Marley: The documentary from 2012 currently on Netflix is a really good companion piece to the recently released, and reviewed last week by me Bob Marley: One Love. I found this documentary much more satisfying and a more complete discussion about the man, the times and his music. How that music became a unifying force in his home country of Jamaica, but also around the world in become a symbol for peace and understanding. The One Love movie had Rita’s children, like Ziggy and others well involved. It shows in the end product. I sure as heck wouldn’t want an ex-wife or one-of-many relationships writing my story and filming it.
One of the things glossed over in the movie was that Bob had 11 children from 7 different women, including a former Miss World, Cindy Brakespeare. Rita was married to Bob at a very early age, but they spent significant time apart, even though she was also one of the backup singers in his band. She self-professes to be more of a manager for him for his groupies than his wife.
Bob Marley was well followed and there was plenty of film taken of him. His tours and performances were also well filmed, even including the critical Jamaica performance where he brought the two opposing political leaders on stage and joined hands with them. This was part of his power to bring together people, with his energy and his music. He was beloved in Jamaica and yet spent much of his adult time away from Jamaica. A poor boy from Trenchtown, with a musical talent and a desire to be heard. His music lives and speaks to people many years after his early death at age 36. How tragic that he never took doctors and physicals seriously, including addressing the big toe issue that he had and which he was never prepared to remedy to utlimately save his life. Soccer, it seems, was far too important for his own fun and recreation that losing that toe would have been too much for him.
Together the latest movie and this documentary provide a more balanced and full review of the life of this remarkable man. The power of music, time and again, shows how it can live forever and resonate with people for years and years to come. This is well worth watching.
The Exorcist: I was recently in Washington DC and Georgetown to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. I also managed to get over the Georgetown University area and made of point of seeing the location for filming of the famous horror movie. What I found was a house not far from the main entrance to the University where the house was used for outdoor shots of where Regan (played by Linda Blair) and her Mom, actress Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) lived while she was shooting a movie.
This above is the famous picture of Father Merrin, played by Max Von Sydow, entering the house.
What you note now from the house is that it is NOT the “L” shape that it was in the film. As a result, there is NO WAY that Father Karras could have leapt from Regan’s window down those stairs, since he would have to have jumped across the parking lot. They just aren’t that close. It is noted that production added a false wing to the house for filming. That way it would be more believable for the scene where Father Karras leaped out of Regan’s bedroom window and fell down the flight of stairs to his death.
Overall it was really cool to see this, as well as the scenes filmed the main campus of the University.
The Trust: A Game of Greed: I had heard through work colleagues about this Netflix series. It is really a train wreck, with people looking to take part of a $250,000 prize to start. Then through various tests, there are challenges to their own integrity as well as the groups, and they must decide themselves whether to vote out members of that trust. All it takes is for one person to vote out a member potentially to have them removed.
The personalities clash or look to work together all in the name of the game and creating drama. So far, it is scary to see people in what they decide to share and not share, and then what the results can be. Some are more willing to play for the team, while others are quick to try and cull the herd of those who are viewed as “unpredictable” or “wild cards”. Only if you like these kinds of shows should you be tuning in. Otherwise it is passable.
Mondays With Robbie 