Notes from a Genius

Film 296 "The Poker House" starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Selma Blair, Sophi Bairley, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloe Grace Moretz written and directed by: Lori Petty (Tank Girl and A League of Their Own fame) Judging on the reviews for this film, because sometimes I like to know what I'm getting into, this is a film that was not necessarily seen by many people. In fact, I didn't even see any "true" professional critical reviews. And it's too bad, because this is a gut-wrenching and honest piece of work that truly comes from the heart and mind of an artist that had to live through the story in real life. Lori Petty, whom I remember as the unwanted, tag-along sister of Geena Davis in "A League of Their Own" as well as the comic-book-inspired "Tank Girl." Sure, she wrote this film with help, and a lot of its pieces are autobiographical (although, I'm not so naive as to think that she may have embellished some of it, in order to be ...

Sunday night, I finally got to see a musician that's been kicking around since the '90s, mostly famous for his time as the singer/guitarist in the band Soul Coughing, and then, perhaps for more indie credibility, he's been steadily touring behind his more experimental solo music. Of course, I'm talking about Mike Doughty. .............................................................................. Film 291 "Dare" starring: Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights") and Emmy Rossum "Dare" is the kind of movie that tries to be unconventional, in several ways, but it ends up failing on almost all accounts. Emmy Rossum plays a theatre geek who is also a bit sheltered and prudish. She's looked down on by her peers for her lack of life experiences, so to speak. And she's trying out for a role in a school play that requires her to utilize more experience/background than she's capable of. After an intense encounter wit...

Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't watch any films, so I'll have to catch up soon. Instead, I spent two nights in Worcester, MA seeing Pearl Jam again! I'm excited to report the number of times I've seen them is well into the teens now, and it seems like each other gets better and better with Eddie Vedder and Company. Full disclosure, I never really enjoyed Pearl Jam in their "peak" years back in the early '90s because I was hands down I much bigger fan of Nirvana, and I naively believed that if I liked Nirvana and was devoted to them, I couldn't like Pearl Jam. They were like the antithesis of Nirvana. I missed their 1996 tour/show at the Augusta Civic Center, during their lawsuit/court battle with Ticketmaster, and I'm still kicking myself. I used to get in arguments with peers at school about who was better. Then, my Senior year of high school, I started working at the independent record store, Bull Moose Music, and suddenly became "cool....

It's been just about a week because I've been so incredibly busy. So much has happened since my last post. Several concerts. So, here's the lowdown. Friday night belonged to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. I saw them for the 4th time since 1999. They were playing the Garden, in Boston, again. Some of my favorite songs have always been: Copy of A   1,000,000   Terrible Lie   March of the Pigs   Piggy   All Time Low   Disappointed   Came Back Haunted   Find My Way   The Frail   The Wretched   Into the Void   Satellite   Survivalism   Running   A Warm Place   Somewhat Damaged   Wish   The Hand That Feeds   Head Like a Hole   Encore: Even Deeper   In This Twilight   While I'm Still Here   Black Noise   Hurt   And someth...