In this week’s installment of my AOL Jobs advice column: lingering in the office restroom’s handicapped stall. Plus: Should you work for friends or family without a contract?
Music to Our Ears
Music to Our Ears, a book I wrote for the Heinemann Leveled Literacy Intervention program, was just published. It’s a history of enjoying music, from 19th-century sheet music to modern streaming services.
My Internet Radio Playlist, 10/28/14
EPISODE #152: HALLOWEEN 2014
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Laura Stevenson and the Cans — “Halloween pts. 1 & 2”
David Bowie — “Scary Monsters (& Super Creeps)”
John Lennon — “Scared”
The Strangeloves — “I Want Candy”
The Cramps — “What’s Behind the Mask”
XTC — “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead”
The Fall — “There’s a Ghost in my House”
Get Well Soon — “Witches! Witches! Rest Now in the Fire”
Henry Mancini — “Experiment in Terror”
Life in a Blender — “Frankenstein Cannot Be Stopped”
Former Babies — “Werewolf”
Raymond Bally — “Vampire Song”
Tullycraft — “Fangs on Bats”
Lou Reed — “Halloween Parade”
broadcast live from Hoboken, NJ, on “Jack’s Aquarium”
Tuesday, 10/28/14, 10:15–11:15 a.m. eastern time
Ask Jack: Always Late, Kevin Needs Work, and Job of the Week
In this week’s installment of my AOL Jobs advice column: Annoyed by a co-worker who is always late? Plus: Let’s find a job for Kevin.
My Internet Radio Playlist, 10/21/14
EPISODE #151: BOYS’ NAMES, pt. 2 (N–Z)
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Eleanor Friedberger — “Other Boys”
XTC — “Making Plans for Nigel”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Oliver’s Army”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Hey Paul”
Manfred Mann — “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)”
Robyn Hitchcock — “Give Me a Spanner, Ralph”
Ben Folds Five — “Steven’s Last Night in Town”
Twinkle — “Terry”
Cream — “Tales of Brave Ulysses”
Blondie — “Victor”
The Smiths — “William, It Was Really Nothing”
Dead Can Dance — “Xavier”
David Bowie — “Ziggy Stardust”
broadcast live from Hoboken, NJ, on “Jack’s Aquarium”
Tuesday, 10/21/14, 2:24-3:39 p.m. eastern time
Movie Review: The American Side
4 stars out of 5
Spare and gritty, The American Side is modern noir with a sharp comic twist. It stars Greg Stuhr, and you might be asking yourself, “Who is Greg Stuhr?” What, you weren’t hanging around Carnegie Mellon University during the turn of the ’90s? Well, I was; what’s wrong with you? Since then, Stuhr has pieced together a solid acting résumé, with many appearances in film, television, and Broadway. But Stuhr’s compelling lead performance in The American Side should certainly raise his profile.
Stuhr plays Charlie Paczynski, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Charlie still uses a payphone, drives a Dodge Dart Swinger, and wears knockoff Aviator shades, a knockoff Members Only jacket, and the most horrid tie-shirt combos on the American or any other side. Soon, this watcher is being watched, and Paczynski finds himself embroiled in a murder-and-technology mystery well above his pay grade. Stuhr never allows the character to become a cliché; he fills Paczynski with humanity and we’re willing to follow him anywhere.
Also helping set the film apart from other thrillers, The American Side is loaded with humor. But it never becomes a spoof, and the movie never has to stop dead in its tracks for “Yippe-ki-yay”-style catchphrases. Instead, the jokes (Paczynkski: “You had me at death ray,” etc. etc.) are carefully woven into the script, which Stuhr co-wrote with the movie’s director, Jenna Ricker.
Stuhr is joined by a very impressive supporting cast. Matthew Broderick is wonderfully nasty as a tech-energy zillionaire, the type who will smile as he sticks a switchblade into your ribs. (Broderick’s character compares Paczynski to Philip Marlowe, but the P.I. says he prefers Mike Hammer. “Even your idols are second-rate,” Broderick sniffs.) The great Robert Forster is an old-school, down-to-earth energy baron—but maybe he can’t be trusted either. Janeane Garofalo shows up to provide some exposition about Nikola Testa; one of his revolutionary ahead-of-his-time designs has been stolen and people are literally dying to get it back. Good to see Miles Silverberg a.k.a. Grant Shaud as a sad-sack client of Paczynski who becomes surprisingly helpful. The legendary Robert Vaughn is only in one scene but makes the most of it, as a hilarious aging-playboy yenta.
