4 stars out of 5
You ever go to see a friend play music at 2 p.m. except you misread the flyer and he went on at 12 p.m. so instead you went to the 2:45 movie? That was my Sunday. Otherwise this would probably be a Spider-man review. Still, I was happy to see I Want Your Sex as the lead Cooper Hoffman — after Licorice Pizza and The Long Walk — has achieved “my boy” status. He is a super likable film presence.
As young awkaward Elliot in this, he gets a job as a low-level assistant to of-the-moment artist Erika Tracey (a hilariously hot Olivia Wilde), and quickly achieves “her boy” status. Which in this case means very willing sex slave. Now, if this movie was cast with Chris Hemsworth as the artist and Jenna Ortega as the assistant, that would be culturally uncool, unless, like, she turns the tables on him and hold the phone because I think I have a Hollywood pitch!!
The casting is really fun, actually. We get Mason “Cuba’s son” Gooding as Elliot’s very gay fellow assistant, gently amused by the workplace naughtiness. Daveed Diggs is perfect as Erika’s second-in-command, who has seen it all before and needs to protect Erika from her worst impulses. As Elliot’s not-interested girlfriend we get a very funny, downplayed Charli XCX. And Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville are detectives but that’s a whole other plot twist.
We watch and we generally laugh as Elliot’s life spins out of control. Director/cowriter Gregg Araki lightly addresses topics such as self-worth, yielding control, the absurdity of the art world, and THE MEANING OF SEX (cowriter Karley Sciortino is a “sex writer”), without making any deep dives. And just when I was thinking “Maybe I’m not enjoying this movie quite as much as I was in the early going,” I was very pleased with the ending. Even the closing credits make the point that, to paraphrase another song title, I Want Your Sex just wants to have fun.
Movie Review: I Want Your Sex
Aquarium Playlist, 8/5/26
EPISODE #695: DREAMS VII
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Wyldlife — “Fast Dreams”
gobbinjr — “Just a Dream”
Talulah Gosh — “Just a Dream”
Reverend Horton Heat — “In Your Wildest Dreams”
The Bongos — “My Wildest Dreams”
Josie — “Dream Away”
House Deposit — “IKEA Dreaming”
Ashley Eriksson — “Dreams”
Dauber — “Dream Boy”
The Electric Prunes — “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)”
Ruth Brown — “Oh What a Dream”
Belle and Sebastian — “You Made Me Forget My Dreams”
Fastbacks — “It Came to Me in a Dream”
Calexico — “Beneath the City of Dreams”
Gang of Four — “We Live as We Dream, Alone”
Crowded House — “Don’t Dream It’s Over”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: The Odyssey
4 stars out of 5
The Odyssey has raked in more than $700 million thus far. Of that, I have contributed $5. It was a very rainy Bargain Tuesday so I ducked into the theater to wait out the deluge. I know, I know, I was supposed to see this in IMAX, 70mm if possible, but instead I just sat really close.
Truth is, I’ve been burned by Christopher Nolan too many times to spring for the premium screening anyway. And maybe he’s quietly realized he isn’t all that. Because these “based on somebody else’s work/lives” stories in his recent films have actually been pretty decent, compared to his super-complicated own creations. I liked that Oppenheimer, which I saw 2/3 of on a plane and was compelled enough to rent it to see the rest. I hear Dunkirk was good but I think maybe I was in the hospital and also, feh for big dumb war movies.
Now, I’ve never read Homer’s The Odyssey, although, funny thing, on the radio they said it was flying off the shelves, especially the Emily Wilson translation. And that night I’m at Joe’s Pub and the woman next to me is reading the Emily Wilson translation. I guess that could’ve been a ‘meet cute’ but I wasn’t interested and besides, she was with a dude.
I digress.
So, without background knowledge, I was leaving it in Nolan’s hands to tell me the tale of The Odyssey, and by god he does it in a pretty straightforward way. Everything I saw I’m assuming was in the original version but you Homeric scholars including that Joe’s Pub lady should feel free to correct me.
Matt Damon is my boy, I would gladly follow him into battle, so he is well-cast as Odysseus. No one had ever gone on an adventure like this guy so they invented the word odyssey. He leads the Greek into Troy, sneaks them in in the Trojan horse. When I was a kid it was always on wheels which would be a lot easier, but this time it has to be dragged in, with Elliot “Juno” Page as a lookout. Yay, they win, but it isn’t pretty, and Odysseus takes the long way home. Like, the looooooong way.
As Odysseus makes his odysseusy with his crew, they run into other mythical things you remember from childhood. Hey it’s a Cyclops! Wow, they’re trapped between Scylla and Charybdis like in that song by The Police (or “Rock and a Hard Place” for you mid-period Rolling Stones fans). And speaking of music, it’s the sirens!
Jon Bernthal is quite good as a mostly loyal crewman. Back home in Ithaca (not the one in New York, which I hear is gorges), we have Odysseus’s devoted wife Anne Hathaway weaving away in the backrooms, no doubt prepping for The Devil Wears Prada 3: QuiltMania. Mia Goth is wasted as her handmaiden. I mean, you expect Mia Goth to rip off her corset (wrong era? I’m on a roll) and be sexy Mia Goth but she just stays a handmaiden and thus could’ve been played by anybody. There are a bunch of creepy suitor dudes hanging around assuming that Odysseus won’t return. They are led by a very good and slimy Robert Pattinson, with a good and jerky Corey Hawkins by his side. But Anne Hathaway pays them no mind and just keeps weaving. You go!
Also loyal to Odysseus at home are John Leguizamo, convincing as an old blind shepherd, and Tom Holland as the son of Damon and Hathaway. Now, he’s believable as an innocent who is perhaps not ready to assume the throne, but come on Homer, his character is underwritten. Sonny boy leaves on an unnecessary journey and then comes back. Shrug emoji. Lupita Nyong’o can also blame Homer for not enough to do as Helen of Troy. There’s more activity for Mrs. Tom Holland Zendaya who is subtly spooky as Athena.
And this is just a sentence to say that Charlize Theron is the most beautiful woman in the world.
It is a very good movie. There is some cool action on land and sea and fighting and creatures, and Nolan keeps the story easy to follow. And beyond loyalty, we also get a couple of big concepts that resonate across the millennia: Odysseus’s skepticism of the laws of Zeus, and his slow acknowledgement of the horrible consequences of war. What Nolan seems unable to do is imbue the story with much emotion, which for me prevents it from being a genuinely great movie. Now do I have any takers to translate this review into Greek?
Aquarium Playlist, 7/28/26
EPISODE #694: PRAYER
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Dionne Warwick — “I Say a Little Prayer”
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom — “Praying to You”
The Casters — “Pray to You”
Anika Pyle — “Prayer for Lonely People”
Bruce Springsteen — “The Power of Prayer”
Beck — “Profanity Prayers”
The Resonars — “Have You Heard the Prayer?”
Flatt & Scruggs — “Preachin’ Prayin’ Singin’”
The School — “Hoping and Praying”
Robyn Hitchcock — “I Pray When I’m Drunk”
The Honeys — “Pray for Surf”
Pooh Sticks — “Prayer for my Demo”
Devo — “Praying Hands”
Duran Duran— “Save a Prayer”
Weather Prophets — “Almost Prayed”
Bad Religion — “Don’t Pray on Me”
Pale Lights — “I Will Not Pray”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/21/26
EPISODE #693: HOSPITALS
Felice Brothers — “Ambulance Man”
Monster Bobby — “Let’s Check Into a Hospital Together”
Mark Robinson — “Hospital Bruiser”
Fugazi — “Waiting Room”
Prisonshake — “Favorite Hospital”
Boyracer and Beatnik Filmstars — “Hospital Song”
The Smiths — “Girlfriend in a Coma”
Robyn Hitchcock — “Surgery”
Brian Jonestown Massacre — “Open-Heart Surgery”
Bunnygrunt — “I Just Had Broken-Heart Surgery, Love Won’t Bypass Me Again”
Eels — “Hospital Food” [live]
Manic Street Preachers— “Roses in the Hospital”
Modern Lovers — “Hospital”
Art Brut — “Hospital!”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Jackass — Best and Last
3 stars out of 5
I said basically everything I wanted to say about the Jackass franchise four years ago in my review of Jackass Forever. Since then, Johnny Knoxville has turned up as a host on the unsuccessful series Prank Panel and also the reboot Fear Factor: House of Fear, and starred in the streaming movie Sweet Dreams. (No, I didn’t hear about that one either.) So whether feeling creatively stunted (no pun intended) or nostalgic or maybe Wee Man njust eeded to make a house payment, Johnny has gotten the band back together one last time. In my previous review I said it would happen in 2030 so I’d lose by Price Is Right rules.
The format here doesn’t quite work. There are several new stunts, two of which — involving prostate exams and colonoscopy prep — clearly show the guys’ advanced age. Then the bulk of the movie is old clips, many never seen before, with modern footage of Knoxville, Chris Pontius, and Steve-o reminiscing. And that’s all fine — and I laughed a lot — but overall didn’t seem worthy of a theatrical release. Jackass Forever also had more star power; here we only get Paul Walter Hauser and one of the secondary dudes from MythBusters (which itself hasn’t been on since 2018).
