2025
You are browsing the archive for 2025.
Movie Review: Frankenstein
4.5 stars out of 5 Guillermo del Toro has quietly become one of my favorite filmmakers. This is his fourth consecutive movie (after The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio) that I’ve rated 4.5 stars out of 5, and Pan’s Labyrinth is a classic as well. And via interviews, I’ve learned […]
Movie Review: Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere
4 stars out of 5 I try to buy any new Springsteen album on the day of release, and it turns out I’m an opening-day guy for any Bruce biopics too. Had obviously been looking forward to this movie, after so many reports of filming days in Asbury Park, Bruce sightings on-set, etc. And I’ve […]
Movie Review: One Battle After Another
4 stars out of 5 Maybe Trump caught an early screening of this before they started sending National Guard troops against U.S. citizens. We start 16 years ago (but it might have been yesterday), when a band of revolutionaries are freeing detained immigrants. These anti-fascists include Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor (who I’ve only seen in […]
Movie Review: The Long Walk
4 stars out of 5 I approve of Stephen King as an author and as a human being, but as I covered in my review of IT, I’ve never read his stuff or even seen most of the movies based on it. Which made The Long Walk another total surprise for me. The trailer really […]
Aquarium Playlist, 9/30/25
EPISODE #661: SINS Traveling Wilburys — “7 Deadly Sins” [ALTERNATE THEME]John Cozz & Ken De Poto — “Oh What a Sin” Sidney Gish — “Sin Triangle” Bruce Springsteen — “Wages of Sin” Nina Simone — “Sinnerman” Dream Syndicate — “Loving the Sinner, Hating the Sin”Sweet Nobody — “Sinner at Gatherings” Pet Shop Boys — “It’s […]
Movie Review: Spinal Tap II — The End Continues
3.5 stars out of 5 Upon re-watching 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap early in the pandemic, I rated it 10 out of 10 on IMDb, and if the scale allowed me, would’ve gone to 11. I was 15 years old when the movie first came out and it was a perfect blend of smart and […]
Aquarium Playlist, 9/23/25
EPISODE #660: DUST The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]Dolly Mixture — “Dust to Dust” Bob Mould — “Return to Dust” Allo Darlin’ — “Only Dust Behind” The Schramms — “Faith Is a Dusty Word” The Ballroom — “Musty Dusty”Elmore James — “Dust My Broom” UV-TV — “Dust” Robyn Hitchcock — “The Dust” Eels — “Dust […]
Aquarium Playlist, 9/16/25
EPISODE #659: SATISFIED The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]Otis Redding — “Satisfaction” Jeanines — “Satisfied” Steve Earle — “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” Liz Phair — “Satisfied” Untamed Youth — “She’s So Satisfying”The Replacements — “Unsatisfied” Plastic Palms — “Satisfied” Tuns — “To Your Satisfaction” Tom Waits — “Satisfied”Rolling Stones — “I Can’t Be Satisfied” [radio […]
Movie Review: The Conjuring — Last Rites
3.5 stars out of 5If you’re keeping score: First I watched The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle Comes Home, and Annabelle: Creation on cable. In 2021, I went to the theater to see The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Since then on cable I’ve watched Annabelle and The Nun. I returned to the […]
Aquarium Playlist, 9/9/25
EPISODE #658: RIOTS The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]The Robins — “Riot in Cell Block #9” The Ekphrastics — “I Am Going To Read You the Riot Act” Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Riot Act” Tullycraft — “Look How We Killed the Riot Grrrls” Daddy Issues — “Riot Grrrl”The Clash — “White Riot” The […]
Jack Silbert, curator