Archive | 2006

Sarris on Woody Allen

12 August 2006

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In the wake of my umpteenth viewing of Stardust Memories, I read Andrew Sarris’ reviewof Woody Allen’s latest in The New York Observer. (It’s the second one, after Chambrol.) I was struck by this paragraph: The suspicion persists among many critics that when one of Mr. Allen’s films fails, it is because he isn’t really [...]

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The Daily Show is really hitting it

12 August 2006

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I’m a hard-bitten comedy hombre, and bow to no man in my inability to be callously unimpressed by things that everybody else thinks are hysterical. “Derivative,” I’ll say. “Seen it before.” Or perhaps I’ll snip, “They didn’t go far enough.” Or, if I’m really reaching, trying to badmouth something obviously a million times better than [...]

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Oh my GOD! Somebody finally GETS it!

11 August 2006

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Reviews, I’m here to tell you, suck. When they’re good, they’re never quite good enough, and when they’re bad, you’re convinced that they’ve just ended your career. Humor writing is particularly ill-starred in this regard (as it is in every regard save making readers laugh). Nothing is more subjective and personal than somebody’s sense of [...]

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Peter Ivers: ave atque vale

11 August 2006

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Dennis Perrin takes a break from the troubles of the world, here. In reading Dennis’ post, I was moved to find out a little more about someone he mentioned: Peter Ivers, the brilliant but ultimately somewhat troubled songwriter/performer/New Wave impresario. Ivers belonged to the coterie of folks who haunted Harvard in the late 60s, who [...]

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Daily Show on Lieberman

10 August 2006

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Sure, I’m a little late to the party, since it’s been about 48 hours since Joe-mentum was revealed as faux-mentum (blame this next parody I’m working on). Still, I thought you might enjoy The Daily Show’s take on it. (Lieberman, not my manuscript.)

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Mike’s Essential Beatlegs

1 August 2006

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As some of you know, I’m a freak for The Beatles, especially for “Beatlegs,” unreleased or otherwise unofficial recordings. These are studio tapes–composing tapes, alternate mixes, or unreleased songs–concert recordings, or demos. I discovered Beatlegs around 1981, and have gotten a huge amount of enjoyment out of listening to them in the 25 years since. [...]

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Movie-crazy

30 July 2006

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It’s been brutally hot in California–even here in usually cool Santa Monica. Lucky for me, movie theaters provide air-conditioning free-of-charge. (They don’t like it when you sleep there, but we’re negotiating.) Here’s what I thought about… …Who Killed the Electric Car? Interesting story, and a well-made documentary, but nothing will surprise you if you have [...]

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Reality: A dissenting view

28 July 2006

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Several bloggers that I read and admire (okay, Jon Schwarz and Dennis Perrin) have posted recently about the crushingly bleak nature of reality. Jon linked to this Woody Allen interview in the Washington Post where, among other things, Allen reduces life to a concentration camp. Dennis, on the other hand, describes having a massive panic [...]

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As proof that the Beatles didn’t always suck when playing live…

21 July 2006

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…I submit this video, taken from the 1965 NME Pollwinners’ Concert. They perform “Ticket to Ride” quite well, nobody seems too miserable, and the shots of John and Paul harmonizing on the same mike (a rare sight) are nice, too.

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George Washington

17 July 2006

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Thanks to the magic of YouTube, I just discovered this incredibly funny cartoon tribute to our first President, George Washington. Brad Neely, I salute you. BTW, like everything I really enjoy, it’s NSFW.

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