Of greatest interest to me is that, in the earliest footage, the guys call Johnny “P.J.” (His given name is Philip John Clapp.)
So, yeah, it’s Jackass, there’s a lot of doody and guys getting hit in the nuts, and if you like that stuff (I admittedly do), you will laugh. But you can certainly wait till it’s streaming, where it should’ve debuted in the first place.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/16/26
EPISODE #692: CASEY KASEM TRIBUTE 2026
“The New Scooby-Doo Movies” [ALTERNATE THEME]
The Monkees — “I’m a Believer” [Billboard No. 1, 12/2/66 – 12/23/66 and 1/7//67 – 2/11/67]
The Rolling Stones — “Ruby Tuesday” [No. 1, 3/4/67]
The Supremes – “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” [No. 1, 3/11/67]
The Beatles — “Penny Lane” [No. 1, 3/18/67]
The Turtles — “Happy Together” [No. 1, 3/25/67 – 4/18/67]
The Supremes — “The Happening” [No. 1, 5/13/67]
The Young Rascals — “Groovin’” [No. 1, 5/20/67 – 5/27/67 and 6/17/67 – 6/24/67]
Aretha Franklin — “Respect” [No. 1, 6/3/67 – 6/10/67]
The Rolling Stones – “You Know I’m No Good” [long-distance dedication from Jimmy to the Mapman]
The Doors — ”Light My Fire” [No. 1, 7/29/67 – 8/12/67]
The Beatles — “All You Need Is Love” [No. 1, 8/19/67]
The Box Tops — “The Letter” [No. 1, 9/23/67 – 10/14/67]
Strawberry Alarm Clock— “Incense and Peppermints” [No. 1, 11/23/67]
The Monkees — “Daydream Believer” [No. 1, 12/2/67 – 12/23/67]
The Beatles — “Hello Goodbye” [No. 1, 12/30/67 – 1/13/68]
Otis Redding — “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” [No. 1, 3/16/68 – 4/6/68]
Archie Bell & the Drells — “Tighten Up” [No. 1, 5/18/68 – 5/25/68]
Simon & Garfunkel— “Mrs. Robinson” [No. 1, 6/1/68 – 6/15/68]
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
What I’ve Been Watching: Edition XXX
Jeez, I watched a lot of shows from last November through May. There was that blizzard, and I was laid up a few times for medical reasons. But still, this seems like a lot of shows. Better time management? More hermit-like tendencies? Anyway, here are my thoughts on the programs I viewed.
LOVED
The American Revolution (PBS) As a kid I think I learned the most about the American Revolution from that Johnny Tremain movie they showed us in school. Turns out there was a lot more information to discover, which I did thanks to yet another superb Ken Burns documentary series. I was really shaken by early Americans’ utter hypocrisy regarding slavery: They considered themselves “slaves” to the British yet it didn’t occur to them to free their own slaves. And though I know we treated Indians poorly as well, I never grasped the full, truly shameful facts. Wonderful to have Peter Coyote back as narrator, with an all-star cast of historical letter readers. And though I can’t imagine that the Orange One tuned in, I appreciated that the entire series was a subtle rebuke of all things Trump.
Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man! (HBO) Judd Apatow seems to have spent at least half his career trying to prove to us what a fan of comedy he is. Nevertheless, this two-part documentary he directed is a compelling, hilarious, heartbreaking love letter to one of the absolute funniest people of all time. (It took me so long to post this review, Mel Brooks recently turned 100.)
2026 Winter Olympics (NBC) The successes of Mikaela Shiffrin and Alysa Liu made me ridiculously happy, and Ski Mountaineering is an insane event! Loved it.
LIKED A LOT
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins (NBC) If you miss the rapid-fire smart comedy of 30 Rock, I beg you to watch Reggie Dinkins. It was created by two 30 Rock vets, and of course stars Tracy Morgan (as a former football great trying to salvage his reputation). Very funny turn by Daniel Radcliffe as a documentary director, and it’s always nice to have Bobby Moynihan around.
Plur1bus (Apple) It took me a few episodes before I was onboard with the extremely negative protagonist of this sci-fi series, but once I did, I was totally hooked. Looks like they haven’t even begun filming season 2, so don’t hold your breath.
DTF St. Louis (HBO) Jason Bateman is a TV weatherman in this dirty comic mystery costarring David Harbour as his sad-sack buddy and Linda Cardellini as a desperate housewife. Fun to see a made-to-order cheery Bateman character get caught up in some nasty shit.
Rooster (HBO) I loved the smart, funny, sweet first episode and I thought, “Great, Jonathan Krisel from Portlandia and Baskets has toughened up an offering from middle-of-the-road crapmeister Bill Lawrence.” But then the next episodes weren’t as good. Steve Carrell is terrific throughout as the titular Rooster, a Carl Hiassen-esque best-selling author who lands a visiting professor gig at the prestigious university where his professor daughter is having personal problems. Against my better judgement, I re-slotted this as “liked a lot” after a really sweet season finale.
Untamed (Netflix) Thanks Will White for recommending this one! The likeable Eric Bana – a poor man’s Mark Ruffalo – stars as a Yosemite National Park Service special agent whose ex-wife is still nearby. A death at the park seems connected to a previous unsolved park death, and the investigation makes for a taut mystery-thriller with a superb sense of place. Season 2 will have a different setting and I hope the creators can make it just as compelling.
Trapped (first two seasons Roku, third season Netflix as Entrapped) I’m a sucker for snowy foreign mysteries. Set in a remote Icelandic town, Andri is the bear-like chief of a three-person police force, and also the dad in a broken family. In season 1, the sleepy villa is upended when a corpse is found floating near a visiting cruise ship. Season 2 pits locals against a foreign-funded power plant, and people end up dead. Season 3 is on the outskirts of town, with drug-running bikers vs. hippy-dippy cult members and, yes, murder. The series also deals with human trafficking, right-wing extremists, and political and corporate corruption. I’d love a fourth season but it seems unlikely.
Upload (Amazon) This may have had the longest run on my “to watch” list; then an interview with creator Greg Daniels finally convinced me to give it a shot. This comedy with mystery elements has a genius premise that I must’ve mentioned to 100 people: In the near future, we can have our entire personalities/memories uploaded pre-death. Then, depending what your family can afford, your “hard drive” is downloaded into one of several virtual afterlives. It’s also a biting satire of the corporate world, as we routinely hear familiar brand names that have merged with unlikely partners. Funny, goodhearted, romantic, and pretty ingenious.
LIKED
The Paper (Peacock) I think the Greg Daniels interview was for this series. It’s an Office spinoff (including Oscar!) and feels very much like The Office-lite: amusing and watchable but not much more. Perhaps, just like the U.S. Office, it will hit its stride once the show breaks away from its source material.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair (Hulu) I enjoyed the nostalgia factor, though the meager 4-episode reboot made me remember the show wasn’t that brilliant in the first place.
Scrubs (ABC) I can’t say I caught much of the show’s original run. I can say that, left to his own devices, creator BIll Lawrence likes a white-bread, gently comic world where everything works out in the end. Watchable and friendly but not much more.
The Franchise (HBO) This Hollywood satire – specifically of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – is certainly sharp. But like other series under the aegis of executive producer Armando Iannucci, it lacks heart. The Studio is much better.
Big City Greens (Disney Channel) I spend a decent amount of time in motels and this airs a lot. It’s a reverse Green Acres: Farm family moves to the… Big City. Funny stuff. But here’s the problem: There are currently 4 seasons and starting with season 3, the family moved back to the farm! And for some sort of “let’s be relatable to modern kids” reason, the divorced mom is back in the picture showing that, I don’t know, co-parenting is awesome. The show doesn’t seem quite as fun to me.
Space Force (Netflix) I decided to finally check out this Greg Daniels effort when I realized the A.I. bellhop from Upload was in this too. Seemed like a comedy cast that was “too big to fail”: Steve Carrell, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Fred Willard (in his last role), Lisa Kudrow, Tim Meadows, Jane Lynch, Don Lake, Aparna Nancherla, etc. And… it’s funny (sometimes very), it’s cute, but it should’ve been a lot better.
The Now (Roku) On my “to watch” list since early in the pandemic. Super likeable Dave Franco leads an all-star cast – Bill Murray, Daryl Hannah, Alyssa Milano – in 10-minute comic episodes involving suicide, debt, and a failing family business. Cute but it just kind of ends.
KIND OF LIKED, KIND OF DIDN’T
Wayward (Netflix) Toni Collette is a creepy head of school at a creepy reform school in a seemingly idyllic but in actuality really creepy little town. Creator and protagonist Mae Martin is incredibly likeable but the show had low production values, seemed to skip episodes just to reach other points in the plot, and ultimately didn’t all come together.