Lesser-known actors also impress in The American Side. Camilla Belle has an Anne Hathaway quality to her; innocent but seductive and maybe not all that innocent in the first place. You might think Alicja Bachleda is too stunningly beautiful to play a Carnegie Mellon (yup, Stuhr honoring his roots) engineering nerd, but she pulls it off with subtlety. Recognizable character actors include Harris Yulin (if you’re playing Six Degrees of Greg Stuhr, they were both in the late, great spy series Rubicon), Joe Grifasi, and Stephen Henderson (who you may remember as Sam Waterston’s source on The Newsroom).
There’s another wonderful lead character in this film, and that’s the city of Buffalo. Director Ricker captures its fading Rust Belt beauty, seemingly trapped in an earlier era, just like Paczynski. They’re both underdogs and we’re rooting for them. And wow, Ricker knows how to film the awesome power of Niagara Falls, which gives the movie its name.
Meanwhile, Ricker skillfully builds the drama and intensity. We get nods to classic Seventies TV-and-movie detectives, the rapid-fire dialogue of 40s flicks, and even a bit of Hitchcock (the Tesla plans are a MacGuffin, and there’s a sly salute to North by Northwest). Some viewers may get a little lost in the movie’s who-can-you-trust game, but that’s also part of the fun here. And the most exciting visuals and action sequences are saved for the end, giving the film a very satisfying arc.
Kudos to Ricker and Stuhr for shaking up the genre with smarts and wit. They take a Niagara Falls thriller and slowly turn it, step by step, into something really worth watching.
Ask Jack: Boss’s Day, Printer Ethics, and Job of the Week
In this week’s installment of my AOL Job advice column: Should you buy a gift for Boss’s Day? And is it OK to use the office printer for big personal projects?
My Internet Radio Playlist, 10/14/14
EPISODE #150: BOYS’ NAMES, pt. 1 (A–M)
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Reigning Sound — “I’d Much Rather Be With the Boys”
Jojo — “Andre”
Monty Python — “Brian Song”
Cinema Red and Blue — “Charlie Clarke”
Nellie McKay — “David”
Arthur Russell — “Eli”
Pens — “Freddy”
Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle — “Gustavo”
Bobby Womack — “Harry Hippie”
White Town — “Ian”
Camera Obscura — “James”
Mark Olson — “Keith”
Wild Man Fischer — “Sir Larry”
Grass Widow — “Milo Minute”
broadcast live from Hoboken, NJ, on “Jack’s Aquarium”
Tuesday, 10/14/14, 10:00-11:05 a.m. eastern time
Movie Review: The Skeleton Twins
3.5 stars out of 5
As we adjust to yet another new SNL cast, we get nostalgic for not-ready-for-prime-time players past. So sure I was going to see Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, the strongest male and female cast members of recent vintage, in their new movie. Heck, I was just happy that Hader had graduated beyond cellphone commercials.
Even though this is a drama, you will be reminded of SNL from time to time. It’s hard not to think of Stefon when we meet Hader’s character Milo, turned down several notches. And Hader and Wiig engage in a few “bits” that you could imagine on the show.
But the pervading mood here is depression: How did we get to this point in our lives and is there any escape? Hader and Wiig are the titular twins who haven’t spoken in a decade. After a suicide attempt in L.A., Milo comes to live with sister Maggie and her husband Lance in upstate New York. Spoiler alert: Maggie has problems too.
We get strong performances throughout. Luke Wilson, as Lance, is dependably excellent. (Since Enlightened, Luke may have surpassed Owen in my Wilson Brother Rankings.) The character could’ve been a cliché as a surface-level dumb guy not quite satisfying his wife, but Wilson plays him with subtlety and makes Lance very likable. We root for him.
Ty Burrell does decent work as a man from Milo’s past. (Talk about your Modern Families.)
But I was particularly impressed with Hader and Wiig. They admirably handle these dramatic roles, not overplaying them. And I believed their sibling relationship. There can be a weirdness and sadness with this person you’ve known all your life, when that life hasn’t turned out quite as you expected. I will admit to choking up a time or two.
And yet, something’s missing, or maybe there’s too much here. As realistic as the setting is, and many of the emotions, I felt like the writing let the movie down now and again. There are probably too many instances of Extreme Personal Trauma to deal with in a 90-minute film. It’s odd, this is produced by mumblecore kings the Duplass brothers, yet it leans toward melodrama. I didn’t buy the ending, either.
Kudos to Hader and Wiig, I think that’s the important thing here. I’d happily see them in a another movie together. Ooh, do you think she’ll show up when he hosts SNL this weekend? Not that I’m underwhelmed with the current cast or anything.
Ask Jack: Boss Hates Me, Chair Coveters, and Job of the Week
In this week’s installment of my AOL Jobs advice column: Getting the boss to like you. Plus, what to do when someone swipes your office chair.
Jack Silbert, curator