Top 5 Albums of 2013

Overall, 2013 wasn't a bad little year for music. In addition to long-overdue efforts from Bowie, Buffet and McCartney, we were treated to a wonderful collection of folk tunes from Edie Brickell and a banjo-pickin' Steve Martin, a wildly original toe-thumper from Arcade Fire and a surprisingly effective comeback rocker from a Mike Peters-fronted Big Country.

Yes, sir, just when I think the likes of Kanye, Drake and Miley will render the year meaningless to my ears, a cadre of old friends burst through the door wielding albums that thankfully remind me music is still something worth getting excited about. Below are five of my favorites.

1. Love Has Come For You - Steve Martin and Edie Brickell: I must admit I was never that intrigued by actor/comedian Steve Martin strumming the banjo, but something about adding the melodically soothing vocals of '80s holdover Edie Brickell intrigued me enough to give their 13-track folk collaboration a whirl. The result is nothing short of a gift from the music gods: a beautifully crafted collection of homespun, tale-oriented tunes - some soul-wrenchingly poignant, others playfully humorous - that get your feet a tappin', your hands a clappin' and provide as much nourishment for the heart as they do the mind. Favorite Tracks: When You Get To Ashville, Friend of Mine.

2. Reflektor - Arcade Fire: This follow-up to 2010's Grammy-winning The Suburbs leaves all the reflection and mellowness of its predecessor at the door and cranks up the volume on 13 highly creative, hip-shaking tracks that prove freshness and ingenuity don't have to diminish after an Album of the Year award. Favorite Tracks: Joan of Arc, It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus).

3. NEW - Paul McCartney: The 71-year-old icon's first collection of original music in six years is a tight, melodically fresh 13-track reminder that no matter your age or extensive past musical output, one can still deliver something relevant and quite surprising. Favorite Tracks: Early Days, Everybody Out There

4. Mechanical Bull - Kings of Leon: The reigning monarchs of southern rock ditch all the baggage and drama from the last album tour and deliver a satisfying 11-track collection of soul and verve that makes you wonder why they didn't name the album after one of its actual songs: Comeback Story. Favorite Tracks: Wait For Me, Comeback Story.

5. Songs From St. Somewhere - Jimmy Buffet: Okay, at this point the 66-year-old Mayor of Margaritaville isn't going to win any awards for songwriting or originality, but if you're a fan of laid-back, sun-kissed, smile-inducing tunes that brush away your troubles and go great with a Mai Tai and a plate of fish tacos on a Saturday night, then you can't go wrong with this solid 16-track collection. Favorite Tracks: Somethin' 'Bout A Boat, Oldest Surfer On The Beach.


Dec. 20: Top 5 Blu-rays of 2013

Still A Major Award: 30 Years of A Christmas Story

It seems we no sooner get the door closed on that last trick-or-treater that we find ourselves smothered in the blanket of the holiday season. Like clockwork, the ubiquitous retail ads begin their full frontal assault on our senses, the strip-malls slather themselves in pine needles and tinsel and that hulking, intrusive display of baking supplies appears in the center of the grocery store like some listless ocean-liner just begging us to try and slip past it.

Then of course comes the onslaught of feature films and television specials. They're supposed to fill our hearts with the magic of the season, the joys of giving and the lasting power of friendship. Basically all the stuff that's good about the holidays. I find, however, that the most relatable and lasting stories aren't the ones where things go right during this special time of year, but rather what goes wrong.

I mean be honest, the holidays today are less about joy and more about headaches: did we buy an even amount of gifts for everyone, how will we fit twelve people at a table that seats only six and should we serve that "broccoli-thing" for Christmas dinner (a cherished annual "discussion" at my house).

Yes, sir, when I want a tale that captures the "true" spirit of the modern season, I need look no further than Bob Clark's spot-on 1983 comedy A Christmas Story.

Based on humorist Jean Shepherd's 1966 book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, A Christmas Story unfurls in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana during the early 1940s and centers around nine-year-old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) and his plight to "casually" convince his parents to buy him a much-revered Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

Of course that's easier said than done as Ralphie's father (Darren McGavin) has more pressing things on his mind, mainly battling the family furnace and showcasing his recently bestowed "major award" in the living-room window; and his mother (Melinda Dillon), while sympathetic to his cause, can't help but offer the dreaded parental response of "you'll shoot your eye out." Not easily dissuaded, Ralphie decides if he can't convince his parents, he'll takes his case to a higher source...the big guy himself, Santa Claus.

Along the the way we're treated to the usual, "more-realistic" rites of the season: picking out and trimming the tree, having one's tongue excised from a frozen flagpole, skirting snowball-hurling bullies, trying on demeaning gifts from far-away, clueless aunts, finding "alternative" dinner plans and the inevitable department-store tussle with cranky elves and a not-too-fond-of-overtime you know who.

It goes without saying A Christmas Story is a rather unconventional holiday film, but that's what makes it so special. Director Clark and Shepherd, who share screenwriting credit, take the traditional family unit we'd grown accustomed to seeing in these type of films over the years and masterfully places them in a series of irreverent-yet-relatable situations that really had never been depicted on screen before, at least not by something billing itself as an "All-American" Christmas movie.

The film would have fallen flat on its face, however, if audiences weren't able to empathize with the family up on the screen. Both McGavin and Dillon infuse their characters with the perfect balance of wit, warmth and quirkiness (just like our own parents) and Billingsley, who much of America had already fallen in love with through the NBC show Real People, provides Ralphie with just enough wide-eyed wonderment and childhood mischievousness to remind us all how glorious being a nine-year-old at Christmas really was.

A Christmas Story opened in theaters on November 18, 1983 and quickly grossed over three times its budget in just four short weeks, but as screen space was limited (this was the age of the five-plex after all) and studios wanted their big year-end films in place at least a week before Christmas, the film quietly disappeared by mid-December with little fanfare. However, this was also the dawn of home video and A Christmas Story, fueled by positive word-of mouth, gained a rabid following over the next few years and by 1988 was receiving Thanksgiving-weekend runs on network television.

Of course the rest is history, as most now know the film has an annual 24-hour run on TBS starting Christmas Eve and is universally considered one of the best holiday films ever made. My family is one the millions that screens it at least once during the season and we all look forward to our favorite scene (mine is the dinner at the Chinese restaurant, my wife enjoys seeing the Bumpus hounds tear apart the Old Man's roasted turkey).

30 years after its initial release, A Christmas Story remains a "major award," a true testament to just how "wonderfully chaotic" the holidays can be. The movie poster says it all: "A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas."


Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Month: The Best of 2013

1983: A Tale of Two Bonds

1983 has always been considered a bit of standout year where movies are concerned. Titles like A Christmas Story, Flashdance, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Return of the Jedi, Risky Business, The Right Stuff and WarGames dazzled audiences during that special 12-month period 30 years ago and have held a timeless place in popular culture ever since.

But with so many memorable films, another cinematic nugget of some distinction often goes overlooked from that year: the fact that not one but two James Bond films, featuring two different leading actors, were released just four months apart by competing studios.

It's obviously not unheard of for two studios to release separate films featuring the same character(Tombstone/Wyatt Earp, Prefontaine/Without Limits) but this was the first and only time another producer looked to insert their own non-satirical entry into an ongoing, established series. It was akin to someone deciding to sidestep George Lucas and release their own Star Wars or Indiana Jones film.

Octopussy arrived first in June and was the “official” Bond entry for 1983, loosely based on the Ian Fleming short story of the same name and produced by Albert Broccoli’s Eon Productions, the company responsible for the 12 previous 007 films. As usual, MGM/UA handled distribution.

Directed by series vet John Glen, it featured resident Bond Roger Moore in his sixth consecutive appearance as the British secret agent and centered around a rogue Soviet general bent on starting World War III by smuggling a nuclear device onto a U.S. airbase in West Germany, via the exotic and mysterious Octopussy (Maud Adams) and her traveling circus.

