4.5 stars out of 5
Welcome back, Yorgos! OK, director Yorgos Lanthimos hasn’t exactly been missing in action. His 2023 film Poor Things was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 4 of them. But he didn’t write that movie, or the one before, The Favourite. In fact, it’s been 7 years since Lanthimos and his buddy Efthimis Filippou co-wrote a film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Though both of the non-Lanthimos-written movies were quite enjoyable, they lacked his trademark extreme darkness, his particular twistedness.
I’m happy to report that those qualities have returned in a big way. As I told the cinema staffer who was sweeping up the theater as I watched the end credits, Kinds of Kindness is dark and delightful.
It’s also three short films with many of the same actors — notably Emma Stone (third tour of duty with Lanthimos), Jesse Plemons (first), and Willem Dafoe (second) — playing different roles in each. OK, maybe one character repeats.
In the first part, Plemons works for Dafoe, and is very good at following orders, until he isn’t. In the second part, nautical scientist Stone is missing, her police officer husband Plemons is distraught, and then she returns. In the concluding part, Plemons and Stone are cult members of a couple including Dafoe, they are very good at following orders, until one isn’t. In-between these basics, a lot of messed-up stuff happens.
So there is some overlap in themes, particularly being cast into the wilderness (and how one responds), how far one person should follow or please another, and — as per the title — let’s call it “misplaced kindness.” There is also a touch of Twilight Zone to the separate plots, adding to the fun. And as dark and cynical as things get, there are also some very big laughs. If you find that sort of thing funny.
The actors “get it” and know how to play everything straight. Plemons is alternately heartbroken, matter-of-fact, or losing it. Stone is alluring, all business, all not business, or regretful. Dafoe has the most fun of all as a batshit boss, and then fades into a “normie” role as a concerned dad. Also very good throughout are Margaret Qualley (have I previously mentioned I’m a fan? Oh I have?) and Hong Chau, who was solid in The Whale.
Not everyone will enjoy this movie. Me? I loved it. Thank you, Yorgos and Efthimis!
Movie Review: Kinds of Kindness
Additional Goals of Project 2025
Hard-line conservatives, including many former Trump administration lackeys, have cobbled together a 900-page manic manifesto called Project 2025. That’s 144 pages longer than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The organization behind the curtain of this dogmatic document is the “Heritage Foundation,” which is like the John Birch Society and the Klan, but a little farther right. Their document lays out goals for a second Trump presidency and beyond. But rather than focusing on 2025, the real objective seems to be taking us back to the 1950s. Journalists and activists have been combing through Project 2025 for the most regressive, dangerous concepts. Meanwhile, we here at SiW have dug up some of the documents’ odder entries.
• Rename 1987 Matthew Broderick chimpanzee movie Project X as Project MMXXV.
• Repeal women’s right to vote.
• Repeal Madonna’s right to Vogue.
• All mailmen should be men on account of it’s right in the name. Twice.
• New Surgeon General Doc from Back to the Future. That guy am smart.
• If a person can predict rain because of migraines or achey knees, they are witch and thrown in lake.
• Dancing outlawed and everyone’s degrees of Kevin Bacon set back to zero.
• Lather, rinse. No more repeat.
• Dental floss illegal. Super fudgy brownies mandatory.
• Make that Bawitdaba, da bang, da dang diggy diggy song the national anthem.
• Streets should be longer so for more parking.
• Find and deport Waldo.
• P.F. Chang’s now J.R. Ewing’s.
• If you are boy and you… are liking… other boy, don’t! Because, no. Wrong! If girl and to like girls, make sure videotape camera on.
