as he drifts in and out of his family's life. It is not explicitly stated but it is heavily implied that racial bias has something to do with his professional instability.

Race lingers on the movie's outer limits. When Dustin (Giovanni Pacciarelli), the blond older boy that is Jonah's love interest, calls Jonah a Mexican and Jonah protests that he isn't, Dustin bares his white arm and compares it to Jonah's brown one. "Anyway, you are more Mexican than I am", he says, as if "Mexican" is a skin tone and not a nationality.

The mother, a white girl from Brooklyn who was impregnated by her future husband as a teenager, works in a factory and is prone to bouts of depression, most of which are related to her husband's behavior. At one point she stays in bed for days, leaving the boys to fend for themselves. 

The children are the film's beating heart. They are originally very close to each other, which is as much sibling love as well as a defense mechanism for the dangers that surround them. The scenes where they hug and chant "Body Heat! Body Heat!" are endearing. Then, as they enter adolescence, they begin growing apart: the opening rift is especially evident between the older brothers and Jonah, who is gradually realizing his same-sex attraction. He acts on this attraction - and eventually is subject to an involuntary coming out. I won't say more, because - spoilers.

 The film is full of powerful scenes: the boys role-playing their parents on the phone, a terrifying swimming lesson in the middle of a dark stream, the voyeuristic experience of the boys witnessing the parents engaged in intimacy from behind a shower curtain, a family ride in the new truck, and then a ride in the same truck which has broken down and is being towed, at the same day that the father had lost his job.

"While Zagar doesn’t force the material into many surprising places, it’s a fully realized tapestry, owing much to the complex, layered score by Nick Zammuto that hums through nearly every scene, and frequent cutaways to hand-drawn animation based on the scrapbook that Jonah stores under his bed at night. These wild crayon doodles say far more about the intensity of the child’s psychological struggles than any words he could offer up, and the filmmakers help him along. Cinematographer Zak Mulligan’s camera floats alongside the family, often at eye level with the petite Jonah, and the gentle light evokes the ephemeral nature of his life." (Eric Kohn, IndieWire.)

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 74 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dreamlike and haunting, We the Animals approaches the coming-of-age odyssey with a uniquely documentarian eye." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

This is the film's trailer:

This is a short "making of" with interviews of the movie's delightful young protagonists:

This is Justin Torres, on whose novel the film is based, talking about a key moment in his life:

These are Raúl Castillo (the movie dad) & the film's director, Jeremiah Zagar, discussing the film:

Nick Zammuto composed an excellent soundtrack. This is a short review:

You can listen to the whole soundtrack if you click here. I especially like the closing song, Nobody's Baby, which is sung a cappella by one of the film's young actors, Josiah Gabriel.

Knowing me, you know that I always want to use songs in my stories. Some scenes in the film made me think about certain songs. (Minor spoilers follow). Here are the songs:

The film's finale inspired me to think of Paul Simon's Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard:

When dad is fired from his job, I thought of King Harvest (Has Surely Come) by The Band:

When the children watch the sexy video, I recalled Randy Newman's Let's Burn Down The Cornfield:

The scene where the mother asks her youngest to always remain a kid for her sake brought to mind Billie Holiday's God Bless The Child:

When Jonah and Dustin kiss, my mind drifted to The Crystals' Then He Kissed Me:

As Jonah is returning home, after that kiss, I thought of Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby:

The scene in which the mother takes the children with her in an attempt to leave her husband made me think of Tori Amos' Me And A Gun:

To avoid any misunderstandings, none of these songs' words exactly correspond to the movie's content. It is more of a "free association" reaction on my part. So, don't try to make direct comparisons between these songs' lyrics and the content of the film. It's more abstract than that.

The bottom line is that "We The Animals" is a great film and that you should really watch it, whether you are straight or gay. Trust me.

The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#135-130) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! It's the weekend, which means it's time for our Motown countdown.

Johnny Gill

Position #135 is occupied by Stevie Wonder and his 1982 hit single Do I Do. The song features a rare example of Stevie Wonder rapping near the end of the track. Dizzy Gillespie is also featured on the track with a trumpet solo. Both of these are removed from the single edit of the song (some longer edits include the Gillespie solo but leave out the rapping). The song is noted by bassists for its intricate bassline, played by Nathan Watts.

A commercial success (#13 on the US Hot 100, #2 on the R&B chart, #1 on the Dance chart, and #10 in the UK), it was the recipient of three Grammy Award nominations including for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

This is the 7" single version:

This is the 12" version:

Smooth jazz artist Gerald Veasley did a cover version of this song for his album On the Fast Track(2001):

Also in 2001, Ja Rule sampled it for his song, Livin' It Up:

At #134 is a classic song with a long history, called Help Me Make It Through the Night. Let's listen to the version in our list first, performed by the fabulous Gladys Knight & the Pips. Their version was released in 1972 and peaked at #11 in the UK, at #13 on the US R&B chart, and at #33 on the Hot 100. Here it is:

However, the song was written and originally performed by the great Kris Kristofferson in 1970. This is his version:

It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith. Smith's recording of the song remains the most commercially successful and most well-known version in the United States. Her recording ranks among the most successful country singles of all time in terms of sales, popularity, and radio airplay. It topped the country singles chart, and was also a crossover hit, reaching #8 on the Hot 100:

Other charting versions:

In 1971, Joe Simon hit #69 on the Hot 100 and #13 on the R&B chart. In 1974, John Holt made a reggae version of the song, which peaked at #6 in the UK. This is it:

In 1975, the French Canadian singer Claude Valade recorded a French version of the song, Aide-moi à passer la Nuit. It was a top 3 hit in Canada. Here it is:

In 1980, Willie Nelson covered the song. His rendition became a hit on the Country music charts of both the US and Canada:

In 2007, it was recorded for a second time in French with Annie Blanchard and the song made the Top 20 for 26 weeks, reaching a high of #6:

Here are some other notable versions: in 1971, it was recorded by numerous artists, Johnny Mathis among them:

... Andy Williams was another:

In 1972 it was recorded by Elvis Presley:

Bryan Adams covered the song in 2014:

There are hundreds of versions but let's listen to just one more, the most recent. It was released a couple of days ago - and it's a duet between Michael Bublé and Loren Allred:

At #133 there is nothing because there are two songs at #132 in a tie. Let's listen to the most recent one first. In 1990, Johnny Gill released a song that would become his signature song, My, My, My. It was also a big hit in the US, #1 R&B and #10 on the Hot 100.

Johnny Gill (photo) was young when he recorded My, My, My but already he was a music veteran. His recording career began in 1982, at the age of 16, when his childhood friend Stacy Lattisaw convinced him to record a demo. This demo fell into the hands of the president of Atlantic Records, and his first self-titled debut album was released shortly thereafter on Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records. Gill then teamed up with Stacy for the duet album Perfect Combination. A second solo album, Chemistry, was released in 1985.

Gill began a new chapter in his career in 1987 when he was recruited by Michael Bivins to join New Edition. Bobby Brown had been voted out of the group and Gill was brought in to replace lead singer Ralph Tresvant, who was rumored at the time to be leaving to pursue a solo career. Gill became the only member of New Edition who was not from Boston. With Gill, the oldest member, as one of the lead singers (along with Tresvant, who ended up staying with New Edition and delaying the launch of his solo career) on the album Heart Break, the group developed a more mature, adult sound, hitting the charts with songs such as Can You Stand The Rain, N.E. Heartbreak, If It Isn't Love, and the Gill-led Boys To Men. Then came his solo album, which contained the big hit, My, My, My. Here it is:

In 1990, saxophonist Gerald Albright covered the song:

Also at #132, is a classic: Diana Ross & the Supremes' Love Child (1968). It became the Supremes' 11th (and penultimate) number-one single in the United States.

In 1967, Diana Ross & the Supremes dropped Florence Ballard, acquired new member Cindy Birdsong and added Ross' name to the billing. Following this string of changes, the Supremes had mixed success on the pop charts. Reflections peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and In and out of Love peaked at #9, but the group's next two singles did not make the top twenty.

This prompted Motown label chief Berry Gordy to hold a special meeting in a room at the Pontchartrain Hotel in Detroit, which was attended by a team of writers and producers at the label, including R. Dean Taylor, Frank Wilson, Pam Sawyer, Deke Richards, and Henry Cosby. The group, who named themselves The Clan, set to work on a hit single for Diana Ross & the Supremes. Instead of composing another love-based song, the team decided to craft a tune about a woman who is asking her boyfriend not to pressure her into sleeping with him, for fear they would conceive a "love child." The woman, portrayed on the record by Diana Ross, is herself a love child, and, besides not having a father at home, had to endure wearing rags to school and growing up in an "old, cold, run-down tenement slum." The background vocals echo this sentiment, asking the boyfriend to please "wait/wait won't you wait now/hold on/wait/just a little bit longer."

As was nearly always the case on singles released under the "Diana Ross & the Supremes" name, Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong do not perform on the record; Motown session singers The Andantes performed the background vocals. All lead vocals were by Diana Ross, who would leave the group in a year for a solo career.

The public responded immediately to Love Child when it was released as a single on September 30, 1968, rising to #1 on the Hot 100 and becoming the third biggest selling Supremes' single behind Baby Love and Someday We'll Be Together. The feat was repeated in Canada, where it also reached #. In the UK, the song peaked at #15, and in Australia at #3. This is it:

The song was covered by One to One in 1988 - this version peaked at #43 in Canada:

In 1990, a more successful cover by Sweet Sensation peaked at #13 on the Hot 100:

It was also sampled by Janet Jackson in her 1994 #8 single You Want This:

There is no song at #131 either - because there are two songs at #130. First, let's listen to Gerald Alston and Slow Motion. Alston was the lead singer with the Manhattans, who had a huge hit in the late 1970s with Kiss And Say Goodbye. Between 1988 and 1995, he left the group to record five albums and ten solo singles, the most successful of which was 1990's Slow Motion, peaking at #3 on the US R&B chart. Here it is:

Finally for today, also at #130, is a classic by Marvin Gaye, titled Got to Give It Up. Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart as a response to a request from Gaye's record label that he perform disco music, it was released in March of 1977.

After the start of the song, which includes vocal chatter, the song kicks off with a standard drum beat: kick, snare, and hi-hat while synthesizers are heard soon afterwards. After nearly a minute, Gaye's vocals appear in a falsetto, which he sings in for most of the song. In the second half, after harmonizing in falsetto, Gaye's tenor vocals take over.

The song's storyline focuses on a man who is a wallflower when he comes into a nightclub nervous to perform on the dance floor. But after a minute of this, the music takes over and his body starts to lose any inhibitions. Midway through he finally cuts loose before shouting the chant "non-stop express, party y'all; feel no distress, I'm at my best - let's dance, let's shout, gettin' funky what it's all about!" proving the power of the dance can overtake any shyness. The dance is mainly focused on Gaye and a suitable female partner he seeks. In the second half, a funkier jazz arrangement is helped in guitar, bass, and a tambourine. After this, he continues chanting until the song fades.

The record was released in March 1977 and would soon top all three major US singles charts - the Hot 100, the R&B chart, and the Disco chart. The single also peaked at #5 in Canada and at #7 in the UK. This is the 7" single version:

This is the 12" version:

Gaye's song became an important influence and motivation for Michael Jackson, who was searching to write a potential hit after The Jacksons had struggled with previous offerings. Jackson later wrote, with brother Randy, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), adapting parts of Gaye's chant, transforming it into "let's dance, let's shout, shake your body down to the ground". The song, Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough, written solely by Jackson and recorded the same year as Shake Your Body, took even more of Gaye's approach with Got to Give It Up, using percussive instruments and a continued funk guitar riff. Jackson sings most of the song in falsetto. Jackson's producer Quincy Jones added in strings used during the instrumental intro and a synthesizer guitar during the song's bridge. Much like the party chatter in Got to Give It Up, Jackson added in vocal chatter; however, the chatter would later be debated as two people having a verbal argument while the tape was recording (a woman could be heard hollering "I love your little ass anyway!"). Jackson and Jones allowed the argument in the recording. It's a song that I love, so let's listen to it:

The 2013 hit single Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and song co-writer T.I. was the subject of a lawsuit for allegedly copying Got to Give It Up. Thicke originally told the public both he and Pharrell were in the recording studio and suddenly Thicke told Pharrell "Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove" and they wrote the song in less than an hour. However, Thicke later claimed this was all a lie and the song was entirely written by Pharrell. Thicke stated, "I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio." On March 10, 2015, a federal jury found Blurred Lines infringed on Got to Give It Up and awarded nearly $7.4 million to Gaye's children. Jurors found against Pharrell and Thicke but held harmless the record company and T.I. Here it is:

Aaliyah released a cover version of Got to Give It Up, in 1996:

Tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders also covered the song, in 1977:

Now, let's continue with our statistics; it was a normalizing week - and nothing particularly impressive happened. the United States, Belgium, and Spain had a small increase, France, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and Turkey suffered minor losses, while the other major players kept their percentages more or less stable.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. the United Kingdom

3. Australia

4. Germany

5. Canada

6. Greece

7. France

8. Brazil

9. Belgium

10. Spain

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Argentina, Aruba, Austria, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, FYR Of Macedonia, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, and Zambia. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 32.2%

2. France = 18.1%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.6%

4. Greece = 8.4%

5. Russia = 2.3%

6. Canada = 1.8%

7. Germany = 1.8%

8. Italy = 0.98%

9. Cyprus = 0.90%

10. Turkey = 0.74%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!