3.5 stars out of 5
Are all the movies trying to make me feel old? Adonis Creed is Rocky’s young protégé, and now he’s retired too? Sheesh! We’ve now reached the Rocky III period in the life of Creed, where after his latest title defense, the wealthy, famous, happy-at-home champ hangs up his boxing gloves. But just when he thought he out, they pull Creed back in — to face an imposing challenger from the streets, Clubber Lang… uh… [checks notes] Diamond Dame Anderson.
Creed and Creed II both hovered in the very good/pretty good range, and the latest installment is no exception. In the first movie, we learned that young Adonis had been in a Los Angeles youth home, and that angle is revisited here. His buddy Dame was supposed to be the boxing phenom but ends up behind bars instead. (Was happy to see Spence Moore II, Dan on one of my fave recent shows A.P. Bio, playing teenage Dame in flashbacks.)
Flash-forward to the present, Dame is back in society and wants his long-delayed shot at the championship belt. (Jonathan Majors is much more intimidating as Diamond Dame than he was as Kang the Conqueror, and in a wild twist, Majors is an American actor, not British!) Creed feels guilty about how things went down back in the day so he helps out his childhood pal.
As in any series, it’s a comfort to see our old friends, and here we have Tessa Thompson back as Mrs. Creed, Phylicia Rashad as Mama Creed, The Wire’s Avon Barksdale as Creed’s trainer, and even Viktor Drago returns. Notably absent: no Michael Buffer as the ring announcer, and, no Rocky Balboa. Stallone is a producer on the film, and the character’s presence still hangs over the film, down to a Bill Conti musical cue.
Michael B. Jordan is again solid as Adonis Creed, and also sits in the director’s chair for the first time. (Not that it’s a competition, but Sly was directing by Rocky II.) Jordan does an adequate job behind the camera, even attempting an extended artful sequence. It’s not entirely successful, but I appreciate the effort. (An even less successful moment has Creed and Dame on opposite sides of a wall.)
I also appreciated that the movie wasn’t afraid to have several slower, thoughtful sections. A few people even walked out of the packed theater I was in; their loss! The screenplay deals with the specter of childhood trauma, the risk of bottling up memories and emotions, challenges of parenthood, and ever-present guilt without getting too heavy-handed. Without Ryan Coogler or Stallone as screenwriters this time around, it falls upon Ryan’s kid brother Keenan Coogler to co-write. Again, it’s mostly successful — I’d say this is just a notch below the first two Creed films. And I must admit, there was a key moment when I was really hoping Rocky would show up. I was craving that little extra excitement.
Of course it all leads up to the big fight, and of course I was cheering. As long as they keep making these movies, I’ll keep seeing them. (OK, please don’t tell Sly I skipped that last Rambo.)
Movie Review: Creed III
Aquarium Playlist, 3/21/23
EPISODE #530: SPRING 2023
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Sun Ra & his Arkestra — “Springtime in Chicago”
Luluc — “Winter Is Passing”
Wizard Brain — “Seasonal Changes”
Civic Mimic — ”Four Seasons of Spring”
Lou Rawls — “Spring Again”
Olivia Tremor Control — “Spring Succeeds”
The Lucksmiths — “Rushes of Pure Spring”
Beach Boys — “Spring Vacation”
Angel Olsen — “Spring”
Michael Beach — ”Spring”
Johnny Horton — “When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below)”
The Baseball Project — “Spring Training in New Orleans”
Paul Simon — “April, Come She Will”
Clifford Brown & Max Roach — “Joy Spring”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/14/23
EPISODE #529: ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2023 (LUCK)
Eels — “Beginner’s Luck” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Joe Simon — “Pool of Bad Luck”
Neko Case — “Bad Luck”
The Undertones — “Hard Luck”
Nicole Atkins — ”Brokedown Luck”
The Lookers — “My Luck Has Changed”
A Tribe Called Quest — “Luck of Lucien”
k.d. lang — “Luck in My Eyes”
Dntel — “Dumb Luck”
Betty Davis — “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up”
Elvis Presley — ”Good Luck Charm”
Paul Westerberg — “Whisper Me Luck”
Ron Sexsmith — “A Kiss for Luck”
Mary Wells — “Goodbye and Good Luck”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 3/7/23
EPISODE #528: WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH 2023
Siouxsie & the Banshees — “Cities in Dust” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Big Joanie — “In My Arms”
The Cat’s Miaow — “The Phoebe I Know”
Tammy Wynette — “Apartment #9”
The Rondelles — ”Mission: Irresistible”
The Aquanettas — “Love With a Proper Stranger”
Voice of the Beehive — “I Say Nothing”
Sam Phillips — “Where the Colors Don’t Go”
Dry Cleaning — “Scratchcard Lanyard”
HAIM — “The Wire”
Scary Monster — ”Tender Forever”
Roe Knows Best — “Breakfast in Bed”
Carole King — “Nobody’s Perfect”
Florence Dore — “And the Lady Goes”
The Operation Breadbasket Orchestra & Choir feat. Mahalia Jackson & Mavis Staples — “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” [live]
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp—Quantumania
2 stars out of 5
It was a drizzly winter day on the Jersey shore and I had hours to kill. “Oh, I’ll see a movie,” I thought. Alas, Asbury Park’s art theater isn’t open mid-week in the off-season. I had no choice but to go to the mall multiplex. This, of course, was no problem for me. Being “high brow/low brow” is kind of my thing. Plus, I really liked the previous Ant-Man installment (though I had found part 1 to be mediocre at best).
Chapter 3 is, um, what’s that phrase, ah yes… not good. I have some free advice to the Marvel brass: Take a step back. How about one hero, one villain, and, I don’t know, the fate of a city at stake or something? This time-shifting, parallel-world, all-powerful-being nonsense is ridonkulous. Ant-Man and his crew fall through a portal into some alternate universe (the “Quantum realm”) and I was reminded of being a kid trying to watch that first Star Trek movie and the Enterprise is going through a big space cloud… and going through a big space cloud… and going through a big space cloud… and it was so BORING.
Paul Rudd and pals land, and in classic sitcom form, two of the characters are off on one adventure and the other two handle the B plot. How will they get home? How will they stop the Worst Dude in the Galaxy? And how will they overcome having a screenwriter who doesn’t seem to know anything about science, though the whole series is predicated on genius-level scientific knowledge? (“How does it work? Um… it’s like those two-way radios we used to build.”)
Plus they rip off Star Wars with a supporting cast straight outta the Cantina and also a bunch of Jawas. Human-wise, Rudd is Rudd. He gets some cute Rudd stuff to do in the beginning. Evangeline Lilly, who had lots to do in Part II, has not very much to do in this installment (and her hair scorecard is now Pt 1, bad; Pt. 2, good; Pt. 3, bad). I’m embarrassed for Michael Douglas, who seems like a terrific guy but is tarnishing his career with his money-grubbing run as Dr. Hank Pym. Michelle Pfeiffer at least gets a more substantial role this time around. Bill Murray shows up and tries to add some zing to his lines, but they dress him up in a silly space costume with a high collar that really showcases his neck fat, which I found pretty distracting. Jonathan Majors is supervillain Captain Kangaroo King Kong Bundy Voldemort… eh, he’ll get another chance as a baddie soon in Creed III.
This movie is too long and not much fun, but if — like me — you’re merely looking to kill time on a rainy day, I guess it’ll do. Find a theater with comfortable seats, recliners if possible.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/28/23
EPISODE #527: HATE EPISODE II
In response to an idiotic so-called “Day of Hate” by white-supremacist neo-Nazi fuckfaces that never actually materialized. Spoiler alert: Love always wins.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Clash — “Hateful”
Reese McHenry — “I Hate Waiting”
Eric’s Trip — “Hate Song”
Ramona — ”Hater’s Ball Parade”
They Might Be Giants — “Hate the Villanelle”
Smut — “Let Me Hate”
The Afterglows — “Sea of Hate”
Superchunk — “Cloud of Hate”
The Ergs! — “It’s OK To Hate Me”
Amy Allison — ”Hate at First Sight”
Skylar Pocket — “I Don’t Hate Her”
Pom Pom Squad — “Hate It Here”
The Planes — “Hate Army”
Big Baby — “Hate U”
The Minus 5 — “The History You Hate”
Blushh — “You Make Me Hate It All”
Little Walter — “Hate To See You Go”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/21/23
EPISODE #526: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023
Nina Simone — “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Jerry Butler — “Only the Strong Survive”
The Fairfield Four — “Who Stole My Old Shoes?”
