My Internet Radio Playlist, 1/10/12

By Jack Silbert on January 11, 2012

THE CRAZY EPISODE

The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Feelies — “Crazy Rhythms”
Nellie McKay — “Crazy Rhythm”
Prince — “Let’s Go Crazy”
James Brown — “I Go Crazy”
Outrageous Cherry — “Pretty Girls Go Insane”
Big Dipper — “The Insane Girl”
Black Keys — “Psychotic Girl”
The Crazy Teens — “Crazy Date”
Pylon — “Crazy”
Willie Nelson — “Crazy”
The Cramps — “The Mad Daddy”
Vivian Girls — “Going Insane”
Magnetic Fields — “You Must Be Out of Your Mind”

played on BLAST Live via the BLAST Gallery, Teaneck, NJ
Tuesday, 1/10/12, 10-11 a.m. eastern time

Posted in | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Response

Movie Review: Young Adult

By Jack Silbert on January 10, 2012

3 stars out of 5

I was feeling 3.5 stars for a long time, I really was. Maybe even 4 early on, and “Oh no, will I have to revise my 2011 best-of list?” It starts out very refreshing, because the main character in this sort of movie—well, and also, in my life—is almost always a guy. (Wait, that came out wrong. I am always a guy.) As Mavis, Charlize Theron displays a flair for comedy we haven’t really seen since Arrested Development, Teenage Fanclub’s “The Concept” is prominently featured, the Juno dream team of Reitman and Cody is reunited—I was feeling really good about this movie.

Didn’t hurt that I could relate to it. Mavis’s life and lifestyle hit a little close to home. And of course the Facebook era has made many of us wonder, “What if things had gone differently with so-and-so?” Patton Oswalt is in his wheelhouse here as a lonely schlub. (Though occasionally his performance seems a bit more like stand-up Patton than actor Patton. Who am I kidding, I was more concerned that people leaving the theater would point at me and say, “It’s him!!!”) Reitman once again navigates a potentially clichéd situation: a fish-out-of-water tale of the city girl returning to her small town—and makes it feel true. Nice comic touches abound. Charlize and Patton’s slowly developing friendship feels real.

So what’s wrong here? Well, a couple of things in my estimation. Though Mavis is very amusing—and gorgeous, very gorgeous—she isn’t real likable. No one here is. So the movie doesn’t really have a moral center. And then, late in the movie, it takes a hard, sudden turn from low-key, realistic comedy to heavy, heavy drama. There are hints of this throughout (spolier alert: Mavis pulls at her hair!), but at least for me, the movie hadn’t earned the right to get so serious. Ooh, wait, a third thing: The ending didn’t feel satisfying.

My advice: Wait for cable, watch this, you’ll mostly enjoy it—at the very least, another great Reitman soundtrack and a J.K. Simmons audio cameo—and then see if you feel differently about the ending. You might.

Posted in | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Responses

My Highly Subjective List of the Best Movies of 2011

By Jack Silbert on January 4, 2012

Yes, I know, we’re a few days into the new year. All the real lists came out at the end of last year. Hey, cut me some slack. Actual critics get to see movies in advance. I have to scramble to see ones that came out over the holidays. (Spoiler alert: No December releases made my top-10.)

I must reiterate what I’ve said before: I can love a movie and you can hate it, and we’re both right. And vice versa. You can click for my best-of lists from 2009 and 2010. But as for 2011 . . . .

10) Blank City An excellent and thorough documentary of the do-it-yourself New York film scene of the 1970s and early ’80s. Young director Céline Dahnier interviews many of the era’s key players as we see changes in the city and its art world and how they fed off one another.

9) Moneyball Particularly strong performances from Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill anchor this true-life, rebel-with-a-cause tale of the early-millennium Oakland A’s. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy Moneyball, but, it doesn’t hurt.

8 ) Super 8 It’s 1979 and something ain’t right in the suburbs. With Spielberg’s oversight and a cast of talented youngsters (especially Elle Fanning), J.J. Abrams delivers the goods. There are fun scares, heart, and a true sense of wonder. In some regards, a more better tribute to filmmaking than Hugo—or at least to the joy of it.

7) The Muppets J.J. Abrams had Spielberg’s blessing; Jason Segel had the Jim Henson Company’s. And he respectfully comes through as well. A welcome return from our Muppet pals, in a story filled with sweetness and gentle laughs, not to mention terrific original songs.

6) Amigo John Sayles wasn’t trying to break box-office records with this look at U.S. forces in the Philippines in 1900. It’s a critique of imperialism and prejudice, with lessons that are still valid more than a century later. Joel Torre is excellent in the title role, putting a human face on the learnin’.

5) The Descendants My man Clooney plays slightly against type: a little more grown-up, and more put-upon. His superb performance is matched by young Shailene Woodley. It’s about grief, betrayal, and moving forward. And is the rare tearjerker that steers clear of melodrama.

4) Midnight in Paris A bit of a twist on The Purple Rose of Cairo, you might say. And very strong late-period Woody: charming, clever, funny. Owen Wilson is our Woody stand-in this time, bringing a whole new level of likability to the proceedings.

3) Melancholia A surreal sci-fi art film grounded by tense family dynamics. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg are both excellent. Most powerful ending of any movie I saw this year.

2) Meek’s Cutoff A traditional “cowboy” movie stripped away to the barest of bones. The pace is sloooow, matching the arduous journey westward. The landscapes, bleak and beautiful. The theme? Maybe that our desire for someone to lead the way is matched by our desire to have someone to point fingers at.

1) Win Win The Station Agent was my favorite movie of 2003. Writer/director Tom McCarthy returns to a New Jersey setting for my favorite of 2011. The cast is perfect, led by Paul Giamatti (once again as a lovable schlub), Amy Ryan, and young non-actor Alex Shaffer channeling a low-key Spicoli. A film about family, financial struggles, second chances, doing whatever it takes, and just being a decent person. Sweet, funny, amazingly real. A hell of a movie.

Worst movie: Your Highness
Honorable mention: The Sitter
(Both directed by David Gordon Green. Come on, man!)

New releases I saw in a theater this year: 38

Perhaps you can see all my ratings and reviews by: clicking here

Posted in | Tagged | 6 Responses

Movie Review: Mission Impossible—Ghost Protocol

By Jack Silbert on January 4, 2012

3.5 stars out of 5

I hadn’t gone to see a movie starring Tom Cruise since, well, Mission: Impossible III. And guess what? The crazy bastard can still put together a totally entertaining action film. It won’t win any awards, but Ghost Protocol was much more enjoyable beginning to end than several other recent “quality” films.

Tom himself is looking a little tired, but remarkably, the series isn’t. We must give credit to yet another top-flight director (Brad Bird, who follows Brian DePalma, John Woo, and J.J. Abrams). Whether it was a budget decision or just confidence in the material, this Mission is less star-packed than the previous installments. Yeah, we get Jeremy “Hurt Locker” Renner, but otherwise it’s Simon Pegg (back for comic relief), a couple of quick cameos, and generic quasi-Hispanic tough-as-nails team member. (Michelle Rodriguez is not returning calls post-Avatar?) Ah yes, and because this feels like an excellent episode of 24, we get President Omar Hassan in a funny little sequence.

The M:I movies may not be as good as the Bourne films, or even the recent Bond movies, but for what it is, it’s pretty terrific. The music, the gadgets, and lots of clever and/or thrilling set pieces. We want action and the movie delivers. There wasn’t one moment where I thought “Now that is over-the-top stupid,” and I have to say, that’s pretty high praise.

Posted in | Tagged , , , | Leave a response

Movie Review: Hugo

By Jack Silbert on January 4, 2012

3.5 stars out of 5

Are Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the same movie? A boy, a key, a search for a message from a dead father. And, if I can trust the reviews of Extremely Loud, both disappointments. What? A disappointment? But you gave it 3.5 stars! And you love Martin Scorsese. You loved Shutter Island, fer crissakes! What can I say, I was underwhelmed.

Not for the first hour, though. There is some magic here, and I was under its spell. I had been a wee bit concerned with Scorsese directing a kids’ movie. He hadn’t even done a lighthearted film since 1985′s After Hours (which I loved, loved, loved). But this has a great feel at the beginning. It was the mood I wanted from the first couple of Harry Potter movies. Likewise, the 3-D early on is handled masterfully, not in a “ooh watch out for that red-hot poker coming right at us!” sort of way, but in giving the film a beautiful sense of depth, as we walk down corridors and enter large spaces. We’ve got our requisite tousle-haired orphan boy, behind-the-scenes clockworks at an old train station, and all is right in the world.

For me, the spell was broken in the movie’s second half. I blame both the source material and Scorsese being too close to the topic at hand. Some stories focus on character, some on plot. This has neither!! (The book won a Caldecott? Really?) The movie’s second hour feels like a Disneyland attraction on the history of motion pictures. Yes, Scorsese, we know you’re obsessed with film preservation. It’s important and we appreciate it. But you don’t have to shove it down our throats, especially after making us pay the 3-D surcharge. (Coincidentally, there seem to be more inside-small-room scenes later in the movie, where the 3-D is generally pointless.) They actually have a character say, “Time has not been kind to old movies.” Oh for crying out loud!!

Performance-wise: Harry and Hermione, er, Hugo and whatever the girl’s name is—are portrayed by Asa Butterfield (whose blue eyes currently have more depth than his acting ability) and Chloe Moretz, whose character loves big words and loves adventure and this all becomes tiresome pretty quickly. There’s no real spark between the two, maybe because the Moretz character seems destined to mature into a lesbian intellectual. Ben Kingsley and Christopher Lee add gravitas and do decent work. Borat is here, and has some amusing scenes. Scorsese must like Serious Man Michael Stuhlbarg’s work on Boardwalk Empire, because he shows up smiling and bearded. The usually great Emily Mortimer has very little to do here beyond look adorable. (“Why yes, Mr. Scorsese, I’d be honored to play this important role in your upcoming movie. What’s that? Call you Marty? Well, OK then, Mr. Scor—Marty!“)

It’s a well-made movie. It looks great. There are moments of wonder. Ultimately though, I’m thinking Hugo is best for its intended audience: kids. Maybe some will seek out old-time movies as a result. Perhaps a handful will grow up to be film preservationists. That’s all good. But I don’t know, it all felt a little self-congratulatory to me. Brian Selznick the author giving lip service to the majesty of books but Selznick the lesser relative of silent-movie moguls really playing up the power of film, and Scorsese just lapping it up. A Selznick-Scorsese circle jerk, if you will.

Martin Scorsese has made his love letter to the movies. Few other current filmmakers have earned that right. But grown-up audiences may prefer to just rent Cinema Paradiso instead.

 

Posted in | Tagged , , , , | Leave a response

Movie Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

By Jack Silbert on January 4, 2012

3.5 stars out of 5

Spoiler alert: It’s a temporary tattoo.

OK, I hadn’t read the books, nor seen the original movies. But the trailer looked good, and David Fincher directed, and oh man do I love me some David Fincher. (The Social Network was my favorite movie of 2010, Fight Club one of my all-time faves, and hey don’t forget Zodiac.) And for quite a while this felt like another one of his best. But then it didn’t anymore.

What happened? We start out with some pretty standard mystery/police-drama devices. The discredited protagonist. The doesn’t-play-by-the-rules investigator. A room full of people in which one is likely… a murderer! And yet for almost two hours it doesn’t feel like a genre flick, for many reasons. The titular Girl is a terrific character, with Rooney Mara showing she’s a far superior actress than her American Horror Story sister. Daniel Craig is subdued and very un-Bond-like. The snowy, bleak, shades-of-grey Swedish setting adds to the feeling of tension that begins in the opening seconds and doesn’t let up. The only things that bothered me in the early going were a way-too-convenient plot-development visit from Craig’s character’s daughter, and what seemed like (though wasn’t confirmed in the credits) product placement from Apple and Epson. This from the man who mocked IKEA culture so effectively in Fight Club. (Actually, IKEA is name-checked here, appropriate for Sweden.) But still, the movie chugged along, clues being gathered, with sprinkles of Nazism and a healthy serving of sadism.

And then… I don’t know. I suppose i have to blame the late Stieg Larsson. In a movie that had avoided stupidity, what feels like a climactic scene is tremendously stupid. Ironically enough, very Bond-like. But it’s not the end! Like the Energizer bunny, the movie just keeps going, and going. And like The Dark Knight, the last half-hour-plus felt extraneous, like another movie. Salieri thought Mozart used too many notes. To the no-longer-alive Mr. Larsson, i say: Too much plot!

Much like Spielberg in War Horse (man, I am doing a lot of referring-elsewhere in this review!), Fincher doesn’t give up after the stupid moment. He is stylish, and had a good ending to work with. But too much of the film’s later section felt like the genre exercise that it had avoided being early on. Enjoyable, but maybe my least favorite Fincher? (Honestly can’t recall how I felt about Panic Room, though now I see that a young Kristen Stewart was in it. Huh!)

Posted in | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Responses

My Internet Radio Playlist, 1/3/12

By Jack Silbert on January 3, 2012

THE MONTHS EPISODE

The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Thurston Moore — “January”
Billy Bragg — “The Fourteenth of February”
Charles Ives — “March No. 6, with ‘Here’s to Good Old Yale’”
Math and Physics Club — “April Showers”
Model Rockets — “May Is October”
Kinks — “Rainy Day in June”
Laura Veirs — “July Flame”
Ergs! — “August 19th”
Field Mice — “September’s Not So Far Away”
Of Montreal — “October Is Eternal”
The National — “Mr. November”
For Against — “December”

played on BLAST Live via the BLAST Gallery, Teaneck, NJ
Tuesday, 1/3/12, 10-11 a.m. eastern time

Posted in | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a response

New Year’s Resolutions 2012

By Jack Silbert on December 31, 2011

1. Lose 10 pounds.
2. Gain 15 pounds.
3. Start smoking.
4. Move part in hair half-centimeter to the left.
5. Finally learn how to play piano and when instructor tells me that I’m actually getting very good, never ever play again.
6. Meet girl, lose girl, think about winning girl back, but really listen to a lot of baseball on the radio and eat store-brand tortilla chips.
7. Wear sunscreen on top of clothing.
8. Work with Mayans to assure end of world is post-Olympics but pre-election.
9. Resolution number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9 . . .
10. Call Mom more often; hang up after second ring.
11. Party like it’s 1999.
12. Begin mixed martial arts league with tournaments just before important ones; call it Penultimate Fighting Championship.
13. Tell everyone schnauzer I bought at mall pet store is a rescue dog.
14. Increase length of arms; box with God.
15.
16. Leave resolution 15 fallow until 2013.
17. Clear my eyes, fill my heart, still lose.
18. Translate CB lingo into Braille for blind truckers.
19. Roll over last year’s questionable “magic beans” investment into Roth IRA.
20. Devote more time to helping those with . . . oh who am I kidding.
21. Remember that next step of scratch-off lotto cards is not “and sniff.”
22. Dance like someone’s watching.
23. Fly across international date line to avoid totally pointless February 29.
24. Continue slow, secret transition of “paprika” from spice name to exclamation of surprise.
25. Try not to be so easily distrac—ooh a bird!

Posted in | Tagged , | 14 Responses

All Publicity Is Good Publicity

By Jack Silbert on December 29, 2011

What began with a tongue-in-cheek post in January 2011 about replacing Regis has taken on new life with a fun article in the Jersey Journal today.

Yes, that is my hat.

Posted in | Tagged , , , | Leave a response

Writing Experiment: 2011 in Puns and Wordplay in 1 Hr., 11 Min.

By Jack Silbert on December 22, 2011

I wrote a Facebook status earlier: “Clearing out my 2011 puns. R.E.M. breakup = Stipe-end.”

That was it. Nothing earth-shattering. But, people liked it. “Liked” it. As I type this, 17 likes, 8 comments.

Now I’m home, I’ve had three beers, and I’m giving myself a challenge. Using Wikipedia’s entries on 2011 and 2011 in the United States, and an online countdown timer, I will spend the next hour and 11 minutes generating wordplay and puns based on the year’s events. In the morning(ish), I will correct typos, add any formatting and crucial hyperlinks, and share the results.

And I shall begin this experiment… now.

• Some asshole named Jared Lee Loughner shot Gabrielle Giffords and killed 6 people including Federal Judge John Roll. What a coward. I’d like to see Jared Lee and Roll alone, Roll alone, Roll alone.

• AOL huffed and huffed and blew the Post down.

• What? The Super Bowl is done and the winning QB left the stadium? Rodgers over and out?

• They said the Egyptian president wouldn’t resign till the cows came home. They did, to Moo-barracks.

• It’s February 14 and I want to watch TV. Wats-on? A computer playing Jeopardy.

• The King’s Speech won Best Picture even though the lead character had trouble even saying a-ward.

• I live in Chicago and I want to vote for Rahm for mayor but don’t know how to use this online ballot. Oh I’ll use this e-Manuel.

• Gilbert Gottfried got in trouble for making jokes about the natural disaster in Japan. Instead of his own name he should’ve used a pseudonami.

• The dickheaded moves against organized labor by the Wisconsin Senate and governor resulted in some collective barging-in at the state capitol building.

• The outlook on the U.S. long-term sovereign debt was downgraded for the first time ever. We went from being an awesome wealthy country to Standard and Poor.

• The President was pressured into releasing his long-form birth certificate because they wouldn’t just take the word of Barack’s Ol’-mama.

• At the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in a very famous British church the officiant asked the bride if she would honor and… just then she cut him off and said “Yes-Minister Obey.”

• The President announced that the world’s most wanted terrorist had been killed by highly trained troops. Were all their guns full of ammo when the raid began? Well Qaenda. Oh! Some had been loadin’.

• In Louisiana there was a lot of flooding and one kid was worried that a beloved doll of a comic-strip pinhead would be ruined. He was lucky, the rising waters Missed-his-Zippy. That body of water can be so troublesome, sometimes they wish they could do a Mississippi Reverse.

• The head of the International Monetary Fund got in some sexcapade trouble but the case began to unravel. For this Dummy-Naked, Stress-Gone.

• A pizza entrepreneur entered the presidential race. At the time, his not-yet-humiliated wife was asked if he could run a successful campaign after so many other non-politicians have failed. She said, Her-man Can.

• Dan won the Indy 500. Later in the year he tragically died in a fiery crash, Well-done.

• Cannot think of a pun for Anthony Weiner.

• Scandinavians had held themselves to higher standards till terrorists killed 76 people. A stunned citizen said, “Us, low? No way!”

• The L.A. national league team couldn’t dodge bankruptcy.

• The NBA started a lock out, with Allen Eye-verson as the lookout.

• A major book retailer faced financial problems and started Boardering up many of their stores.

• Congress finally increased the debt ceiling, causing jubilant constituents to raise the roof.

• After so many years, Jerry Lewis was deeply insulted to be dropped from the telethon by the Muscular Diss-trophy Association.

• Unemployment figures increased by one with Steve’s Job.

• Major damage was done by Hurricane Irene, and major damage was done to Hermancaine by accuser Irene.

• A new Spider-Man movie was announced, once again set in New York: Doc Occupy Wall Street.

• Why did Andy Rooney leave 60 Minutes? Ticked off?

• The guards are supposed to open the doors of this Italian prison but they don’t until Amanda Knox.

• The creep of the year? Jerry San-does-kids, who didn’t take a very Paterno-l role with the youngsters.

• People who forget what a crummy guy Newt was in the 90s need to take some Gingrich Biloba.

• I’m dying to get to all these people who passed away, but I’m running out of time.

• Should we pick up that guy going to heaven? Christopher Hitchin’.

Posted in | Tagged , , , | 6 Responses

« Previous PageNext Page »