4 stars out of 5
Robert De Niro stars as real-life gangster Frank Costello, with a strong supporting performance by Robert De Niro as Costello’s rival, Vito Genovese. Now, The Two Bobbys could’ve turned out cheesy or cheap-looking, but in director Barry Levinson’s hands, it works. And it’s fun to watch late-stage De Niro flex his acting muscles to create two really distinct characters.
Alton Knights is an unapologetic old-school mafia movie, written by the 92-year-old legend Nick Pileggi (nonfiction book Wiseguy which Goodfellas was based on, and co-wrote Goodfellas and Casino with Scorsese). It’s 1957, and the film looks and feels like that. The story — which seems fairly close to the facts — has the hot-headed Genovese returning from Italy, looking to reclaim his vast New York territory which he had ceded to childhood friend Costello. Ah, but on the more business-minded Costello’s watch, the New York operation has been both peaceful and successful. Not everyone seems willing to just hand things back to Vito. So we have a conflict.
You know you’re going to see guns, a court case, a mention that drugs are only going to ruin the business, and Sopranos vets in the cast. (Here we get Jackie Aprile Sr., FBI Special Agent Harris, and Mrs. Artie Bucco who really gets to emote as Mrs. Genovese.) Debra Messing as Mrs. Costello has very little to do here, besides looking concerned. And for me, it was nice to see Phil from Larry Sanders as Senator Estes Kefauver.
By generally sticking to true events, we may not get caught up in a big dramatic whirlwind, but I still found Alton Knights quite interesting, and definitely satisfying as a mafia tale. With two De Niros for the price of one!
Aquarium Playlist, 4/1/25
EPISODE #635: SPRING 2025
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Luluc — “Come on Spring”
Franklin Bruno — “Sweet the Spring”
Dear Nora — “Springtime Fall”
Special Moves — “Springtime”
Fred Thomas — “Leaving in the Springtime”
Love, Burns — “Come in the Spring”
Linda Smith — “I So Liked Spring”
Lewsberg — “The Joy of Spring”
Lame Drivers — “Spring”
Kitty Craft — “Tokyo in the Spring”
Felice Brothers — “Spring Gazing”
Gary Lewis & the Playboys — “Green Grass”
Winter — “Waiting for the Summer”
Dentist — “Check the Calendar”
American Analog Set — “Everything Ends in Spring”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/25/25
EPISODE #634: LOYAL LISTENER REQUESTS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Daniel Johnston — “Living Life” [for Fredericks]
L7 — “Shitlist” [for Leah]
Shane MacGowan & the Popes — “Aisling” [for Shmuel]
Alison Brown — “The Road West” [for Allison]
Laura Cantrell — “Beg or Borrow Days” [for Audrey]
John Lennon — “God” [for Seb]
Bob Dylan — “Highway 61 Revisited” [for Jimmy]
The Exbats — “Everybody Loves My Mom” [for Charlie]
Pink Floyd — “See Emily Play” [for David]
David Johansen — “Donna” [for Deb]
Mary Gauthier — “The Foundling” [for Sarah]
Belle & Sebastian — “Dear Catastrophe Waitress” [predicted for Sherri]
Flatt & Scruggs — “My Little Girl in Tennessee” [predicted for Amy]
Justice League of America — “Fifth Amendment” [predicted for Steve]
Chuck Prophet — You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)” [predicted for MEM]
The Go-Betweens — “Rock and Roll Friend” [for Mapman]
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Black Bag
4 stars out of 5
Since splashing onto the movie scene with 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, director Steven Soderbergh above all else seems to choose whatever project will be fun for him at a given time, regardless of genre. For Black Bag, he sinks his teeth into an old-fashioned drawing room whodunit. (“Someone in this room has committed a murder, and before daybreak I intend to find out precisely who it was.”) Hired to craft such a classic cinematic tale is one of the most dependable big-league screenwriters of the past 20 years, David Koepp (Spider-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park). Armed with a top-notch cast, the result is a sharp, clean, good time at the movies.
Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett are married British agents. He’s fussy, she’s sultry. They’re open with each other — except on black-bag (top secret) assignments. For example, a colleague lets him know that one of five co-workers is going to leak a very dangerous MacGuffin to the enemy. One of those co-workers: Blanchett.
Fassbender sets out to find the traitor, who may very well be his wife. Instead of a drawing room, he arranges a dinner party with Fassbender’s right-hand man James (Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton), Freddie (Tom Burke who was Orson Welles in Mank) who was passed over for that spot, Freddie’s girlfriend Clarissa (Marisa Abela a.k.a. Teen Talk Barbie) who has a crush on Fassbender, and staff psychiatrist Zoe (Naomie Harris, Moneypenny in recent Bonds) who has heard a secret or two. Not invited is their boss Pierce Brosnan, so old that I didn’t recognize him at first.
Steven Soda-bread and Koepp blend sexual tension, satellites, humor, poison, and a polygraph machine into a neat little spy thriller. Bonus points for Squeeze’s “Up the Junction” on the soundtrack. If you’d like to know a little more of the plot before deciding to watch, I’d tell you but… black bag.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/11/25
EPISODE #632: ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2025 (FEAR)
a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the Rogue’s March album Never Fear
Rogue’s March — “I’m in Love — But Not With You” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Joe Hurley & Rogue’s March — “I Knew This Would Happen”
Siouxsie & the Banshees — “Fear (of the Unknown)”
Public Enemy — “Fear of a Black Planet”
CR & the Nones — “Living in Fear”
John Cameron Mitchell & Eyelids — “Waves of Fear”
Radioactivity — “Fear”
UV-TV — “Fear”
White Fence — “Fear”
Matthew Sweet — “Feel Fear”
The Auteurs — “Fear of Flying”
Best Coast — “Fear of My Identity”
Robbie Robertson — “Fear of Falling”
Rogue’s March — “Shut Up and Drink”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Parthenope
3.5 stars out of 5
In the past handful of years, I’ve become lightly addicted to vintage, melancholy summer-by-the-shore movies, with extra points if they’re European. They’re generally slow-paced, in beautiful settings, sexy, with complicated relationships, and often contain a coming-of-age element. Parthenope is a modern Italian film that checks all the boxes yet still wasn’t fully satisfying.
This is the third movie I’ve seen from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino. First was the pretty good and very interesting This Must Be the Place starring Sean Penn as an aging goth rocker. More recently was the very good, semi-autobiographical The Hand of God about growing up in Naples.
For Parthenope, Sorrentino returns to his beloved Napoli. The story begins in 1950, shortly before our protagonist is born. But she is destined for big things, at least according to the Commander, a garrulous older fellow who arrives by boat, carrying a gift for the baby-to-be: an ornate carriage that will serve as her bed. And when it’s time to choose her name, it’s the Commander who suggests Parthenope, the original name of their city of Naples.
We rejoin the tale in the summer of 1968, and va-va-voom what a hottie Parthe has grown into! She even makes her older brother Raimondo feel funny inside. I was enjoying the movie but as we hit the streets of swingin’ Napoli, everyone was a little too stylish and it reminded me of lazy period pieces where they forget that not all cars in any time period are new; there are always old clunkers around.
Newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta does a fine job playing Parthenope from ages 18 to 32. There’s confidence throughout: She knows she’s gorgeous, and does know how to tease, yet proactively follows the advice of Pat Benatar and never uses sex as a weapon. And though Parthenope appreciates all the attention, all she really wants is to attend university and study anthropology.
This led to another problem with the movie for me. As we meet Parthe again in 1973, she is presented as the woman who has it all: smart and beautiful. Now, it’s not like I expected to become an expert in anthropology from watching this, but most movies do a better job of showing a studious person. Maybe she’s telling Raimondo and friends that no, she can’t play beach volleyball because she has three books open on a desk and she’s wearing glasses and there’s a pencil behind her ear! See, it’s easy. But Sorrentino just expects us to accept it. She’s in school! She’s a genius!
Ah who cares, it’s summer, Raimondo suggests traveling to Capri with sis and her long-suffering boyfriend Sandrino. That’s when we non-Europeans are thrown a couple of bones: Parthenon runs into Gary Oldman (who probably didn’t have to think too hard about accepting a small part as a noted American in an Italian resort), and also we get a little Sinatra on the soundtrack. Later, a seemingly random mention of Billy Wilder really made me smile. (As another tip of the cap to old Hollywood, Sorrentino gives Parthenope a trait of always wanting to have a ready rejoinder ”like in old movies.”)
The fascinating characters one meets in life — if one is open to it — is another key theme here. In a restaurant, an agent sees how striking Parthenope is and insists she go to Naples’ top acting coach to become a movie star. Or later, returning to anthropology, she visits San Gennaro (the church, not the sausage-and-peppers feast) where the archbishop is a real creepy dude.
And as Parthenope ages, we get a bit more depth. There is tragedy to deal with, and the fading of youth, and the question of whether to settle down or not, or to leave Naples.
It doesn’t add up to a great movie, but I did think it improved into something worth watching. Especially if you can’t afford a trip to Italy right now.
Movie Reviews: 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films
LIVE ACTION
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Croatia)
4 stars out of 5
It’s 1993 in Eastern Europe and military personnel have stopped and boarded a passenger train, demanding to see everyone’s papers. Tension builds as the officers get closer and closer to the compartment we’ve become familiar with, including a family and one young man without papers. Will the father stand up for the young man, and possibly risk his family’s well-being? Trump’s asinine “plan” for Gaza has brought ethnic cleansing back into the headlines, giving this film added urgency.
Anuja (India)
3.5 stars out of 5
Young Anuja and her older sister work in sweat-shop conditions in a textile plant. A local teacher is aware of Anuja’s mathematical skills and wants her to take an entrance exam for boarding school. Is she willing to leave the life she’s known, and possibly risk her sister’s livelihood, for a chance to better herself? The young non-actress really makes you feel like you’re there in the crowded streets, rooting for her.
I’m Not a Robot (Netherlands/Belgium)
3 stars out of 5
A cute sci-fi dark comedy based on website CAPTCHAs that make sure you’re human. It’s a clever conceit but doesn’t have much more to say.
A Lien (USA)
4.5 stars out of 5
We follow a young family rushing to the dad’s green-card hearing in the all-too-real current immigration control chaos. The frenetic camera work adds action-movie intensity to the proceedings, and the wife/mom actress conveys the terror of possibly having her family torn apart. A waiting-room TV showing Trump at a rally is a nice touch. The film really rattled me.
DOCUMENTARY
Instruments of a Beating Heart (Japan)
4.5 stars out of 5
It’s the end of the school year in Japan and first graders are forming an orchestra to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” to welcome next year’s first-grade class. In this simple, achingly sweet story, we learn so much about human nature, friendship, empathy, compassion, tough love, Japanese culture, student/teacher dynamics, victory, defeat, resilience, etc. This was filmed in 2022 and the kids’ little covid masks add just another tug to the heart.
Incident (USA)
4 stars out of 5
A harrowing film constructed fully from surveillance-camera and police body-cam footage. It shows — in a Chicago neighborhood already reeling from another recent case — the shooting of a civilian by an officer and the immediate aftermath. It’s thrilling and frightening to witness the scene “live.”
I Am Ready, Warden (USA)
3.5 stars out of 5
Out of appeals, John Henry Ramirez faces execution for the brutal murder of a stranger. Through interviews with Ramirez, the victim’s son, the new district attorney, Ramirez’s “surrogate mom,” etc., the film examines the morality of death sentences, the possibility of prison rehabilitation, contrition, forgiveness, Texas death-row culture, and more, slowly unfolding to an emotional conclusion.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra (USA)
3.5 stars out of 5
Director Molly O’Brien presents this joyous, triumphant profile of her aunt, double bassist Orin O’Brien, who in 1966 became the first female musician in the New York Philharmonic. Though Leonard Bernstein was an early champion, not everyone was so supportive. We see how Orin overcame the challenges with a smile on her face and an unceasing dedication to her artistry.
Death by Numbers (USA)
3.5 stars out of 5
We meet Samantha Fuentes, who was shot during the 2018 Parkland high school massacre. She generously shares her journals with filmmakers, and the text serves as narration throughout. As difficult as her physical recovery was, the film zeroes in on her emotional and psychological recovery as Samantha prepares to confront the shooter in court.
ANIMATION
Magic Candies (Japan)
3.5 stars out of 5
Young Dong-Dong (!) is a loner who happens upon some candies. Trying the first one, the sofa starts talking to him (shades of Pee-wee). Each candy leads to another unexpected conversation. It’s cute but didn’t have the emotional resonance I was hoping for.
In the Shadow of the Cypress (Iran)
4 stars out of 5
In the Shadow of the Cypress Lies the Seed of the Sacred Fig, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire… starting with the title, I must admit I didn’t totally understand this film. We have an older man and younger woman who I first thought were husband and wife, then realized were father and daughter. He’s violent and so she leaves their humble seaside home. But she’s stopped in her tracks by a beached whale just outside. This whale is a metaphor. Through flashbacks we learn Dad was a seafarer who experienced trauma. The whale is the trauma, and they’re trying to set it free? The animation is beautiful, anyway.
Yuck! (France)
4 stars out of 5
Diverse families are at a summer camp site and kids are hanging out together, getting grossed out when they spy older people kissing. And why do their lips start glowing? So disgusting… well, until two of the kids have glowy lips too. This is a sweet little movie whose simple animation nods to South Park. And there’s a sweet, simple message too: We can’t stop human attraction; it wants what it wants, who it wants, when it wants, where it wants.
Wander to Wonder (Netherlands/Belgium/France)
4.5 stars out of 5
This was the weirdest entry and, of course, my favorite. A kindly old host and maker of a kids’ TV show has dropped dead at home. His miniature stars live on, continuing to make new episodes that no one is seeing. As time passes and they run out of resources, their situation gets more desperate. Recommended for fans of dark comedy.
Beautiful Men (Belgium/France/Netherlands)
4 stars out of 5
Another dark animated comedy from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands — what’s going on over there? Three middle-aged brothers travel to Istanbul (not Constantinople) for hair transplants. While they wait in the hotel, their sibling rivalries and insecurities take center stage.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/4/25
EPISODE #631: DARK
Ezra Cohen — “Kiss Me in the Dark” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Yo La Tengo — “When It’s Dark”
Dwight Yoakam — “Some Dark Holler”
Frankie Cosmos — “Too Dark”
James Carr — “The Dark End of the Street”
Grass Jaw — “Dark Months”
Old Town Crier — “Into the Dark”
The Resonars — “Dark on You Now”
Reese McHenry — “Flower in the Dark”
Dolly Mixture — “Whistling in the Dark”
They Might Be Giants — “Whistling in the Dark”
Grass Widow — “Whistling in the Dark”
Blind Willie Johnson — “Dark Was the Night”
Grant McLennan — “The Dark Side of Town”
Exploded View — “Dark Stains”
New Yorks Dolls — “Trash” r.i.p. David Johansen
For Against — “Svengali” r.i.p. Jeffrey Runnings
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/25/25
EPISODE #630: LIGHT
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (The Barbusters) — “Light of Day”
Sam Phillips — “Reflecting Light”
Freedy Johnston — “Trick of the Light”
Smut — “How the Light Felt”
Bruce Springsteen — “Blinded by the Light”
Jennifer O’Connor — “The Color and the Light”
Robert Forster — “Let Your Light In, Babe”
The Goon Sax — “Strange Light”
Velvet Underground — “Beginning to See the Light”
Bob Mould — “See a Little Light”
Todd Rundgren — “I Saw the Light”
Little Walter — “Boom, Boom Out Goes the Light”
Jerry Butler — “I Stop by Heaven” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator