3 stars out of 5
Joker is not your daddy’s superhero movie. It’s a gritty, artsy, psychological exploration for people who wouldn’t know a gritty, artsy, psychological exploration if it bit them on the ass. I served with Marty Scorsese. I knew Marty Scorsese. Marty Scorsese was a friend of mine. Todd Phillips, you’re no Marty Scorsese.
OK, OK, Martin Scorsese doesn’t know me from a hole in the ground, but he’s clearly a major inspiration here: Taxi Driver, sure (“someday a real rain will come…”), but overwhelmingly King of Comedy, right down to casting Rupert Pupkin hisself in the Jerry Lewis-as-Johnny Carson role.
As Pupkin, I mean Pleck, Joaquin Phoenix is reliably unhinged. He lost an awful lot of weight for the role, reminiscent of DeNiro gaining weight for…OH GODDAMNIT. Anyway, Phoenix is fun to watch, though it is not as dynamic a performance as he has delivered in the past, in The Master for example. Perhaps we can blame director Phillips, who wasn’t tasked with coercing such wrenching dramatic portrayals from the cast of the Hangover trilogy.
There are others actors in this film. DeNiro enjoys himself — I laughed aloud when we first see him — but, coincidentally, he has also done better work. Frances Conroy shows up as Joker’s mommy and is convincing as someone who isn’t young. Quality actors Shea Whigham and Bill Camp (police detectives) and Brian Tyree Henry (hospital clerk) are wasted in meaningless parts. Marc Maron shows up for 8 seconds in a role that you — yes, you! — could’ve played just as easily.
Plot-wise, there really isn’t one. It’s an origin story, and those are more often than not quite dull. Especially if stretched to feature length. (I’m looking at you, Daredevil.) A million years ago I went to see Kurt Vonnegut speak, and he advised that if you write a book, carefully compose that first chapter, telling us every single thing we need to know — and then throw that chapter in the garbage. Get right to the meat, to the action.
And one more thing. Without really spoiling anything, mental illness seems to be at the root of the Joker’s behavior. So doesn’t this kind of ruin every future appearance of the character, especially in our enlightened day and age? How can we joyfully root for the Batman to kick Joker’s tail? Shouldn’t be treated compassionately, and with dignity? Not BAM, POW, ZOWEE.
I should’ve picked State Capitals.
Movie Review: Joker
Aquarium Playlist, 10/1/19
EPISODE #350: EVERYTHING
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Dolly Mixture — “Everything and More”
Them — “I Can Only Give You Everything”
The Orange Peels — “Tonight Changes Everything”
Cyndi Lauper — “Money Changes Everything”
Teenage Fanclub — “Everything Flows”
Karl Hendricks — “Everything Stupid Becomes Cool”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Everything With You”
Terry Malts — “Seen Everything”
David Bowie — “I Dig Everything”
Naughty Clouds — “Everything’s Hard”
Spoon — “Everything Hits at Once”
Cheap Trick — “Everything Works If You Let It”
Elliott Smith — “Everything Means Nothing To Me”
R.E.M. — “You Are the Everything”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Ad Astra
3.5 stars out of 5
On the line to buy movie tickets, I asked the woman behind me what she was seeing. “Downton Abbey. You?” Brad Pitt in space, I told her. I got up to the register and, from outside Theater 2, my friend Meghan called out to me. What a nice surprise! I asked what she was seeing. “Downton Abbey. You too?” No, I replied, Brad Pitt in space. I turned to face the clerk and when she inquired if I wanted a ticket to Downton Abbey I answered “No!” perhaps a little too vigorously.
Because I was there to see Brad Pitt in space. I was still on a Once Upon a Time high and was looking forward to this. The movie starts and it feels incredibly realistic — but of course we’re not astronauts so how the hell would we know, and also the film is set a little bit in the future and we are not in the future, we are in the now. Regardless, it feels like We Are There — immersive! — and it seems like a recognizable future, anyway, what with DHL and Subway in the Moon Airport.
Brad is an astronaut at the cost of everything else in his life, represented by Liv Tyler is hazy flashbacks. Hey wasn’t she in that space movie Armageddon; I didn’t see it. Brad’s dad (Dad Astra? Brad Astra?) is Tommy Lee Jones, legendary astronaut long presumed dead in the far reaches of the solar system. But recently there have been mystery intergalactic power surges monkeying with people’s Hulu streaming and stuff even worse, and maybe Tommy Lee Jones is alive and has something to do with this. So they call in Brad to talk him off the ledge. Space Force!
At this point I must mention that Tommy Lee Jones looks super old. You know when they try to make an actor look young in old photos but they still look old — you is old. His astrobuddy Donald Sutherland shows up and he ain’t no spring chicken neither. Haha, they were in Space Cowboys together, I didn’t see that one either but I was at a theater on 42nd Street and my friend Zoë was seeing it with her dad, in from the the left coast.
Anyhoo. This is Brad Pitt’s show. Brad Pitt in space. And he is pretty great in the role. He is focused. He is reserved. But that’s his sweet daddy on Neptune and it is dredging up all sorts of memories and feelings, and believe you me, not all of them are on the positive side of the ledger. Brad skillfully conveys all that. Conflicted, he is.
So what we have the makings of is one of those slow, thoughtful, tone-poem space movies that I like so much. Except I guess the filmmakers didn’t trust us or our attention spans enough, so they toss in some, uh, action sequences that didn’t really seem to fit. Plus the dad stuff is a wee bit heavy-handed so maybe a better writer could’ve smoothed that out. Uggh, fathers and sons, complicated stuff, am I right, waddayagonnado? The cat’s in the cradle and child is father to the man.
Ultimately Ad Astra is too long (I know, I know, it takes a loooong time to travel through space) and not fantastic, but it’s pretty good, the various space stuff, and Pitt’s performance, so if you like this kind of thing go see it. If not, there’s always Downton Abbey.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/24/19
EPISODE #349: CRYING
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
TRØN & DVD featuring Amy Bezunartea — “Cry Now, Laugh Forever”
Johnny Cash — “Cry, Cry, Cry”
Beat Happening — “Cry for a Shadow”
Solomon Burke — “Cry to Me”
Karyn Kuhl Band — “Crying”
The dB’s — “World To Cry”
Pete Galub — “Crying Time”
Marshall Crenshaw — “Calling Out for Love (at Crying Time)”
JD McPherson — “Crying’s Just a Thing You Do”
Roy Orbison — “Crying”
Boy George — “The Crying Game”
Magnetic Fields — “Why I Cry”
La Sera — “You’re Going To Cry”
The Kinks — “Stop Your Sobbing”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Miles Davis — Birth of the Cool
5 stars out of 5
When I was learning about music in the ’80s, Miles Davis was a presence, albeit an odd one. He seemed grumpy, Prince dug him, and Miles faced away from the audience. (Well, if that was good enough for the Jesus & Mary Chain….) I slowly realized what an important figure he was, and over time picked up a handful of Davis’s records: Best of the Capitol/Blue Note Years, Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, and Best of the Quintet 1965–68.
I had plenty more to discover, and this documentary was the perfect opportunity. That it was also an utter delight to watch was a great bonus.
I think the stereotypical jazz-legend timeline is: grow up poor, go to New York, make a few brilliant records, and die young of an overdose. Miles Davis danced around those parameters. His family was well-to-do. (How he ended up playing trumpet is a wonderful anecdote that I won’t spoil.) He did go to Manhattan — 52nd Street was the place to go! — did make a classic album, and did fall prey to drugs. But it didn’t kill him! Miles’ story was just beginning.
It took me a little while to adjust to the format of the film: Miles tells much of his own life, but it is read by another person, from Davis’s autobiography. Holes are filled in by narration and many superb interviews, with old friends, lovers, and bandmates — including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Quincy Jones.
I was surprised how often I laughed aloud. One of his several ex-wives, Frances Taylor, has an extremely positive self-image that is infectious. So many people’s recollections are hilarious. And Miles didn’t take any shit from anybody. Of course it’s not all light-hearted: Racism is a recurring theme and so are drugs. And Miles could be cruel.
Recently, I saw the Leonard Cohen documentary, and there are some definite parallels. Both men had comfortable upbringings, and had trouble sticking with any one woman. But there is a key difference: Miles was obsessed with music from the very start. It was his constant companion, often his only way to truly express himself. As he grew as a person, the music matured as well. He and the trumpet were one.
