4.5 stars out of 5
Despite being made in Iran by Iranians, this is not Iran’s submission as Best International Feature for this year’s Academy Awards. That’s because writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof made the film — which is highly critical of Iran’s theocratic government — in secret, and then fled to Germany. Three of his lead actresses have followed suit, while another is — chillingly — not being allowed to leave the country. That the authoritarian rule on display seems increasingly feasible here as well, under the second Trump regime, only adds greater urgency to the film.
We meet career bureaucrat Iman, finally promoted to investigative judge. He quickly learns that his own understanding of due process is irrelevant in his new position; Iman is also issued a gun as the job will likely earn him enemies. Meanwhile, we meet his wife Najmeh and two daughters: college student Rezvan and high-schooler Sana. Even in this strict society, they are modern girls, interested in fashion, music, and social media. Najmeh explains to them that with Dad’s new post, they’ll have to be much more demure in public, to not draw any attention to the family and Iman.
But the daughters can’t help but be fascinated by the female-led protests in the streets sparked by the suspicious (real-life) death of young Mahsa Amini, arrested for not wearing her hijab. The girls hear shouts of “down with the theocracy!”, and see on their phones the violent crackdown by the police, while none of this is being covered honestly by the state-run media. The growing protests creates great conflict at home, the girls realizing that their dad is now part of the problem (signing off on arrested protesters), with Mom caught in the middle.
Sohella Golestani is brilliant as the mother. She shifts seamlessly from nurturing wife, caring for her husband who is riddled with anxiety from the new job, to scolding mom who is dreaming of the better life now possible for her family. Then ultimately we see her overarching need to be a protective mom at all costs. This transition is moving and heartbreaking.
We see Iman (actor Missagh Zareh) go in the other direction; it’s frightening as we see humanity drained from him. And the girls — actresses Mahsa Rostami and Setareh Maleki — each know when to take a stand despite knowing the price they’ll pay at home. (Interestingly, one of the only bits of English we see in the movie is a decorative sign in the girls’ room reading Never Ever Give Up.)
Director Rasoulof cleverly ratchets up the family tension to match the rising tension in the streets. In a harrowing touch, he frequently inserts real cell-phone footage of the brave protests and the over-the-top police response. And when things reach the boiling point, Rasoulof goes full Hitchcock the rest of the way out; the message being that the government has created an untenable situation where no one can be trusted.
Mohammad Rasoulof, his cast, and crew risked so much to get this important story out there. That they accomplished it with finessed filmmaking, honest writing that blends the political with the personal, and extremely heartfelt performances deserves our attention, our praise, and hopefully motivates us to be vilgilent for our own rights.
Movie Review: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Aquarium Playlist, 2/4/25
EPISODE #627: TERRY MCCARTHY
Theme chosen by 2024 contest winner… Terry McCarthy! All songs by Terry McCarthy unless otherwise noted.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Kirsty MacColl — “Terry”
“It’s Beautiful”
“The One Never Came”
“Constellation Nora”
“Stay With You”
“Your Side of the Story”
“Margery Anne”
“Just Today”
The Porchistas — “The Tierney’s Tavern Song”
The Nutley Brass — “Head Over Heels”
Bern & the Brights — “Heart Wide Open”
“Anything To Have You Here”
“By Any Chance”
“Most Sorry”
Marianne Faithfull — “Something Better” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 1/28/25
EPISODE #626: WORDS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Monkees — “Words”
UV-TV — “Only Kind Words”
Lee Hazlewood — “Words Mean Nothing”
Jimmy Cliff — “Action Speaks Louder Than Words”
Buddy Holly — “Words of Love”
The Ladybug Transistor — “Words Hang in the Air”
Ella Fitzgerald — “Too Marvelous for Words”
Radiohead — “These Are My Twisted Words”
James Mastro — “Three Words”
The Magnetic Fields — “All my Little Words”
Boyracer — “Stand By Yr Words”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Pretty Words”
The Connells — “Unspoken Words”
Dany Laj & the Looks — “In Other Words”
Lucinda Williams — “Words”
Garth Hudson — “Little Island” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Wolf Man
4 stars out of 5
The day started out with me planning to see the movie September 5 in Montclair. But for the second week in a row I didn’t get an early-enough jump, so hunkered down in Vito’s Pizza of Bloomfield (last week it was the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton) to figure out Plan B. I hadn’t scrolled too far down the Regal app Secaucus listings before realizing, “Ooh, Wolf Man! I want to see that!”
