The Cinematic Art of Memorializing

Plus: Travis Kelce, Percy Jackson and our pop culture resolutions

View this email online by Aisha Harris Hiya! It was the week Mickey Mouse became a murderous freak, and Disney couldn’t do anything about it. It was the week we learned someone finally “beat” Tetris. And it was the week Katt Williams accused Steve Harvey of plagiarism and referred to him as “Mr. Potato Head” – amidst many, many other bold and brash proclamations. (Lots more at the news quiz.) Let's get to it. The Cinematic Art of Memorializing We're entering awards season, and for those of us who watch these ceremonies every year either for work or for fun, the one reliable constant is that, sandwiched somewhere between corny presenter banter and the occasionally rousing winner's speech, there will be an "In Memoriam" tribute. These segments are rarely satisfying; some pretty important figure is inevitably left off the list, while the whole affair's usually rushed and sloppy. (Or edited in such a way that the honorees are overshadowed by the dignified performance of an obvious Sad Song by an industry-approved John Legend-type, or John Legend himself.) During these pomp displays of mourning I appreciate even more TCM's own annual tribute to the dearly departed within the film industry, TCM Remembers, the latest of which dropped a couple of weeks ago. It feels a little gauche to say I look forward to the release of these short videos every December, but I do; there's an art to montage, and it's especially tricky to refine when it's a montage reflecting morbidity, an inherently maudlin exercise. One of the earliest iterations of the classic movie network's efforts proves this. It's not terrible, but it's … pretty boring? Almost as though someone were reading off a list of names while standing in front of a screen projecting clips. Happy recollections of your favorite classic movie performers alone aren't enough to make a montage like this really sing. TCM Over time, however, TCM has become the gold standard for these sorts of exercises, understanding that to achieve an effective in memoriam, you have to strike just the right balance between sentimentality, fond remembrance and aesthetics. Sound is crucial. With TCM's memorials, the song selections are certainly sad and wistful and lamenting, capturing some sort of universal feeling about being young once or wishing to go back to "the night we met" – but they're not instantly recognizable funeral songbook standards. (If I'm forgetting an instance where the producers resorted to "Hallelujah," to that I'll quote Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond: Nobody's perfect.) For me at least, the lack of familiarity means the song doesn't distract from the visual tribute itself, which is meticulously timed to include film clips, audio, and themed Insta-worthy stock imagery (or in the case of this past year's, an aerial performance) to coincide with the music. There's usually very little dialogue interspersed, maybe an isolated line from a film here or a quote from a filmmaker there. On occasion, the lyrical cues can inspire an eyeroll for being so on-the-nose – from 2009: Days, up and down they come/ Like rain on a conga drum … cut to Nuyorican actor Olga San Juan, who was usually typecast as a "spicy" Latina in her heyday – but it's rare that tension is too fraught. I just about fall to pieces, in a good way, whenever I re-watch the 2008 edition, when Joe Henry sings, "It seems we never were so young," as Heath Ledger, in a scene from Brokeback Mountain, suddenly flashes upon the screen. And unbeholden to the time constraints of live TV and the vanity of live musicians in accompaniment, these videos also seem to include a greater mix of marquee names, character performers, filmmakers, and craftspeople, and each gets their moment. Sure, some of those moments are drawn out longer than others and each person's placement within the mix isn't without its politics. But of course, Harry Belafonte landed the grand finale spot in 2023, as did Paul Newman and Liz Taylor in their respective years. Could it be any other way? Inevitably, this combo of sound, image, and memory will leave me utterly moved to tears or near-tears, even if the beats at this point have become familiar to any longtime TCM fan. I think it also probably stems from the way this template really echoes the medium it's honoring, and understands that the power of montage is in its persuasiveness and ability to stir up feelings when done thoughtfully. I don't think any awards show in memoriam has made me feel this way, and I'm not sure any can. So long as I have these videos to look forward to, that'll more than make up for the rest. P.S.: If you're curious about how they're made, I found this article from 2011 that provides some insight through interviews with then-on-air producer Scott McGee and Pola Changnon, who at the time was VP of on-air production. The team behind the 2023 segment included producers and editor David Byrne (not that one!), Christian Hammann, and Gordon Gyor. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend I care about Travis Kelce as much as I care about football, which is to say: not at all. But this New York Times article gives an interesting peek into the well-oiled machine behind his ascendance into the zeitgeist, and is a necessary reminder that in the entertainment world, some things, like dating the biggest pop star in the world, happen [allegedly] by chance. Others are carefully crafted plans years in the making. Speaking of carefully crafted plans, multi-level marketing schemes are the worst, right? And yet, many of us can't get enough stories about them, be they exposés, documentaries, or podcasts, myself included. If this sounds like you, definitely check out the latest season of The Dream, hosted by Jane Marie. It's about the insidiousness of MLMs, but also includes a deep dive into the history of "bootstrap" mentality. And finally, Dan Levy's feature directorial debut Good Grief is streaming on Netflix this weekend. It's a melancholy, wintry rom-com-dramedy that features a standout performance by Ruth Negga as one of his character's B.F.F.s. Will go down pleasingly enough with a warm blanket and a glass of red or a hot cocoa. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week Walker Scobell in a scene from Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Disney+ Linda, Glen, Stephen, and I rang in the new year with our annual pop culture resolutions. Marielle Segarra, our friend over at Life Kit, dropped in to give tips on how to get the most mileage out of your local library. Linda was joined by extra special guests to discuss the new Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians: our fabulous producers Hafsa Fathima and Liz Metzger, making their PCHH debuts! Glen and Linda reflected on some of the best books about showbiz from 2023. Glen talked about the new Netflix series The Brothers Sun with Kristen Meinzer and Wailin Wong. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: Kristen Meinzer: the podcast Fad Camp Wailin Wong: Silver Nitrate, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Glen Weldon: the Barbie monologue Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy

🏆 Make your 2024 goals attainable

How to keep your New Year's resolutions 🤞

View this email online Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Life Kit producer Clare Marie Schneider, who interviewed productivity expert Oliver Burkeman exclusively for this newsletter.  It's the first week of January. Have you already sworn to floss twice a day? Exercise three times a week? Finally finish writing that novel?  Before you get too ahead of yourself on a New Year's resolution, Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, has some advice: “Be careful [not to] reinforce this notion that each year there's a whole set of extra new habits that you've got to add” to your to-do list.   It can create unrealistic expectations for self-improvement, he adds. “They carry this message that I am going to be a completely different person tomorrow.” Instead, Burkeman says to go easy on yourself and think of New Year’s resolutions as a way to enhance the life you’re already living.  How to keep your resolutions Rose Wong for NPR Burkeman explains how to reframe your goals for 2024 and make them more attainable. ⏰ Make time for a new goal by narrowing your focus. “Every decision to spend an hour of your life on something is a decision to not spend it on other things,” says Burkeman. So if you made a New Year’s resolution to work out three times a week, that might mean letting other tasks or habits fall by the wayside, like watching TV or gardening.  And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he adds. “There's something powerful about being willing to choose and say: this is the year of one thing, and that means it's not the year of these other things.”  🚧 Account for life’s little roadblocks. To make your New Year’s resolution sustainable, Burkeman says to do it “daily-ish.” That way, you won’t feel like you failed if you only meditate or journal four times a week rather than seven. This approach accounts for life’s roadblocks and hurdles — some days you’ll be too tired or won’t have time, and that’s OK.  📅 You don’t have to stick to a resolution for the whole year. Setting out to do something for a year can be daunting, says Burkeman. “Who says it has to be for a year?” Instead, try and set a more manageable timeline for your goal. If you want to read more this year, create a reading goal just for the month of January.  “To make regular change for a month is far more powerful than to claim you're going to make it for a year and then get nowhere with it,” he says.  ✨ Keep yourself wanting more. Let’s say you want to get into the habit of writing in 2024. Try to write for only five minutes a day, says Burkeman. “Going absurdly small, to the point where it makes no sense to be intimidated by a goal, has some benefit.”  It can help turn a habit into “something you want [to do] instead of something you’re trying to avoid,” he adds.  Be sure to stop writing at the end of the allotted time frame. That’s because even if you feel energized and want to write for an hour, “you exhaust yourself and turn it into this huge thing that you then shy away from,” he says.  ✏️ Try and try again. Habits can take a long time to form, and you will likely falter on your big plans to stick to your New Year’s resolution.  To buoy yourself from failure when building new habits, Burkeman says to cultivate a sense of resilience. “The real skill you’re learning is the skill of coming back after a setback.” So if you’ve lapsed on practicing that ukelele you got for Christmas, don’t let it stop you from playing altogether. Pick that instrument back up and try again.  Stick to your 2024 goals Did you like this newsletter? Forward it to a friend or family member who you think could benefit from it and tell them to subscribe.   Newsletter continues after sponsor message Tell us your New Year’s resolutions Happy New Year! What new habit or goal do you want to achieve in 2024? How do you plan to stick to your resolution? Tell us about it. Email us at lifekit@npr.org and we may feature your response in an upcoming newsletter or on NPR.org.  P.S. If you need help finding a resolution, check out our New Year's Resolution Planner.  Listen Sponsor-Free Support public media while getting expert advice on health, finance, relationships and more with Life Kit+. You'll get sponsor-free listening AND that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with making a difference. You can also check out loads of other NPR+ podcasts with benefits at plus.npr.org. Explore Life Kit+ More inspiration for the New Year Connie Hanzhang Jin/ NPR 50 ways to change your life in 2024. Scroll through Life Kit's New Year's Resolution Planner to find the perfect goal this year, whether it's exercising more, paying off your credit card debt or having more fun. Pick a resolution here. 7 tiny hacks that can improve your to-do list. Is your to-do list helping you reach your goals? Or is it holding you back? Productivity experts explain how to level up your list so it prioritizes what matters. Read the story here. You can't control time, but you can change your relationship with the clock. You've got only 4,000 weeks to live, give or take. While that may come as a brutal dose of reality, it's also an opportunity to think about how you're spending that time. Read the story here. Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: LifeKit@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Life Kit emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy

The newsletter you need to start your day

Today's top stories, delivered to your inbox.

View this email online The day’s biggest news in five short minutes At NPR, we eat and breathe the news 24/7, but we get that you might not always have time for it. Our short, daily newsletter makes it so you do have time. Every morning, the Up First newsletter brings you the day’s biggest stories handpicked by NPR’s editors. So you can feel informed and engaged with the latest news, while getting the context and analysis you expect from NPR.    You’ll also get: ·   Expert life advice from Life Kit ·   Stunning picture shows  ·   Weekend entertainment guides ·   Deep dives on complicated stories of the day ·   A showcase of the NPR Network’s best journalism of the week on Sundays    All of this comes in a simple, digestible format that’s easy to skim in five minutes, with the option to dive deeper for stories you care about more. Like the one about a rare shark that hatched a pup without the help of a shark daddy. Still don’t think you have time to keep up with all that’s happening? If you made it this far in this email, chances are you do.   Subscribe to the Up First newsletter. Sign me up! Suzanne Nuyen Editor, Up First newsletter This email was sent by: National Public Radio 1111 North Capitol Street NE Washington, DC, 20002, US   If you have any questions, please submit a help ticket here. Update Preferences  |  Privacy Policy