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.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/21/26
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.
Movie Review: Backrooms
3 stars out of 5
OK, here’s the deal. I was incredibly tired when I went to see Backrooms last week. As I sat down to write this review, I admitted to myself that I had dozed off sporadically in the second half of the movie, perhaps missing some key connections, so didn’t think I could fairly evaluate it. So yesterday, I went to see Backrooms again. And all I can say is… I WANT MY MONEY BACK!
I think I saw the trailer for Backrooms when I went to see the much superior Japanese film Exit 8. They seemed to be the same movie, and both seemed to basically be somebody lost in the Lumon Industries building. Oh, but I guess I’m supposed to pay special attention to Backrooms (looking like it’s set in an abandoned Levitz showroom) because director Kane Parsons, a.k.a. Kane Pixels (uggh whatever), is some kinda Gen Z online horror wunderkind who was signed by overrated studio A24 when he was only 16 years old.
His theatrical debut is about what I’d expect from a now-20-year-old: Pretty cool concept and visuals (yet all borrowed from the internet concepts of backrooms and “creepypasta” which date back to 2019) and some admittedly very strong sequences, but no deep understanding of the human condition required to deliver a really clever plot or emotionally complex characters. That screenwriter Will Soodik a.k.a. Willliam Bromell – because why use your own name? Idiots. – only has a background in TV makes sense; this movie seems slapped together from different segments that simply do not cohere.
The imprimatur and coffers of A24 allowed Parsons to cast top-tier actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor as a divorced furniture store owner, Renate “Sentimental Value” Reinsve as his therapist, Mark “Yeah I Used To Be a Wunderkind Too” Duplass as a paranormal scientist, and the girl from Shrinking as a store employee. Oh and she has a boyfriend who has resting Blue Steel face and, importantly, a Blair Witch video camera.
Parsons could’ve leaned into one of two not-super-original concepts here – divorce is hard; having a rough childhood is hard – and still come up with a nifty psychological horror. But there’s a big layer of “evil-corporate overlords” that just renders Backrooms stupid and nonsensical. It’s still watchable, mind you, as long as you’re well-rested.
Movie Review: Star Wars — The Mandalorian and Grogu
3.5 stars out of 5
I guess this is what passes for a Star Wars movie these days? Say what you want about George Lucas, but even at his worst it felt like the fate of the galaxy was at stake. Supposedly this flick was planned as a TV series but rejiggered for the big screen, and the plot does feel TV-episodic; hard to get fully invested in.
All that said, this is fine, maybe even good. It’s a no-pressure, family-friendly, enjoyable time at the cinema. For us olds, they mention or show various Star Wars stuff: Jabba the Hutt, X-wings, AT-ATs, stormtroopers, hyperspace lines. The credits say Anthony Daniels’ voice is in this; sadly no John Williams themes or phrases.
Pedro Pascal is reliably “I’m Batman”-gruff as the Mandalorian. Oh I don’t know if this is a gripe or whatever, but the Star Wars marketing team worked their intergalactic asses off to re-brand Baby Yoda as Grogu. He has a name – use it! But I’m looking at the IMDb page, and Pascal’s character’s name is Din Djarin. I don’t think I heard that uttered once. It’s all Mando this and Mando that. I call double-standard shenanigans!
Sigourney Weaver is in this as a Rebel bigwig which she can do in her sleep, yet I couldn’t help thinking maybe she accidentally wandered in from a different sci-fi set. As for-the-parents voice casting goes, Martin Scorsese is very amusing as a food-truck vendor, but they did not need to hire Jeremy Allen White as Jabba’s kid; the voice is processed and anybody could’ve provided it. Even Anthony Daniels.
Kudos to the creature shop, their work is a real highlight of this film – cool, funny, scary. There is some solid action as well. Director Jon Favreau does a decent if not remarkable job here.
But the main draw is the sweet friendship between the Mandalorian and Grogu, and the message to young viewers is to always be loyal to your friends. Which has been floating through the Star Wars universe all along.
Movie Review: Omaha
4 stars out of 5
Walking out of the Clairidge theater, I turned to my pal the ticket clerk and said, “I really need to mix in an upbeat film now and then.” Omaha was my second consecutive real downer at the movies. Which is not to say I didn’t like it – quite the contrary.
As the movie begins, we’re in Utah, not Omaha, in the very early morning in the recent past. Dad is waking up his two sleepy kids and rushing them out of the house and, with the dog, into the beat-up car. Something bad has happened that they are running away from. One of the beautiful things about this movie is that we rarely know any more than the kids do. Mom has passed away, and we are driving to – Dad eventually tells us – Nebraska.
Who or what is in Nebraska? Dad won’t say.
Very good actor John Magaro is the dad. You may know him as the white guy in Past Lives or the human in First Cow or as Silvio in The Many Saints of Newark or as the loyal buddy in The Mastermind or as a crewman in Finest Hour. He has a bearded down-to-earth everyman quality that suits him very well in this role. There is not a ton of dialogue in the script so body language and facial expressions do much of the heavy lifting here, and Magaro is more than up to the challenge. He is depressed and defeated and exhausted and in one heartbreaking scene has taken all that he can take, yet he wants to remain a loving, devoted father.
As the older of the two kids, Molly Belle Wright is splendid. All I ask of kid actors is to be believable rather than actorly and Molly has it. Her character is trying so hard to be mature but it’s hard because she’s a little kid.
Emotions ratchet up a notch as the family reaches their destination. I’ll say no more. Is that latest Spongebob flick streaming yet? I gotta lighten things up.
Jack Silbert, curator