Maggie May

These are the reviews
and other assignments
I'm working on this month.

Amazon CDs:
Test Your Reflex - The Burning Hour.

Amazon DVDs: Big - The Director's Cut [special features] (Penny Marshall directs Tom Hanks), The Chocolate War (Keith Gordon's directorial debut), 638 Ways to Kill Castro, Driving Lessons
(Brit eccentricity with Rupert "Ron Weasley" Grint), Maxed Out
(debt doc), Vengeance Is Mine (Shohei Imamura crime drama!),
On the Riviera (Walter Lang directs Danny Kaye), A Wedding
(Robert Altman alert!), Making Love (with Harry "Hot Lips" Ham-
lin), and Kitchen Confidential - The Complete Series [two-disc
set] (It's official: I'm a Darren Star expert; I've also reviewed
Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and Grosse Pointe).

Amazon Theatricals: Once (Before Sunrise as an Irish music-
al), Avenue Montaigne (Altmanesque ensemble effort), Golden
Door (Charlotte Gainsbourg alert!), The Ex (office comedy with
Zach Braff & Jason Bateman), Waitress (Adrienne Shelley directs
Keri Russell), Rocket Science (narrative debut from the direc-
tor of Spellbound), and Paris, Je T'aime (shorts anthology).

The Stranger: I contributed to this year's SIFF Notes. Tit-
les include Eternal Summer, Grave Decisions, Life on the Ed-
ge, My Friend & His Wife, Running on Empty, Frozen City, Off-
screen, Paprika, The Bet Collector, Gypsy Caravan, and Amer-
ican Shopper. Posts for Slog include a gush about Romain Dur-
is, a preview of a punk duo, Nina Simone as soundtrack signi-
fier, a look at walkouts, and a celebration of faces.



Endnote: Image from the AMG (Leon Lecash credited). "Maggie
May," one of my least favorites from Rod the Mod, appears on the
otherwise excellent Every Picture Tells a Story. Incidentally, I
don't think the tune's a loser. It's just that, with rare exceptions,
I hate story songs. (I prefer the rollicking title track and boozy
sing-a-long "Reason to Believe.") Exceptions: Lou's "Take a Walk
on the Wild Side" and the Kinks' "Lola," after which I named my
tiny cat. Seriously, she may be small in stature, but Lola has all
the attitude of Ray Davies' hero/heroine (coincidentally, I'm
currently listening to the Gun Club's "She's Like Heroin to
Me," but that is, I suppose, a story for another day...).