2019 In Review: Music

**** Electric Light Orchestra - From Out Of Nowhere
**** Ex Hex - It's Real
**** Hatchie - Keepsake
**** Jenny Lewis - On The Line
**** Juliana Hatfield - Weird
**** Ladytron - Ladytron
**** New Pornographers - In The Morse Code of Brake Lights

*** Allah-Las - Lahs
*** Cranberries, The - In the End
*** Diane Coffee - Internet Arms
*** Fascinations Grand Chorus - Presentations of Electrical Confectionery
*** Flasher - Constant Image
*** Girl Ray - Girl
*** Keane - Cause And Effect
*** Lolas - A Dozen Or Seven Tapestries
*** Lolas - Bulletproof
*** Muffs, The - No Holiday
*** Nick Lowe - Love Starvation
*** Ocean Blue, The - Kings and Queens-Knaves and Thieves
*** Pernice Brothers - Spread The Feeling
*** Pete Yorn - Caretakers
*** Piroshka - Brickbat
*** Raconteurs, The - Help Us Stranger
*** Shonen Knife - Sweet Candy Power
*** Steve Hackett - At the Edge of Light
*** Tacocat - This Mess Is A Place
*** Temples - Hot Motion
*** Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride
*** Who, The - WHO

** Barrie - Happy to Be Here
** Brian Jonestown Massacre, The - The Brian Jonestown Massacre
** Cate Le Bon - Reward
** Coldplay - Everyday Life
** DIIV - Deceiver
** Dido - Still on My Mind
** Dream Syndicate, The - These Times
** Jess Ribeiro - Love Hate
** Le SuperHomard - Meadow Lane Park
** Marika Hackman - Any Human Friend
** Pure Bathing Culture - Night Pass
** Seeker Lover Keeper - Wild Seeds
** Son Volt - Union
** Strand Of Oaks - Eraserland
** Swervedriver - Future Ruins

Cats (2019) *

The source material is not strong enough for a film and the director doesn't help by cutting it as an action flick. Also, could somebody get Jennifer Hudson a tissue please!

The Aeronauts (2019) **

Terrific aerial action scenes (with seamless CGI) are the draw here as the rest of the flick is laughably misguided and poorly executed.

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) *

Apparently a laugh riot in its time, it's not only not funny it's cruel and vicious.

The Irishman (2019) ****

A trio of superb performances makes the 3.5 hours fly by. Epic masterpiece.

The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) **

Oddball character study ends with a redeeming bang. Terrific support from Mr. Crothers.

Comfort and Joy (1984) *

Pointlessly quirky and bizarre which ends up supremely annoying. It's a shame because Bill Paterson is terrific as always.

The Letter (1940) **

Ms. Davis is in fine form, as is the entire cast, but it seems a superficial take on the source material.

Track 29 (1988) *

Well cast misfire is too manic for the viewer to care much.

Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell: Atlanta Newspaper Sends Legal Plea – Variety

“The film literally makes things up and adds to misunderstandings about how serious news organizations work,” said Riley. “It’s ironic that the film commits the same sins that it accuses the media of committing.”

Riley did not personally know Scruggs and was not at the paper during the time of the bombing. A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to people who knew and worked with Scruggs and who felt that her portrayal in the film “veers from reality.” It quotes Ron Martz, who co-bylined Scruggs’ initial story on Jewell being a suspect, with saying that no one associated with the film reached out to him.

“If they had actually contacted me it might have ruined their idea of what they wanted the story to be,” Martz told the paper. “It’s obvious to me they did not go to any great lengths to find out what the real characters were like.”

The Hollywood biopic strikes again. Look, if you're going to monetize your claims of veracity you MUST be accurate. If you can't do that, CHANGE THE NAMES! It's not that difficult.

Dodsworth (1936) *

Soapy Hollywood melodrama about the leisure class.

Marriage Story (2019) ***

Uneven divorce story has a number of scenes that strain credulity and annoy, and others that are pitch perfect and strongly resonate. An actor's showcase with a fine cast especially Mr. Liotta who nearly steals the picture.

Anthony Hopkins talks to Brad Pitt About Movies, Mortality, and Mistakes

HOPKINS: Well, it’s such a mystery when our first memories are made. I can remember that day on the beach with my father. I’d been crying, because I’d lost a little candy he had given me in the sand. And that frightened little boy—who was destined to grow up and be an idiot at school, clueless, alone, lonely, angry, all those things—I look at him and say, “We did okay.” And the fact is that one day we’ll be gone. Our parents are gone. Most of my friends I’ve known have gone. I was driving around Venice the other day, and I thought, “It’s all a dream. What a struggle it all is. It’s all an illusion, but it’s the glory of life, the sheer glory of looking for it in everything.” And I’ve become aware of that now, more than ever. It’s in there. It’s in my cat, it’s in my dog, it’s in you. How could it be otherwise? I watch my cat jumping to a little pinch on the fireplace. Now, he can’t write a book, he doesn’t know anything about philosophy or mathematics. But how the hell does he do that? That is totally awe-inspiring.

The Pawnbroker (1964) **

Screams "Serious Drama" from the get go and it's pretty bleak stuff to be sure but it's so close to parody it loses resonance.