The Brown Note Movie Review

Turning an Agatha Christie story in a broad, comedic, European farce, sounds fatal on paper. But with its acidic, modernist Noel Coward script, a cast from heaven to deliver it (Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Jane Birkin...) all sound-tracked by Cole Porter, as a film, it maybe the finest Christie adaption of all.

Hollywood's relentless imagination and originality never fails to amaze. After last weeks review of The Beekeeper, where an ex hot shot intelligence agent, enjoying anonymity in retirement as a humble beekeeper, is dragged back into action, now The Bricklayer, where an ex hot shot intelligence agent, enjoying anonymity in retirement as a humble bricklayer, is dragged back into action.

A welcome throwback to the days Jason Statham action films weren't The Fast and the Furious related, though director David Ayer misses an opportunity to lean fully into what's great about it and create a classic of the genre.

After Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, my second favorite album of all time, regards drug addiction and obsessive love as the same thing as religion, in a 1997 album actually superior to OK Computer.

Arguably the most important British electronic music artist this side of the Aphex Twin, returns, not with ambient whale noises, but two absolute bangers. Can it be true!? Oh Happy Day!

My intermittent series on albums denied classic status at the time or forgotten from the conversation since. Here the outlier to Krautrock's astonishing Cosmic Joker releases, where some of the finest mainland Europe musicians to ever play 'rock' music, wound up being in a band they didn't even know about, but did release two proper collaborative works. One with LSD guru Timothy Leary (7UP) and this vastly superior double album, by mystic, artist and Tarot card reader, Walter Wegmüller. Featuring flat out geniuses like Klaus Schulze and Manuel Göttsching, exploring space-rock, psych-folk, drone, Psych-funk and post-rock, in a stunning double album.

A few thoughts on one of the more controversial Oscar noms lists.

Boasting career best performances from Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper, and a massive step up for the latter as a director, a very high class entry into the best picture Oscar race with the Leonard Bernstein biopic.

The much delayed sequel has an atrocious daggy single dad start, where they manage to lose both sides of the Amber Heard argument, but given my low expectations, ends up one of the better post Endgame, comic-book super-hero watches. Unlike The Marvels, it actually looks like they spent MORE than $200 million on the spectacular visual design.

The second from the frankly pointless Radiohead side project, that may as well just be Radiohead, is slightly better than their excellent debut, A Light For Attracting Attention. A more cohesive whole a the years first great album. Straight white indie boys can get best new music from Pitchfork. If your name is Thom Yorke.