Joseph Arthur & Peter Buck, Arthur Buck. Rock and roll needs rebels like Saturn needs rings. It’s how things are supposed to be, even though it often feels like those willing to risk it all in music are a withering breed. Not Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck. Arthur has made an undeniable catalog of stellar albums, while Buck, besides fueling...
Blu-ray Review: Spinning Man
When it comes to direct-to-video movies these days, it’s really a roll of the dice. Even with the presence of major name stars, there’s usually the perception that most of these movies are outcasts for one reason (or many). A different scale of expectations, rightfully or wrongfully, is usually applied to a title falling under the “Never heard of it,...
Blu-ray Review: Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars
A tremendous effort by director Lili Fini Zanuck and Eric Clapton, Life in 12 Bars is that rare rock documentary that goes well beyond the hagiography style frequently adopted by “official” filmed bios. Too often we get basically a Wikipedia entry fleshed out with some performance clips, mixed with endless praise by contemporaries and disciples—many with a tenuous connection to...
Bentley’s Bandstand: June 2018
Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Downey to Lubbock. Album of the year? Could very well be, because for those who love true blue rootsified music, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore have combined for a wild-eyed run at greatness. There is such a vivacious joy to these songs—fast or slow, happy or sad—that it is absolutely impossible to resist...
Now on Blu-ray: Peter Pan – The Signature Collection Anniversary Edition
June 5, 2018 saw the re-issue of Disney’s 1953 animated classic Peter Pan, spiffed up as part of their “Signature Collection” line. In lieu of a full review copy, we’ll go ahead and let the Disney marketing team handle the conveyance of some key information about this new release. From the official press materials: “The Walt Disney Signature Collection edition...
Blu-ray Review: The Lodgers
Gothic horror thriller The Lodgers is new to home video via indie distributor Epic Pictures as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Director Brian O’Malley, previously known for the horror indie Let Us Prey (2014), has crafted a deeply atmospheric ghost story in The Lodgers. Creepy, isolationist twins Rachel (Charlotte Vega) and Edward (Bill Milner) live in an imposing, decrepit mansion located...
Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding Bouquet Sets New Trends for the Floral Industry
When Megan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018 there were almost two billion viewers taking in every detail of her wedding at St. George’s Chapel, making the bouquet she carried the most watched flowers in the world. A dainty contrast to the severe Givenchy elegance of her wedding gown, the seemingly artless bouquet of fresh-from-the-garden flowers will set...
Blu-ray Review: Black Panther
Marvel Studios’ phenomenal hit Black Panther is still in the box office top ten, closing in on a $700 million domestic gross, as it arrives on Blu-ray (also 4K UltraHD). Of course, the titular character—portrayed by Chadwick Boseman—is a featured player in the biggest movie in theaters at the moment, Avengers: Inifinity War. Safe to say, Marvel is king and...
Album Reviews: Love – Forever Changes (50th Anniversary Edition) and More New Music
What a phenomenal year 1967 was for popular music: that one 12-month period witnessed the release of debut albums from the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Leonard Cohen, Procol Harum, the Velvet Underground, the Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, Laura Nyro, Traffic, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Janis Joplin (with Big Brother and the Holding Company). As if...
Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2018
Marcia Ball, Shine Bright. This woman must have a fountain of youth flowing through her backyard, because after a half-century of ripping and running up and down the highways of America and beyond, Marcia Ball sounds more full of fire than ever. Maybe that’s because she’s discovered such a seemingly endless well of righteous songs to write, or possibly she...