Neon Repairman - Album Review

Released Spring/Summer 2015

Neon Repairman - Freedy Johnston B
Darkness is My Friend

In 1992 Freedy Johnston released Can You Fly, a terrific album that sounds as good today as it did 20 years ago. A year later he released Unlucky, a flawless six-song EP that featured a popular cover of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman." Primed for a breakout commerical hit, This Perfect World (his major-label debut) dropped in 1994 and brought Johnston the attention he so rightly deserved. In 1995 Rolling Stone magazine named him "Songwriter of the Year," and the Kansas native closed out the 90s by releasing two more brilliant albums, Never Home and Blue Days Black Nights. Johnston was surely on his way to becoming one of music's most important artists for years to come.

Fast-Foward to 2014, Neon Repairman, his first new album since 2010's Rain on the City, was successfully crowd funded and set for a late 2014 or early 2015 release. The current musical landscape looks nothing like the 90s, but ultimately this new album is vintage Johnston- albeit, a slow burn. IntialIy, with my hopes and expectations sky high, Neon Repairman didn't blow me away as a whole. But, there were enough hooks to keep me listening. After four or five spins, songs that didn't intially grab me were suddenly becoming my favorites, i.e., "Baby, Baby Come Home," "Summer Clothes," and "A Little Bit of Somethin' Wrong." This album may not break any new ground; however, all the things that make Johnston special are showcased here- great songwriting, interesting characters and a vulnerability that feels truly authentic. His fans won't be disappointed. Fans of the genre (acoustic-based/singer-songwriter/Americana) should check out Neon Repairman and/or one of the albums I mentioned above.

Favorite Tracks: Neon Repairman, TV in My Arms, Summer Clothes, Baby Baby Come Home, A Little Bit of Somethin' Wrong

The Poem She Didn't Write And Other Poems - Book Reiew

The Poem She Didn't Write And Other Poems - Olena Kalytiak Davis B-
Sassy, Sexual & Postconfessional


Published Dec 2014

This is the kind of book I might re-read in five years and think that it's brilliant. But, for now it feels sorta hit-or-miss.
Favorite poems:
Sonnet (seized)
Look at Lesbia Now
Mean, Manly and Meant
Sonnet (stopped)
Summer Fiction
Sonnet (full-court press)
Methow 19:19

For more about Olena Kalytiak Davis and The Poem She Didn't Write and Other Poems, check out this link via The New Yorker from last December http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/08/you-and-me-both

I'll See You in My Dreams - Movie Review

I'll See You In My Dreams (PG-13) 92 mins A-
Comfortably Numb

Starring: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott, Rhea Perlman, June Squibb, Mary Kay Place, Malin Akerman

I'll See You In My Dreams created a lot of buzz at this year's Sundance Film Festival and now I see why. Co-written by Marc Basch and director Brett Haley, this romantic dramady about a gracefully aging widow is quietly one of the best films of 2015 so far.

Carol (Blythe Danner) is a preppy, upper middle class, retired school teacher whose husband died 20 years ago. She has comfortably settled into a drama-free life with an unvaried routine. A routine that mostly consist of golf and hanging with her three besties played by Rhea Perlman, June Squibb, and Mark Kay Place. But, Carol's life is interrupted when her dog becomes ill and has to be euthanized. Consciously or unconsciously she realizes how lonely her life is and befriends her new pool boy, Lloyd (Martin Starr). This relationship is easily the most complex and intriguing to me. However, that friendship is slightly complicated when she is swept off her feet by the most eligible silver fox around, Bill (Sam Elliot).

I'll See You In My Dreams may appear to be tailor-made for the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel set. However, anyone who can appreciate an honest, sensitive, and realistic film about the uncertainty of aging, loving and dying will love this film. Not to mention, this film might be the most memorable of Blythe Danner's career which spans 40+ years.

Lovely and amazing.

Everyman - Book Review

Published May 2006

Everyman - Philip Roth B+
The Life and Death of Everyman

Everyman is my favorite Philip Roth novel to date. It made me squirm in my seat, it entertained me, and it made me reflect on my own mortality. Dark but effective.

The link below is a 2006 NPR interview with Philip Roth. Enjoy! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5390578

5 Flights Up - Movie Review

5 Flights Up (PG-13) 91 minutes C+
Love and Real Estate
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton, Cynthia Nixon

Alex (Freeman) and Ruth (Keaton) Carver are an aging couple who have survived racism, 40 years of marriage, and the mean streets of New York. But, can they survive the New York real estate market? What was once their run-down apartment in a crime ridden Brooklyn neighborhood, is now a highly sought after gem in a trendy gentrified neighborhood. Adapted from Jill Ciment's 2009 novel, Heroic Measures. I found 5 Flights Up interesting and timely considering today's real estate frenzy. However, for general audiences this film is nothing more than mild entertainment and gentle fun.

Recommended for Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman fans.

The New York Times book review of Heroic Measures http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/books/review/Macy-t.html?_r=0

 

Welcome to Me - Movie Review

Welcome to Me (R) 105 mins B-
Breakdown, go ahead and give it to me

Starring Kristen Wiig, Wes Bentley, Linda Cardellini, Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Thomas Mann, James Marsden, Tim Robbins and Alan Tudyk

Alice Klieg (Wiig) has borderline personality disorder.  She hasn't turned off her television in 11 years. Welcome to Me is an awkward dark comedy about the power of mental illness and millions of dollars. Alice, an infomercial and Oprah addict, wins the lottery and goes off her meds. What follows is a funny, but sad train wreck that you can't stop watching.

Directed by Shira Piven (Jeremy Piven's older sister), Welcome to Me is not as dark as last year's Skelton Twins which starred Wiig in a dramatic role. But, it is a little unsettling because I felt like I was laughing at a mentally ill person. That's not to say the film is cruel...it isn't. But, there are moments when sh*t gets real and you realize that you're laughing at someone's pain and tragedy. I liked this film despite it feeling thin and hollow at times. Wiig fans probably won't be disappointed. Everyone else should proceed with caution.

Eating Animals - Book Review

Published Sept 2010

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer B
The Truth About Meat

Being a vegetarian, I thought it was important to read Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. Foer, author of the novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, was motivated to write this (his first non-fiction) book because of the impending birth of his son. Within the first few pages Foer writes, "Feeding my child is not like feeding myself: it matters more." He also goes on to claim that Eating Animals "is not a straightforward case for vegetarianism." However, if you ever considered vegetarianism this book will provide plenty of ammunition for going veg.

In the book Foer consciously tries not to be preachy or heavy-handed. He includes a variety of opinions and viewpoints. He applauds small family farms who strive to treat their animals humanely in life and in death. But, Foer also reveals a lot about factory farming and it's hard to get past that cringeworthy systematic abuse and torture of animals. Not to mention the destructive effect factory farming is having on the environment. Eating Animals is not a straightforward case for vegetarianism. Foer knows that most people will never give up meat (he's had his own struggles). Not eating animals is a personal choice. Whether you are considering a vegetarian lifestyle or not, this book should make you think twice about the face on your plate.

The First Bad Man - Book Review

 

Published Jan 2015

The First Bad Man - Miranda July A-
Her First Great Novel
 
What can I say about Miranda July? She is truly one of a kind- a visionary artist. The First Bad Man, her first novel, is deliciously odd, surprisingly sexual, devastatingly smart and laugh-out-loud funny. Highly recommended for those who like their fiction a little weird and a little deviant.

Additionally, check out the link below - a review by Lauren Groff of the New York Times.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/books/review/the-first-bad-man-by-miranda-july.html?_r=0

While We're Young - Movie Review

While We're Young  (R) 97 mins B-
Generation Gap

Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, Brady Corbet, Adam Horowitz, Maria Dizzia and Charles Grodin

Noah Baumbach's latest film, While We're Young, hits close to home. Similar to the Ben Stiller character, I am a childless fortysomething who feels terminally young and increasingly irrelevant. But, unfortunately for this film, it follows a string of films directed by Baumbach that I personally love- Frances Ha, Greenberg, Margot at the Wedding, and The Squid and the Whale. While We're Young is entertaining, occasionally funny, and worth a trip to the theatre. However, it feels like it's missing that proverbial "something" and lacks the emotional connection I had with Baumbach's prior efforts.   

Carrie & Lowell - Album Review

Released March 2015

Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens A
We're All Gonna Die
 
I was driving around and listening to Carrie & Lowell, the latest album from Sufjan Stevens. I felt like I was in a cool indie film and the music was my soundtrack-introspective, beautiful and bittersweet. However, the autobiographical narrative of the album is not so whimsical. Titled after his mother and stepfather, Stevens' mother apparently battled mental illness and died of cancer in 2012.

Carrie & Lowell made me think of my mother and her mortality- it affected me, it made me feel less alone - and that's what great art does.

Favorite tracks: Death with Dignity, Should Have Known Better, All of Me Wants All of You, Fourth of July, The Only Thing, and Carrie & Lowell