Never Say Never Again followed in October and was a remake of the 1965 Eon-produced Bond film Thunderball. Producer Kevin McClory owned the screen rights to that film (he and Ian Fleming had developed its original screenplay together) and had been interested in remaking the film independently since 1975. Producer Jack Schwartzman’s Taliafilm (actress Talia Shire was Schwartzman's wife) provided financing, with Warner Brothers handling distribution.

Directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back), the film featured the much-publicized return of original Bond Sean Connery, absent from the series for 12 years, and follows an aging 007 as he attempts to retrieve stolen nuclear warheads from SPECTRE and the maniacal Maximilian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer). The film's title refers to Connery's assertion that he'd "never" play Bond again.

Both films were hits at the box office, with Octopussy taking in about $24 million more than Never Say Never Again's $160 million haul. (Never Say Never, however, made more on its opening weekend, no doubt fueled by curiosity over Connery's return.)

Which film is better? Well, each features all the required Bond prerequisites: playful humor, exotic locales, breathless action and beautiful girls. I have equally fond memories of catching both as Saturday matinees during their initial runs and still consider the pair two of my more favorite entries in the series.

Opinions vary, however. Even though MGM now owns the rights to every Bond film ever made, when the studio released its massive franchise-spanning Bond 50 collection on Blu-ray last year, Never Say Never Again was nowhere to be found.

Five Autumn Films Worth Falling For

Well, another lackluster Hollywood summer has come and gone. I braved the multiplex a total of 13 times from the first of May through Labor Day weekend and with the exception of The Way Way Back and Blue Jasmine, every film I saw was a considerable disappointment. (Yes, that includes the five films I highlighted in my summer-movie preview back in May.)

It's become pretty apparent that when the temperature rises and the kids get out of school the studios really don't care much about original stories or engaging characters anymore, just mind-numbing effects and how many they can pummel us with inside a four-month window.

However, now that the leaves are rustling and classes have resumed, the clouds are slowly starting to clear and a slew of character-centric, award-friendly films can once again be seen on the horizon.

Nearly 90 films will compete for your attention from now through Christmas. Below are five that look the most promising (in order of release):

Captain Phillips: Tom Hanks stars as the real-life cargo-ship captain who risked his life to protect his crew from Somali pirates in 2009. Hanks makes a long-overdue return to the everyman-in-peril character that made him a star(think Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan). Throw in director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) and you've got the makings for a smart, edgy thriller that may just have an impact come Oscar time. (Oct. 11)

The Wolf of Wall Street: Martin Scorsese reteams with Leonardo DiCaprio. Do you really need to know more? (Nov. 15)

Nebraska: Alexander Payne's follow-up to The Descendants centers on a elderly man (Bruce Dern) and his middle-aged son (Will Forte) who set off on a picaresque road trip in order to claim a sweepstakes prize. This is the first film Payne has directed that he didn't write himself. But having grown up in Omaha, you know he's going make this one uniquely his own: chaotic yet poignant. The fact that Dern won Best Actor at Cannes doesn't hurt either. (Nov. 22)

American Hustle: Like Alexander Payne, David O. Russell films are always required viewing ( well, maybe not I Heart Huckabees). On the heels of Silver Linings Playbook, Russell reteams with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence for a tale of '70s political corruption. Sprinkle in Jeremy Renner and fellow Russell vets Christian Bale and Amy Adams and this one's the front-runner for ensemble picture of the year. (Dec. 13)

The Monuments Men: Speaking of ensembles, this true World War II-set adventure features George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and Jean Dujardin as an unlikely group of scholars tasked with retrieving stolen masterpieces from the Nazis. While the book it's based on was a rather dry, overly technical read, this cast could turn a physics textbook into something worth seeing. (Dec. 18)


Five more that look intriguing: Gravity (Oct. 4); 12 Years A Slave (Oct. 18); The Counselor (Oct. 25); Out of the Furnace (Dec. 6) and Saving Mr. Banks (Dec. 13)

Remembering James Gandolfini

Like everyone, I'm still processing the sudden passing of actor James Gandolfini at 51. While most are remembering him for his stellar work on HBO's The Sopranos, I find it's his supporting work in films that seem to resonate most with me today.

Before finding stardom as Mob boss Tony Soprano, Gandolfini spent most of the '90s playing what best could be described as "memorable heavies." Whether he was toying with Patricia Arquette in Tony Scott's True Romance or tussling with John Travolta in Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty, Gandolfini's bad guys always had a quiet, almost soothing menace about them. They were soft-spoken, affable characters that put you at ease with a seductive smile and playful banter just before unleashing the inevitable hurt on their prey.

And while I'll always have a soft spot for those loveable grunts, Gandolfini proved he could tackle roles as diverse as a prison warden to the director of the C.I.A. and make them uniquely his own. He simply had a presence about him, a presence that made good films better and bad ones a little more enjoyable. His work will be missed.

It Takes An Ewok: 30 Years of Return of the Jedi

Walking out of a matinee showing of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, my nine-year-old body felt like it had just taken a series of one-two punches to the gut while sitting in the dark for the last two hours.

I mean how could you not feel like you’d just had the crud kicked out of you: the rebel fleet had been scattered, flung to the far reaches of space like some toddler tossing a box of matches; Luke Skywalker had just had his rear-end handed to him by a relentless Darth Vader, losing a hand in the process, but possibly gaining a father; and Han Solo, that dashing, scruffy-looking, half-witted nerf-herder, was now a concrete slab on a one-way flight to Jabba the Hutt.

And if that weren’t enough, like we really needed salt poured on our open wounds, we would have to wait three flippin’ years to see how this all played out. It seemed like an eternity.

It’s pretty safe to say that my feelings were echoed by most Star Wars fans that glorious summer. It’s also a fair summation that the next and final chapter (so we thought) of George Lucas’ beloved space trilogy would ultimately go down as the most anticipated film of the entire decade.

Sure, we had Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. to keep us occupied the next two summers, but that third SW film never strayed far from our minds. We didn’t have the luxury of the Internet back then, watching the production process unfold before our eyes while the director provided a witty daily blog. No, we basically had to guess and debate how things were going to turn out for the next two and half years before we started receiving even a smidgen of information.

First, Kenner began teasing a mail-away action figure from the new film on cards for its Empire line in late 1982: Admiral Ackbar. He was a new hero, a red, squid-looking guy in a white pantsuit. He was all right. What really excited me, however, was that the mail-away blurb also included the title for the next chapter: Revenge of the Jedi. With that, like some burning-bush epiphany, the sun peeked through the clouds and we knew the wait was almost over.

Then came the much-publicized title change by the end of the year. Some fan had written a letter to George Lucas reminding him that a Jedi never seeks revenge. He actually took notice and a few focus groups later, changed the name to Return of the Jedi. No one really seemed to care, except Kenner who had to trash thousands of Revenge cards for its forthcoming line.

From there, another mail-away figure (Nien Nunb) was teased in early 1983. It wasn’t until March of that year, two months before its release date, that we finally started seeing images from the new film.

I was perusing the magazine aisle at a local Sav-on Drugs (now CVS for you younger readers) one Saturday afternoon and as I picked up the April issue of Starlog, there was a quartet of familiar faces staring back at me: Luke, Leia, Chewie and Han. Wait…Han? He’s not in Carbonite anymore; he’s in the cockpit of a ship with his old pals. I remember feeling relieved but strangely disappointed that that crucial little nugget was already out of the bag. Also included in that issue were shots of the Endor forest battle and Jabba’s Gamorrean Guard.

Somewhere around mid-April, Kenner released the initial wave of Jedi action figures in stores. The first one I grabbed was Luke in his Jedi Knight outfit. He was draped in black from head to toe (kind of like Johnny Cash), had a cool cloth cloak and…wait for it… a green lightsaber. The Jedi had indeed returned as far as I was concerned. Other intriguing figures on the pegs were the Emperor’s Royal Guard, Biker Scout and Lando Calrissian in Skiff Guard Disguise.

At last the magic day was at hand: May 25, 1983. It was a Wednesday, a school day, the last few weeks of sixth grade, but that didn't stop me from talking my ever-supportive mom into taking me and a buddy to the first showing, 9 or 10 AM as I recall. There was hardly anyone in the theater at that time so it felt like a private screening just for us. And while I enjoyed the film as a whole, I remember thinking it just wasn't as good as the first two. Maybe it was my age at the time, but the Ewoks, the second Death Star, they just felt kind of childish and unoriginal.

Disappointing or not, I still spent that summer collecting every Jedi action figure and accessory I could get my hands on. It was a Star Wars film after all.

While Return of the Jedi may have fallen short as a film, it still lived up to its hype as a box-office behemoth, grossing more than $250 million in its initial run and finishing the year as the number-one film of 1983.

30 years later, my feelings for Jedi have softened considerably. It's not so much the film I appreciate more, but the time. That special summer between the twilight of childhood and dawn of adolescence. Never again would I feel as free or sure of myself. If it takes an Ewok to bring those feelings back, so be it.

Five Summer Films You Should Care About

Boy, it was a rather lackluster first four months of the year for movies, wasn't it? I saw a total of seven films in that span and the only one I really enjoyed was Brian Helgeland's 42. Fortunately with the release of Iron Man 3 today, the summer movie season is upon us and it looks to be a good one for the most part. Below are my picks for the five you should put at the top of your list, in order of release:


Star Trek Into Darkness: It's been four years since J.J. Abrams' flashy Enterprise reboot and this time a newly minted Captain Kirk and crew must face off against one of their own as he wages a ruthless war of terror on Earth. While I wasn't a fan of the first film's snoozer of a villain or rewriting of established Trek lore (destroying Vulcan? C'mon, you can't have Star Trek III or IV without Vulcan), this new one does look edgier and undeniably more fun. I mean it's a Star Trek movie. They make 'em and we boldly go. End of story. (May 17)

Man of Steel: Hard to believe it's been over 30 years since we've had a halfway-decent Superman film. This new retelling of Krypton's favorite son is loaded with big stars (Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner) and takes a decidedly darker turn as young Clark Kent struggles to embrace his otherworldly abilities. No surprise with Watchemen's Zack Snyder directing and The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan producing. Throw in General Zod and the spunky Amy Adams as Lois Lane and this one appears to be a reboot with legs. Granted, red-booted legs but legs nonetheless. (June 14)

The Lone Ranger: Here's another iconic character we haven't seen in a worthwhile film in over 30 years (well, more like 50 if you discount 1981's ill-fated The Legend of the Lone Ranger starring one Klinton Spilsbury). This new big-budget retelling features The Social Network's Armie Hammer as the left-for-dead Texas Ranger John Reid as he seeks revenge against the dreaded Canvendish gang. Helping Reid in his plight is of course his faithful companion Tonto (played by Johnny Depp, complete with war paint and a stuffed crow stuck on his head). As to whether this version can revitalize the 80-year-old Masked Man, one just has to look as far as director Gore Verbinski, whose 2011 animated Western Rango not only jump-started the genre but ended up being one of the best films of the year. (July 3)

Pacific Rim: Granted, at first glance this one could be mistaken for another mind-numbing Transformers/Gobots debacle, but dig a little deeper and you find Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) of all people pulling the strings. What does that mean? Well, for starters: great visuals, intricate storylines and engaging characters. I know, you're bored already. (July 12)

The Wolverine: Yes, I know X-Men Origins: Wolverine had its problems but this one does away with all the backstory baloney and places Logan (Hugh Jackman) in a contemporary tale set in Japan soon after the events of 2006's X-Men Last Stand. This time he's battling ninjas and organized crime (kind of an X-Men meets Black Rain) instead of Magneto and company. Helping give things a much-needed boost is the presence of director James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma, Copland). Should be fun as long as Logan doesn't start belting out Valjean's Soliloquy. (July 26)