The Dramatics — “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”
A Tribe Called Quest — ”1–2 Crush on You”
Big Maybelle — “Ain’t To Be Played With”
Gene Chandler — “Check Yourself”
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band — “Express Yourself”
The Six Teens — “A Casual Look”
Terence Trent D’Arby — “Sign Your Name”
Darrell Banks — “I’m the One Who Loves You”
The Tymes — “So Much in Love”
Ike & Tina Turner — “Tina’s Dilemna”
The Radio Four — “An Earnest Look”
Etta James — “Tough Lover”
Lloyd Price — “Where You At”
The Delfonics — “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Infinity Pool
4 stars out of 5
I can imagine Mike White handing this in as a stand-alone episode of White Lotus and getting immediately fired and banned by HBO. In Infinity Pool, writer/director Brandon Cronenberg gives us his own version of an existentially bored couple at a tropic resort, but because of that last name, you can probably guess this movie is pretty fucked up.
And can I just say, you know you’re old when you think, “Oh a movie by the son of one of my favorite directors; let’s see what the kid is up to” — and then you find out the “kid” is 43 years old. Sheesh!
OK, where were we, ah yes, tropical resort. Alexander “Please Let Me Get the Little Circle Above the A on the First Try” Skarsgård (editor’s note: not even close) is James Foster, an author with writer’s block hoping to find inspiration on a vacation funded by his supportive-but-don’t-push-me wife Em. They start hanging out with another couple, one half of which is flirty, alluring Gabi. She’s played by Mia Goth who in a real-life Cronenbergian twist, has been impregnated by Shia LaBeouf. Yick!
After a day and night of couple carousing, James finds himself in trouble with the law. And outside the gates of the resort, there is some rough island justice! (Police HQ looks a bit like the rundown government buildings in Papa Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future; it was interesting to see that this movie was filmed in Hungary and Croatia.) Gabi assures James that it can all be taken care of, swept away, which we soon learn is because everybody has a price.
Plot-wise, I’m going to stop right there, as to not spoil the fun. Maybe “fun” isn’t the right word? No, there is certainly some fun, and some dark laughs. Very dark. (Though not as dark as that chocolate my buddy brought back from Germany. Too dark! I digress.) But there is also some wonderfully disturbing content, insane visuals, hallucinatory freakouts, ultraviolence, scary shit, all dancing around some heady ethical questions to a soundtrack by the great Tim Hecker.
I was finding the movie really gripping… then I got a little bored by the “excess”… then Croney pushes the Messed-Up Meter deep into the red and totally won me back. All I can say is, David Cronenberg must be one proud papa.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/14/23
EPISODE #525: VALENTINE’S DAY 2023 (CRUSHES)
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Tsunami — “Valentine”
Bruce Springsteen — “Crush on You”
Juniper — “Everybody’s Got a Crush on Chad”
The Clash — ”1–2 Crush on You”
Bad Moves — “Crushed Out”
Let’s Whisper — “This Might Not Be a Crush”
Sweater Girls — “Space Crush”
Yum Yums — “Crush on You”
Kami Lyle with Joey Spampinato — “First Crush”
Brian Wilson — ”I Got a Crush on You”
Frankie Machine — “The Perfect Valentine”
Dusty Springfield — “Wishin’ and Hopin’” r.i.p. Burt Bacharach
De La Soul — “The Magic Number” r.i.p. Trugoy the Dove
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 2/7/23
EPISODE #524: 2/9/23 “HEROES OF INDIEPOP” PET SHOP SHOW PREVIEW
Jack Silbert, promoter and emcee
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Mary Lou Lord — “His Indie World”
Tullycraft — “Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s Too Stupid To Know About”
Wimp Factor Fourteen — “Train Song”
Vehicle Flips — ”Diplomacy, Home and Abroad”
The Gazetteers — “Trapped Inside a Skill Crane”
The Ekphrastics — “Special Delivery”
Laura Veirs — “I See Your Tracks”
Liquorice — “Keeping the Weekend Free”
Franklin Bruno — “Skipped a Grade”
The Human Hearts — ”A Different City for a Different Life”
Makeout Vertigo — “Nervy B”
Joy Cleaner — “Impossibility for Me”
Joy Cleaner — “Dramatization”
Joy Cleaner — “Selling the Mood”
Skateboard Kyle — “Making Our Dreams Come True”
Franklin Bruno — “Tico-Tico”
The Gazetteers — “Poor Little Rhode Island”
Tullycraft — “Twee”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator