Pop Mythology Pop Mythology: Movie, Book, Comic reviews & commentary
“Are we recording?”
This past week, the new television network Pivot premiered the first episode of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s variety show, HitRECord on TV online, and it already looks like a winner. It stands out as fresh, original and clever, and Gordon-Levitt proves to be one hell of a host.
The show is based on the premise behind the website HitRECord, an online open-collaborative production company created by Gordon-Levitt and his brother, Dan, that encourages users from all over the world to contribute art of any type for projects of many kinds. The result is live-audience entertainment filled with musical performances, short films and audience conversations.
Each episode centers around a theme, and as such, the first one focused on the number one. This gave us discussions on Pando Forest and the giant honey mushroom of Oregon, a cartoon about the unity of music against silence, and a wonderful short film titled, “First Stars I See Tonight,” which was especially exceptional. It told a woman’s story of seeing stars for the first time through night-vision goggles, a sight previously denied to her by a visual impairment, and featured actors Elle Fanning and James Patrick Stewart, with contributors’ music, artwork and voice-overs. Gordon-Levitt ended the night with a performance of “You’re Not the Only One,” a song he wrote with contributors. He plays a mean piano, by the way.
And, more than anything, it is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s role as host that makes the show so promising. He has much potential for being a great one. He has the charisma and likability and is great with his fans.
The first episode doesn’t officially air on Pivot until Jan. 18th but you can watch it now online at Amazon, YouTube, iTunes and Hulu
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