Title: For the Good Times
Genre: Album
Grade: A-
Notable People: The Little Willies- with Norah Jones and Richard Julian
Review: wild…Hank Williams meet Ravi Shankar- with Ravi’s little girl, Norah, fronting this pretty unusual collection of musicians making VERY classic country music. Would never have guessed these sounds would come from these people- but it’s pretty damn good.
Title: A Different Method
Genre: Film
Grade: B/B+
Notable People: Michael Fassbinder, Vito Mortensen, Kiera Knightly
Review: wow- a tale filled with analysis, fixation, hysteria, and dueling founders of psycho-babble…what’s not to like. The story of Freud and Jung’s early relationship at turn of 20th century Vienna. Knightly is their famous mega-hysterical, early abused and hyper sexual patient to become the first recipient of Jung’s psychoanalysis. Fassbinder and Mortensen do an admirable job on the competing giants and Knightly is wonderfully exotic and erotic as the object of their fixations. You’d have to see this movie five times to keep up with the dialog and analysis. Mandatory viewing for those of us who have dabbled in the science of the mind.
Title: Old Ideas
Genre: Album
Grade: A
Notable People: Leonard Cohen
Review: Haunting, beautiful, profound…the man is a true mystic. First new material album in over a decade. Classic Leonard- run out and get it.
Title: The Bellini Card
Genre: Novel
Grade: B+
Notable People: Jason Goodwin
Review: OK- so this is a real under the radar series about an Ottoman empire Istanbul detective in the mid 18th century who travels to Venice to acquire a famous and mysterious Bellini painting for the new child Sultan. The detective (Yashir) also happens to be a Eunuch. Loaded with intrigue, history, romance and characters that are a cross between film noir and Dickens. What’s not to like??? This is the third in a series and I ran out to the library to get the first two. Written by an academic form Cambridge… this is way out there. A Eunuch detective????
Title: Barton Hollow
Genre: Album
Grade: B+
Notable People: The Civil Wars
Review: Hauntingly beautiful harmonies from this duo with ace session folk on the side. Very sweet and gentle; lots of melancholia. The songs sound a little bit too much alike for a whole album but worth a listen. The opener is called “20 years” and eerily evokes the late great Gene Clark; if you’re a fan, then at least find this one cut and give a listen. Not may sound like him.
Title: Tag Man
Genre: Novel
Grade: A/A-
Notable People: Archer Mayor
Review: this is the latest in Archer’s long running Joe Gunther series centered on a Vermont detective. Overall, I think this is his best yet (though many of you know I may be biased about these books). The villain if the first in the series that is also part hero- and this book focuses on him a lot; a real departure for this series. Very complex character development, great story, great serialization of the major characters- and a lot of love writing for Vermont. This a twisting story with a lot of red herrings. The lone down side for me was that the ending seemed a bit pat and formulaic which is not typical of his books. If you’ve read them before- you want to read this one. If not- take a shot.
Title: The Descendents
Genre: Film
Grade: A-
Notable People: George Clooney, Robert Forster, Beau Bridges, Alexander Payne- Director
Review: This film made me cry a lot- but not in a clichéd way. Clooney is really magnificent is this role- against type. The two young daughters are great and the supporting cast is sterling. The cinematography of Hawaii is worth the price of admission and the soundtrack is a good one. Payne is a talented director (Sideways) who tackles a serious story without going for cheap thrills. I liked this move a lot.
Title: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Genre: Film
Grade: B+
Notable People: Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright, Rooney Mara
Review: I really resisted seeing this- because I like indie films and I don’t like Hollywood blockbusters. Frankly, the Swedish original was not going to be topped. But, I got bored one Friday night and it was at the local theater five minutes away and I was out at the right time….so what the hell. Well, a pleasant surprise; a pretty good adaptation and Rooney Mara is a match for the original Lisbeth who I thought jumped off the pages of the book. Daniel Craig is better than I would have guessed- but still does not measure up to the original Bloomqvist. Christopher Plummer continues to be a revelation. Nice soundtrack and well filmed in remote Sweden. The movie is fun- but if you want to have the real experience- do yourself a favor and see the original.
Title: Hunger Games Trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay)
Genre: Novel
Grade: B+
Notable People: Suzanne Collins
Review: These novels are under the category of “young adult fiction”. I say young adult, schmung adult…these are captivating books regardless of your age. Well written, good characters, amazing story. Very dramatic telling of a strange future for our world. A very good wintertime read. Katniss Everdeen is a wonderful character.
Title: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Genre: Film
Grade: B+
Notable People: Gary Oldman
Review: this is classic cold war espionage stuff. Very tricky story and definitely for those who like movies that are challenging to track and figure out what is going to happen. Dark, well filmed, good authenticity for the era. A definite portrait of a time it might be hard to remember. Gary Oldman is perfect in the role of a semi retired spy called back into action to find a Russian mole in the British Secret Service (called the “Circus”). If you like British film- you’ll like this.
This is Stu’s most recent obsession; something to do from hotel rooms on the road and share a bit of life’s artistic experience. If you prefer to not get it- let me know and I will remove you from the mailing list. If you like getting it- enjoy!!!