DIDN’T LIKE
Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Hulu) I am a longtime fan of Elle Fanning and this looked like it would be dirty fun: Single mom starts Only Fans account. Except it wasn’t fun, or dirty. Nick Offerman is enjoyable as her former pro-wrestler dad. Michelle Pfeiffer seems miscast as her aging Hooters waitress mom. (Pfeiffer has been married to show creator David E. Kelley for 33 years so I guess he can cast who he wants) A struggle to get through.
YES, I STILL WATCH THE SIMPSONS
Man, Harry Shearer is really looking old these days.
THANKS AND GOODBYE
Finished two 2-season shows that I really enjoyed: the animated Ten-Year-Old Tom and the smart comedy English Teacher. In the latter case, both the series and creator/star Brian Jordan Alvarez were canceled.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
It took me so long to write and post this, I’ve already started – and in some cases finished – shows I was looking forward to. With luck there are quality surprises ahead.
SHOWS I USED TO WATCH AND IN MANY CASES STILL DO
Links to Edition I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVIII, and XXIX.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/7/26
EPISODE #691: SUMMER 2026
Carson McHone — “In the Summer the Streets Burned”
The Breeders — “Saints”
Catholic Girls — “Summer Boy”
Bedsit Poets — “The Summer That Changed”
The Lil’ Hospital — “Summer Reading”
Miyolophone — “Summersong”
The Knockout Pills — “Summertown Rundown”
Bad Bad Hats — “Bored in the Summer”
Celibate Rifles — “Summer Holiday Blues”
Momma — “Stay All Summer”
Don Henley — “The Boys of Summer”
Idle Ray — “Corridors of Summer”
The Morells — “Cool Summer”
Bunnygrunt — “Wild Summer, Wow!”
Ass Ponys — “It’s Summer Here”
Booker T. & the MG’s — “Summertime”
Cloud Nothings — “Final Summer”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Disclosure Day
4.5 stars out of 5
I love me some later-day Spielberg, but he hasn’t given us the “full Spielberg” in a long while. OK, even while I’m typing that, I’m thinking, “Wait, he wrote and directed the superb Fablemans just four years ago, and it’s basically autobiographical. How much more ‘full Spielberg’ do you want?” Fine, let me rephrase: A.I. back in 2001 – yes, Steven Spielberg made a feature-length film about A.I. a quarter century ago – was the last time he made a movie that he’d totally dreamed up himself. So when I saw the trailer for Disclosure Day and it said “Story by Steven Spielberg,” well, I was pretty excited.
Excitement totally warranted! The trailer was cool – hell, if the movie was just weathercaster Emily Blunt suddenly talking in click-clack gibberish, I would’ve bought a ticket – but the full movie is so much cooler. Certainly, the “we are not alone” concept does not originate with Steven Spielberg. But for a half century he has defined it for popular culture. If there’s no Close Encounters, there’s no X-Files. Etcetera etcetera (which starts with E.T. – coincidence??). In Disclosure Day, Spielberg takes an idea he’s addressed before, and that so many have borrowed from him – that aliens have visited us but the government has COVERED IT UP – and really runs with it.
In this story, we have an evil Department of Defense contractor company where everyone wears black and drives black cars – and they have whistleblowers, including Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo. Josh, I wasn’t crazy about your performance in The Mastermind, but you’ve fully made up for it as Dan Kellner here. He’s a down-to-earth tech whiz who is scared out of his mind and in over his head but is driven by a certainty that he needs to do the right thing. So he’s made off with some very sensitive data.
And so a lot of this movie is a tense thriller, with that sensitive data initially a MacGuffin (not to be confused with a McMuffin). The big bad company, led by a sinister facial-haired Colin Firth, wants that data back and will stop at nothing to get it. Thankfully Emily Blunt gets to Kellner first before Firth. (Say that five times fast.) We get exciting narrow escapes and chase scenes, including a particularly thrilling car-and-train sequence I’ve never seen before.
Rounding out the excellent top cast are Wyatt “Kurt and Goldie’s son” Russell and Eve “Bono’s daughter” Hewson as our leads’ significant others who have different levels of understanding and support for the nuttiness going on. Trusty Spielberg scribe David Koepp (Jurassic Park films, later Indiana Jones, etc.) keeps the plot easy to follow (so often not the case in sci-fi), gifting us with key details on a need-to-know basis, and the dialogue feels real.
But wait, what about that trademark Spielberg wide-eyed wonder? It’s here too, but you have to be patient. Thank you, Steven Spielberg, for another highly entertaining movie with much food for thought: faith and doubt and loyalty and nothing shorter than our place in the universe.
Jack Silbert, curator