RADIO DAYS

 

Two days ago I posted The Story of Netflix.  For those who read it--as, for some reason, there were a lot of readers--here will be the new 2024 programs on this streaming channel, courtesy of Time magazine.  Also, to aid in your watching plan, what series and films will be departing.  One series in particular caught my attention, starring Michelle Yeoh in eight episodes of The Brothers Sun.  Who is she?

• 
  Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everything All at Once.
• Also in Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tomorrow Never Dies.
• Was Miss World Malaysia 1983.
• She's 60 years old.

I was planning to spend today doing my prediction of what would be occurring next year.  I got depressed, for it looks like Donald Trump will dominate.  So my choice of this posting today came only after I stayed in bed all morning to watch Radio Days, a 1987 film written, directed and voiced by Woody Allen.  The story itself was nothing much, but the cast was noteworthy. Danny Aiello, Jeff Daniels, Larry David, Mia Farrow, Julie Kavner, Diane Keaton, Kenneth Mars, Don Pardo, Tony Roberts, Wallace Shawn, William Macy and Dianne Wiest.  Not bad Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 92/84.

In his four-star review, noted critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described Radio Days as Allen’s answer to Federico Fellini’s Amarcord and referred to it as "so ambitious and so audacious that it almost defies description. It's a kaleidoscope of dozens of characters, settings and scenes - the most elaborate production Allen has ever made - and it's inexhaustible, spinning out one delight after another."^[5]

What inspired me to feature this production, though, was the soundtrack:

Track listing

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"In the Mood"	Glenn Miller	3:33
2.	"I Double Dare You"	Larry Clinton	2:49
3.	"Opus No. 1"	Tommy Dorsey	2:58
4.	"Frenesi"	Artie Shaw	3:01
5.	"The Donkey Serenade"	Allan Jones	3:21
6.	"Body and Soul"	Benny Goodman	3:26
7.	"You and I"	Tommy Dorsey	2:44
8.	"Remember Pearl Harbor"	Sammy Kaye	2:29
9.	"That Old Feeling"	Guy Lombardo	2:45
10.	"(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover"	Glenn Miller	2:54
11.	"Goodbye"	Benny Goodman	3:31
12.	"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"	Tommy Dorsey	3:38
13.	"Lullaby of Broadway"	Richard Himber	2:29
14.	"American Patrol"	Glenn Miller	3:33
15.	"Take the "A" Train"	Duke Ellington	3:00
16.	"One, Two, Three, Kick"	Xavier Cugat	3:23

You need to be my age or a nostalgic Big Band fan to appreciate this list, and how Allen weaved in these sounds into the plot.

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