Facing Nolan--A Review

I watched the Netflix Documentary Facing Nolan after the recommendation of a friend and also after it was featured in an episode of the Mitch Unfiltered podcast.

I found it to be very compelling and fascinating.   To make a documentary like this must have been quite difficult because Ryan is not a flashy guy.  He was what we would consider a "lunchbox player", a player who approaches his craft with a great work ethic.  Even though he did pitch in LA, I don't remember seeing any pictures of him in a Porche on the Sunset Strip. This documentary reinforces his image as a great family man. 

Like Quarterback Tom Brady, Ryan's career took him well into his 40s, performing well long after most athletes stay in the game.  Unlike Brady, in spite of widely considered the greatest pitcher of all time.

Ryan does not need a huge trophy case.  He was on only one team that won the World Series (the New York Mets of 1969) and inexplicably, never won the Cy Young Award, baseball's trophy for the best pitcher of the year. 

Ryan's career ended at the Seattle Kingdome.  I did not see the game but got caught in the traffic jam. He had already announced that he would retire at the end of the season.  This game was to be his last appearance in Seattle.  The Kingdome was filled and Ryan did pitch, but had to be pulled out because of an injury. That same evening, I agreed to pick up a friend at the Amtrak depot, next to the Kingdome, needless to say, it was a challenging evening to be on the road.  

George Harrison: Living In The Material World

It can arguably be said that at the  time of the Beatles break up, George Harrison  experienced the most growth as an artist.  His songs, Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps have become such classics, that they have been remembered as HIS songs as much as Beatle songs.   His solo career also yielded many classics including My Sweet Lord and What Is Life. 

The show lasts 3 and a half hours, but is never boring. It covers his rise with the Beatles, his emersion into Indian Culture, where he learned the to play the sitar (shown above),  his post Beatle projects and his spirituality.  

There are interviews with fellow artists both past and present, living and dead, fellow Beatles,  and his family including his son, and both his ex wife Pattie and his widow, Olivia. 

The documentary was directed by Martin Scorsese.  It was released in 2011 and won Emmys for Non Fiction Special and for Direction.