Today, on the Daily Variety podcast, variety chief film critic Owen Greiberman explains why Paul Thomas Anderson’s new drama, One Battle Afterled, is a film of this moment. And variety music maestro Gem Aswad looks back at Sylvia Rhone’s legacy when a music industry veteran announces her retirement.
The timing of the “after-mutual battle” to the theatre is “almost calmic,” says Greiberman. The film revolves around three characters surrounded by extremist politics, white nationalism and contemporary theory of conspiracy. Gleiberman has been passionate about the film being Anderson’s best work, by his estimation, since 1997’s “Boogie Nights.” And yes, the tone and image of the film is very unsettling given the major changes in political and cultural norms since Trump re-inaugurated in January.
“When he finished the film, Donald Trump wasn’t in office yet, so he didn’t expect it to happen. But I think he really wanted to get the temperature where America is, and I think this is a movie where people are talking about things.
“If you’re trying to think of an example, you’ll have to go back to things like “every presidential man” or “network.” When the “Civil War” came out last year, I felt it was very abstract. That was not really thought of.
“The film is almost coming out in the perfect week, because we feel that Jimmy Kimmel’s story is a point of inflection in our country and is a rather ironic way. So, as many Americans have basically said during President Trump, we don’t seem to care much about law firm crackdowns and the decline in higher education and the decline in feather feathers. But if you start messing around with what we want to see on TV, we have problems with that,” says Greiberman. “It seems almost like the cutting edge of freedom to Americans. They don’t want to take away their entertainment. It may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, but I think it’s very symbolic.”
Aswad measures the long and renowned career of the Rhone, which began with his participation in Buddha Records as a secretary in the 1970s. She announced her retirement this week after serving as CEO of not one but three largest music groups in the world.
“She was CEO of all three major label groups: Warner, Universal and Sony.
Rhone first made her mark by increasing her ranks with Atlantic Records in the 1980s, Aswad observes.
“She was a senior vice president of black music and worked with everyone from Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway to Brandy. Her big breakthrough artist from 1993 to 1994 was Vogue,” recalls Aswad. “And so did she – I’m not going to lie – she was feared, especially in the 90s.
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