The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Ambivalent Brothers — “All Grown Up” [dedicated to Ed Seifert] Michael Stipe — “Your Capricious Soul” [to Jimmmmmmmmy!] R.E.M. — “Maps and Legends” [to the Mapman] R.E.M. — “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville” [to Listener Allison] R.E.M. — “Country Feedback” [to Listener Audrey] HEHFU — “Thirty” [to Max] Quarterbacks — “Schmictionary” [to Listener Shmuel] The Ergs! — “180 Emotional Ollie” [to Listener Sarah] Boozoo Chavis — “Who Stole My Monkey?” [to Listener Deb] Little My — “X’s for Eyes” [to Frequent Listener David] Big Audio Dynamite — “I Turned Out a Punk” [to Listener Charlie] Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” [in loving memory of Mary Jane Thurston]
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Stumpy Joe — “Halloween Song” Long Neck — “Halloween Parade” (demo) Graveface Records & Curiosities — “The Occurrence at the Omni Park Inn” The Pogues — “Haunted” King Khan & the Shrines — “Shivers Down My Spine” Roky Erickson & the Aliens — “I Walked With a Zombie” Antsy Pants — “Vampire” Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair — “Frankenstein Conquers the World” Betty & the Werewolves — “Werewolves” Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Ghost Train” Renegades — “Ghost Train” The Ramones — “Pet Sematary” Ministry — “Every Day Is Halloween” Lou Reed — “Halloween Parade”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Veronica Falls — “Falling Out” The Schramms — “Won’t Fall Down” Cold Beat — “Falling Skyline” Neil Young — “Falling Off the Face of the Earth” Amy Rigby with Todd Snider — “Til the Wheels Fall Off” Dennis Diken With Bell Sound — “Fall Into Your Arms” Crowded House — “Fall at Your Feet” Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks — “Fall Away” R.E.M. — “Fall on Me” Seapony — “Fall Apart” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Falling Apart So Slow” Stephen Chopek — “Falling Apart Again” Patsy Cline — “I Fall to Pieces” The Smittens — “We’re Gonna Fall” Beat Happening — “The Fall” Tom Petty — “Free Fallin'” Bruce Springsteen — “If I Should Fall Behind”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Joker is not your daddy’s superhero movie. It’s a gritty, artsy, psychological exploration for people who wouldn’t know a gritty, artsy, psychological exploration if it bit them on the ass. I served with Marty Scorsese. I knew Marty Scorsese. Marty Scorsese was a friend of mine. Todd Phillips, you’re no Marty Scorsese.
OK, OK, Martin Scorsese doesn’t know me from a hole in the ground, but he’s clearly a major inspiration here: Taxi Driver, sure (“someday a real rain will come…”), but overwhelmingly King of Comedy, right down to casting Rupert Pupkin hisself in the Jerry Lewis-as-Johnny Carson role.
As Pupkin, I mean Pleck, Joaquin Phoenix is reliably unhinged. He lost an awful lot of weight for the role, reminiscent of DeNiro gaining weight for…OH GODDAMNIT. Anyway, Phoenix is fun to watch, though it is not as dynamic a performance as he has delivered in the past, in The Master for example. Perhaps we can blame director Phillips, who wasn’t tasked with coercing such wrenching dramatic portrayals from the cast of the Hangover trilogy.
There are others actors in this film. DeNiro enjoys himself — I laughed aloud when we first see him — but, coincidentally, he has also done better work. Frances Conroy shows up as Joker’s mommy and is convincing as someone who isn’t young. Quality actors Shea Whigham and Bill Camp (police detectives) and Brian Tyree Henry (hospital clerk) are wasted in meaningless parts. Marc Maron shows up for 8 seconds in a role that you — yes, you! — could’ve played just as easily.
Plot-wise, there really isn’t one. It’s an origin story, and those are more often than not quite dull. Especially if stretched to feature length. (I’m looking at you, Daredevil.) A million years ago I went to see Kurt Vonnegut speak, and he advised that if you write a book, carefully compose that first chapter, telling us every single thing we need to know — and then throw that chapter in the garbage. Get right to the meat, to the action.
