4 stars out of 5
I liked Drive-Away Dolls a lot more than you did, and guess what, I liked Honey Don’t! more than you did too. In fact, I liked it even more!
Hollywood historians will be able to identify the precise “tipping point” when Margaret Qualley became a national treasure: 1 minute, 13 seconds into her Criterion closet video when she stretched for a DVD on a high shelf. Absolutely exquisite. But, as repeatedly stated in these electronic pages, I’d already been a fan for a long while.
Qualley is perfectly cast as the titular private eye Honey O’Donahue. She’s tough, terse, no-nonsense, and she’s sexy and she knows it clap your hands. If this sounds like film noir to you, bingo; Ethan Coen and Tricia have taken the genre, turned it on its head, and added lots of comedy. Honey is a womanizer and always gets her girl, leaving the boys – including hapless police chief Charlie from Always Sunny and crooked womanizing minister Chris Evans – in the lurch. Ah, but work come first.
Here, work comes in the form of a woman dead in a car accident – or was it homicide? Hmm, turns out she was a congregant of Father Evans (who is a hoot). Honey better recruit the assistance of police evidence-locker attendant Aubrey Plaza. In fact, they’d better work very, very, very closely with each other. Hubba hubba.
With its bleak Bakersfield setting, Honey Don’t! works both as a solid detective story and as a Coen-Bros-lite quirky, dry comedy. Which results in a more than satisfying film – consistently entertaining and well-shot – while we patiently wait till Ethan and Joel make good on their promise to collaborate again.
Movie Review: Honey Don’t!
Movie Review: Caught Stealing
3 stars out of 5
I’ve seen Caught Stealing, once, when I was 55. Whoops I mean 56.
Hi Darren Aronofsky. Big fan. Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Wrestler, Mother!: awesome. The Whale, Noah: pretty good. The Fountain was incomprehensible garbage but, hey, you tried.
Caught Stealing is… average. Innocent likable guy gets mixed up with gangsters and things get wacky. It stinks of Hollywood formula. And that is not you, Darren Aronofsky! You are unafraid to take chances. You are willfully weird. That’s what we like about you.
I am not blaming you. You did not write this movie. Charlie Huston did. I don’t know who that is, but I was hoping he was a grandson of John Huston. He is not. He wrote a novel and turned that novel into a screenplay. But you directed it, Darren. And it’s your name that got me into the theater. OK I guess I am blaming you.
Austin Butler is our likable protagonist. He’s a bartender in 1998 NYC. Hey I spent a lot of time in NYC bars in 1998, this could be right up my alley! He loves the San Francisco Giants and his girlfriend is Zoe Kravitz. Wasn’t she great in The Studio! They have great chemistry and I wish they had more scenes together.
Austin gets mixed up with Russian gangsters and there is tension and Regina King is a police detective and things are going pretty well, movie-wise. But then things start to get silly. This worked in Anora but it doesn’t work here. Maybe madcap comedy isn’t in Aronofsky’s wheelhouse. Maybe his heart wasn’t in it. The movie really starts to drag.
Then it picks up a little. This is mostly thanks to Liev Schreiber and an unrecognizable Vincent D’Onofrio as Hasidic gangsters, and Carol Kane as their mom. This is the quirkiness the film had previously been lacking. (Griffin Dunne has a small role and I think that wild seedy After Hours NYC energy is what they were hoping to replicate.) And the plot plays out with a decent ending that didn’t make me yell “Feh!” at the screen. It’s watchable, and kind of fun, but you can certainly wait till it’s streaming. Aronofsky, please write a fucked-up screenplay and direct it and make it theater-worthy. Thank you.
Aquarium Playlist, 9/2/25
EPISODE #657: BRIDGES
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
A.T.S. — “Bloomfield Bridge”
Frank Sinatra — “The Brooklyn Bridge”
Bruce Springsteen — “Brothers Under the Bridge”
Black Tambourine — “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge”
Mark Olson — “Clifton Bridge”
The Orange Peels — “Bicentennial Bridge”
Rose Melberg — “Golden Gate Bridge”
Outrageous Cherry — “Bridge”
The Splinters — “Splintered Bridges”
Amy Bezunartea — “Bridges”
Yellowbirds — “Pulaski Bridge”
The William Loveday Intention — “Blud Under the Bridge”
Tacocat — “Bridge to Hawaii”
The Ergs! — “Bridge”
Dean Wareham — “The Longest Bridges in the World”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 8/26/25
EPISODE #656: RAIN II
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Renee Maskin — “Rain, Rain”
Emma Swift — “The Resurrection Game”
The Ladybug Transistor — “Here Comes the Rain”
The Black Hollies — “Here Comes the Rain”
Eurythmics — “Here Comes the Rain Again”
Jack Skuller — “Watercolor Rain”
Edward Rogers — “Rain Becomes Her”
Life in a Blender — “The Rain Makes Me Thirsty”
Elvis Costello — “Jimmie Standing in the Rain”
The dB’s — “Rains Around Here”
Nick Lowe — “Shame on the Rain”
Steve Wynn — “Simpler Than the Rain”
Slim Harpo — “Rainin’ in my Heart”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Weapons
4 stars out of 5
Three years ago, I was quite taken with Zach Cregger’s off-kilter horror flick Barbarian. This summer, Zach is back with Weapons, and he’s once again playing with the horror formula. He sets things up with a strong conceit: Julia Garner (who I last saw in Wolf Man) is a third-grade teacher in a sleepy suburban town. One night, every kid in her class — except one — vanishes. Distraught parents want to know, where are they? Why just Julia’s class? And what’s up with this one kid?
I won’t reveal Cregger’s twist but it absolutely keeps things interesting. Meanwhile, we also get Josh Brolin whose single focus becomes retrieving his son, including getting those big town-planner maps. Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story; Hail, Caesar!) is amusing as a police officer who keeps shooting himself in the foot — not literally, but almost. Doctor Strange’s pal Wong is the school principal. Austin Abrams (Brad’s Status) is very funny as a burnout. Justin Long from Barbarian has a cameo. And Amy Madigan is good and creepy in a villainous role.
Scare-wise, this doesn’t reach the heights of Barbarian. But Weapons is continuously compelling, often quite humorous, and has a delightful climax. Bonus points for Cregger co-composing the score, and for whoever hired indie harpist of the moment Mary Lattimore to play on it. Weapons is fully loaded.
Aquarium Playlist, 8/19/25
EPISODE #655: CATS X
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
Theme From Felix the Cat
Ty Segall — “Fuzzy Cat”
Renee Maskin — “Cat’s Out of the Bag”
Royal Arctic Institute — “From Catnap to Coma”
Jimmie Davis — “Tomcat and Pussy Blues”
The Prof.Fuzz 63 — “Ohio as Seen on TV”
Oceana — “Pussycat on a Leash”
Beyoncé — “Kitty Kat”
Secret Monkey Weekend — “Merida”
Avril Lavigne — “Hello Kitty”
Motörhead — “Cat Scratch Fever”
Johnny Winter — “Stray Cat Blues”
Laura Nyro — “Tom Cat Goodby”
E — “Eight Lives Left”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: The Naked Gun
4 stars out of 5
The six episodes of Police Squad! that aired when I was 12-going-on-13 couldn’t have been a better bar mitzvah gift. Sure, I had loved the same filmmakers’ Airplane! when I was 11, but now I was a sophisticated tween (though the word hadn’t been coined yet). So, I understood more of the jokes. It was that perfect blend of smart and stupid that appeals to me still.
Understandably, I was a little concerned when I learned of a Naked Gun reboot (following the three “from the files of Police Squad” movies between 1988 and 1994). The OG Zucker brothers aren’t involved, and the name Seth MacFarlane in the producer slot didn’t do much for my confidence. Stupid comedy is easy to do, but smart is a lot harder.
I was a bit more hopeful about director/co-writer Akiva Schaffer from The Lonely Island. And, I have to say, he does a very nice job here. The jokes are rapid-fire, and when one falls flat it’s fine as another joke is just around the corner. I laughed a lot. I was impressed that they didn’t rely on scatological or sex jokes (ok, there is a little of both). And the sinister plot our hero uncovers was actually much easier to follow than the evil plans in any number of superhero movies.
Liam Neeson does solid work as Frank Drebin Jr., playing it straight. Excellent actor Paul Walter Hauser doesn’t get much to do as the straight-man sidekick. But Danny Huston is terrific as the corporate villain, and Pamela Anderson shows some comic flair as Drebin’s love interest.
The writers seemed to lose steam as the movie reaches its conclusion. And if the sum total isn’t as brilliant as the old-school Police Squad/Naked Gun, the filmmakers do honor and capture that spirit. Surely they could’ve done a lot worse. And stop calling me Shirley.
Aquarium Playlist, 8/5/25
EPISODE #653: ISLANDS
The Surfaris w/ The Honeys — “I Want To Take a Trip to the Islands” [ALTERNATE THEME]
The Millennium — “The Island”
UV-TV — “Pale Blue Island”
The Blue Jays — “Lover’s Island”
The Buggles — “Island”
The Garment District — “The Island of Stability”
Rare Books — “Island”
Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers — “Islands in the Stream”
The Mantles — “Island”
The dB’s — “I’m on an Island”
They Might Be Giants — “Fibber Island”
Blondie — “Island of Lost Souls”
Chloe Slater — “Nothing Shines on This Island”
The Pastels — “Leaving This Island”
Trembling Blue Stars — “This Once Was an Island”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: Eddington
3.5 stars out of 5
Dear Ari Aster: I promise I’ll attend your next movie while remembering that it is written and directed by you, the same guy who made Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid, all of which I liked. Hey, it’s partially your fault for putting your credit at the end, and for making yet another very different and slightly less messed-up movie.
To its credit, this is the first pandemic/Black Lives Matter/Antifa/local politics/Big Tech/anti-pedophile satire that I know of. We meet Joaquin Phoenix, county sheriff who doesn’t like wearing a mask. This puts him at odds with small-town Eddington mayor Pedro Pascal and his lockdown measures, though they didn’t really like each other before that anyway. Joaquin has an uninterested wife, Emma Stone, and a conspiracy-theory-craving mother-in-law. Emma’s interest is only sparked by Austin “Elvis” Butler, walking conspiracy theory. Joaquin decides to run for mayor against Pedro, while local youth take to the empty streets of Eddington, New Mexico, in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Despite the seeming madcap quality of the description above, Aster allows the sleepy nature of his setting to heavily infiltrate his pacing. For a long, slow time, it feels like nothing much of significance happens. And then, a whole lot happens, as Eddington earns Aster’s signature “fucked up” touch. But the tone shift happens too late, in my humble opinion.
Joaquin Phoenix is again a pleasure to watch, as a man struggling to regain control of his life. Pedro Pascal is solid as a politician who is smiling on the outside, but making back-alley deals. Emma Stone doesn’t get very much to do beyond acting annoyed and tired, that is a shame.
There is some very sharp satire here, and many laughs, which all might’ve stood out more if the 2 hour, 28 minute running time was trimmed in the Editing(ton) room.
Aquarium Playlist, 7/29/25
EPISODE #652: STARS II
Haim — “Lucky Stars” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Allo Darlin’ — “Stars”
Spit-take — “Stars Don’t”
Matthew Sweet — “Stars Explode”
The Cranberries — “Stars”
Maggie Bjorklund — “Playground Stars”
Peter Case — “Underneath the Stars”
Chris Isaak — “Western Stars”
Bruce Springsteen — “Western Stars”
Rufus Wainwright — “Release the Stars”
Carole King — “Under the Stars”
Earl Lewis & the Channels — “Stars in the Sky”
The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness — “The Stars Go Round”
Chuck Mangione — “Feels So Good” r.i.p.
Ozzy Osbourne — “See You on the” r.i.p.
Tommy McLain — “Sweet Dreams” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator