EPISODE #703: TROUBLE II
The Goodbye Party — “Trouble” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Aesop Rock x Blockhead — “Trouble Trouble”
James Mastro— “Trouble”
Freedy Johnston — “The Trouble Tree”
Antietam — “Trouble Net”
Vehicle Flips — “Trouble on the Western Survey”
The Resonars — “If You’ve Got Troubles”
Minor Alps — “If I Wanted Trouble”
Rufus Wainwright — “Trouble in Paradise”
Half Japanese — “Double Trouble”
Magnetic Fields — “The Trouble I’ve Been Looking For”
Warren Zevon — “Trouble Waiting to Happen”
Stray Cats — “I Attract Trouble”
Cadallaca — “The Trouble With Public Places”
Joe Simon — “Trouble at Home”
The Only Ones — “Trouble in the World”
Mighty Sparrow — “No More Rocking” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/29/26
Movie Review: The Uprising
3 stars out of 5
This was not a “ooh I can’t wait to see this movie” selection. Rather, it was a “I’m bored stiff in Maryland and I guess this looks OK” choice. Andrew Garfield, we like him. And writer/director Paul Greengrass made those Matt Damon/Jason Bourne flicks. This could be exciting, even if I don’t really care for period pieces, and this is set in… uggh… 1381.
It starts out well enough. I’m sitting there thinking, “I’m learning!” It’s 14th century England and the population is already reeling from the recent plague. Poor Spider-man lost his whole family! Little wooden crosses in the stubby ground. And now the king’s advisors want to raise money. They basically work around the king because he’s a foppish 14-year-old who wakes up screaming every morning. So the king’s court institutes taxation but without representation. Hey where have I heard that before! So the people rise up… you could call it an uprising, or… the Peasant’s Revolt! What a revolting development!
It goes on like this. There is fighting. And “the king is coming to us.” And “we’re going to see the king!” And more fighting. And more “the king is coming to us.” Felt a little like Monty Python and the Holy Grail except without the laughs. I guess an interesting thing is that, even though they’re totally pissed at him, when the King shows up, the people are all in awe, bowing and what-not, as if the throne has some divine power. That felt so foreign to modern times. What seemed hauntingly familiar: When the peasants’ go all January 6th on the kingdom, their bloodlust drives them batty. Maybe violence is not the answer! Wait, I already learned that in The Odyssey.
A main problem to me is the king character. Now, I can imagine a satisfying tale of a boy king having greatness thrust upon him, and slowly rising to the challenge. But here, the king’s motivation and behavior suddenly changes without explanation… twice.
Supposedly Andrew Garfield’s character inspired the legend of Robin Hood. Psst, Paul Greengrass, make that movie.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/22/26
EPISODE #702: DIFFERENT
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — “Different” [ALTERNATE THEME]
The Human Hearts — “A Different City for a Different Life”
The Lookout Honeys — “Different Waters”
Big Eyes — “Different Than I Thought”
Heavenly — “Different Day”
Lewsberg — “A Different View”
Wipers — “Different Ways”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Different Finger”
The Stone Poneys — “Different Drum”
The Bangles — “In a Different Light”
Joe Jackson — “It’s Different for Girls”
The Beat — “Different Kind of Girl”
Joey Ramone — “(Venting (It’s a Different World)”
Jill Sobule — “Pilar (Things Here Are Different)”
The Cat’s Miaow — “If Things Had Been Different”
Maita — “I Used To Be Different”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Coyote vs. Acme
4 stars out of 5
This is a whole lot of fun! I haven’t seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit since it came out but this gave me the same “cartoon characters interacting with humans” satisfaction; instead of the creepy 3D Mickey animation you might see on a Disney Channel commercial at the Holiday Inn Express, it’s much more natural.
Leading the human cast is Will Forte, storefront attorney with the nodding-to-history firm of Avery, Maltese & Jones. Wile E. Coyote, super genius, has had it up to here with faulty Acme products. He sees Forte on a TV ad promising payment for cartoon accidents, and leaves the desert for Albuquerque (yes, they eventually make a left-turn joke). But Forte’s forte is small-potatoes settlements that don’t cause a ripple in Acme’s accounting department. Coyote wants a huge payday (or maybe just wants to lure Roadrunner into the courthouse), supported by the firm’s idealistic young intern. And so Forte is dragged into a much larger case than he’s accustomed to.
Forte is great in the role: lazy, somewhat inept, but with a good heart. Other good humans include the always funny, always deadpan Martha Kelly hardly working in the law office, John Cena as Acme’s bully lead attorney (his shakedown of Tweety Bird, seen in the trailer, holds up hilariously in the film), comic John Early as a slimy newscaster, and let’s give a shoutout to Luis Guzmán as the judge because I just saw him in the 1986 art flick No Picnic and he’s been working steadily ever since. And kudos to Eric Bauza who provides many of the classic Warner Brothers character voices.
We get consistent laughs, cartoon fun and nostalgia, and also positive messages for the kids without dropping a giant anvil on their heads: the importance of friendship, loyalty, and standing up for the little guy against the big bad corporation.
That last bit made me feel real uncomfortable when I learned an odd fact about this movie. I’m a credit reader, and couldn’t help noticing that the copyright was 2023. What?? Well, just like with Batgirl, Warner Bros. had decided to shelve the completed Coyote vs. Acme as a tax writeoff. Thankfully, after public uproar, a company called Ketchup Entertainment obtained and released the film. But uggh that just makes me angry and creeped out. Warner Bros. is the Ginormous Evil Corporation? But these are their beloved characters! Why wouldn’t they want to share them with today’s kids? I hate everything. Except this movie. I really truly liked it.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/15/26
EPISODE #701: MOUNTAINS
Donovan — “There Is a Mountain” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Paul McCartney — “Mountain Top”
Laura Cantrell — “The Curse of Hook Mountain”
Obrey Wilson — “Hey There Mountain”
Jennifer O’Connor — “Mountains”
Tuff Sunshine — “Move a Mountain”
Joe Pernice — “Spend a Mountain”
Marvin Gaye with Tammi Terrell — “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
Midlake — “Small Mountain”
Super Furry Animals — “Mt.”
Sparklehorse — “Mountains”
They Might Be Giants — “Mountain Flowers”
Spoon — “Mountain to Sound”
The Glands — “u r the mountain”
Dolly Parton — “My Tennessee Mountain Home”
The Dramatics — “Hey You! Get Off My Mountain”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Buddy
4 stars out of 5
In 2014, I was absolutely delighted by sitcom-opening-credit-spoofing viral video “Too Many Cooks.” I even built an internet radio episode around it. I don’t think anything since has captured my imagination even a fraction as much until Six Seven. So when I learned that Cooks director/co-writer Casper Kelly had a feature film, I didn’t waste Too Many Days going to see it!
This time, Kelly sets his twisted satirical eye on TV’s Barney (which I have a slight connection to, as my cousin Steve directed the original Barney movie). Except, instead of a purple dinosaur, Buddy is an orange unicorn. And the movie begins with consecutive episodes of this seemingly 90s era children’s TV show, which made me howl with laughter. And I thought, if Casper Kelly has the cojones for this to be the whole movie — an hour and 36 minutes of just episodes of Buddy, slowly spelling out the plot — this is perfection. This is 5 stars out of 5.
Pero Casper Kelly no tengo los cojones.
So we’re going along in our Buddy episodes, where some of the kids begin to wonder if maybe things are just a bit askew. Like, perhaps Buddy isn’t the loving unicorn that he seems to be? But Casper Kelly cuts away from these Buddy episodes to show a perfect suburban family, headed by Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace. Except Milioti begins to wonder if maybe things are just a bit askew. Like, did they perhaps used to have one more kid? And does this Buddy show — which of course there is no trace of on the Internet or on YouTube, maybe you just need a little rest, Cristin Milioti — have something to do with her missing kid?
Keegan-Michael Key brings a Pee-wee-esque pandemonium to his voicework as Buddy, and Patton Oswalt is effectively earnest as Strappy the backpack. It’s fun to see Clint Howard show up in a later sequence. And they were lucky to cast rising kid star Delaney Quinn — from If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and The Roses — as one of Buddy’s buddies.
This has all the makings of a cult favorite, especially if you grew up on Barney or Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
Will you join the cult?
Aquarium Playlist, 9/9/26
EPISODE #700: MUSIC V
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Mary Lee’s Corvette — “700 Miles”
Greg Kihn — “When the Music Starts”
The Ronettes — “I Can Hear Music”
Rolling Stones — “Can You Hear the Music”
of Montreal — “Listen to Music and Cry”
Sensational Country Blues Wonders — “Music of the Spheres”
Desmond Dekker & the Aces — “Music Like Dirt”
Scott the Hoople — “Music Arcade”
Jan & Dean — “Music City”
Kool & the Gang — “Let the Music Take Your Mind”
1910 Fruitgum Company — “Play Our Song, Mr. Music Man”
They Might Be Giants — “The Communists Have the Music”
Archie Bell & the Drells — “A World Without Music”
The Shirelles — “Stop the Music”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 8/18/26
EPISODE #697: CATS XI
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Karyn Kuhl — “Cat Swamp Road”
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom — “A ? of When”
Brian Bilston & the Catenary Wires — “Under a Cat”
Gay Skeleton Club — “2 Cats”
Sir Douglas Quintet — “I’m Not That Kat Anymore”
Jimmie Davis — “Wampus Kitty Mama”
Little Willie John — “Leave My Kitten Alone”
Dirty Fences — “Keep Your Kitten Inside”
Ratboys — “At 39 Annie Is the Oldest Cat”
The Laughing Chimes — “Cats Go Car Watching”
Adults — “Nine Lives”
Straitjacket Fits— “Cat Inna Can”
Deerhoof — “My Lovely Cat!”
The Mice — “Bye Bye Kitty Cat”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator