Music Biopics

These days, many movies about famous music legends like Queen, Elton John, Johnny Cash, and NWA have been released and enjoyed by people all over the world.  In English, we often call these movies biopics.  Biopic is a word that combines the words biography (a person’s life story) and picture (a moving picture or movie).  Today, let’s take a look at a few music biopics that are either in theaters now or coming to theaters next year. 

Aretha Franklin 

One of the most famous biopics to come out this year is Respect, which is about the life of American soul singer Aretha Franklin.  The film stars Jennifer Hudson, who Franklin herself chose to play the lead role before she passed away.  The story focuses on the many hardships that Franklin faced during her life including the death of her mother, her struggles as a black woman in America, and abuse from her husband, and the film showcases the strength of the singer to put all of this pain into her music to share with the world.  

Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942, and her father was a Baptist minister at a local church.  She got interested in music by performing with the church choir at a very young age, and singing was an important way for her to deal with her mother’s death when she was 10 years old.  Eventually people started to notice her amazing talent, and after the church bought recording equipment, she began to make records which were heard by some very influential people.  At the age of 16, she was asked by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to tour the country to entertain people before and after his speeches.  Sadly, King was shot in that same year, and Franklin sang at his funeral to pay respect to the great hero.  After that, there was no looking back for Franklin, and despite difficult times in her life, she continued to record and perform until her recent death in 2018.  Please follow this link to see Aretha Franklin singing her classic song, “Respect.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0POmdK18WU

Elvis Presly 

Rock & roll legend Elvis Presley will be featured in the big-budget biopic, Elvis, which is set to be released in the summer of 2022.  Interestingly, a young actor named Austin Butler is playing Presley, and this will be his debut as the lead role in a Hollywood film.  The movie also stars Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker.  Elvis is often referred to as “the King of Rock & Roll,” and he is the best selling solo artist in music history with over $1 billion in sales worldwide.  Presley grew up in the American city of Memphis (the same city as Aretha Franklin), and thanks to the developing rock & roll scene there, he was able to record with an experienced producer and form a talented band at the young age of 19.  The combination of all these elements was the perfect recipe for a star, and the new biopic will explain just how quickly Elvis went from a small-town musician to the most famous person in the world.  Tragically, Elvis died when he was only 42 years old, but there are so many albums and movies that we can still enjoy and remember him by.  Please follow the link below for an early performance by Elvis Presely on a late night American TV show.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYWl13IWhY

Bob Dylan 

Although delayed due to COVID-19, a biopic of Bob Dylan is in production, and the up-and-coming actor Timothy Chalamet will play Dylan in the film.  Bob Dylan is a legendary American folk / rock & roll musician.  He was born in the state of Minnesota in 1941 and started his career when he was in college by performing at small coffee shops with only his guitar and harmonica.  He later moved to New York City and became part of the booming folk scene there.  Since then, he has continued to entertain and inspire people with his songs about love, society, and humanity, and he still records albums and plays live shows to this day!  The movie will focus on an important moment in his life when he switched from playing folk music with only an acoustic guitar to playing rock & roll with an electric guitar and a full band.  Please follow the link below to see a clip from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where he debuted his new sound to the world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Kv0vF41Bc

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Joey’s Guide to Unique Japanese Food in NYC

Right now, travelling overseas for a vacation is difficult and still a little dangerous, but hopefully, by next year, the world will be safer and we all can start planning international trips.  One place that I recommend everybody visit sometime in their lives is New York City.  It is unbelievable just how many different people from other countries live in the same city, and there is always an amazing exchange of ideas, culture, art, fashion, business, and food among the residents.  Personally, I love Japanese food, and during my 5 years in NYC, it was very interesting to see how Japanese cuisine was incorporated and mixed with other countries’ food culture to produce something unique and delicious.  We often refer to this idea as fusion.  Today, I’d like to give you my top 5 recommendations for interesting Japanese fusion dishes in NYC!

                    Matzo Ball Ramen  (Shalom Japan / Brooklyn)

NYC has a very large Jewish community, and its history and culture is such an important part of the city.  In Brooklyn, you can find an extremely unique restaurant called Shalom Japan that mixes traditional Jewish dishes with Japanese cuisine.  The head chefs and owners are a married couple (a Jewish man from NYC and a Japanese woman), and their featured dish is Matzo Ball Ramen.  Shalom Japan uses chicken broth for the soup and includes a boiled egg, scallions, a foie gras dumpling, and a matzo ball in the ramen.  Matzo balls are an important type of food in Jewish culture which are commonly eaten during holidays and are made from wheat.    

                    Tebasaki Buffalo Wings (Cafe Shuya de Ramen / Queens) 

  

Cafe Shuya de Ramen is a little ramen restaurant in Queens which serves ramen, appetizers, coffee, and tea.  While everything is quite delicious, I specifically recommend the appetizers here!  From brussel sprout tempura to kurobuta hot dog poppers, they offer very tasty items to enjoy before your meal.  My favorite appetizer is the Tebasaki Buffalo Wings.  The wings are perfectly cooked and served with a spicy side sauce of ginger and red pepper.  Although they don’t serve beer at this restaurant, they follow the practice of BYOB in New York City.  This means that this restaurant allows you to bring your own beer inside, and they will even give you glasses to pour it in!

                    Beef Brisket Oden  (Bessou / Lower Manhattan) 

These days, many new restaurants in NYC are trying to serve homemade American dishes but with a twist.  This means that they are changing the ingredients or adding something unexpected to make these popular dishes a bit more sophisticated.  We often call this comfort food, and the Japanese restaurant Bessou is doing something unique with this trend.  Bessou combines American and Japanese comfort food to create a completely new type of dish that nobody has tasted before.  There are many great examples of this but my recommendation is the Beef Brisket Oden.  This special type of oden includes many of the usual items found in Japan like daikon and a boiled egg but includes thick cuts of American beef cooked in a special beef broth.  The Beef Brisket Oden tastes a little similar to something in the US called pot roast.  

                     Ramen Burger  (Kogane  Ramen / Lower Manhattan)

                         

A few years ago, there was a very popular new hamburger that many people were talking about in NYC: the Ramen Burger.  Many restaurants started making this unique dish which featured ramen noodle patties as the bun instead of bread.  Even though many places have stopped serving it recently, Kogane Ramen, which is located in Lower Manhattan, is one of the restaurants that still offers this unique burger.  Served with lettuce, tomato, and teriyaki sauce, the Ramen Burger is a great fusion of flavors and goes well with a beer or soda.  If this burger doesn’t look so delicious to you, don’t worry because Kogane has traditional tonkotsu ramen as well as its own original noodles like Miso Lobster Ramen.  

                       Rice Cake Lasagna (Kimika / Lower Manhattan) 

                                        

Kimika is a very fun restaurant which brings together Japanese and Italian cuisine.   It is also located in Lower Manhattan, and Kimika’s menu includes some of the most unique Japanese fusion dishes in the city including uni spaghetti, matcha French toast, and shishito peppers stuffed with Italian sausage.  While all the dishes at the restaurant are worth trying, I highly recommend the rice cake lasagna.  Not only does this fantastic dish have provolone cheese and Italian sausage, but Korean kimchi and Japanese mochi are also included to create a lasagna that nobody has ever tried before.  After trying it, most people say that these ingredients blend well with one another, and the combination of flavors is amazing.  

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English Words in Japanese... Be Careful!

There are so many English words and phrases that have been included in Japanese, but please be careful when you try to say those same words and phrases in English conversation.  Sometimes, they are not used at all these days even though they have English origins.  Here are three words to be careful about:

ホチキス / ホッチキス (hochikisu / hocchikisu) 

Comes from the English Word: Hotchkiss

What Native Speakers Actually Say:  Stapler 

The word ホチキス comes from an American company which produced high-quality staplers in the first half of the 20th century, the E. H. Hotchkiss Company.  Many of these staplers were sent to and sold in Japan until the 1950’s when the Hotchkiss Company was bought by a bigger manufacturer in the United States.  After that, the company name was no longer used, and that’s why most native English speakers today have never heard of a “Hotchkiss stapler.” However, the name was kept in Japan, and it is still used today!

バイキング (baikingu)

Comes from the English Word: Viking

What Native Speakers Actually Say:  Buffet, Smorgasbord 

In English, Vikings are the name of Scandinavian people (mainly from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) who sailed to many parts of northern Europe and attacked villages from the 8th to 11th centuries.  It is commonly believed that Japanese people started using  バイキング because the first restaurant to offer buffet-style, all-you-can-eat meals in Japan was the Imperial Viking.  This restaurant is located in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and was named after the 1958 American film, The Vikings.  Although the movie was historical fiction, the story was about Viking attacks.       

シャープペンシル / シャーペン  (shāpu penshiru / shāpen)

Comes from the English Words: Sharp Pencil 

What Native Speakers Actually Say: Mechanical Pencil 

Interestingly, the origin of  シャーペン is actually from Japan!  It comes from the Japanese company, Sharp, which now produces a wide variety of electronics.  However, in 1915, the inventor and businessman Takuji Hayakawa created a mechanical pencil and named it The Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil.  He then started a company with the same name to mass produce his product and sell it all over Japan.  Sadly though, Hayakawa’s mechanical pencil business was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, but he relocated his company to Osaka and started producing radios.  As we say in English, the rest is history!

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