• Line up on July 4, 2025 for compulsory Ronald Reagan ass tattoos.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/16/24
EPISODE #599: COOL III
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Charlie Gracie — “Cool Baby”
The Pooh Sticks — “Cool in a Crisis”
Heavenly — “Cool Guitar Boy”
Sonny Boy Williamson II — “Cool, Cool Blues”
Sonic Youth feat. Chuck D — “Kool Thing”
Rolling Stones — “Cool, Calm, and Collected”
The Cucumbers — “Keep Your Cool”
They Might Be Giants — “Super Cool”
Nick Lowe — “Cool Reaction”
Bad Moves — “Cool Generator”
The Skatalites feat. Don Drummond — “Cool Smoke”
Sugar — “Granny Cool”
The Shivas — “Used to Being Cool”
Klark Kent — “Too Kool to Kalypso”
The dB’s — “Not Cool”
The Exbats — “Coolsville USA”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
What I’ve Been Watching: Edition XXVI
Wars, death, extreme weather, out-of-control Supreme Court, human rights violations, political campaigns, assassination attempts, etc. etc. — the real world has been getting just a little too real. Thank goodness for TV! Here are the shows I checked out in the past 6 months or so….
LOVED
Fargo (FX) Best season of Fargo in a while. While it wasn’t perfect, there were an awful lot of laughs, chills, thrills, and flat-out entertainment. They had a super cast featuring a nasty Jon Hamm, a delightfully icy Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a layered Juno Temple who had really started to annoy me in Ted Lasso.
LIKED A LOT
Fantasmas (MAX) Julio Torres is one of the most delightfully bizarre comic minds out there. This 6-episode series shares some concepts with his terrific feature film Problemistas and brings back familiar faces from his much-missed previous series Los Espookys. Fantasmas has a darker look and feel but still plenty of surreal humor.
The Woman in the Wall (Showtime) Ruth Wilson delivers a knockout performance as a woman questioning her own sanity in this fictional mystery based on the all-too-real Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. (“Bad” young women were sent to work in these nun-run facilities, and their babies were taken away.) I’d never heard of these horrors till reading Claire Keegan’s brilliant novella Small Things Like These, and now here they were again. The series co-stars the very likable Daryl McCormack from Bad Sisters. When an unreleased Sinéad O’Connor song played over the end credits, I was shattered.
Sprung (Freevee) I was so happy to stumble across this one-season 2022 sitcom from Greg Garcia, who’d previously created my beloved My Name Is Earl and Raising Hope. Hope’s terrific Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton are reunited in this fun, sweet show very loosely based on the real concept that at the beginning of the pandemic, some nonviolent prisoners were released from jail. This will remain a nice time capsule as a “covid comedy.”
Loudermilk (Netflix) This series had been recommended to me a couple of times, and I was finally able to check it out. The Farrelly brothers (primarily Peter this time) have become so reliable at delivering ensemble comedies with lots of heart and also disability inclusion. The always likable, hangdog Ron Livingston runs an addiction support group, in which stand-up Brian Regan is a particular revelation, giving a real soulful performance. Since finding a wider audience on Netflix, there is talk of a belated 4th season, which I would gladly welcome.
Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.(MAX) This four-part documentary chronicles the history of the legendary Memphis recording studio and label that churned out some of the greatest and grittiest soul records ever. Via many primary-source interviews, the filmmakers do a particularly good job covering Stax’s struggles and triumphs during the height of the civil rights era, and how the label had to reinvent itself after the much larger Atlantic label sneakily made off with Stax’s entire catalog of master recordings.
Steve! (Martin) (Apple) Steve Martin has been a hero of mine since I was 9 years old. I loved, loved, loved part I of this documentary, covering his early years and comedy superstardom. Part II, dealing with his “settling down” years, was less interesting to me but still worthwhile viewing.
MacGruber (Peacock) I think this replaced The Night Of as my longest span between beginning a limited series and completing it. I had sampled the first episode of MacGruber a while ago with a free trial of Peacock. But I had no reason to subscribe to Peacock until a few months ago, when Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain was released. And before I quickly canceled, I finally finished MacGruber. Will Forte and Kristen Wiig are as funny as ever, the writing is dumb/silly/great and kept me laughing, and I love that they even brought back Ryan Phillippe from the 2010 MacGruber feature film.
Bluey (Disney) I don’t know about you, but I like watching TV in hotels/motels. Basketball and baseball, long-time lodging faves. Recently, have really enjoyed Quincy and Kojak reruns. And about a decade ago I stumbled upon the Disney Channel, with guilty favorites Austin & Ally and especially Jessie. Didn’t have a new Disney favorite till a 5-year-old friend of mine mentioned Bluey. It’s for pre-schoolers and it’s great! There’s a family of dogs: Mom, Dad, Bluey, and Bingo. Oh, they’re animated. And the show is Australian, so they have awesome Aussie accents. Based on the commercials, every other Disney show is slick and cool and neon, and a music video waiting to happen. But Bluey couldn’t be more basic. It’s just plain old suburban family life. Usually there’s a straightforward lesson for the kids to learn, but it’s never preachy. The dad is a hoot, and the whole thing is cute as hell. And the episodes are super short. When the motel TV doesn’t get the Quincy channel, I immediately start scrolling for Bluey.
True Detective: Night Country (MAX) This season really didn’t “stick the landing,” which certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. But until then, I had found it highly compelling, and I’m a sucker for cold, desolate settings. I apologize to my pal Marvin for “ruining the series” ha-ha by telling him early on that Jodie Foster’s performance reminded me a lot of Michael J. Fox.
Jeopardy! Masters (ABC) Whoops, I should’ve ranked season 1 last year. While not as must-see and edge-of-seat viewing as the Tournament of Champions, it’s fun to watch some the show’s greats return with a higher level of play than the daily version. It’s also cool to see who has the “hot hand” — this year it was clearly Victoria Groce, who I was previously unfamiliar with. (She had emerged during the endless run of writers’ strike tourneys the producers kept spitting out.) Most importantly, the players don’t take this one too, too seriously, which adds to the fun.
LIKED
The Earliest Show (YouTube) Caught some clips from this on Instagram and assumed it was something new. Turns out these six mini-episodes debuted in 2016. Well, they’re new to me! I’m amused by the concept: a talk show that airs at 3:00 a.m. with two overly enthusiastic hosts, except one just got dumped on-air. Stars Ben Schwartz (Jean-Raphio on Parks & Rec) and Lauren Lapkus are goofily funny. Hmm, I think I forgot to finish the series, I’ll do that tonight.
JURY’S BACK IN
The Curse (Showtime) The Nathan Fielder/Emma Stone project maintained its weirdly uncomfortable vibe which I kind of enjoyed. But it never did kick into another gear, and ultimately just didn’t really come together. I’d slot it in “Liked.”
TWO AND DONE
Stupid Pet Tricks (TBS) A Worldwide Pants production based on the beloved old Letterman segment, but with smart/funny Sarah Silverman hosting? Sounded promising! Well, Dave showed up briefly in episode 1, and later there was a pencil toss and a mention of “please, no wagering,” but the overall anarchic spirit of Late Night is clearly missing, so it’s just a plain ol’ show.
ONE AND DONE
Grimsburg (FOX) I hoped to enjoy this animated comedy in which Jon Hamm voices a sloppy detective. I did not. It felt like they were trying too hard, and was unnecessarily set in the future.
BAILED AFTER 34 MINUTES
A Murder at the End of the World (Hulu) I was suckered in by another isolated Arctic setting. But as soon as the Gen Z detective found herself invited with several other “intriguing” guests to a mysterious compound by a reclusive billionaire — it just seemed too stupid for me to watch any more.
BAILED AFTER 6 MINUTES
Letterkenny (Hulu) Let me get this straight: The hicks are actually smarter and more clever than the jocks? Um, pass.
YES, I STILL WATCH THE SIMPSONS
Though am occasionally playing Words With Friends simultaneously.
THANK YOU AND GOODBYE
I have so much gratitude for Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm, one of my absolute favorite shows of all-time! The passing of Richard Lewis added an extra level of poignance to the final season, but never at the expense of comedy.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
The 2024 Summer Olympics — can’t wait! And if I spring for Peacock during the Games, I can finally watch We Are Lady Parts. Sugar has been recommended. The slightly delayed second season of Unstable is coming later this summer. We’ll get through whatever comes our way.
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, and XXV.
Single Review: “Capture the Flag” by Roe Knows Best
4 stars out of 5
Listen on Spotify here
Listen/buy on Bandcamp here
Know Roe? No? I didn’t really either till last August, when I saw Roe Knows Best perform solo in a sweltering New Jersey basement. (Previously, I’d only heard a couple of her songs on Pizza Bagel Records compilations.) Now, I attend a lot of shows — people often question the sheer feasibility of it — but suffice to say, when the dust settled and I put Roe Knows Best on my 2023 best “new-to-me” list, it was based on significant research.
Caught Roe solo acoustic again this past May — same basement, though much less hot — and was thrilled to learn she’d be releasing a new single this summer: “Capture the Flag” which is out now! Hearing it played live by Roe O’Brien twice on her own, the song stood out as a miniature indiepop gem, complete with a genre-approved nod to the innocence of childhood.
Going into the studio with two members of emo heroes The Early November (guitarist Ace Enders who also co-produced with Roe, and drummer Dillon Wray), the song was fleshed out with post-rock muscle. But rather than overpowering Roe’s lyrics, the added mid-tempo instrumentation actually highlights her message of hope and persistence. Roe’s clean, clear vocals float above it all, with an almost-yodel that evokes the ghost of Hank Williams.
And just when you think the song is going to kick into overdrive with crashing drums and a majestic guitar solo… it ends. You’re left wanting more, yet at the same time are totally satisfied. It’s a neat trick.
Movie Review: A Quiet Place — Day One
3.5 stars out of 5
If you saw A Quiet Place II, you’ll recall that movie began with a flashback to Day One of the alien invasion. But that was Day One in the suburbs. Quiet Place III is Day One in the gritty city. With a kitty.
And Lupita Nyong’o. No Emily Blunt, no Cillian Murphy, no John Krasinski. (Kraz, who wrote and directed the previous installment, here is only a producer with a story co-credit.) So it’s up to Nyong’o to carry the film — and carry her pet cat — and she handles herself admirably. She has such an expressive face, so important in this predominantly silent movie. Nyong’o switches seamlessly from petulance to determination to despair and many emotional stops in-between.
The plot, as it were: Sam (Nyong’o) is a patient in a hospice facility, on a field trip to Manhattan. (Alex Wolff, as a hospice staffer, has some nice moments, but the rest of the cast is pretty generic.) And that’s when the noise-canceling space creatures first attack. The conventional wisdom is to evacuate the city. But Sam, who is already dying, has a different goal to pursue.
After that tremendous first Quiet Place film, it’s been slowly diminishing returns. Yes, the aliens are still genuinely scary, and Nyongo’s story arc almost approaches something artful/thoughtful. Too bad writer/director Michael Samoski can’t really deliver on that front.
It occurs to me that producer Krasinski could feasibly churn out an endless stream of Quiet Place: Day One releases: Day One at the 7-11, Day One at a Lonely Science Outpost Near the Arctic Circle, Day One and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, etc. etc. And now I’m really terrified.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/9/24
EPISODE #598: HOUR GANG
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Billy Ward & the Dominoes — “Sixty-Minute Man”
Sleater-Kinney — “One More Hour”
Sparks — “Amateur Hour”
The Bug Club — “In My Hour of Song”
The Clientele — “An Hour Before the Light”
The Plimsouls — “Zero Hour”
The Sundays — “My Finest Hour”
Wilson Pickett — “In the Midnight Hour”
Marshall Crenshaw — “Only an Hour Ago”
Grant Lee Buffalo — “The Shining Hour”
Frank Sinatra — “My Shining Hour”
Wolfmanhattan Project — “H Hour”
Elvis Costello — “Favourite Hour”
Pearl Jam — “Man of the Hour”
Saturday Looks Good to Me — “Last Hour”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/2/24
EPISODE #597: LONG SONGS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Art Blakey — “The Egyptian”
Chambers Brothers — “Time Has Come Today” [LP version]
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks — “Real Emotional Trash”
Emma Swift — “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”
Turing Machine — “Swiss Grid”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Robot Dreams
4 stars out of 5
This film should not be confused with the 1984 flick Electric Dreams starring Virginia Madsen and Maxwell Caulfield, nor with the 1968 Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, basis for the 1982 movie Blade Runner. However, it does involve animals, robots, dreams, and the 1980s.
Robot Dreams is animated (a 2024 best animated feature Oscar nominee, in fact). It is also a silent film, except for ambient noise, music, and occasional grunts and shouts of “hey!” In a world of animals, we meet Dog, who is lonely in mid-1980s New York City. So he orders and assembles a Robot, soon his BFF.
