By Jack Silbert on March 3, 2020
EPISODE #372: CORONAVIRUS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Minutemen — “Corona”
Mudhoney — “Touch Me I’m Sick”
Shop Assistants — “Somewhere in China”
The Mountain Goats — “Beautiful Gas Mask”
Alex Chilton — “No Sex”
Reese McHenry — “Fever”
Notches — “Fever Dream”
The Promise Ring — “Emergency! Emergency!”
The Who — “Doctor, Doctor”
Sleater-Kinney — “Call the Doctor”
Big Boy Henry — “Take My Baby to the Doctor”
The Replacements — “Take Me Down to the Hospital”
Monster Bobby — “Let’s Check Into a Hospital Together”
Bo Diddley — “Pills”
The Modern Lovers — “Hospital”
Vic Chesnutt — “Feast in the Time of Plague”
Jack’s Aquarium is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Alex Chilton, Big Boy Henry, Bo Diddley, coronavirus, COVID-19, Jonathan Richman, Minutemen, Modern Lovers, Monster Bobby, Mountain Goats, Mudhoney, Notches, Reese McHenry, Shop Assistants, Sleater-Kinney, The Promise Ring, The Replacements, The Who, Vic Chesnutt
By Jack Silbert on February 26, 2020
3.5 stars out of 5
I read the poster and thought “Julia Garner is too old to play a young assistant.” But I was thinking of Jennifer Garner. Was pleasantly surprised to learn that the lead was Julia, who I am very familiar with from Ozark and The Americans. She’s been great in both those series and I was glad to see her getting a starring cinematic role.
The victimization that Garner’s characters have faced in those TV shows prepared her well for the role of Jane, the titular Assistant. She is the junior assistant to a mostly unseen downtown-NYC-based movie exec. And guess what, he is a total dick.
Jane is the first to arrive in the morning, and we watch as the workplace slowly comes to life. For quite a while I thought we were witnessing snapshots from Jane’s work life, how she’s treated and how she handles herself. But then I realized, huh, she’s always wearing the same top. And finally it hit me, wait, we are witnessing one day in Jane’s life. Which maybe seemed a little stupid?
Stay with me here: We’ve all worked for Horrible Bosses (even Garner’s Ozark pal Jason Bateman). And it’s exponentially worse when you’re a young woman working for a demanding, morally questionable dude. And the high pressure, fast-paced office of a movie company adds a whole extra set of challenges. But here’s the thing. All the humiliations and degradation don’t happen in THE SAME DAY. They don’t! Sometimes you’re just working on an Excel document for a long time and it’s kind of boring. Amiright?
So, I don’t know, maybe The Assistant is an allegory for the abuse faced by All Assistants. We truly see everything: bullying, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual impropriety, personal issues bleeding into a professional space, favoritism, boys’ club, etc. etc. etc. With her two more veteran fellow assistants, there is sometimes a siege mentality, and the two guys talk Jane through how to apologize and how to deal with the boss’s wife.
Garner does a terrific job in the role, focused, holding in the rage and the pain, almost breaking but holding on. The mood that writer/director Kitty Green summons feels just right: the insular, unfeeling environment, the flow from early in the morning to late at night. There isn’t really a plot, so this seemed more like an extended short film than a feature. And I also had the nagging feeling that I was watching a movie about how awful movie people are, and I wondered, were all the assistants treated excellently on this flick, and is it OK to try to make money off their suffering? The Assistant is definitely watchable but it is a downer. Workers of the world, unite and take over.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Julia Garner
By Jack Silbert on February 26, 2020
EPISODE #371: LEAP YEAR 2020
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Sebadoh — “Leap Year”
Cub — “Leapfrog”
Dave Clark Five — “Look Before You Leap”
Dr. John — “Jump Sturdy”
The Rolling Stones — “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
David Bowie — “Jump They Say”
House of Pain — “Jump Around”
Elvis Costello — “Jump Up”
Lost Balloons — “Jump Ship”
The Cramps — “Jungle Hop”
Don & Dewey — “Jungle Hop”
XTC — “Life Begins at the Hop”
Squeeze — “Hop, Skip & Jump”
Van Halen — “Jump”
Oh-OK — “Jumping”
Paul Kelly — “Leaps and Bounds”
Jack’s Aquarium is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Cub, Dave Clark Five, David Bowie, Don & Dewey, Dr. John, Elvis Costello, House of Pain, Lost Balloons, Oh-OK, Paul Kelly, Rolling Stones, Sebadoh, Squeeze, The Cramps, Van Halen, XTC
By Jack Silbert on February 18, 2020
EPISODE #370: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2020 (BLUES II)
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Otis Rush — “It Takes Time”
Mamie Smith — “Crazy Blues”
Sleepy John Estes — “Expressman Blues”
Big Bill Broonzy — “Worrying You Off My Mind, Pt. 1”
Blind Lemon Jefferson — “Rabbit Foot Blues”
Ma Rainey — “Booze and Blues”
Willie Walker — “Dupree Blues”
Willie Nix, the Memphis Blues Boy — “Baker Shop Boogie”
Leadbelly — “Leaving Blues”
J.T. “Funny Paper” Smith — “Fool’s Blues”
Charles Brown — “Driftin’ Blues”
Big Joe Turner — “Roll ‘Em Pete”
James Cotton — “Cotton Crop Blues”
Slim Harpo — “I’m a King Bee”
Junior Kimbrough — “Meet Me in the City”
R.L. Burnside — “Poor Boy”
Albert King — “Born Under a Bad Sign”
Jack’s Aquarium is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Albert King, Big Bill Broonzy, Big Joe Turner, Black History Month, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charles Brown, J.T. "Funny Paper" Smith, James Cotton, Junior Kimbrough, Leadbelly, Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Otis Rush, R.L. Burnside, Sleepy John Estes, Slim Harpo, the blues, Willie Nix, Willie Walker
By Jack Silbert on February 12, 2020
3 stars out of 5
Different town, but second consecutive movie where I was the only one in the theater. I’m starting to get a complex. Or perhaps a multiplex.
The Rhythm Section (I keep typing Rhythm Method) is a crummy name for an action flick, but at least the title is explained in the opening seconds: Stay calm, regulate your body, your lungs are the bass, your heart is the drum. And the set-up is compelling enough. Stephanie’s (Blake Lively) life has fallen apart because three years earlier, her parents and siblings perished in a plane crash — a flight she was supposed to be on, no less! Now Oxford-grad Stephanie is shooting up and turning tricks, until a journalist (hey I recognize that guy from TV’s Code Black) tells her: That crash was no accident.
What would you do? Get straight and circle the globe to seek vengeance? Well, in a movie based on a shitty book that’s what you’d do. But Lively carries things for a while, lifting the proceedings to a higher level than they deserve. She makes a convincing junkie, thrust into a world where she doesn’t belong. And her British accent seems pretty decent. I stuck with Lively as she tracked down the journalist’s source in remote Scotland. Hey, it’s Jude Law! But as we endure a Rocky training montage, Law turning Lively into a top assassin, things really start to get ridiculous.
From London and Scotland, Stephanie heads to Madrid, Tangiers, New York, and Marseilles, all in search of her man. Along the way, she meets a phoning-it-in Sterling K. Brown and a just-happy-to-be-here Max Casella. There is a pretty thrilling car chase sequence through narrow twisting Middle Eastern streets, with the driver’s point of view. But mainly this is by-the-numbers action, shooting and punching, as Stephanie becomes increasingly gorgeous, because she’s Blake Lively, duh. We still have another two months until James Bond, so if you really need a placeholder, here you go.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies
By Jack Silbert on February 11, 2020
EPISODE #369: VALENTINE’S DAY 2020 (HEARTS)
Lois — “Valentine” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Luna — “Inside Your Heart”
Bruce Springsteen — “Two Hearts”
Jad Fair & Norman Blake — “Two Hearts Together”
The Beach Boys — “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together”
Withered Hand — “Heart Heart”
The Schramms — “Hearts and Diamonds”
Karl Hendricks Trio — “Painted my Heart”
Megan Reilly — “Sew the Threads Into Your Heart”
Paul Westerberg — “Dyslexic Heart”
Deena — “Heart Full of Now”
Pylon — “Feast on my Heart”
Rockpile — “Heart”
The Secret Sisters — “My Heart Skips a Beat”
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — “Listen to her Heart”
Jonathan Richman — “You Must Ask the Heart”
Willie Nile — “She’s Got my Heart”
The Postal Service — “Be Still my Heart”
Johnny Ace — “Cross my Heart”
The Pastels — “Thru’ Your Heart”
Jack’s Aquarium is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Deena Shoskes, Jad Fair, Johnny Ace, Jonathan Richman, Karl Hendricks Trio, Lois, Luna, Megan Reilly, Norman Blake, Paul Westerberg, Pylon, Rockpile, Secret Sisters, The Pastels, The Postal Service, the Schramms, Tom Petty, Willie Nile, Withered Hand
By Jack Silbert on February 9, 2020
4 stars out of 5
Do I have to say every time that, full disclosure, Sophia Lillis is my dear friend Karen’s stepdaughter? What if I get it out of the way in the first sentence? OK, fine. Um, this movie is FUCKED UP. I had no idea what to expect. Even my recollections of the Hansel & Gretel fairy tale are pretty cloudy at this point: a brother and sister wander in the woods and hungrily happen upon a gingerbread house, owned by a witch who invites them in and… eats them? Doesn’t eat them? I honestly don’t recall.
And so this is a modern, stretched-out retelling, except, it isn’t modern in the slightest. The story is set in an unnamed very long time ago, but also refers to another fairy tale which takes place even very longer ago. Also, where are we? Their names are German, but everybody’s accents are Irish, though Hansel sounds British and Gretel seems to be American. Tone-wise, the term “gothic horror” kept popping into my head, but I was also reminded of the off-kilter 1940s horror films of Val Lewton.
So, dad is dead, Gretel goes all #metoo on a creepy rich oldster who would’ve hired her, mom is looney tunes, so G & H head out into the Black Forest except maybe it is the Green Forest of Ireland, is there such a thing. The woods are foreboding and quite cool looking. They meet a friendly hunter who says, go to the woodsmen who will take care of you, do not pass GO, do not collect $200. Oh, but the allure of the witch’s house is too strong; it does not have Gingerbread Siding® but there is quite a scrumptious spread within.
Alice Krige is creepily good as the witch. She is fattening up young Hansel while instructing Gretel in the ways of the dark side of the Force. The pace is SLOW and the language is deliberate and the feel is STARK. I sensed that everyone in the theater would die a horrible death except I was the only one in there. A handful of instances briefly took me out of the zone: G & H randomly indulge in some magic mushrooms they’ve stumbled on and suddenly it’s Midsommar again; the witch drops a glass and says “Another one bites the dust.” (Thanks, Rami Malek.) A goth girl shows up who seems a bit too “today.” And a couple of times, the score (intentionally??) evokes the Twilight Zone theme.
But overall, Gretel and Hansel maintains its unique dark groove. Director Oz Perkins, son of Tony, certainly knows his way around a scary story. Sophia Lillis is once again top-notch as the lead, exuding a calm, quiet dignity. Kudos to her; after IT she could’ve starred in any teen comedy piece of garbage with Demi Lovato on the soundtrack for a quick buck, but this is thoroughly weird and must’ve been an arduous shoot.
As mentioned, I was the only one in the theater for the 1:30pm showing, which only added to me being creeped out. I had to talk to somebody about this movie, so I chatted with the guy behind the counter who’d seen it the day before. I couldn’t even decide if I liked it or not. He was equally freaked out, also had no idea of the timeframe, and we marveled at the PG-13 rating, how we would’ve been very, very disturbed by this film as young teens. I is 50 and still feel pretty freaking disturbed. This flick will stick with me. Spoiler alert: I liked it.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Sophia Lillis
By Jack Silbert on February 9, 2020
A Sister (Belgium)
4.5 stars out of 5
A taut, highly realistic thriller based around a nighttime car ride. I won’t say any more plot-wise as it’s very worth watching and I don’t want to ruin it. Terrific performance by the actress not in the car, Veerle Baetens. This would be my choice for the Oscar winner.
Brotherhood (Tunisia/Canada)
4.5 stars out of 5
An eldest son returns from fighting in Syria to his family’s farm in rural Tunisia, with his devout new Muslim bride. Mom is so happy to see him but Dad is filled with resentment and suspicion. This packs so much into a short — family, faith, prejudice, current events (he was fighting for ISIS, yikes), regret, love — that it feels like a feature film. Mohamed Grayaâ is superb as the dad. Weird to see Tunisians with red hair and freckles. My runner-up as Oscar winner.
Nefta Football Club (France)
3.5 stars out of 5
Move aside, Hollywood, here comes Tunisia! Two brothers in rural Tunisia find a donkey wearing headphones, just over the border in Algeria, carrying a surprise cargo. Very cute but ultimately too silly and forgettable.
Saria (USA)
4 stars out of 5
Based on a true story, two sisters plot a group escape from an abusive orphanage in Guatemala. This is certainly very important and deals with hot-button issues — women’s rights, refugees — but to me felt a little over-dramatized. I would’ve preferred a documentary.
The Neighbors’ Window (USA)
3 stars out of 5
Rear Window but if set in boring upscale Brooklyn! A couple with kids becomes fascinated with a young, sexy couple that they can see through the window across the way. Topic has been covered better by Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young and also the Bob’s Burgers season 10 episode “Land of the Loft.” This film never rises above its “grass is always greener” conceit.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 10s movies, 20s movies, Academy Awards, short films
By Jack Silbert on February 5, 2020
Dcera (Czechia)
3.5 stars out of 5
Daughter/dad story #1, told in an intriguing, dark papier-mâché-esque style. Grown-up daughter reflects back on her relationship with her father back in the day. Impressive, though I had a little trouble following the exact details of this one.
Hair Love (USA)
3 stars out of 5
Daughter/dad story #2, told in a bland, “TV animation” style. Little girl needs father’s help to get her hair did, with humorous results (and an eye-rolling cat), to a heartfelt conclusion. Sweet but it all felt a little pat and mainstream.
Kitbull (USA)
3 stars out of 5
Cat and dog become friends, which I guess is interesting if you’ve never seen a cartoon before. Animation is pretty good, reminiscent of end-of-classic-era Warner Brothers.
Memorable (France)
4.5 stars out of 5
At first I was thinking, uggh, yet another Alzheimer’s story. But this short perfectly meshes form with content, as we witness the sad but fascinating deterioration of an artist’s mind, along with the emotional impact on his wife. The Claymation-y style lends itself nicely to smears and globs of paint, and the artist’s increasingly surreal view of his surroundings. Art with heart, and my pick for the Oscar winner.
Sister (USA)
3 stars out of 5
A man looks back on growing up in China, especially memories of his often-annoying younger sister. Ah, but there is a twist. (Isn’t there always?) Kinda cool “wool” black-and-white appearance, though the characters looked a little like low-rent Muppets. The whole thing left me a bit cold.
“HIGHLY COMMENDED” BUT NOT NOMINATED
Henrietta Bulkowski (USA)
3 stars out of 5
Was hoping this tale of a hunchback woman who wants to fly planes was based on a true story, but alas, it is yet another sappy “it’s OK to be different/you can achieve whatever you set out to do” story. Chris Cooper, Christina Hendricks, and Ann Dowd as star voice talent couldn’t earn this a nomination.
Hors Piste (France)
3.5 stars out of 5
The funniest film of the bunch, nominated or not. Two dudes, one tall, one short, attempt a mountaintop ski rescue and it’s slapstick fun all the way down. Kind of mainstream/Pixar-looking, so this is my guess what the Ice Age movies are like.
Maestro (France)
3.5 stars out of 5
Beautifully rendered animals and highly entertaining. Proves that it’s OK for short films to be short!
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 10s movies, 20s movies, Academy Awards, Animation, short films
By Jack Silbert on February 4, 2020
EPISODE #368: NEED
Thelonious Monk — “Well You Needn’t” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Sunshine & the Rain — “All We Need”
The Kinks — “I Need You”
The Muffs — “I Need You”
The Who — “I Need You”
The Beatles — “I Need You”
Rufus Wainwright — “Sometimes You Need”
LL Cool J — “I Need Love”
Elva — “I Need Love”
Slim Harpo — “I Need Love (Keep Your Alibis)”
They Might Be Giants — “They’ll Need a Crane”
The Field Mice — “If You Need Someone”
Dirty Fences — “All You Need Is a Number”
Jackie DeShannon — “What the World Needs Now Is Love”
Gang of Four — “At Home He’s a Tourist” r.i.p. Andy Gill
Jack’s Aquarium is proudly recorded in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Beatles, Dirty Fences, Elva, Field Mice, Gang of Four, Jackie DeShannon, Kinks, LL Cool J, Rufus Wainwright, Slim Harpo, Sunshine & the Rain, The Muffs, The Who, Thelonious Monk, They Might Be Giants
Jack Silbert, curator