EPISODE #675: ORIGINAL VERSIONS
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Feelies — “Original Love”
The Clique — “Superman”
Bessie Banks — “Go Now”
Tom Waits — “Jersey Girl”
Bruce Springsteen — “Blinded by the Light”
Love Positions — “Into Your Arms”
James Ray — “Got My Mind Set on You” [pts. 1 & 2]
Dolly Parton — “I Will Always Love You”
Hello — “New York Groove”
The Nerves — “Hanging on the Telephone”
Fleetwood Mac — “Black Magic Woman”
Gloria Jones — “Tainted Love”
Bob Dylan — “All Along the Watchtower”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Aquarium Playlist, 1/6/26
Movie Review: Is This Thing On?
3.5 stars out of 5
Alec Baldwin said it was the best movie of the year, and this was a slow New Year’s Day, so I found myself in a surprisingly crowded theater for Is This Thing On? Well, maybe Baldwin needs to see a few more films, but it was a decent, “grown-up” way to spend a couple of hours.
I guess the ideal audience for this movie is upper-middle-class divorced people with kids, just trying their best to make it through this crazy world. In other words, 90% of Hollywood. Director/co-writer/co-star Bradley Cooper is a divorced dude with a kid, same with co-writer/co-star WIll Arnett, and co-star Laura Dern is a divorced mom with kids. (Oh, Alec Baldwin? Divorced; kid.) So they were inspired by the true-life story of a British guy, separated from his wife, who took a stab at stand-up comedy.
Arnett (financial guy who we never once see at work) and Dern (retired Olympic volleyball player) are headed in different directions after 20 years of marriage and two sons, 10 and 11 years old. There’s still a lot of love around so it’s tough. The upper-middle-class thing is key (which I would’ve liked the script to acknowledge), because we see both partners grappling with the emotional and psychological aspects of separation, but the monetary issues, which can cripple so many, don’t come into play here. Oh, Will has to move out? No problem, he’ll just get a nice apartment in the city.
Arnett, who we learn was “always a funny guy,” stumbles into stand-up. Sharing tales from his own life, he finds it cathartic, and he improves as he goes. We get to once again (as we did in Louie, and Crashing, etc.) explore the world of New York City comedy clubs, and the camaraderie found there. (Hey, there’s Dave Atell, and Chloe Radcliffe.) Maybe Laura Dern can plug back into her passions too, though that kind of gets short shrift here.
The movie feels like we’re hanging out with friends. I can certainly see myself separated from Laura Dern. Arnett is very good; really captures the distracted look of one suffering from trauma. I see him either getting a surprise best actor nomination, or else a couple of articles mentioning he was snubbed. Cooper is a bearded stoned buddy, good for a laugh or honest talk. (The movie is pretty talky.) Amy Sedaris feels right as the Comedy Cellar manager. Sean Hayes is another buddy, and I’m sure they’re having good fun on Smartless, Jason Bateman all mock-hurt, “What, there wasn’t a role for me, pal?” I didn’t recognize Ciaran Hinds or Christine Ebersole as Will’s parents but they turn in nice small parts. There’s one bit of stunt casting that was initially jarring but worked out fine. And in product placement news, BUY A VOLKSWAGEN.
Is this thing on streaming? Not yet, but that’ll be a fine place to watch it.
Pandemic Cinema, Year 6
A chronological list of non-current or non-theatrical movies (feature length and short films) that I watched at home during the continuing COVID-19 crisis in 2025. The great majority of them were new to me.
Gaslight a.k.a. Angel Street (1940)
Lousy Carter (2023)
Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Homesteader Droopy (1954)
Cops Is Always Right (1938)
Juror #2 (2024)
Wolfs (2024)
The Hound and the Rabbit (1937)
Customers Wanted (1939)
Black Gravel (1961)
Blackmail (1929)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
The Life of the Party (1920)
Design for Living (1933)
Rifkin’s Festival (2020)
Act of Violence (1948)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Murder! (1930)
Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (2024)
Young and Innocent (1937)
Hearts of the West (1975)
The Peachy Cobbler (1950)
Ghosks Is the Bunk (1939)
Hello How Am I (1939)
First Reformed (2017)
This Land Is Mine (1943)
Leap Year (1924)
Love (1919)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Sugarland Express (1974)
The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
Scanners (1981)
The Alley Cat (1941)
The Swimmer (1968)
Fightin Pals (1940)
Doing Impossikible Stunts (1940)
Summer of ‘42 (1971)
Bear Raid Warden (1944)
Popeye Meets William Tell (1940)
Cold Turkey (1971)
Casque d’Or (1952)
Marooned (1969)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
My Pop, My Pop (1940)
The Bear and the Hare (1948)
Poopdeck Pappy (1940)
Eraserhead (1977)
Popeye Presents Eugene, the Jeep (1940)
Problem Pappy (1941)
Intruder in the Dust (1949)
Two on a Guillotine (1965)
Happy Gilmore 2 (2025)
The Bride Wore Black (1968)
Annabelle (2014)
$ (1971)
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
Olive’s Sweep$take Ticket (1941)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
F for Fake (1973)
Thank God It’s Friday (1978)
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
The Omega Man (1971)
The Hand (1981)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
The Fury (1978)
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
Blind Spot (1947)
Return to Mount Kennedy (2019)
High and Low (1963)
Pandemic Cinema, year 1
Pandemic Cinema, year 2
Pandemic Cinema, year 3
Pandemic Cinema, year 4
Pandemic Cinema, year 5
New Year’s Resolutions 2026
1. Print up Mayor Zohran Mamdani t-shirts with slogan “Yo other cities: Who’s your Momdaddy?”
2. At self checkout, check myself out, ask if I come here often.
3. Do not rest until the Milano is the official cookie of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
4. Really put in some elbow grease to make a difference in my community; failing that, grease palms of local bigwigs.
5. Buy a house in the country. Which of the 195 countries? I don’t know, man, I got a year to decide.
6.
7. SIX SEVEN!!!
8. Convince ChatGPT to kill itself.
9. Boogie oogie oogie till I just can’t boogie no more; leave a few oogie oogies in the tank.
10. Work as makeup consultant for Erika Kirk during her complete transition into Tammy Faye Bakker.
11. Never forget that the midterms are in 307 days and counting. And counting on everyone I know to vote blue.
• My resolutions for 2025
• My resolutions for 2024
• My resolutions for 2023
• My resolutions for 2022
• My resolutions for 2021
• My resolutions for 2020
• My resolutions for 2019
• My resolutions for 2018
• My resolutions for 2017
• My resolutions for 2016
• My resolutions for 2015
• My resolutions for 2014
• My resolutions for 2013
• My resolutions for 2012
Movie Review: The Housemaid
3 stars out of 5
Paul Feig created Freaks and Geeks, one of the greatest TV series of all time. And yet, in his cinematic career, he doesn’t really seem to be swinging for the fences. If I were to cynically sum up his IMDb credits, I’d guess Feig has found a reliable paycheck helming movies that pander to a primarily female audience.
Admittedly, it was not Paul Feig’s name that first drew my attention to The Housemaid. It was the name Sydney Sweeney. I am a fan of Ms. Sweeney much like I was a fan of the recently-late nonagenarian Brigitte Bardot. And I’m a long-time fan of co-star/housemaid-hirer Amanda Seyfried. And yes, Feig is still on the “good” side of my ledger.
I thought Sweeney was very good in White Lotus and in Reality, both HBO projects. But here, under Feig’s aegis, I realized that she is not a very strong actress. Now, if this was a tight, lighter, 90-minute film, her acting prowess might’ve made less of a difference. But this is roughshod 2 hours and 11 minutes which feels even longer, and the flaws really stand out.
The plot: Wealthy Seyfried hires down-on-her-luck Sweeney to clean her big house, watch her young daughter, and not watch her hottie husband. Well, you know what happens next. And you don’t know what happens after that. There is fun and enjoyment here (Seyfried especially gets to have a good time), which is why it’s a shame that it’s not a better-made film.
Also, it looks like Feig had a budget of about 8 dollars. There are seemingly only two police officers in Nassau County, and they show up on three different occasions. Also, my beloved Rutt’s Hutt is a setting — which earns the movie a whole additional star — but I guess it’s one of the only places they could afford to film, because it shows up in what should’ve been three separate locations: 1) Sweeney gets stopped by THOSE TWO cops for sleeping in the parking lot, and we learn she’s basically living at Rutt’s, sink-shower in the restroom and eating a burger for god’s sake instead of a ripper. Yes, I ordered a cheesesteak there, but I wasn’t in a movie! 2) We have a flashback scene where she loses a job there. 3)Seyfried and daughter plot during a meal there.
The Housemaid is supposed to be a thriller but the most shocking thing is that it’s based on a book. Wow, that must be a crappy novel!
Aquarium Playlist, 12/30/25
EPISODE #674: LIVE HIGHLIGHTS 2025
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Bongos — “In the Congo”
Salem 66 — “Seven Steps Down”
Vehicle Flips — “Could’ve, Should’ve”
English Beat — “Twist and Crawl”
Nicole Atkins — “Captain” [Memphis Ice version]
Men at Work — “Overkill”
Slowdive — “40 Days”
Chuck Prophet feat. ¿Qiensave? — “Sugar Into Water”
Scrawl — “Charles”
Dew Claw — “Who Knows”
Demolition String Band — “Like a Prayer”
The Damned — “Love Song”
Jill Sobule — “Love Is Never Equal”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Movie Review: The Secret Agent
4.5 stars out of 5
I saw this movie, I liked it very much, but I still I don’t know who the secret agent is. However, the star is Wagner Moura who I thought was great in Civil War and is excellent here too. It’s 1977 in Brazil, and his character Marcelo (or perhaps he is Armando) is a former professor who has become an enemy of the state during the real-life military dictatorship and political corruption. He flees to his hometown Recife where he’s sheltered by the kindly elder Dona Sebastiana (a superb Tânia Maria, oozing a good heart) in a small community of political refugees. Just as in One Battle After Another, I like the idea that there’s a secret underground network to help you out when the shit goes down. Marcelo’s young son, who he’s been unwillingly estranged from, is there being raised by his late wife’s parents, adding another emotional layer to the story.
There are some cool Lynchian touches here and also a prominent cinema, leading me to believe that writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho (hey I got the thing under the c on my first try!) is a Filho-maker I need to check out more. He also does a skillful job slowly ratcheting up the tension as the situation becomes more dangerous for Marcelo/Armando. It’s a thinking person’s thriller.
Movie Review: Marty Supreme
4.5 stars out of 5
I knew very little about this movie going in. Was it a true story? (It is not, though was loosely inspired by a real person.) But Timothée Chalamet has earned my trust and watching him play ping-pong — excuse me, table tennis — sounded fun. So there I was in the theater on Christmas Eve, and my gift was a 2.5-hour, nonstop blast.
Chalamet is Marty Mauser, expert NYC shoe salesman and would-be international table tennis champion. It’s his destiny, and he’ll stop at nothing to get there! Oh but there are obstacles, and not just JAPANESE PING-PONG SUPERIORITY. Marty must also negotiate around his married girlfriend, unsupportive family, his attraction to married aging screen siren Gwyneth Paltrow, a lost dog, lack of money, and much, much more. It’s After Hours except with a fully willing protagonist and also, set in the world of 1950s ping-pong.
Chalamet wears the role perfectly, just like the period clothing hangs beautifully on his so-skinny frame. I anticipate a best-actor nomination, or at the very least, best mustache. Marty isn’t a great guy, he’s a charmer who uses people, but somewhere in there has an OK soul and you can’t help but root for him.
Josh Safdie is the director here and I thought this was a lot better than his Uncut Gems (which I did enjoy). Oh there is some jewelry in this too. Someone had a fantastic time casting various roles: Fran Drescher unrecognizable as Marty’s mom, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary a convincing businessman as Gwyneth’s cuckolded hubby, Abel Ferrara, David Mamet, Levon Hawke, Phillippe Petit, Tracy McGrady, George Gervin, Kemba Walker, Tyler the Creator, Penn Jillette, Sandra Bernhard, my pal Chris Nelson from The Scene Is Now, a guy I met many years ago Ed Malone who posted something antisemitic and I unfriended him, Isaac Mizrahi. I spotted some and didn’t spot others.
Several ’80s songs on the soundtrack. Alphaville, etc. I’m not sure why. But they work in here just fine. And there’s a score by Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never, so that’s good too.
You still have a few days off. Go see it! Enjoy yourself.
Movie Review: Sentimental Value
5 out of 5 stars
I was very impressed with the 2021 film The Worst Person in the World, directed and co-written (with Eskil Vogt) by Joachim Trier and starring the charming Renate Reinsve. But I didn’t get to rank it among the year’s best, as Worst Person didn’t receive wider release until 2022. That won’t be a problem with Sentimental Value which was created by the same three people, and was released solidly in 2025 with time to spare. Spoiler: It will be at or near the top of my rankings.
The film explores the late stages in a nuclear family’s existence. Their house — their home — is actually presented as another main character here, as it has observed all the joy and sadness over generations. Mom has died; estranged dad Stellan Skarsgard returns. This complicates matters for the two grown daughters. Historian Agnes is married and has a son. In Worst Person, Reinsve’s character wondered whether to choose the married-with-kids track. Here, as sister Nora, she has not taken that route.
As another layer, Dad is an aging movie director of some acclaim. Nora is a TV and theater actress with a bad case of stage fright. Paging Dr. Freud! There are similarities to Jay Kelly here: Being feted leads to reflection for both late-career creatives, and they realize their younger ambition damaged relations with the children. Perhaps to mend fences, Dad presents Nora with a script he’s written for her and wants to direct. Could be his comeback! But Nora isn’t interested. Hey, fine, Dad will just cast American star Elle Fanning instead.
Another compelling aspect: Often it’s easier to express emotions through art than in real life.
Information is shared later in the story that brings things to a new dramatic level. I was deeply affected by this film, filled with excellent performances. And I hope the Joachim Trier Trio stays together.
Aquarium Playlist, 12/23/25
EPISODE #673: BEST NEW-TO-ME 2025 PT. 2
This Is Lorelei — “I’m All Fucked Up” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Ducks Ltd. — “Under the Rolling Moon”
Zandi Holup — “Go Find Less”
LA LOM — “Danza de LA LOM”
Charlie Nieland — “Shame”
Nape Neck — “The Shallowest End”
The Laughing Chimes — “High Beams”
Bullseye — “Tell Tale Signs”
Sunshine Convention — “Dawned on Me”
$500 — “Harvest”
Bunnygrunt — “Inanimate Objects”
Momma — “I Want You (Fever)”
Maria Mirenzi — “Let It Steep”
Strange Neighbors — “You Got Love”
The Midnight Confessions — “When You Were Mine”
Paper Lady — “Static”
John Calvin Abney — “Door of No Return”
Justus Proffit — “Spitting on the Sidewalk”
Chip Away — “Back Out”
Trace Mountains — “Crawling Back to You”
Ultra Lights — “Nostalgia”
Sharp Pins — “Takes So Long”
The Tubs — “Chain Reaction”
Joe Ely — “You Can Bet I’m Gone” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Jack Silbert, curator