Because stories need conflict, Dog and Robot become separated. At this point, I wasn’t really (no pun intended:) drawn in emotionally, though I was impressed with the level of detail in the animation. (I noticed a couple of English words on signs accidentally written in French; turns out this was a joint Spanish/French production.)
However, as the conflict became a bit more complex, I noticed the characters and their predicaments were growing on me. And I was completely sold when Dog meets a cool female downtown Duck, they hop on her motorcycle, and the background music is “Let’s Go” by my beloved Feelies. (We see that Dog is really hung up on Duck when in his apartment, you notice he’s bought the Feelies’ The Good Earth and Talking Heads’ Remain in Light.)
Robot Dreams is a sweet, simple story that covers some grown-up emotions. It seems appropriate for either adults or children, or when it’s streaming, leave it on for the dog when you’re not home.
Movie Review: Dory Previn — On My Way to Where
4.5 stars out of 5
I wasn’t familiar with Dory Previn. Even the 2006 song “Dory Previn” by one of my favorite groups, Camera Obscura, didn’t inspire me to look up Dory Previn, and the name slipped out of my head. I must’ve seen her name multiple times, yet it never stuck.
Until February, that is, when I witnessed singer/songwriter Julia Greenberg perform a couple of songs by Ms. Previn. Though dating from the early 1970s, I was struck by the modern sensibility (let’s call it the Liz Phair era) of the lyrics. Plus, the songs were good! Right up my alley. I wanted to know more.
As luck would have it, Julia Greenberg has co-directed a documentary about Dory Previn, and it is excellent. Of course, it doesn’t hurt for a documentary to have a fascinating subject, and oh boy does Previn fit the bill. Girl from Woodbridge, New Jersey with a rough, domineering dad suddenly finds herself paired with André Previn (him I’d heard of!) writing songs for big-time Hollywood movies (two I’ve seen: Tall Story, 1960, and Inside Daisy Clover, 1965); he wrote the music, she wrote the words. It’s Hollywood, so they fall in love and get married.
All’s mostly fine until André leaves Dory for Mia Farrow (post-Sinatra, pre-Woody). Having previously weathered a mental breakdown, this turn of events sends Dory into a tailspin, and the documentary kicks into another compelling gear.
I won’t reveal more of Dory’s story, but suffice to say, rather than being crippled by mental illness, Dory Previn reinvents herself and thrives. (Good timing, too, as the ’60s gave way to the loosey-goosey 1970s.) And this is what sets On My Way to Where apart from mad-genius music documentaries such as The Devil and Daniel Johnston, You’re Gonna Miss Me (Roky Erickson), and Have You Got It Yet? (Syd Barrett). Dory Previn has a very different relationship with what’s going on in her mind.
To capture all this in a coherent and entertaining fashion, Julia Greenberg teamed with experienced filmmaker Dianna Dilworth (writer/director of the well-received mellotron documentary Mellodrama). The directors had full access to Ms. Previn’s archives, including thousands of pages of journals. One thing I was riveted by in the journal pages shown: Dory’s wordplay could teeter out of control, turning a word every which way, breaking words down and building them up, almost trapping her in a loop. I was immediately reminded of Woody Guthrie’s writings as Huntington’s chorea ate away at his brain — wild creativity devolving into gibberish. Yet once again, Dory is different, keeping the wolves of mental illness at bay.
To visually bring Ms. Previn’s journals to life, Greenberg and Dilworth deploy their secret weapon: esteemed veteran animator Emily Hubley. Previn’s simple character drawings are a perfect launching pad for Hubley to take flight, filling the screen with whimsy and awe, thoughts colliding, flitting this way and that. So much of Hubley’s work has been inspired by and paired with music, so this film is an ideal project for her. Her animated segments raise it to yet another level.
Currently on the festival circuit, I cannot recommend this documentary highly enough. Keep your eyes open for it. If you are a fan of glamorous old Hollywood, of ’70s singer/songwriters, of strong, independent, inspirational women who are survivors — not to mention a unique take on mental health — Dory Previn: On My Way to Where will absolutely captivate you. Personally, I know I’ll never again forget the name Dory Previn.
Jack Silbert, curator