Month: June 2020

Movie Review: Irresistible

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The ending of “Irresistible” is a cinematic chef’s kiss, a move that bears resemblance to a somewhat recent Martin Scorsese movie, of all things (a comparison that will surely thrill writer/director Jon Stewart). It’s the kind of thing that only a politics junkie like Stewart would put in a story.

Unfortunately, getting there is a bit of a chore. The movie starts off strongly enough, but the middle part drags, seemingly forgetting that it’s a comedy. If “Irresistible” were as funny as it is clever, it would be an instant classic.

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Dizzy Heights Live 6/6/20: The 1985 Show

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Dizzy Heights has been quiet, but it has not been idle.

In late April, I received my own Zoom account through work, and hatched a plan: I will host a night of music, take requests, and spin tunes. The first night was a free-for-all (I’ll be posting it soon), but the most fun shows so far were time-specific. First I did 1987, then I did 1981-1983 (but cheated like crazy). Then I thought about 1985, and what a dramatic shift it was for modern rock. I had another 90 minutes worth of music to play when I ended it.

The requests are what made this show so good. My friends threw fantastic ideas at me, things that were not at all on my radar.

The set list here is the same, but I used different mixes in some instances (and added Ian McShane to the front of the Grace Jones track, where he belongs). This is far better than what I did live.

Thank you, as always, for listening.

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Dizzy Heights Live 5/16/20: The 1987 Show

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Features The System, Frozen Ghost, Bourgeois Tagg, Rock & Hyde, Julian Cope, The Other Ones, and more.

Hang a sign up on the door, indeed.

This was the third live show I had done, and the first one to be time-specific. The original plan was that I’d start in 1987, and see where it went from there. But after a while, I committed to the idea, which would explain why the end gets a little weird.

I also had to get creative. A few of these songs were released in album form in 1986, but not released as singles in the US until 1987 (ahem, Level 42). I also used a mix of a song that wasn’t released until 1988. Following on the heels of the previous song, it would have been negligent to do otherwise.

Thank you, as always, for listening. Next up: 1979-1982. Think First Wave, but adjacent to First Wave, mostly.

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Movie Review: The King of Staten Island

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You’ve already seen “The King of Staten Island.” Heck, this is the third time that “Staten” director Judd Apatow has made this movie alone. Pete Davidson’s character Scott is a more emotionally troubled version of Seth Rogen’s Ben from “Knocked Up,” and both Scott and Ben share more than a few traits with Amy Schumer’s Amy in “Trainwreck.” This resemblance to Apatow’s earlier work is what drew a hard pass from my wife when I asked if she wanted to watch it with me. “I’m tired of movies about a man-child,” she said.

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