I’d seen the trailer a number of times, and it looked pretty scary. Plus I have a vague knowledge that horror-meisters Blumhouse are revitalizing the old Universal monsters for the 21st century. My IMDd account confirms that I already saw 2020’s The Invisible Man. I only remember a scene in a restaurant Elisabeth Moss and a knife, but I did rate the film 7 out of 10 so I guess I mostly liked it. Invisible Man writer/director Leigh Whannell returns to helm Wolf Man. And I liked it 1 more out of 10!
Christopher Abbott (who I only know from the underwhelming dominatrix flick Sanctuary) and Julia Garner (who I’ve appreciated since The Americans in 2013) are a not-very-happy married city couple with a kid. Abbott suggests they shake things up by going to the woods in Oregon and clearing out his old man’s house. Before they even get to the driveway, though, he gets bit by a radioactive wolf or something. And then the fun begins.
Whannell, with help from an excellent special-effects crew, is terrific at slowly building up the scares, within a limited physical space (scares inside the house, scares from outside the house, in the barn, in the pickup truck, etc.). Abbott loses the ability to speak and the child-actor daughter is somewhat overdoing it, so it’s up to Julia Garner to hold down the acting chops — and she does a great job. We see her go from overworked, depressed corporate mom not feeling she’s spending enough time with the kid, to a wife worried that there’s something seriously wrong with her husband, to someone worried about her own safety, to the mom who will protect her kid at any costs, all the while rediscovering some real love for her family.
But the main reason I really dug this movie: It scared the bejesus out of me and wouldn’t let go. I sat there wide-eyed with my mouth hanging open as the film moved from one scary set piece to the next. It’s a raw, no-frills horror flick, so if you like that sort of thing, be in pursuit of the hirsute!
Movie Review: The Room Next Door
4 stars out of 5
Ticket clerk: “You’re in Theater 1.”
Me: “Yes, but what’s in… the room next door?”
After that bit of hilarity, I was ready to purchase my popcorn and settle in for Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature with the boffo leads Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. On the surface, this is a pretty heavy story: One old friend (Swinny) has terminal cancer and asks the other old friend to accompany her at the Very End. But Almodóvar has the lightness of touch to make it as much a celebration of living and friendship as it is a meditation on death and grief. Plus he tosses in some humor and a little police drama too.
Moore’s character, Ingrid, is compellingly drawn, and perfectly portrayed. We quickly learn that — like the writer of this review — she’s not great at setting boundaries/saying no. And she’s not even Martha’s (Swinton) BFF — they’ve reconnected after many years only because Ingrid has learned of Martha’s illness. So why not ask a closer pal to be her room-next-door death buddy? Uh, Martha did ask three others first, but they all said NO. (I found that pretty funny.)
Swinton is very well-cast too, and not just because she’s gaunt. She’s quite believable as someone who wants to call her own shots, wants to plan it all out, but every now and then we see the cracks in her armor.
We’re in a classic Woody setting of high-achieving individuals (Ingrid’s a novelist; Martha’s a war reporter) in high-rent Manhattan. We get much more of Martha’s backstory, including some flashbacks. All we learn of Ingrid is her shared history with Martha: both worked at Paper Magazine and schtupped John Turturro (now a doom-preaching expert on the environment).
Martha and Ingrid decamp to upstate New York (credits reveal that much was actually filmed in Spain; baby steps for Pedro) to a rented house for the endgame. Now surrounded by nature, silence, and time, the women consider the resultant ethical and philosophical questions, and is Martha asking too much of too-agreeable Ingrid?
The viewer gets to ask themselves these same questions. How would we handle a similar situation? And who would we want in the room next door?
Aquarium Playlist, 1/21/25
EPISODE #625: DAVID LYNCH TRIBUTE
Angelo Badalamenti — “Twin Peaks Main Theme” [edit; ALTERNATE THEME]
Roy Orbison — “In Dreams”
Angelo Badalamenti — “Laura Palmer’s Theme”
Julee Cruise — “Into the Night”
Chris Isaak — “Wicked Game”
James Marshall feat. Lara Flynn Boyle & Sheryl Lee — “Just You”
Angelo Badalamenti — “Audrey’s Dance”
Rebekah Del Rio — “Llorando”
David Lynch — “So Glad”
David Lynch feat. Jack Cruz — “True Love’s Flame”
Chrystabell & David Lynch — “The Answers to the Questions”
Julee Cruise — “Falling”
Angelo Badalamenti — “Love Theme Farewell”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 1/14/25
EPISODE #624: FIRE III
inspired by the January 2025 southern California wildfires
The Olivia Tremor Control — “California Demise 3” [ALTERNATE THEME]
M. Ward — “Fuel for Fire”
Beach Boys — “Santa Ana Winds”
The Dracu-Las — “Fire”
The Resonars — “Forest Fire”
Television — “The Fire”
22° Halo — “Big Fire”
XTC — “Great Fire”
Mount Eerie — “Huge Fire”
Bruce Springsteen — “Night Fire”
Felice Brothers — “Fire at the Pageant”
Neko Case — “Where Did I Leave That Fire”
Frankie Cosmos — “Fireman”
Sam & Dave — “I Thank You” r.i.p. Sam Moore
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
My Highly Subjective List of the Best Films of 2024
Movies, what’s new at the movies? It seems like my larger local theaters are devoting more screens to Indian and Asian films; that’s good, meet the needs of your demographic. Something called Terrifier 3 was also playing; I never saw a single commercial for it yet it was playing. Not playing: Juror #2 from 94-year-old director Clint Eastwood. Supposed to be pretty good, has a solid cast, might be Clint’s last movie ever, he’s been a hugely influential and popular movie star for many decades, but somebody at Warner Brothers thought, “nah, let’s dump it to streaming.” And of course more and more movies are being made exclusively for streaming. Maybe the all-important YOUNG PEOPLE don’t feel this way, but when I read that Happy Gilmore 2 will debut on Netflix, my gut reaction is, “Hmm, it must not be very good.” Like, they all would’ve tried harder if it was going to be a theatrical release. Sandler, Murphy, Seinfeld, all slumming on the subscription services.
Here are the best new releases that I saw in a theater last year. Annual caveats: I didn’t see everything I wanted to see, and you and I might like different movies and we’re both right.
10) Evil Does Not Exist The drama unfolds slowly and quietly in Ryûke Hamaguchi’s man vs. nature story. A Big Company has come to a rural Japanese village with plans to build a glamping site. Odd-job man Takumi and his fellow villagers are suspicious about the project. Ultimately this film is a meditation on nature and our feeble attempts to tame it.
9) Civil War Alex Garland, who stumbled just a bit with 2022’s Men after his opening triumphs Ex Machina and Annihilation, came back strong with Civil War. I was genuinely rattled by this all-too-plausible tale of a modern day U.S. civil war. Authoritarianism and racism are surely in play but Garland never tells us how things started or even which side is which. Instead we see events through a band of traveling journalists just trying to observe and report. The cast is superb, led by Kirsten Dunst as a veteran photojournalist. Her hubby Jesse Plemons kind of steals the show in a cameo; he’s terrifying as a hateful militant they encounter.
8) A Complete Unknown Filmmakers did Bob Dylan justice with their attention to period detail and wonderful cast. Possible Best Actor Timothée Chalamet captures Dylan’s evolution in four short yet pivotal years, from humble NYC newcomer, to the artist gaining confidence, to the star repulsed by his own fame who wants to carve his own path. Edward Norton is nearly as good as Dylan mentor/protector of the folk tradition Pete Seeger.
7) Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola, the prototype uncompromising writer/director, leaves absolutely everything on the table in a film unlike any I’ve seen before. Megalopolis is a Roman epic set in modern times, Shakespearean tragedy and comedy, science-fiction tale, mafia saga, The Fountainhead, tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood, sweeping love story, and above all else, a satire — of politics, media, pop culture, the upper class, the 21st century U.S., and more. Not an easy watch, far from perfect, but entertaining throughout with an eventual big emotional payoff.
6) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Seemingly reinvigorated by his Netflix Wednesday series, master of mirthful macabre Tim Burton delivered this belated but hugely satisfying sequel. He wisely plucks Wednesday herself, Jenna Ortega, to be the gloomy offspring of grown-up goth girl Winona Ryder. Catherine O’Hara is back too, as is — do I have to say his name? Three times? — Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, having a blast with renewed manic comic energy. Just a super good silly time at the movies!
5) Will & Harper In this cross-country road trip documentary, Will Ferrell is our gentle guide for the questions many of us have about transgender life. Will’s longtime friend and comedy collaborator Harper is a recently transitioned woman who loves solo road trips, diners, dive bars, but wonders if she will still be welcome in these places in her new identity. Having Will Ferrell along certainly makes things easier, though they still encounter ugliness and hatred along the way. I teared up many times in what is also simply a story about true friendship, and how it can weather any challenge.
4) Problemista SNL and Los Espookys vet Julio Torres’ feature debut is loosely based on his own story, an immigrant trying to chase his creative dreams while overcoming the various indignities the system throws in his path. Despite Torres’ comedic magic realism pedigree, the movie is fairly straightforward, elevated by costar Tilda Swinton, a sweetness throughout, and a perfect final chapter that left me with happy tears in my eyes.
3) Small Things Like These A pitch-perfect adaptation of Claire Keegan’s wonderful novella. Cillian Murphy is tremendous as the family man and local coal man in a small Irish town who happens upon a “Magdalene laundry” where nuns are abusing the young women left to their care. The story’s central question: Confronted with such cruelty, can Murphy’s character stand to look the other way, and if he doesn’t, what will that mean for his work and his family? The exploration results in a low-key gem of a movie.
2) Dory Previn: On My Way to Where Co-directors Julia Greenberg and Diana Dilworth present the heretofore-unknown-to-me story of singer/songwriter Dory Previn. She first found fame cowriting tunes for big Hollywood films with hubby Andre Previn. Mia Farrow came between them, which sent already fragile Dory into a tailspin. What sets this excellent documentary apart from other rock docs about musical mad geniuses: Instead of letting mental illness cripple her, Previn “leans in” and reinvents herself, finding fame a second time. You can’t see the movie right now because they need to raise money to pay for the rights for the many TV clips and songs that add quite a lot to the overall story. I will gladly be contributing and will share any money-raising efforts, because this movie needs to be widely distributed and widely seen!
1) Kinds of Kindness Poor Things/The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos wrote a movie for the first time in 7 years, with his old buddy Efthimis Filippou. The happy (for me) result: His trademark extreme darkness and his particular twistedness were back in full force! We get three distinct stories with overlapping casts (Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, WIllem Dafoe) and overlapping themes — being cast into the wilderness (and how one responds), how far one person should follow or please another, and, um, “misplaced kindness.” It’s dark and cynical and really really funny, if you like that sort of thing. Definitely not a movie for everybody, but I loved it! A lot.
Honorable mentions: Alien: Romulus, Anora, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, Dune part two, Gladiator II, The First Omen, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Robot Dreams, Smile 2, Tuesday, The Wild Robot
Worst movie: Imaginary
New releases I saw in a theater this year: 35
My best-of lists from: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017/16, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
You can check out all my movie reviews by clicking here.
Aquarium Playlist, 1/7/25
EPISODE #623: JIMMY CARTER TRIBUTE
Gene Marshall — “Jimmy Carter Says Yes” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Fairport Convention — “The Plainsman”
Henry Williams & Eddie Anthony — “Georgia Crawl”
Tindersticks — “Peanuts”
Liverpool Express — “Smile (My Smiler’s Smile)”
The Baseball Project — “1976”
Tore Renberg — “Jimmy Carter for President”
Wylde Rattz — “Rosalyn”
The Rubs — “Amy”
Vince Vance & the Valiants — “Bomb Iran”
Jimmy Carter — Announces release of 52 American hostages
Blue Mountain — “Jimmy Carter” [live]
Dan Bettridge — “Habitat”
French Boutik — “L’Humanite”
Tick Tock Music — “Gonna Build a House”
Rolling Stones — “100 Years Ago” [piano demo]
Allman Brothers Band — “End of the Line”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: A Complete Unknown
4 stars out of 5
I saw this movie on Christmas Day but was then waylaid by the Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows (where at least I did see two Dylan covers performed, “Something There Is About You” and “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”) So my review has been delayed, sorry. If you wanted to see this film in theaters, you likely already have. I’m reviewing it anyway, so there!
I liked this movie a lot!
I’d been extra-excited to see it since learning last spring that they’d be filming in Hoboken. I never caught a glimpse of any actors, just was mildly inconvenienced by some street closures, and did see some vintage cars, Little City Books transformed into the Music Inn record store, and a catering tent. Hollywood on the Hudson!
Did I mention I liked the movie? I did, a lot. I have to imagine Timothée Chalamet is a favorite for Best Actor, with Edward Norton a likely Best Supporting Actor. Chalamet captures Dylan at each stage over a wild, hyper-productive four-year period. He’s the humble Minnesota kid newly in New York, paying respects to Woody Guthrie at the Greystone psychiatric hospital in Jersey (which we long-time Weird New Jersey subscribers know all about). We see his confidence grow after early success, tinged with a quick revulsion to the trappings of fame and his resultant fandom. And we see a slightly more mature Dylan ready to carve his own path.
Norton delivers not just a spot-on vocal impression of Pete Seeger, but also a balanced portrayal of a man who mentored young Bob while also striving to protect the strict traditions of folk music. Elle Fanning is Dylan girlfriend “Sylvie” (bring me a little water), mostly based on Suze Rotolo. Fanning and Chalamet’s young fascination with each other feels real, as she nurtures him with love, literature, and art, ultimately realizing she’s losing him to Joan Baez and the world. A minor filmmaking critique: There are two nearly identical scenes of a heartbroken Sylvie stage-side. Tighten it up, director James Mangold! (Monica Barbaro brings a darker sultriness and spiky independence to her Baez performance.)
Story and script-wise, we get a fairly standard Hollywood biopic, with a few great “offbeat” moments that raise the overall quality. In terms of accuracy, I’m no Dylan scholar, but there was only one combination-of-two-famous-events that made me do a double-take. (Yes, Mangold and co-screenwriter Jay Cocks, I understand why you did it.)
The music and musical performances by the actors are terrific throughout. They oddly play several songs all the way through, but maybe I’m just jaded by movies usually cutting away from recording sessions and concerts. Fun credits find: Some songs were recorded at Hobo Sounds in Hoboken! (Psst, it’s really in Weehawken, but don’t tell anybody!)
I was thoroughly entertained and satisfied by this quality production, which I imagine could be very informative for younger viewers. May they stay forever young.
Jack Silbert, curator