Articles by Bob Hershon

About Bob Hershon

Multimedia lab specialist at a College. Photographer and journalist mainly for Jazz Magazines in the 90's. Wrote about soundtracks and did press releases for Verve Gitanes after that. Worked at the Menlo Park VA (1969-1970 same one Ken Kesey was at earlier. He's older. It was a cuckoo's nest. My first day they kept me in locked ward to show me who was boss. They fed vets mellaril (thioridazine) which turned them into Walking Dead with tremors (pseudoparkinsonism, extrapyramidal symptoms), There is a warning now that says must only be used if nothing else works. God then reached out his hand and moved me to Palo Alto VA (under the best scientist I've ever met, Leo Hollister)1971-1974. Part of the group were two other geniuses Hamp Gillespie and Jared Tinklenberg, M.D. I was just a research assistant on my way to screwing up a doctorate. Burt Center Residential Treatment Center for Autistic and traumatized children and young adults 71-74 under Mary Burt who pioneered treament of Autism. Family Service Agency of SF before recovering my sanity at Canada College Music School. John Kreiger and Phillip Ienni guided me to the light and polytonality and pandiatonicism. To stay sane I played guitar for 40 years. The picture was taken years ago. I have gone gray and old.

Music by John Williams

March 10, 2025 Bob Hershon 0

What made Music by John Williams truly special for me were the heartfelt insights from world-class talents who worked with him, offering a unique and intimate glimpse into his musical brilliance. Among the luminaries featured in the film are cellist Yo Yo Ma, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, saxophone great Branford Marsalis, legendary violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Itzhak Perlman and directors George Lucas, Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams, James Mangold (A Complete Unknown) and of course Steven Spielberg. As Spielberg said, look at a scene like the Flying Theme From E.T. or the graveyard scene from Saving Private Ryan without the music to understand Williams’ impact on the movie. Their homage to the man and the musician, often delivered with a surprising sense of humor, turns this into more of a celebration than a biopic. […]

NAMM 2025 Artistry, Innovation and Eloquence

February 5, 2025 Bob Hershon 0

Though Jon Batiste, Roseanne Cash, Jack White, Patrice Rushen were among the featured honorees, NAMM also delivered surprise performances by Stevie Wonder, Marcus Miller; along with a chance to discover world class talents like Mia Asano, a classically trained pop innovator and Laurence Juber (acoustic wizard and McCartney Wings Alumni) . […]

ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE

December 26, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

I can honestly say that despite following Elton John from his first album to his last documentary, it wasn’t until I watched ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE, now streaming on Disney +, that I fully understood the artist and the man. Toward the end of the film we hear Elton John perform I’m Still Standing. Though Bernie Taupin said it was never written for that purpose, it is an elegant and moving summing up of all that had come before in John’s life and career. Directors R.J. Cutler (The War Room) and Elton’s husband, David Furnish interweave videos and interviews unearthed from Elton John’s massive archive with the final leg of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour; which finishes at Dodger Stadium the site of his greatest early success. […]

2025 Oscar Nominated Sugarcane – Uncovering and Overcoming Abuse

December 14, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

Sugarcane, the Oscar Nominated documentary, now streaming on Hulu, is a cinematic and intimate masterpiece, documenting victims of the residential schools uncovering abuse and recovering from its trauma. In this Sundance Award winning film, we see survivors drawing strength from the Williams Lake First Nation’s heritage through ceremony, the sharing of stories and community. […]

Porcelain War -Art Triumphs Over War

December 4, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

The Oscar Nominated Porcelain War, is not about the art of war but a triumph of art over war, a testament to the power of creativity and community in the face of unimaginable adversity. Co-directed by Slava Leontyev, an artist-turned-soldier, and Brian Bellomo, the film captures the lives of ordinary Ukrainians—artists, teachers, farmers, and IT professionals—who have taken up arms not only to defend their homeland but also to preserve their artistic and cultural legacy in the face of Russia’s relentless invasion bent on its “erasure”. […]

Ernest Cole:Lost and Found-Restoring An Artist’s Legacy

November 25, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

In 1967, a year after photographer, activist, and essayist Ernest Cole fled South Africa, he published House of Bondage, a groundbreaking photo book that many consider one of the most significant of the 20th century. In Ernest Cole Lost and Found director Raoul Peck provides Cole the honor he so richly deserved by bringing to life by pairing Cole’s photos with his writings. This Cannes Award Winning Documentary features soulful readings from deeply personal diaries that Peck chooses pull you in and guide you through his life. This approach moves it from a biopic to a drama. “I don’t do biography, I tell stories […]

The kids in The Movie Blink sitting on a van framed by a sunset

Blink – A Visually Stunning Documentary That Fills Your Senses and Your Heart

October 23, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

In the movie Blink, a Canadian couple finds three out of their four children are diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative condition that will eventually rob them of their sight. They are told by the therapist to fill their children’s visual memory with as many images as possible from photographs and books. Edith,their mother said. “I’m not going to show her an elephant in a book; I’m going to take her to see a real elephant,” Édith explains. “And I’m going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful images I can.” So they give their children the license to create a bucket list of all the places or things they wish to do and the couple sets out to create a once in a lifetime journey which will span the globe from Mongolia to Ecuador. […]

James Carville waiving hello wearing LSU sweatshirt. Movie Winning Is Everything Stupid

CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID

October 12, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

Carville’s Winning Is Everything, Stupid serves not only as a remedy for those navigating today’s turbulent political landscape but also as a guide to steer us away from the chaos perpetuated by the media and political alarmists. This thoroughly entertaining and enlivening film, which profiles James Carville, the mastermind behind Bill Clinton’s successful presidential campaign (The War Room), also weaves a Romeo and Juliet-style love story. It follows two renowned political strategists—Carville, a Democrat, and Mary Matalin, a Republican who worked for both Bush Sr. and Jr.—as they bridge the political divide to fall in love and, despite their differences, remain passionately dedicated to each other. […]

Interview With Mother Of All Lies Award Winning Director Asmae El Moudir

September 9, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

Mother of All Lies features some of the most arresting performances of the year and director Asmae El Moudir who received the 2023 Winner Un Certain Regard – Best Director is almost single handedly responsible. Asmae’s creation is a raw, intimate, and revolutionary form of documentary/feature that earned her best documentary at Cannes. The film delves into the haunting mysteries and deep-seated trauma that have silenced her family and neighbors for generations. In 2013 Asmae starts asking why there are no pictures, save that of King Hassan The II and why can’t the family talk in a house where “the walls have ears”. Asmae embarks on a deeply personal journey, not only to uncover hidden truths but also to create a safe space for her family to finally confront and heal their long buried pain. […]

Hollywoodgate – Shoulder to Shoulder with the Taliban: Uncovering a $7 Billion Arsenal

August 17, 2024 Bob Hershon 0

Hollywoodgate, the viewer is given a truly chilling close up view as the Taliban enter and inventory a $7 billion cache of abandoned U.S. military equipment at the largest base in Kabul. In the award winning documentary, director Ibrahim Nash’at’s camera places the viewer shoulder-to-shoulder with Mawlawi Mansour, the new head of Afghanistan’s air force and Mukhtar a lieutenant who dreams of fighting a war to avenge the American invasion. […]