If you love music, I urge you to see this film. I was giddy upon exiting the theater, discussing it with strangers. For what it sets out to do, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is perfection.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/17/19
EPISODE #348: FASCINATING
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Fresh & Onlys — “Fascinated”
R.E.M. — “Fascinating”
The Feelies — “Deep Fascination”
Human League — “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”
The Cure — “Fascination Street”
The Pixies — “I’m Amazed”
Kimberley Rew — “I’m Amazed”
White Town — “Bewitched”
Jeff Lynne — “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”
Wilco — “Magnetized”
Stag — “The Bedazzler”
Daniel Johnston with Yo La Tengo — “Speeding Motorcycle” (live on WFMU) r.i.p. Daniel
The Cars — “Since You’re Gone” r.i.p. Ric Ocasek
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: IT Chapter Two
3.5 stars out of 5
IT was my No. 4 top movie of 2017. Chapter Two, on the other hand, should file for Chapter 11. (Hmm, that doesn’t really make sense, but I’m sticking with it.) What happened? Director Andy Muschietti is back; so is Gary Dauberman, one of the original’s three screenwriters. Pennywise is terrifying as ever. Even Stephen King has a bit part. So what’s different here?
Grown-ups. They always ruin things.
It’s 27 years later in Derry, Maine, and we do get our talented young cast from Chapter One in frequent flashbacks. But mostly we get their This Is 40 counterparts. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent group of actors. Bill Hader and James Ransone get laughs as the older nerd and hypochondriac. James McAvoy does an OK job as the still-stuttering guy. I was impressed with the hair of the grownup Jewish kid. The black dude is totally fine. The chubby kid grows up fit and goatee’d and I did not buy it, or at least the actor didn’t convince me.
Jessica Chastain is a strong likeness for Sophia Lillis, and is certainly a very capable actor. But Chastain just doesn’t emanate that “IT Girl” quality which Lillis’s version has in spades. Granted, some people lose their spark as they age, but the actor needs to tell that story, however subtly, and Chastain doesn’t quite get it done.
There are scares a-plenty, and if you enjoy that sort of thing you will be entertained by this movie. But part one had so much heart, and that is simply not on display here. I do think it’s difficult for adults to convey the same depth of friendship that kids can. Also hurting the film is the fact that as an audience, we weren’t catching up with them 27 years later. For us, it’s only been 2 years. Maybe Muschietti should’ve gone all Linklater or Apted and waited two and a half decades to make the follow-up with the original cast. As is, Chapter Two of IT isn’t sh*t, but it ain’t all that.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/10/19
EPISODE #347: BOYS AND GIRLS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Blur — “Girls & Boys”
Juniper — “Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!”
Liz Phair — “Girls! Girls! Girls!”
Human Switchboard — “Shake It, Boys”
Marshall Crenshaw — “Girls…”
U2 — “Stories for Boys” (Three EP version)
The Smithereens — “Girls About Town”
The Just Joans — “Some Boys Are Bigger Than Others”
Guided by Voices — “Glad Girls”
Living Colour — “Glamour Boys”
Duran Duran — “Girls on Film”
The Waitresses — “I Know What Boys Like”
The B-52’s — “52 Girls”
Dump — “Girls and Boys”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/3/19
EPISODE #346: FORMED A BAND
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Art Brut — “Formed a Band” (early version)
Butterglory — “She Clicks the Sticks”
They Might Be Giants featuring Laura Cantrell — “The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)”
Rob Wasserman featuring Willie Dixon and Al Duncan — “Dustin’ Off the Bass”
Owls of Now — “Lead Singer”
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey — “Ukulele”
Cheap Trick — “Mandocello”
Julie Doiron — “Le Piano”
Yo La Tengo — “Sudden Organ”
Talking Heads — “Sax and Violins”
Teeth — “The Trumpets Blared”
Strange New Places — “Trombone”
The Rubinoos — “Two Guitars, Bass, and Drums”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 8/27/19
EPISODE #345: COLD LAMPIN’
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Young Fresh Fellows — “Lamp Industries”
Suddenly, Tammy! — “Lamp”
Blind Willie Johnson — “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning”
The Clientele — “Lamplight”
Joe Henry — “Coda: Light No Lamp When the Sun Comes Down”
Harry James & his Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra — “The Lamp Is Low”
Frank Sinatra w/ Axel Stordahl & his Orchestra — “The Lamplighter’s Serenade”
The Byrds — “Oil in My Lamp”
Herman’s Hermits — “Leaning on a Lamp Post”
Fastbacks — “Under the Old Lightbulb”
Saturday Looks Good to Me — “Light Bulb Heart”
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians — “The Man With the Lightbulb Head”
Laura Leif and Amber Phelps Bondaroff — “Love Song for Lamps”
Grant McLennan — “Lamp by Lamp”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator