Film and Music Reviews and Suggestions
Tour: Evening With Colin Hay – 2024 Solo Tour
Venue: Chevalier Theater
Date: March 26th
Set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/colin-hay/2024/chevalier-theatre-medford-ma-23ab78d7.html
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/colin-hay/2024/chevalier-theatre-medford-ma-23ab78d7.html
Opener: Chris Trapper
Review: Coming soon
Tour: The Endurance Tour
Venue: Paradise
Date: March 26th
Opener:
Review:
I found Josiah and the Bonnevilles through an Instagram ad. I’ve actually found a few of my recent favorite musicians through an Instagram ad. The algorithm works! Anyway, I messaged him almost instantly, telling him that he is my new Tallest Man on Earth. They have very similar guitar picking styles and folksy roots.
Josiah Leming, the one man act behind Josiah and the Bonnevilles, actually goes back to early American Idol days. The Tennessee native was on the seventh season of the hit Fox reality show. He has come quite a long way since auditioning in front of Simon, Paula, and Randy in 2008. Leming is the only contestant in the history of the show to not make the ‘Top 24’ but still land a major label record deal. Lucky for us, Leming is now an independent artist. During the show, he pointed out that he has a tattoo on his wrist that reads: No More Deals.”
During the pandemic Josiah was working as a bartender, while uploading consistent music and this is what allowed him to quit his job and focus full time on music.
Seeing Josiah on this night was special, as it was his birthday. There were balloons on stage and in between two of his songs, the audience sang him, “Happy Birthday.” That might have been the first time I’ve ever seen an audience sing a full song back to an artist at their own show.
The show started out with a few older love songs, which Josiah told us were written about a previous relationship. He told great stories in between songs, making the show extremely intimate. He also connected with the audience by making sure to play on both sides of the stage and stepping away from the mic to allow the audience to take over vocal duties.
Josiah pulled out his harmonica and the audience post it. It was what I imagine seeing Dylan must be like. The audience must have known that “Anti-Hero” was about to start. Josiah played that, followed by “Jersey Giant” and “Ghost” before returning to his originals.
Next up was “Another Day at the Factory,” which was introduced by a beautiful story about Josiah working at a warehouse, living the same kind of day to day as his stepfather.
Before the encore of “One Last Song,” “Lithuania,” and “Blood Moon,” Josiah ended the first part of the show with one of my favorite songs: “Basic Channels.” This song is about Josiah’s parents enjoying the few television channels that came with the cable that used to run through the wall or floor.
If you get the chance to see this man, make it happen. He is a great storyteller, guitarist, vocalist, singer-songwriter, and you will feel like you are having a privilege show in your living room.
Find up long tour dates here: https://josiahandthe.com/
Venue: Orpheum Theater
Date: March 23rd
Set list: None at this time
Opener: Veers
Review: Blue October put on a hell of a show. The singer, Justin, is so engaged with his audience. He also gives it his all on stage and the whole band is really there to play music and have a good time. And that is what makes me appreciate some bands and artists versus others. The band has fun together, you can tell they are a family, and they even added a few extra songs to the Boston set list.
Ryan Delahoussaye is an incredible multi instrumentalist, playing keyboards, violin, mandolin, guitar, and providing backing vocals. I spent the concert leaning over to my girlfriend saying, “And now he’s playing (insert instrument here)!
The crowd was super engaged and you could tell how many people have connected with Justin’s songwriting and the deepness to his lyrics about love, loss, and addition and recovery. Just look at how much he interacts with his fans: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/s/ieO1iVVeT8
They played my favorites: “Into the Ocean,” “Don’t Say It Wasn’t Love,” “Moving On (So Long),” and “I Hope You’re Happy.” And, after seeing Turk played live, I have two more favorites: “All That We Are” and “Fear.”
Rating: 4/14 Lay Riottas
TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: Theaters, soon to be on Shudder
Premise: In 1977 a live television broadcast goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, Josh Quong Tart.
Review: A few weeks ago, I had a dream about seeing this movie. I woke up looking at showtimes to see it that weekend. It was not out yet. The next few weeks went by slowly. Maybe due to seeing this movie, but also because of food poisoning and a kidney stone. Well, I finally saw it on Friday and I really enjoyed it. It was one of my most hyped movies of the year. And the best part about seeing horror movies is that you get to watch twenty minutes of horror trailers before the final course ever starts.
It was great to see David Dastmalchian in his first starring role. Datstmalchian has such an impressive resume, acting in films such as Ant Man, Gotham, The Dark Night, Dune, The Suicide Squad, Oppenheimer. He is also in such a crazy horror movie, The Belko Experiment, which was a dream that James Gunn had and turned into a movie.
Late Night with the Devil played out like a feature length film of one of the V/H/S short movies. The movie was super creepy, the costume and set design were great. The cast was all so great. I didn’t grow up in the 70s, but it all felt so realistic.
The movie is very claustrophobic. Little nods in the film let you know that when all hell breaks loose, it’s going to be hard to make the way out of the studio. The film reminded me a lot of Carrie.
I wish the third act went in a slightly different directions but, overall, it was such a cool, original concept that was so well done and disturbing and wild. The movie is a trip from start to finish with a very big final scene.
Trailer:
This review is a special one, as it the first ever guest review. It is brought to you by filmmaker, Mark Phinney. Mark kept asking me to be a part of this website and I thought that I would finally give him a chance.
Just kidding, I read Mark’s review on Facebook and thought that it was very pretty and asked if I could put it on this site.
TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: Netflix
Premise: Half a year into his solo mission on the edge of the solar system, an astronaut concerned with the state of his life back on Earth is helped by an ancient creature he discovers in the bowels of his ship.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano
Reviews: Sandler makes the right decision yet again.
Spaceman is a tender and strange meditation on loss, memory and longing. Forget that Commander Sandler bonds beautifully and believably with Paul Dano’s alien spider. Forget that Carey Mulligan appears in fragments of time and space. This is Major Tom. The Peter Schilling version. Spaceman breaks all surreal walls down. You’re connected to the quiet pain that the “loneliest man on earth” floats along with in his aimless mission through the stars.
Life is a series of dreamscapes and fragments of something that may be there. Love. Happiness. Satisfaction. None of it is real or true. We, like Sandler, are on our own ghostly hunt for what can complete us on this journey.
Sandler delivers the sadness that we all feel. He has mastered this through several films with directors.
I think of Don Draper pitching The Carousel through his own NOSTALGIA.
The echoes of Kubrick’s 2001 floats hauntingly through the expanse of space, loss and ultimately hope. In the end, hope is all we really have.
This film, certainly one of the years best far, makes bold, wondrous discoveries on the state of mind we’re in. Confusion.
Like Major Tom, he just wants to go home. Like we all do.
Mark’s film Fat, starring Mel Rodriguez went to the TIFF and can be watched for free on Tubi and YouTube!
And Mark’s newest film, Fear of Flying, which stars Twisted Metal and Doughboys Mike Mitchell. Learn more about the film here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29281893/
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: ABC, Hulu
Premise: The show focuses on Nell Serrano, an accident-prone American newspaper reporter who left her last job five years ago to move to the United Kingdom with a lover. She returns to the US when the relationship ends and tries to resume her journalism career as a newly single woman. Serrano is assigned to write obituaries by her new employer, and begins to encounter ghosts of the people whose obituaries she is writing, whom only she can see and hear. The ghosts begin to have conversations with Serrano, and offer her advice on how to rebuild her life while also helping her write their obituaries by telling her their stories. The ghosts then disappear after their obituaries are published.
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Hannah Simone, Lauren Ash, Rick Glassman, Joshua Banday, Angela E. Gibbs, Brad Garrett.
What it reminds me of: Six Feet Under, Ghosts, Ghost Town.
Why I like it: Rick Glassman is one of my favorite comedians, podcasters, and people. I have loved watching him in the shows Undatable, As We See It, and now this.
The show is super funny, with guest stars showing up as the ghosts on each episodes. Some of the guest stars include Brittany Sow, Rhea Pearlman, Ed Begley Jr., Mo Collins, Julia Sweeney, Paula Pell, Magaret Cho, and Nico Santos.
The show has a lot of laughs, but also a lot of heart and messsage to it. And the comedic ensemble is so strong with cast members from some favorite shows such as New Girl and Superstore.
Trailer:
This film has earned 4 1/2 Ray Liottas.
TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: Theaters
Premise: Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father’s death. Wielding the Black Trident’s power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom.
Cast: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson. Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Martin Short, Nicole Kidman.
Reviews: I was a big fan of the first Aquaman film. It starts with me being a James Wan fanboy. From the Saw movies to Malignant to really just everything. The first Aquaman film actually made him the first Asian director to reach one billion dollars at the box office.
I am also a fan of Jason Momoa. He is great in this role. And Randall Park is back in this role with way more scenes and way more story. He actually plays a right hand man to the lead antagonist, Black Mantra. And Black Mantra’s costume is super cool. I wonder why more people didn’t go as him for one of the previous Halloweens.
I would say that this movie was like the Thor: Ragnarok of the Aquaman films. It was very, very comedic and was a great buddy-buddy comedy. This sequel focuses on Aquaman an his brother Orm, played by Patrick Wilson, teaming up to take down Black Mantra.
When I first saw the trailer for this sequel, I thought it looked like a blend between Avatar and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There is definitely some scenery and some characters that were reminiscent of these films, but not in a bad way.
The two things that I didn’t like about the film were it’s cheesiness at times and the chemistry, or lack-there-of, with Momoa and on-screen lover Mera, played by Amber Heard. Her acting was pretty awful in this movie.
As mentioned, this movie is super, super funny. The action is great, the cinematography and special effects are beautiful. It really is a fun time.
This was also a really great ending to the DCEU. Besides, in my opinion, the first Wonder Woman, The Flash, The first Shazam film, and the Aquaman films, DC hasn’t been very successful with their universe. Especially in comparison to what Marvel has done.
There is a quick extra scene at the end of the movie. You won’t even feel like it is during or after the credits. Obviously, with this being the end of the DCEU there isn’t anything to set up, but there is a funny additional scene that is a call back to earlier in the film.
I am pretty excited to see what James Gunn does with this next phase of DC films.
Trailer:
My girlfriend works in data and has started a newsletter where she takes a data approach to things she is interested in. Her first few were about concerts and her most recent one is all about Christmas Hallmark movies!
Check out the visualization here; https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/sarah.gilligan/viz/CountdowntoChristmasAHallmarkHolidayAnalysisDataPlusMovies/CountdowntoChristmasADataLoveStory
Check out the whole post here https://datadispatch.substack.com/p/countdown-to-christmas-a-hallmark
I am part of a Facebook group of (mostly retired) comedians who like to nerd out about video games, television shows, and movies.
One of them, Roxanne Celeste, put together this advent style list of horror movies to watch throughout December. Because who says we have to stop watching horror after October 31st?
Here is part of the post from Roxanne:
“Every day has a different cold, wintry horror/suspense/thriller.
There are no sequels or remakes except for one of the older films. I tried to keep a variety of decades and styles. The Christmas horrors get saved for last, and we end on a nice dessert of a couple horror-comedies. There are none of the obvious Scandinavian films on this list, because honestly, including them felt like cheating, all their movies have snow in them. I went a little off-piste in the middle because I wanted to include “Storm of the Century” really, really bad, but it’s a miniseries, so you can either watch that over three days or watch some other honorable mentions instead.
12/1 – The Thing (1982)
12/2 – The Great Silence (1968)
12/3 – Frozen (2010)
12/4 – Ravenous (1999)
12/5 – The Abominable Snowman ( 1957)
12/6 – Wind Chill (2007)
12/7 – Curtains (1983)
12/8 – Devil’s Pass (2013)
12/9 – Misery (1990)
12/10 – The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)
12/11 – Storm of the Century: Ep 1 (1999) OR Dead Snow (2009)
12/12 – Storm of the Century: Ep 2 (1999) OR The Last Winter (2006)
12/13 – Storm of the Century: Ep 3 (1999) OR Jack Frost (1997)
12/14 – The Shining (1980)
12/15 – The Invisible Man (1933)
12/16 – 30 Days of Night (2007)
12/17 – The Lodge (2019)
12/18 – Black Christmas (1974)
12/19 – Better Watch Out (2016)
12/20 – Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
12/21 – The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
12/22 – Silent Night (2021)
12/23 – Gremlins (1984)
12/24 – Krampus (2015)
TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: Amazon, Paramount Plus.
Premise: A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Cameron Diaz.
What it reminds me of: Black Mirror, What Dreams May Come, Inception.
Why I like it: This movie is fun, trippy, beautiful. I absolutely love the score and the soundtrack is fantastic, including “Salisbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel and a few songs by Sigur Ros. The movie will have you guessing until the very end. It is a roller coaster ride and the perfect sci-fi, romance, psychological thriller. The movie also has some great other cast members including Michael Shannon, Johnny Galecki, and Tilda Swinton.
Trailer: