EPISODE #458: HALLOWEEN 2021
The Frogs — “I’m Evil, Jack” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Wussy — “Halloween”
Phoebe Bridgers — “Halloween”
The Fleshtones — “Face of the Screaming Werewolf”
Bettye Lavett — “Witchcraft in the Air”
The Porchistas — “Mischief Night”
Peach Kelli Pop — “Black Cat 13”
Matthew Sweet — “Lady Frankenstein”
Shiny Times — “Be a Ghost”
Nick Jorgensen — “Dreams”
Redd Kross — “Dracula’s Daughter”
Lambchop — “I Hate Candy”
New Order — “Spooky”
Michael Jackson — “Thriller”
Lou Reed — “Halloween Parade”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Aquarium Playlist, 10/26/21
Aquarium Playlist, 10/19/21
EPISODE #457: STICKY
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Velvet Underground — “I’m Sticking With You”
Dennis Young feat. Sal Principato — “Sticky Feet”
Robyn Hitchcock — “Dr. Sticky”
The Wedding Present — “Sticky”
Juniper — “Sticking With My Henry”
Bryan Ferry — “Let’s Stick Together”
Eels — “Stick Together”
Paley Brothers — “Baby, Let’s Stick Together”
Everly Brothers — “Stick With Me, Baby”
Rat Fancy — “Stuck With You”
Elvis Presley — “Stuck on You”
Atoms for Peace — “Stuck Together Pieces”
2nd Grade — “Superglue”
XTC — “Generals and Majors” r.i.p. General Colin Powell
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Movie Review: No Time To Die
2.5 stars out of 5
And so, the pandemic-delayed movie we’d waited the longest for: Daniel Craig’s last hurrah as 007. Back in 2020, we had Craig’s turn as an SNL host (and the resultant meme), and Billie Eilish’s Bond theme. But then… a quantum of silence for 18 months. Talk about building anticipation! Was it worth the wait? The Broccoli bunch truly tried to give us the world in this installment. Yet sometimes the world is not enough.
When Daniel Craig arrived as James Bond in 2006 (007 would’ve made more sense, but whatevs), it was the jolt of fresh blood the series needed. Bond films were never really bad, but the franchise had become paint-by-the-numbers, outpaced by Jason Bourne in the action-spy arms race. Casino Royale was a tougher, darker Bond, and it worked. And worked again, and again. And then… well, I enjoyed much of Spectre, but it definitely came off the rails.
Could they get things back on track for Craig’s Swann song? Certainly not by hiring True Detective’s Cary Jojo “Diminishing Returns” Fukunaga to co-write and direct. He continues the previous films’ grimness. But when you live by darkness, you die another day by darkness. And this is pretty dour Bond. Which drags a lot, and is stupidly long (2 hours, 43 minutes, sheesh). Admittedly, when 007 gets his first action sequence (with returning Dr. Swann, Léa Seydoux, in tow), it’s textbook thrilling Bond, including a fully-loaded Aston Martin. So, I was initially on board. But as the plot carried on, becoming increasingly convoluted, I realized I had no idea what was going on. And even more importantly, wasn’t enjoying myself a whole lot.
They do tick off the Bond checklist: shaken not stirred; Bond James Bond; a new Bond girl. Ana de Armas is indeed an absolute knockout, and impresses mightily in her big fight scene. Yet just when we want to see, er, more of her, she’s gone. It’s like Fukunaga felt, ok, you’ve had your fun, now back to the dreariness.
It’s nice to see our old friends M, and Moneypenny, and an oil painting of Dame Judi Dench, and Q, who’s revealed as gay, hooray. (More inclusion: With Bond believed dead at film’s start, the 007 agent number has been reassigned to… a black woman. Take that, patriarchy!)
Rami Malek is here as the baddie and I thought, “Ooh, that’ll be good,” but he gets very little to do and doesn’t give it much oomph.
Then there’s just some clumsy, lazy filmmaking. There’s a Silence of the Lambs rip. And, no spoilers, but a character totally inexplicably escapes. And also Bond, who has shown no traces of Roger Moore wit during the lighter parts of the film, waits until things are getting really heavy before firing off two corny one-liners. Read the room, pal!
Dear Bond producers: I think a major problem here was trying to make the Craig 007s a continuing story. Plots just piled up on top of each other and this time for sure, there weren’t talented enough filmmakers to interweave it all (and edit, for godsakes). I was genuinely saddened back when they announced that this would be Daniel Craig’s final film as Bond. But now I’m quite glad. The series could definitely use a fresh start, a dash of fun, and a stand-alone plot. From Jack, with love.
Aquarium Playlist, 10/12/21
EPISODE #456: GOT MILK?
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Louis Jordan — “Show Me How (You Milk the Cow)”
Joy Cleaner — “No Milk Today”
The Operators — “Mild as Milk”
Eugenius — “Buttermilk”
Franklin Bruno — “Milkcrate”
Robert Johnson — “Milkcow’s Calf Blues”
Elvis Presley — “Milkcow Blues Boogie”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions — “Sour Milk-Cow Blues”
Jackie Lomax — “Sour Milk Sea”
Summer’s Children — “Milk and Honey”
Rufus Wainwright — “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”
They Might Be Giants feat. Elma Mayer — “Please Pass the Milk”
The Crabs — “Spilt Milk”
Magic Bullets — “Spilled Milk”
The Planes — “Milk Maid”
halfsour — “Milk Bath”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Movie Review: The Many Saints of Newark
3.5 stars out of 5
I felt I owed it to David Chase to see this film in a theater. Way back, my coworker/friend Mona mentioned an upcoming HBO show, The Sopranos, that one of her fellow actors had scored a big part in. I thought it was maybe about opera singers. My cousin Ilene was a producer on the series, and soon a co-executive producer, then an executive producer. But mostly I was excited because we loved the show, and here in North Jersey, were kind of able to live it. The toll booth and Paul Bunyan Man on Tony’s drive from the city were familiar sites. With my buddies Joe and Bob we visited the Satriale’s location. Alone I checked out PizzaLand (also from Tony’s commute) and the diner where Christopher got shot.
That’s a lot of advance pressure on a movie, which was (understandably) marketed — against Chase’s will — as a Tony Soprano origin story. However, my own enthusiasm was somewhat curbed (eh, eh? #premiumcablesundays) by my fading recollections of Chase’s 2013 film Not Fade Away which was… OK, not great. Hey, there are TV people, and there are movie people (even in this “prestige” streaming era) and Chase will ultimately be remembered for The Sopranos and The Rockford Files. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Which is all to say, maybe I should’ve watched this on HBOMax. It’s a decent movie, and there is a lot for Sopranos fans to look for and enjoy, but Chase and director Alan Taylor are no Coppola, they are no Scorsese. (“Marty! Kundun! I liked it!”) There is not an epic sweep to the film, nor a genuine grittiness. The performances, though, are generally solid. Alessandro Nivola, as Dickie “Chris’s dad” Moltisanti, seems to know what he’s doing in this world, and doesn’t ham it up too much. Same for the increasingly reliable Jon Bernthal as Tony’s dad. Ray Liotta, however, misses a golden opportunity to give one of his completely terrifying, over-the-top portrayals as Dickie’s dad; perhaps he just can’t summon it anymore. (Operation Dumbo Drop will do that to a fella.) Liotta actually plays a dual role but… it’s just too stupid.
As far as the characters we know, New Jersey’s own Vera Farmiga lets us see the cracks already forming in Livia, and Corey Stoll is especially good as Junior — recognizably funny, angry, a little off, yet still making the character his own. Billy Magnussen as Paulie and John Magaro as Silvio are less successful, with Magaro particularly delivering a total caricature. Ooh, and there’s an indistinct guy playing Slightly Smaller Pussy, but there’s another actor in this movie who looks an awful lot like current-day Vincent Pastore/Big Pussy, so I’m sitting there flabbergasted: “Is he playing his younger self but actually looking older?!? Couldn’t they have done some of that Irishman digital de-aging?”
I’m pleased to report that Michael Gandolfini does a fine job filling his dad’s shoes, displaying the iconic character’s sensitivity and indecision as life pulls him in different directions. And there is a line or two of dialogue where the similarity in vocal timbre was eerie.
There’s another prominent storyline involving the Newark riots and Harold, an African-American associate of Dickie — played by… I want to say Leslie Uggams Jr.? — who eventually wants to start his own separate crime operation. Era- and setting-wise, this makes total sense to include, and for the most part it works, highlighting the hardcore racism and resistance to civil rights in the community, and also hinting at the transition from numbers running to narcotics.
Most importantly, David Chase doesn’t embarrass himself or the legacy of The Sopranos. The Many Saints fits in the canon, as my comic-book nerd friends might say. Plus, seeing Holsten’s luncheonette in the movie and later, passing it in real life on my drive home — that’s pretty cool.
Aquarium Playlist, 10/5/21
EPISODE #455: STRESS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Talking Heads — “Psycho Killer” [live]
Bob Perry — “Man on the Brink”
Nick Lowe — “Cracking Up”
Bo Diddley — “Crackin’ Up”
The Jesus & Mary Chain — “Cracking Up”
Vivian Girls — “Tension”
Jay Gonzalez — “Tension”
Superchunk — “For Tension”
Eddy Current Suppression Ring — “Anxiety”
Blushing — “Pressure”
Queen and David Bowie — “Under Pressure”
ZZ Top — “Got Me Under Pressure”
The Selecter — “Too Much Pressure”
Torres — “Are You Sleepwalking?”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/21/21
EPISODE #453: NICE!
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Lithics — “Nice Alone”
Colleen Green — “It’s Nice To Be Nice”
The Jesus Lizard — “Mouth Breather”
Kimya Dawson — “So Nice So Smart”
English Beat — “Too Nice to Talk To”
Todd Rundgren — “Be Nice to Me”
Nellie McKay — “Won’t U Please B Nice”
Paul McCartney — “Seize the Day”
Screaming Females — “It’s Nice”
Lovin’ Spoonful — “You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice”
Flowers of America — “Please Be Nice to Me”
Beach Boys — “I’ll Bet He’s Nice”
Hiding Behind Sound — “Kinda Nice”
Mose Allison — “Ask Me Nice”
Ron Gallo — “Really Nice Guys”
Alice Cooper — “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/14/21
EPISODE #452: END OF SUMMER III
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Michael Shelley — “Summer, I Pissed You Away” [non-LP version]
Calvin Johnson — “(I’ve Still Got) Sand in My Shoes”
Speed the Plough — “Take Me”
Lost Balloons — “Change Your Mind”
Taylor Swift — “August”
Edward Rogers — “Last of the Summer Wine”
Chad & Jeremy — “A Summer Song”
Beach Bunny — “Goodbye Summer :(”
Bob Dylan — “Summer Days”
halfsour — “Day Dogs”
The Mantles — “Strawberry Thighs”
Amy O — “Rest Stop”
The Insomniacs — “Maryanne Lightly”
The Dream Academy — “Lucy September”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/7/21
EPISODE #451: 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 (NEW YORK II)
Cat Power — “New York” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Richard Hell & the Voidoids — “Downtown at Dawn” [Destiny Street Repaired version]
The Drifters — “On Broadway”
John Lennon — “New York City”
Amy Allison & the Maudlins — “I Was Born in NYC”
Laura Cantrell — “14th Street”
Rufus Wainwright — “14th Street”
Leonard Cohen — “Chelsea Hotel #2”
Marshall Crenshaw — “Rockin’ Around in N.Y.C.”
The Rolling Stones — “Harlem Shuffle”
The dB’s — “I Read New York Rocker”
Joey Ramone — “New York City”
Steve Earle — “N.Y.C.”
Dion — “King of the New York Streets”
Spit-take — “Memorial”
They Might Be Giants — “New York City”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Jack Silbert, curator