The Monkees' Michael Nesmith will receive the Ernie Kovacs Award from the Video Association of Dallas.
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It's been a Monkees-heavy year in Dallas so far, and it's about to get even more so as the Video Association of Dallas honors former Dallasite Michael Nesmith with the Ernie Kovacs Award on October 1, prior to Dallas VideoFest 29, which runs October 18-23.
Nesmith is being recognized for a career that spans more than 50 years, including acting, producing, songwriting, and his role with The Monkees band and 1960s TV show. Although Nesmith himself no longer tours with The Monkees, Nesmith's bandmates Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork have appeared twice in Dallas in 2016, once in June at the Winspear Opera House and again in August at the Bomb Factory.
Over the years, the Video Association of Dallas has recognized the careers and talents of multiple television visionaries with the Kovacs Award, including Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In creator George Schlatter, Joel Hodgson, Robert Smigel, Terry Gilliam, Harry Shearer, Chris Elliot and Bob Elliot, Martin Mull, and Mike Judge. The award is named for Kovacs because his work in the 1950s and early 1960s summed up the spirit of innovation and the development of the language of television art.
Along with appearing on The Monkees, Nesmith developed Pop Clips in 1980, a precursor to MTV, and his video “Cruisin” was Pop Clips' first video. He also won the first Grammy Award given for Video of the Year in 1981, for his hour-long Elephant Parts.
The award presentation takes place on Saturday, October 1, at The Kessler theater, and tickets can be purchased here.
Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.
Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.
Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.
Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.
Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.
Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.
While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.
Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.
Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.
