1 star out of 5
I wanted to see a movie to clear my head, and I probably should’ve chosen the Dune sequel, as I’d been waiting for it, and it had been well reviewed, but… it just seemed like too much work. So I rolled the dice with Imaginary. And I crapped out.
The trailer hadn’t looked good. It is from the producers of M3GAN but is totally different because it’s about a stuffed bear instead of a talking doll. Also we learn in the trailer that the little kid has an imaginary friend except they keep showing the stuffed bear and aren’t imaginary friends, like, imaginary?
DeWanda Wise is the star; she was the pilot in Jurassic World: Dominion which I liked a lot yet didn’t mention her in my review. Still, she’s the main attraction here, showing some spunk, trying to liven up a movie that has precious little else going for it. DeWanda plays Jessica, stepmom to an eye-rolling teen and an extremely annoying young sister, the type that exists in bad movies but not real life. Jessica is having bad dreams so they do the most logical thing: They move into her childhood home. There, younger daughter finds a stuffed bear and I wish it was Ted because I’d been seeing commercials for the Ted TV series and though I haven’t seen either Ted movie and had no interest in the TV show, that bear seemed a lot more interesting than this one.
Bad things start happening but not the sort of scary bad things that would make the movie compelling/watchable. Poor Betty Buckley shows up and she’s absolutely slumming, must’ve needed to pay off an in-ground pool or make a parking-lot fender bender “go away” — anyway, here she’s an old lady neighbor who used to babysit Jessica and she’s an expert in imaginary friends I think. I don’t know, I saw this a couple of weeks ago and it’s all a blur.
The movie is rated PG-13; I wish I’d noticed that before deciding to see Imaginary because there’s no real horror here. In fact, the film seems to aim even younger, into a whole stupid “world of imagination, but a child’s imagination is the most powerful thing of all” concept.
I gave the movie a half star more than it really deserved (a full star on IMDb!) because there’s a decent little bit very late in the film.
Is Dune 2 still playing?
Movie Review: Imaginary
Aquarium Playlist, 3/12/24
EPISODE #581: ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2024
tribute to Joe Hurley’s All-Star Irish Rock Revue
Rogue’s March — “I’m in Love — But Not With You” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Carlton Smith — “We’re All We Got”
Lianne Smith — “The Gift”
King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) — “When She Closed Her Eyes”
Faith NYC — “Shadowman”
Bruce Springsteen — “My Oklahoma Home”
Cracker — “Something You Ain’t Got”
The Cure — “Let’s Go to Bed”
Mary Lee’s Corvette — “The Sound of the Sea”
Ivan Julian — ”Can’t Help Myself”
Deni Bonet — “Light This Candle”
Slyboots — “Blindsided”
World Party — “Way Down Now” r.i.p. Karl Wallinger
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/5/24
EPISODE #580: RIGHT AND WRONG
Joe Jackson — “Right and Wrong” [ALTERNATE THEME]
James Mastro — “Right Words, Wrong Song”
Travis Ramin — “Right Hot Dog, Wrong Bun”
Dr. John — “Right Place, Wrong Time”
Dum Dum Girls — “Wrong Feels Right”
Dolly Parton — “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right”
Percy Sledge — “It’s All Wrong, But It’s Alright”
The Rubs — “Wrong/Right Girl”
Mary Wells — “Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right”
Homer Banks — ”(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right”
Long Ryders — “You Don’t Know What’s Right, You Don’t Know What’s Wrong”
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers — “Nothin’ Feels Right But Doin’ Wrong”
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey — “Haven’t Got the Right (To Treat Me Wrong)”
Sloan — “Right or Wrong”
The Sweet — “Done Me Wrong All Right”
Son House — “Am I Right or Wrong”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Drive-Away Dolls
3.5 stars out of 5
“Does anybody remember laughter?” as Mr. Plant once asked. The comedy film, once a reliable staple of the multiplex, has become nearly extinct. Sure, there are humorous elements in the increasingly crummy Marvel movies, and there are rom-coms but they more rom than com. For those of us who truly crave the funny, it’s become slim pickings.
So sure, one Coen brother is better than none.
And that’s what we get in Drive-Away Dolls, written by Ethan Coen and his spouse Tricia Cooke, and directed by Ethan. While brother Joel and his wife Frances McDormand went the high-brow route with the superb Tragedy of MacBeth, Ethan sets his sights on goofy fun… and succeeds.
The plot is (blood) simple: Jamie (the ever delightful Margaret Qualley) and her uptight pal Marian (a very good Geraldine Viswanathan) take a drive-away car (one-way free rental) from Philly to Tallahassee, just for a head-clearing road trip. Trouble is, two goons were supposed to take that same car to Tallahassee, due to an initially-MacGuffin suitcase in the trunk. So the goons set off in hot pursuit, meanwhile Jamie and Marian discover the shocking contents of their trunk, and zany hijinks ensue.
There is not much more to this movie and that is OK — because it’s a comedy! And there are some very big laughs along the way. It’s a lesbian story (title was intended to be Drive-Away Dykes) but not for any heavy political reasons; it just helps along the liberals-in-a-conservative-setting scenario. Joey Slotnick is especially funny as the more sensitive of the two goons. Beanie Feldstein gets some solid scenes as Jamie’s resentful ex. Bill Camp, owner of the drive-away business, is a classic Coen character. And you can’t go wrong with a Matt Damon cameo.
Word on the street is that the Coen brothers are working together again soon, and of course I look forward to that. In the meantime, Drive-Away Dolls is a fun, funny, sexy road movie that will keep you smiling for an hour and a half.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/27/24
EPISODE #579: LEAP YEAR 2024
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Cecil Gant — “Jump Jack Jump”
Sebadoh — “Leap Year”
Torres — “Big Leap”
Clive Gregson — “February 29th”
Johnny Paycheck — “11 Months and 29 Days”
Chuck Willis — “Let’s Jump Tonight”
Good Grief — “Dimension Jump”
Grass Jaw — “Jump”
David Bowie — ”Jump They Say”
Ben Vaughn Combo — “Grasshopper”
Collins Kids — “Hop, Skip, and Jump”
Logan Ledger — “Skip a Rope”
Bruce Springsteen — “Highway 29”
The Magnificent Seven — “The Leap Frog”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/20/24
EPISODE #578: RETURN TO ARIZONA
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Ennio Morricone — “Once Upon a Time in the West”
Cub — “Vacation”
Howe Gelb — “Vex (Tucson)”
Sarah Dougher — “Everywhere West”
Peter Perrett — “How the West Was Won”
No Man — “How the West Was Won”
R.E.M. — “How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us”
Vehicle Flips — “Trouble on the Western Survey”
Bruce Springsteen — ”Tucson Train”
Screaming Females — “Desert Train”
Paper Bee — “Tucson”
Dear Nora — “I Was Born in Arizona”
Freezing Hands — “Wax Cups”
Melted Wires — “Ballad of the Tucson 2”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Madame Web
3.5 stars out of 5
In late December, I saw a confusing trailer for Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson. No interest whatsoever. In late January, however, when Ms. Johnson hosted Saturday Night Live, I learned that her Madame Web character mentors Sydney Sweeney’s character. Total interest; saw the film on opening day.
This is one of those not-quite Marvel movies put out by Sony where I think they’re not allowed to say “Spider-Man”? Except the bad guy’s costume looks like a moldy Spidey suit, later they have some fun basically saying “with great responsibility comes great power,” and reading the character list at the end, I went “ohhhhhhhh.”
Being outside the MCU actually benefits this movie quite a bit. They don’t have to shoehorn in 18 cameos by other heroes, nor do you have needed to watch 15 streaming series to have any ideas what’s going on. Also, the script is bereft of groan-inducing wisecracks.
Early on, we meet paramedics Dakota Johnson and Adam Scott. It would be hard to cast two more likable actors. Johnson begins seeing snippets of the future, and doesn’t know if she has a concussion or is going nuts, etc. But soon enough she crosses path with three teenage girls, one of whom is “nerdy” Sydney Sweeney. Johnson figures out that she’s somehow connected with these young women, and also that she needs to protect them from the aforementioned Spider-Guy.
Now, this is not a great movie. Far from it. Many parts are flat-out stupid. Zosia Mamet, as the bad guy’s IT assistant, turns in one of the all-time laziest check-cashing performances; I don’t think she ever gets out of a chair. Tone-wise and production-value-wise, I was reminded of the late-90s USA Network series NightMan, which was done on the cheap likely on a Toronto soundstage. But compared to the high gloss of the true Marvel films, this was refreshing and there is decidedly less pandering to the audience. (OK, there is a little Pepsi product placement.) Compared with the somewhat similarly structured The Marvels, this is a much superior movie with a good, basic message: girls can get it done, especially when they look after each other.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/6/24
EPISODE #576: INSANE
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Young Guv — “Song About Feeling Insane”
Titus Andronicus — “Going Insane (Finish Him)”
Pale Angels — “Secretly Insane”
The Buzzcocks — “Driving You Insane”
Dinosaur Jr. — “I’m Insane”
Hallelujah the Hills — “Folk Music Is Insane”
Alicia Keys — “Is It Insane”
Sufjan Stevens — “A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good Reasons”
The Soft Boys — ”Insanely Jealous”
Kimberley Rew — “Tourists of Insanity”
Oingo Boingo — “Insanity”
Lindsey Buckingham — “Go Insane”
The MC5 — “Poison” r.i.p. Wayne Kramer
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 1/30/24
EPISODE #575: WINTER II
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Jeanines — “Winter in the Dark”
Jennifer O’Connor — “Winter Song”
Edward Rogers — “Building Winter”
Amor de Días — “In the Winter Sun”
Elva — “Winter Sun”
The Rolling Stones — “Winter”
Sean Kiely — “Winter Is Here”
Teen Idle — “Winter”
Cadallaca — ”Winter Storm ’98”
Mikey Erg — “Waiting Out the Winter”
Overlake — “Winter Is Why”
Broadcast — “Winter Now”
The Ladybug Transistor — “Fjords of Winter”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator