Disqus - Latest Comments for Manny Maher

Re: Philip K. Dick: American Original

Manny Maher — Mon, 21 May 2007 22:09:28 -0000

The kid in The Divine Invasion is Emmanuel (no puns there).
Radio Free Albemuth is good, but if you liked Valis and Divine Invasion, you'll love The Transmigration. It includes characters based on Alan Watts and Bishop James Pike, whom apparently was a good friend of Philip K. Dick.

Re: Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007

Manny Maher — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:34:57 -0000

What a tragedy. I didn't know him, but Steve's intelligent voice was one of the reasons I wanted to join the conversation on newcritics.
We'll remember him.

Re: 40 Years Ago Today?

Manny Maher — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:11:28 -0000

Don't forget that one year after Sgt. Pepper's came The White Album. I'm sure the record companies won't let us forget that one either, but today, of all the Beatles records, that is the one with songs that, unprompted, suddenly start playing in my head.

Re: The Panic in Needle Park: No Music

Manny Maher — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:37:54 -0000

I saw this when it first came out, but a friend and I had dropped acid beforehand. Bad idea! What a bummer. The movie made me so nervous I jumped up and ran out of the theater halfway through. Afer 30-some years, maybe I can handle it better now.
Thanks for letting us know!
(btw, it was a double feature with The Poseidon Adventure, which I was able to sit through, just barely)

Re: Two Cents

Manny Maher — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:46:35 -0000

Excellent post, Dennis. What do you think of Potter's "The Singing Detective?" I have always prefered it (probably because of its more explicit darkness), though your post makes me want to revisit the Bob Hoskins Pennies".

Re: The Panic in Needle Park: No Music

Manny Maher — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:56:12 -0000

Guess what? I just went to get my mail and found that the latest Film Forum schedule arrived. On August 29, for one day only, they are showing Panic in Needle Park (in a double bill with Midnight Cowboy)!
If you see someone stand up and run out halfway through, that's me.

Re: Let’s Get Lost: When Bruce Weber met Chet Baker

Manny Maher — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:52:15 -0000

I hear you.
The only thing I didn't like about this movie was that Weber kept cutting in on Baker's songs. It is very much a movie about the artist and his vices, not the art itself.

Re: The Great American Rock and Roll Band

Manny Maher — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:59:45 -0000

To take a slight detour here, isn't it interesting that in jazz, the American bands are/were unquestionably the greatest in the world (Duke Ellington, Count Basie, etc) and so were the individual players (Coltrane, Bird, Miles,etc). No other country even comes close. I think Jason is right that the British own rights to the greatest rock bands, but America's legacy to the world is jazz (and that, not coincidentally, is why my Dead albums are gathering dust in the closet and Cannonbal Adderley is on my stereo right now)

Re: They’ve Got A Great Beat (And You Can Dance To Most of Them)

Manny Maher — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:39:09 -0000

We've been listening to Amy Winehouse too. (Judging from this sampling of new critics, she's number one with a bullet). Also have Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on the CD player. But on the MP3 player, right now, is Dinah Washington, "Dinah Swings", a live recording with Clifford Brown, and it blows everything else away.
Jason, thanks for the tip on the jazz/Dead hybrids. That Sun Ra sounds good too. I am going to search for it.

Re: They’ve Got A Great Beat (And You Can Dance To Most of Them)

Manny Maher — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:21:04 -0000

Apparently, it bothers me more when Manny's comments carry my picture in the right hand corner than vice versa.That woman looks nothing like him.
We usually listen to the same music, because we're in the same small apartment. And we like the same things; we've liked each other since we were six!
Manny has great taste so when we're here, I prefer he chooses. since my decisions sometimes carry annoying, quasi-existential issues. Such as,if I'm listen to Joss Stone again, am I being authentic or just lazy?
If I must decide and simply can't--so much music in here!--I throw on Seven Steps to Heaven. No matter how much I listen to that, it does something great and something new to me.
Manny, on the other hand, can put together a gorgeous, mixed list night after night. If I'm out and arrive home unexpectedly, however, he's laid out on the floor, totally indulging himself in Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. So illicit!
We'll just throw on some Roy Hargrove and pretend my intrusion on his guilty pleasure never happened.

Re: Barbara Stanwyck: The Professional’s Professional

Manny Maher — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:31:30 -0000

Did she ever give a bad performance? Not in the movies, that I know of, but what a shame that she had to end up in television--was it because Hollywood wasn't giving her any good roles anymore? I agree with w.wolfe that when I was young she scared me, because of that stupid Big Valley show. Now I can't get enough of her. Must go find that Martha Ivers, which I haven't seen yet.

Re: The Bully Pulpit: “Sweet Smell of Success” and the Fox News empire

Manny Maher — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:10:43 -0000

Excellent! You won't be sorry, Viscount. There's so much more to this movie that I didn't have space to write about.

Re: Bergman: The Last of the Great Ones

Manny Maher — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 22:30:50 -0000

I was much more sorry to hear about the passing of Antonioni. He was so much more fun than Bergman, IMHO.
What could be sexier than Blow Up? What could be dreamier than The Passenger?
But I agree with Weepingsam --these old guys were great, but there are lots more to take their place.

Re: Max Roach: Make it New

Manny Maher — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:22:08 -0000

Archie Shepp started his show on Thursday with a spoken tribute to Max Roach. He called him a great teacher.

Re: Seduced All Over Again by the Superfly Soundtrack

Manny Maher — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:42:35 -0000

Wow Tom, I had no idea about Springsteen doing that. It doesn't entirely surprise me, knowing how generous he is, and how much all modern music owes to Mayfield.
Lately I have been playing "New World Order," his last album. It's a beauty, showing all of his range. He recorded it while almost completely paralyzed, but you would never know it. The songs show a little mellowing with age, but are still brimming over with soul and his message of hope.

Re: Seduced All Over Again by the Superfly Soundtrack

Manny Maher — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:54:41 -0000

Yeah man, the fold-out cover with his gun sticking out! I used to love that.
I think I still have it somewhere. Will have to dust it off and see if it's not too scratched up to play.

Re: Seduced All Over Again by the Superfly Soundtrack

Manny Maher — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:43:12 -0000

Fascinating, estiv. maybe that's why Little Wing is my favorite Hendrix song.
Dan, enjoy. Just don't make no profit for the man.

Re: Vacation Reading With Marcel Proust

Manny Maher — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:03:28 -0000

Dan, I never once had the slightest desire to read Proust, even though he's been sitting on our shelves for two decades gathering dust (a handsome three-book set that we obtained because some book club or magazine was giving it away as a premium). But those quotes are really nice. You've altered my consciousness. I'm going to do it. When I have a little time...

Re: Dead Rock Stars: Heaven’s Best Pick-Up Band (Or Hell’s)

Manny Maher — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:44:04 -0000

Marc Bolan, T. Rex. Only 30 years old and pure rock star.

And what about Bob Marley? Does he qualify as a "rock star"?

And...to risk bringing back the infamous Grateful Dead debate: Pigpen!

Re: Dead Rock Stars: Heaven’s Best Pick-Up Band (Or Hell’s)

Manny Maher — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:16:48 -0000

Grasshopper wonders how old Mama Cass was when she died.
But I told her rock lists are a guy thing, and not to get involved...

Re: Dead Rock Stars: Heaven’s Best Pick-Up Band (Or Hell’s)

Manny Maher — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:06:29 -0000

Ouch, blue girl, I didn't know you were listening!
I didn't mean to be chauvinistic. I must have prancing around last night like a drunken fool.

Re: Led Zeppelin To Do A Benefit Show

Manny Maher — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:57:21 -0000

Based on the one time I saw Led Zep (Chicago, 1972?), I would have to agree with Viscount. Even though they played for hours, it was a bit of a letdown. At one point, during a long Bonham drum solo, my friend started nudging me and pointing at his watch. I was in kind of a daze (you know) and didn't know what he meant. So he shouted in my ear: "He's been soloing for half an hour!" It was that kind of night.

Re: Malignant Earworms

Manny Maher — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:51:25 -0000

No Dan, no...Not. Tommy. James.
oh,sweet pea, won't you dance with me...won't ya won't ya won't ya dance with me-e-e-e
Now you've done it.

Re: Malignant Earworms

Manny Maher — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:01:59 -0000

Of course you're right, Dan (Encyclopaedia) Leo. But now they're both in my head!
God help us all.

Re: Romance & Cigarettes: Hot ‘n Nasty

Manny Maher — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:54:52 -0000

Thank you, blue girl, for the comment. Yeah, the cast is what makes it. And there's more too: Elaine Stritch appears in just one scene (as Nick Murder's mother) and is terrific. Mary-Louise Parker plays a bratty daughter. Eddie Izzard, the British comedian, is great as a church choirmaster.
And Kit, that sure is Kate Winslet. Having much more fun than in that Titanic snoozer.

Re: That’s Not Writing, or Typing, It’s Driving - And in Circles

Manny Maher — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:32:46 -0000

Do colds spread through the internet? Kathleen had it, and now I've got it.
I can't say "On the Road" ever disappointed me. When I first read it, at age 17 or so, it revved me up so much that I literally walked out to the expressway that cuts through Chicago, put out my thumb, and spent the next few years bumming around North America, reading the entire Kerouac canon. I haven't gone back to it since, but I obviously remember it fondly.
I am wary of reading "On the Road" again, for fear it would drive home the fact of how much I've aged. I suspect it is a book best read in adolescence, when all you can see is yourself. As Kerouac's later work showed (painfully), he was utterly trapped in his head and desperately lonely. Again, a good book for adolescence.
You want a reputedly great book that disappoints? "The Sportswriter" by Richard Ford. Yuk.

Re: Live-Blogging Mad Men: Some Things Don’t Change

Manny Maher — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:16:57 -0000

Hey Tom,
complete change of subject: the first two "Below the fold" links are messed up.

Re: Who is Stuart Dybek?

Manny Maher — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:22:27 -0000

Thanks for the comments, Kathleen and Pete.
Newcritics readers: check out Pete's website for a link to an article on "Great Chicago Novels". The Jungle, Native Son...good choices there, though I have to wonder if anyone still reads Sister Carrie as anything other than a history lesson.

Re: Reign Over Me: Not Quite

Manny Maher — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:47:34 -0000

I'm tempted to ask "are you okay, Dan?"

But on a more serious note, what did you think of Syriana? Or Traffic? I think those were great "serious" movies without contrived endings.

Exceptions that prove the rule, perhaps.

Re: Reign Over Me: Not Quite

Manny Maher — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:38:44 -0000

I see your point, though when I walked out of "Syriana" I felt it was the best movie I had seen in years. Looking back, maybe it did veer into didactic-land.

I had thought of "Good Night and Good Luck" too, but had the same reaction as you--the story was drowned in its serious intentions.

I have now spent ten minutes trying to think of one, so maybe you're right. But speaking of "Here to Eternity", Kathleen and I have it on our Netflix queue--I'll move it up.

Re: Reign Over Me: Not Quite

Manny Maher — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:58:20 -0000

Okay Dan,
I slept on it, and I suddenly remembered Sean Penn.

"Dead Man Walking"? Pretty damn serious, and an excellent movie. "Mystic River"--same thing. I haven't seen "Into the Wild" yet but it sounds good.

Maybe "Reign Over Me" would have been better if they had casted Sean Penn instead of the ridiculous Adam Sandler. Penn seems like someone with balls, and talent, enough to force changes in a silly script.

Re: Surprise Saints of My Generation: The Who

Manny Maher — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:52:36 -0000

Wow,
I am getting chills reading your post, MA.
I will be buying the DVD even though my wife K plugs her ears when I crank up "Live at Leeds"--the one that never, ever makes me feel old.
Is that concert (Leeds) in the documentary?

Re: The Late, Great Mitch Hedberg

Manny Maher — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:51:24 -0000

Somehow, I had never heard of this guy.
Just now, I heard the clips you posted from another room, where Kathleen was listening--I thought it was a young Steve Martin. When he got to the turkey joke ("Someone has to tell the turkeys, 'hey man, be yourselves'") I laughed out loud, so I went to join her. By the time we got through the Letterman clip, I was laughing so hard I was crying.
thanks, Viscount

Re: Your Brain on Music

Manny Maher — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:48:09 -0000

Nice review, Kathleen (not that I am biased or anything). However, I must quibble with that silly list at the end. How could he choose "Roll Over Beethoven" as the Beatles song, when it is essentially a Little Richard cover? I would substitute "Can't Buy Me Love" or possibly "Helter Skelter".
And "Wonderful Tonight"?? That's not rock and roll. How about "Layla"? (the electric version of course).
"Little Red Corvette"? Great song, but I would suggest "Kiss".
And the Sex Pistols? Come on. Kick those no-talents off the list altogether, and add the Rolling Stones: "Bitch".
That would be a much stronger list, though Lord knows why he didn't make it seven songs (a more symbolically potent number). Then you could add "Come as You Are" by Nirvana.

Re: A Loss in the Family

Manny Maher — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:16:30 -0000

Please know that Dennis and his family are in our prayers. What a terrible tragedy.

Re: Little StevenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Rock and Roll Radio

Manny Maher — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:19:06 -0000

This is great Dan, thanks for turning us on!
My daughter is into old vinyl and she has a theory that you can't go wrong with anything released in 1972. And you know, she's just about right. But there's an awful lot of great stuff before then too.

Re: Little StevenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Rock and Roll Radio

Manny Maher — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:29:52 -0000

I'm going to have to get some headphones, cause Kathleen won't let me play this stuff on the stereo. I love the Small Faces. Steve Marriot was a force of nature! Does Little Steven ever play old Humble Pie with that pretty kid Peter Frampton?

Re: Irish Altered States

Manny Maher — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:06:28 -0000

Excellent post for St. Patrick's Day, M.A.!
I think though, the reason for the drinking is that the Irish are a nation of poets, and alcohol is an occupational hazard.

Re: Irish Altered States

Manny Maher — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:08:17 -0000

Hey, that's not my picture. I guess my wife, the fair Kathleen, is keeping an eye on me today.

Re: Shine a Light - Any Light

Manny Maher — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:04:58 -0000

Excellent clips!
Sticky Fingers is my desert-island pick.

Re: Wednesday Night at the Movies: Sweet Smell of Success Open Thread

Manny Maher — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:19:03 -0000

Just dropping by to say this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Having spent 20 years as a journalist facing off against PR people (aka press agents) I find this the most dead-on portrayal of an industry built on desperation and lies. The genius of the movie is to make it so entertaining....I think that's the "noir" part. You know these characters are doomed, yet it's fun to watch them dig their graves.

Re: Wednesday Night at the Movies: Sweet Smell of Success Open Thread

Manny Maher — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:48:07 -0000

communications professionals

Re: Chico Hamilton’s “Twelve Tones of Love”

Manny Maher — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:27:07 -0000

Hey Cam, yeah that Jose James has good pipes. He reminds me a bit of Johnny Hartman.

Re: Is It Live or Is It Virtual?

Manny Maher — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:32:29 -0000

The future will likely be a hybrid of both the live and the virtual with the best elements of each holding sway. - I just hope it's not a hybrid with the worst elements of each holding sway.