And one more thing. Without really spoiling anything, mental illness seems to be at the root of the Joker’s behavior. So doesn’t this kind of ruin every future appearance of the character, especially in our enlightened day and age? How can we joyfully root for the Batman to kick Joker’s tail? Shouldn’t be treated compassionately, and with dignity? Not BAM, POW, ZOWEE.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Marshall Crenshaw — “What Do You Dream Of?” Blushing — “Dream Merchants” Slim Harpo — “What a Dream” Elva — “Dreaming With Our Feet” The Ballet — “Am I Dreaming?” Elk City — “Dream on Tip Toe” Trøn & DVD — “Dreameater” Sunshine & the Rain — “In a Dream” Overlord — “Give Up Your Dreams” Tom Barrett — “You Were a Dream” The Original Sins — “I Never Dreamed” Louise Distras — “Dreams From the Factory Floor” (spoken word) Rogue’s March — “I Must Be Dreaming” Karyn Kuhl — “Cherry Dream” Todd Rundgren — “A Dream Goes on Forever”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Soft Boys — “I Wanna Destroy You” The Ramones — “I Wanna Be Sedated” Colleen Green — “I Wanna Be Degraded” Prince — “I Wanna Be Your Lover” Tom Waits — “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” Best Coast — “I Wanna Know” Papercuts — “Do You Really Wanna Know” The Raspberries — “I Wanna Be With You” The Rubinoos — “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” The Stone Roses — “I Wanna Be Adored” Tony Bennett — “I Wanna Be Around” Grandaddy — “I Don’t Wanna Live Here Anymore” Mammoth Penguins — “I Wanna” The Coolies — “Uh Oh!” (r.i.p. Kim Shattuck)
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Dolly Mixture — “Everything and More” Them — “I Can Only Give You Everything” The Orange Peels — “Tonight Changes Everything” Cyndi Lauper — “Money Changes Everything” Teenage Fanclub — “Everything Flows” Karl Hendricks — “Everything Stupid Becomes Cool” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Everything With You” Terry Malts — “Seen Everything” David Bowie — “I Dig Everything” Naughty Clouds — “Everything’s Hard” Spoon — “Everything Hits at Once” Cheap Trick — “Everything Works If You Let It” Elliott Smith — “Everything Means Nothing To Me” R.E.M. — “You Are the Everything”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
On the line to buy movie tickets, I asked the woman behind me what she was seeing. “Downton Abbey. You?” Brad Pitt in space, I told her. I got up to the register and, from outside Theater 2, my friend Meghan called out to me. What a nice surprise! I asked what she was seeing. “Downton Abbey. You too?” No, I replied, Brad Pitt in space. I turned to face the clerk and when she inquired if I wanted a ticket to Downton Abbey I answered “No!” perhaps a little too vigorously.
Because I was there to see Brad Pitt in space. I was still on a Once Upon a Time high and was looking forward to this. The movie starts and it feels incredibly realistic — but of course we’re not astronauts so how the hell would we know, and also the film is set a little bit in the future and we are not in the future, we are in the now. Regardless, it feels like We Are There — immersive! — and it seems like a recognizable future, anyway, what with DHL and Subway in the Moon Airport.
Brad is an astronaut at the cost of everything else in his life, represented by Liv Tyler is hazy flashbacks. Hey wasn’t she in that space movie Armageddon; I didn’t see it. Brad’s dad (Dad Astra? Brad Astra?) is Tommy Lee Jones, legendary astronaut long presumed dead in the far reaches of the solar system. But recently there have been mystery intergalactic power surges monkeying with people’s Hulu streaming and stuff even worse, and maybe Tommy Lee Jones is alive and has something to do with this. So they call in Brad to talk him off the ledge. Space Force!
At this point I must mention that Tommy Lee Jones looks super old. You know when they try to make an actor look young in old photos but they still look old — you is old. His astrobuddy Donald Sutherland shows up and he ain’t no spring chicken neither. Haha, they were in Space Cowboys together, I didn’t see that one either but I was at a theater on 42nd Street and my friend Zoë was seeing it with her dad, in from the the left coast.
Anyhoo. This is Brad Pitt’s show. Brad Pitt in space. And he is pretty great in the role. He is focused. He is reserved. But that’s his sweet daddy on Neptune and it is dredging up all sorts of memories and feelings, and believe you me, not all of them are on the positive side of the ledger. Brad skillfully conveys all that. Conflicted, he is.
So what we have the makings of is one of those slow, thoughtful, tone-poem space movies that I like so much. Except I guess the filmmakers didn’t trust us or our attention spans enough, so they toss in some, uh, action sequences that didn’t really seem to fit. Plus the dad stuff is a wee bit heavy-handed so maybe a better writer could’ve smoothed that out. Uggh, fathers and sons, complicated stuff, am I right, waddayagonnado? The cat’s in the cradle and child is father to the man.
Ultimately Ad Astra is too long (I know, I know, it takes a loooong time to travel through space) and not fantastic, but it’s pretty good, the various space stuff, and Pitt’s performance, so if you like this kind of thing go see it. If not, there’s always Downton Abbey.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] TRØN & DVD featuring Amy Bezunartea — “Cry Now, Laugh Forever” Johnny Cash — “Cry, Cry, Cry” Beat Happening — “Cry for a Shadow” Solomon Burke — “Cry to Me” Karyn Kuhl Band — “Crying” The dB’s — “World To Cry” Pete Galub — “Crying Time” Marshall Crenshaw — “Calling Out for Love (at Crying Time)” JD McPherson — “Crying’s Just a Thing You Do” Roy Orbison — “Crying” Boy George — “The Crying Game” Magnetic Fields — “Why I Cry” La Sera — “You’re Going To Cry” The Kinks — “Stop Your Sobbing”
Jack’s Aquarium podcast is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
When I was learning about music in the ’80s, Miles Davis was a presence, albeit an odd one. He seemed grumpy, Prince dug him, and Miles faced away from the audience. (Well, if that was good enough for the Jesus & Mary Chain….) I slowly realized what an important figure he was, and over time picked up a handful of Davis’s records: Best of the Capitol/Blue Note Years, Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, and Best of the Quintet 1965–68.
I had plenty more to discover, and this documentary was the perfect opportunity. That it was also an utter delight to watch was a great bonus.
I think the stereotypical jazz-legend timeline is: grow up poor, go to New York, make a few brilliant records, and die young of an overdose. Miles Davis danced around those parameters. His family was well-to-do. (How he ended up playing trumpet is a wonderful anecdote that I won’t spoil.) He did go to Manhattan — 52nd Street was the place to go! — did make a classic album, and did fall prey to drugs. But it didn’t kill him! Miles’ story was just beginning.
It took me a little while to adjust to the format of the film: Miles tells much of his own life, but it is read by another person, from Davis’s autobiography. Holes are filled in by narration and many superb interviews, with old friends, lovers, and bandmates — including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Quincy Jones.
I was surprised how often I laughed aloud. One of his several ex-wives, Frances Taylor, has an extremely positive self-image that is infectious. So many people’s recollections are hilarious. And Miles didn’t take any shit from anybody. Of course it’s not all light-hearted: Racism is a recurring theme and so are drugs. And Miles could be cruel.
Recently, I saw the Leonard Cohen documentary, and there are some definite parallels. Both men had comfortable upbringings, and had trouble sticking with any one woman. But there is a key difference: Miles was obsessed with music from the very start. It was his constant companion, often his only way to truly express himself. As he grew as a person, the music matured as well. He and the trumpet were one.
If you love music, I urge you to see this film. I was giddy upon exiting the theater, discussing it with strangers. For what it sets out to do, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is perfection.
Jack Silbert, curator