The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Modern Lovers — “Old World” Amy Rigby — “The Old Guys” The Beatles — “Old Brown Shoe” The Pogues — “The Old Main Drag” Dr. Dog — “My Old Ways” Of Montreal — “Old Familiar Way” Smog — “Cold Blooded Old Times” Lianne Smith — “Old Times’ Sake” Neil Young — “Old Man” I Am the Polish Army — “My Old Man” The Fastbacks — “Under the Old Lightbulb” The Clean — “Getting Older” John Lennon — “Grow Old With Me” Van Halen — “Eruption” r.i.p. Eddie Van Halen
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
A bunch of people seemed surprised that I went to a movie theater. They’re perhaps forgetting that for the overwhelming majority of films I go to see, the attendance has always been well under 25% capacity. Regardless, going to the movies was one of the main things I’ve missed during the pandemic. So during this gentle reopening phase, I thought, when the right movie comes along, I’ll go. Tenet? Eh. Unhinged? Um. Something about the Chicago 7? Maybe, maybe. But BILL MURRAY? In a movie that otherwise will only be on Apple TV+ which I do not subscribe to and will not be paying for because enough of this premium streaming bullshit? Yes, I would gladly mask up and take my chances.
There wasn’t too much different at my local cinema. Only open Thursday to Sunday for now. Plexiglass in front of the cash registers. Concessions limited to popcorn, candy, soda — they’re not stocking anything perishable in case they have to shut down again. You now choose your seat in advance (which has never really caught on before) and, after pressing the seat icon several times to no avail, I was told that, no, it was not a touch screen.
Oh, and there was a movie! And I liked it! I can’t say I’ve followed Sofia Coppola’s career too closely. I remember liking Lost in Translation, though only the cool mood of it has stuck with me. During the pandemic I finally watched The Virgin Suicides and thought it was really good. And A Very Murray Christmas had been an OK-enough diversion. I hadn’t seen any trailers or read any articles about On the Rocks, so, surprise me.
First of all, if you’re a Bill Murray fan, I think you’ll appreciate the movie. Because he gets to be, well, very Murray. Prior to him showing up, I was thinking, uggh, struggling couple story (see title), the joy of parenthood and success at work has reduced the spark of romance for Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans, we’ve seen it again and again and again; I gave up on Breeders during the first episode. To be frank, it’s not my life and I don’t care so much.
Ah, but then Rashida’s dad shows up and it’s classic Murray poured into an older, upscale, former gallery-owner persona. He’s the life of the party, knows everybody’s name and backstory, and Cat in the Hat style, he’s shown up to shake Rashida from her doldrums though probably cause a little chaos in his wake. He sings (yay), smiles, flirts, drives fast. Bill Murray, ladies and gentlemen!
This is Sofia Coppola’s Woody Allen movie. And not just because it’s a love letter to Manhattan — sorry for using that phrase yet again, but I really dig films where the director skillfully incorporates place as a key character. This story couldn’t have been set in Bergen County. It’s also Woody’s world of educated, well-meaning, well-off liberals. Rashida is a (blocked) writer; we frequently see the Bernie 2016 sticker in their apartment, and she wears Paris Review and Run-DMC t-shirts.
In the spirit of later Woody flicks, there’s a bit of a caper here too, bathed in light comedy. A less talented director than Coppola might’ve gone way too broad with this, but she keeps it subtle. You see, Murray convinces Rashida to follow Marlon Wayans, to see if he’s cheating on her with leggy co-worker Fiona. At the same time, dad is unknowingly giving her an It’s a Wonderful Life glimpse at the road not taken: his commitment-phobic, eternal nightlife tour of New York’s hottest clubs.
Murray is the star attraction here, but Jones and Wayans more than hold their own. I haven’t seen Rashida Jones in a lead role since Celeste and Jesse Forever but she’s once again very good in the role of… you know, I’ve gone this far without looking up the characters’ names and I’m certainly not going to do it now, though I promise that “Fiona” was accurate above. Jones is convincing as the aging plainish-Jane, devoted mom, don’t rock the boat in the relationship, good person. I feel like I know very little about Marlon Wayans, but it turns out (wait, Jack, did you just look on IMDB or didn’t you?? Answer the question, Mr. Vice President!!) that I’ve seen him in many more movies than Sofia Coppola productions I’ve watched. Anyway, he does a solid job as the slightly slick, good but distracted husband and dad who you could perhaps believe is having an affair maybe.
It’s a pleasing, quiet, grown-up film that I truly enjoyed, plus I felt very good about the social distancing in the theater. I’ll be back. Oh, and there’s a peppy Phoenix song over the end credits, so if Coppola was writing from personal experience, at the very least she and hubby are still comfortably working together.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Pooh Sticks — “Young People” Big Eyes — “Young, Dumb, and Bored” Trøn & DVD (feat. Sb the Moor & Travis Stever) — “Young, Dope, Proud” Jennifer O’Connor and Travis Stever — “Young Turks” Allo Darlin’ — “Still Young” Suede — “So Young” Japandroids — “Younger Us” The Clientele — “When You and I Were Young” Echo Lake — “Young Silence” The Magnetic Fields — “Young & Insane” The Individuals — “Young and Dancing” The Replacements — “Bastards of Young” Mott the Hoople — “All the Young Dudes” Bob Dylan — “Forever Young”
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Shooby Taylor — “Stout-Hearted Man” [ALTERNATE THEME] T. Lance & the Coctails — “Aba-Daba-Do Dance” Mahna Mahna & the Two Snowths — “Mahna Mahna” Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps — “B-I-Bickey-Bi, Bo-Bo-Go” Little Richard — “Tutti Frutti” The Crystals — “Da Doo Ron Ron” The Police — “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” The Beatles — “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” The A-Bones — “Bing Bong (There’s a Party Goin’ On)” The Jelly Beans — “Do Wah Diddy” The Shangri-Las — “The Dum Dum Ditty” Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five — “Bounce the Ball (Doo Dah Diddle Dum Day)” Yochanan with Sun Ra — “Muck Muck” Willie Dixon Orchestra — “Wang Dang Doodle” The Beach Boys — “Ding Dang” The Creations — “Shang Shang” The Sweet — “Wig-Wam Bam” Clyde McPhatter — “Bip Bam” Don & Dewey — “Bim Bam” Hanson — “MMMBop”
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Manhattan Love Suicides — “Autumn Fades In” Joe Pernice — “Here Comes September” The Clientele — “Lyra in October” Overlake — “Unnamed November” Karyn Kuhl Band — “November Leaves” Tripod Jimmie — “Autumn Leaves” Teenage Fanclub — “Fallen Leaves” Bob Dylan — “Autumn Leaves” Tom Waits — “Last Leaf” Ron Sexsmith — “Autumn Light” Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians — “Autumn Sea” Elvis Costello — “I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came” Billie Holiday — “Autumn in New York” Roy Head & the Traits — “Treat Her Right” r.i.p. Roy Head
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
A lot was different when I saw Matthew John Lawrence’s first feature, Two Pints Lighter, back in 2013: no pandemic, the president wasn’t a corrupt fascist moron, I had feet, the writer/director billed himself simply as Matt Lawrence, etc. But, upon watching his newly-released second feature, Uncle Peckerhead, it’s clear that some things haven’t changed. Lawrence still loves low-rent horror mixed with comedy, he’s still devoted to Asbury Park and its music scene, and he can still make a solid, highly enjoyable movie. In fact, it’s an even better one.
We meet a punk trio called DUH. Judy sings and plays bass, Max sings and plays guitar, and Melissa is the drummer. They’re going on a short, shoestring-budget tour, but right before, the band van gets repossessed! Dang! Luckily — or perhaps supremely unluckily? — they meet Peckerhead. Should you trust a disheveled older guy with a white van? Who offers to drive you around and be your roadie? Whose name is Peckerhead? When you’re an unknown indie band with out-of-town bookings, yeah, you probably do.
Judy is DUH’s self-appointed leader. Judy is a punk but a rather clean-cut, pragmatic, and somewhat uptight one. You know, that person in the band. Chet Siegel portrays her with charm, maturity, and a little vulnerability — it’s a strong performance. Max is a playful bear not real comfortable with stage banter. He’s depicted by Philly rocker Jeff Riddle, who wrote DUH’s genuinely thrilling original songs (which he also performs on the soundtrack with one of my faves, Augusta Koch, formerly of Cayetana.) Melissa (Ruby McCollister) is dark/twisted/sexy; I only wish Lawrence’s script gave her more to say. And not only because McCollister was the selfie-stick girl in the most recent season of Curb.
Not a scene from Uncle Peckerhead.
And then there’s Peckerhead. (You can call him Peck.) His personality is Southern gentleman, a bit of a dandy, but wrapped in a Jersey trash body. Though he’s never called Uncle Peckerhead, David Littleton gives a very avuncular and very amusing performance in the role.
Besides dealing with Peck’s, uh, nightly transformations (no more spoilers), the movie also has fun with many of the hassles of no-budget touring for young bands: jerky promoters, pretentious bands on the bill, nontraditional venues, selling/not selling merch, hoping an audience member will let you crash at their place, etc. There’s a touch of “hero’s quest” here as well, as DUH hopes to conclude the tour by opening a prominent gig at the real-life House of Independents in their hometown of Asbury. (There are many more “easter eggs” for fans of Jerseyana, including t-shirts from the old Asbury Lanes and bands such as The Great Explainer and Bouncing Souls, plus scenes shot in Bernardsville, JB’s Diner, etc.)
Lawrence’s writing keeps things light but never corny. A definite feel of Troma classics pervades the proceedings, and indeed Lawrence offers a clear tip-of-the-cap to Lloyd Kaufman’s cinematic oeuvre. I laughed a lot — perhaps most at the lines “Hands off the vehicle, hombre” and a well-placed “Namaste.” You might even wonder if this movie is (two pints) light on the gore until… um, let’s just say the horror crowd will eventually be sated. (There is one gross-out that was maybe, maybe just a teensy bit over the line for my personal taste.)
Kind of a funny thing: For much of the movie I couldn’t quite figure out in what era the movie is set. Must be modern-day, because of House of Independents but… Armitron watch, pay phones, cassettes — was this the 90s? Or the 80s?!? Nope, it’s current, but the beauty is, punk and ultra-indie bands have often lived, sometimes due to lack of income, in a charming, slightly affected Land Beyond Time. Luddites unite!
Thank you so much, Matthew James Lawrence, for this extremely entertaining gift for all of us still stuck pandemically streaming at home. Support indie cinema by renting or buying Uncle Peckerhead on YouTube, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Alamo Drafhouse On Demand, Google Play, and many other popular sites. #KeepNJWeird
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Reverend Horton Heat — “400 Bucks” Superchunk — “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” Big Audio Dynamite — “Just Play Music!” Ron Sexsmith — “Music to my Ears” The Spires — “Tonight’s Music” Juliana Hatfield — “Do It to Music” Matthew Sweet — “Music for Love” Meat Puppets — “Sexy Music” These New Puritans — “Attack Music” Calexico — “Music Box” Philip Glass — “Music Box” The Rubinoos — “Cruisin’ Music” Bob Seger & the Last Heard — “Heavy Music (part 1)” Frank Sinatra — “The Music Stopped” The Maytals — “54-46 That’s My Number” r.i.p. Toots Hibbert
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” (live) [ALTERNATE THEME] Luna — “Slash Your Tires” Teenage Halloween — “Holes” I Am the Polish Army — “Setup” Alejandro Escovedo — “Horizontal” Joan of Narc — “e.x.” Jennifer O’Connor — “Mountains” M. Ward — “Chinese Translation” Laura Cantrell — “Roll Truck Roll” Robyn Hitchcock — “Dismal City” Built to Spill — “Never Be the Same” Wire Troop — “Steppin’ Out” Molten High — “Long Time Out in the Sun” They Might Be Giants — “I Left My Body” The Go-Go’s — “Club Zero”
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] They Might Be Giants — “Put Your Hands on the Computer” Sam Pocker & the Pretty Colors — “Weekends With You” Sleaford Mods — “Tweet Tweet Tweet” Soak — “Digital Witness” Arcade Fire — “Deep Blue” The Smittens — “Typing, Texting” Strawberry Whiplash — “Everybody’s Texting” Giant Sand — “Texting Feist” Flying Lotus — “Computer Face/Pure Being” Beck — “Cellphone’s Dead” Willie Nile — “Cellphones Ringing (in the Pockets of the Dead)” Pre Nup — “Internet Arguments” East Ghost West Ghost — “Stop Searching for Your Symptoms on the Internet” Courtney Barnett — “Nameless, Faceless”
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Jimmy Smith — “The Cat” Joy Cleaner — “Nervous Purr” Sid King & the Five Strings — “Purr, Kitty, Purr” 7 Year Bitch — “Cats Meow” The Cure — “All Cats Are Grey” Dan Deacon — “The Crystal Cat” The dB’s — “What About That Cat” New York Dolls — “Puss ‘n’ Boots” The Poor Man’s Opera — “Beautiful Cats” Rebecca Turner — “The Cat That Can Be Alone” Eric Barao featuring Roger Joseph Manning Jr. — “My Puss-Puss” Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers — “All by Myself” r.i.p. Walter Lure Justin Townes Earle — “Kids in the Street” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records The Aquarium in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator