Joker: Folie a Deux Does anyone with brains actually like the first Joker movie? I remember watching it, being compelled by Juaquin Phoenix’s performance but just found the whole thing to be equal parts awkward and inelegant. It’s basically a movie about a guy, down on his luck, who snaps and takes matters into his own hands by resorting to violence. It’s a reflection on the audience on whether Joker’s acts were misguided or admirable. I don’t know if Todd...
Watchmen Chapter 2 Did you think Watchmen Chapter 1 was going to be that good? Shocking, wasn’t it? Everything adapted from Alan Moore is almost doomed to fail, either because the person adapting it doesn’t understand the source (*cough* Snyder! *cough*), or because they simply arbitrarily disagree with Moore’s details of the story (*cough* Wachowskis! *cough*). So, for some bizarre, inexplicable reason, DC decided to flog a dead horse, bring us Watchmen again, but this time, faithfully adapt it....
It’s my first week back at work since the break and my hatred for it has been restoked. And now it’s Friday and there’s not much to do in Boston because it’s been such an infuriatingly cold week. Do I even want to leave the house? To go see Mike Hanford perform his comedy hour at a venue I’d never been to before that’s only 10 minutes away, sure I do. After all, of all the Birthday Boys, him and...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Here Comes Our Wave LP by The Black Pacific. Now six years after the release of Never Gonna Die, it really doesn’t seem like Pennywise plans on putting out a new album anytime soon – which is a terrible shame. Since they started in 1988, Pennywise was often regarded as the hard-grinding skate punk band seated comfortably at the punk rock head table alongside NOFX, Offspring, Green Day and Bad Religion...
X Smoke & Fiction (Fat Possum Records)Smoke & Fiction was one of the most important records of 2024. How? Let me count the ways. For one it was, just plainly on the surface, a record that did many things and did them well. Compared to both rock and punk music it sounded fresh, yet undeniably familiar. It also managed to be both fun and urgent, and musically it was catchy as hell. Blame that on guitarist Billy Zoom’s rockabilly tendencies...
Empowered: Volume 12by Adam Warren Adam Warren is one of the true unsung heroes of comic-dom. I’ll spare you the cliché of the “something about his work truly spoke to me as a teen” bit when I first started reading him, and instead I’ll just say that his comics ain’t for dummies. You want comics with phony dynamic art and predictable storytelling, please look to the thousands of boring comics being published today. I’ve been hooked to Warren’s stories and...
Did you see those other “best of” lists? Cringe-worthy, right? They either missed the mark entirely, or picked obvious boring choices, or just simply have shit taste. Not here, though. We might not have listened to EVERYTHING this year, but we listened to a lot, and as always we have the cream of the crop here for your enjoyment. So, do yourself a favor, uninstall your Spotify, un-favorite your mainstream music website and check out some true highlights of the...
The Hilken Mancini Band I wasn’t expecting to have drinks with Hilken Mancini two days before Thanksgiving, but there we were. I’m not name-dropping, it happens. We were there because she insisted on meeting me in person to give me a copy of her excellent new record by the Hilken Mancini Band. She’s still looking for a better name, by the way, if you happen to have one. And she was giving me a copy because I needed to review...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Bambies’ Snotty Angels LP. Rare is the band that is capable of taking a very well-established sound, tweaking it ever-so-slightly and landing on something that is instantly rewarding and gratifying for those who hear it, but Bambies – a teeny tiny band on an even smaller label – have made an album which lands them among that aforementioned select few. The band’s sophomore album is just bombastic; from front to back, the...
WHO: Tim Heidecker WHAT: Slipping Away WHY: Sure, you don’t start your album by telling your listener to lower their expectations, and Slipping Away does have some half-cooked ideas at the beginning, but it ends with a rich, compelling and beautiful set of songs that make the rocky start worth it. In the end, this album is a fuzzy and remarkably relatable experience, especially to a dad like me. Yeah, it’s easy listening, but it’s good warm easy listening. Listen...