Are the Critics Hustling Us on American Hustle?

American Hustle gets a 94 percent positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website, but I can't agree that it's really that great.

Christian Bale as a chubby hustler and his girl played by Amy Adams build exceptional character studies. Bradley Cooper as an FBI agent, Jennifer Lawrence as Bale's dumb-ish wife, and Jeremy Renner as the mayor of Camden, New Jersey turn in performances that are almost as good.

The problem is that the plot meanders along and the hustle the group plans isn't all that interesting. Perhaps that's because it's loosely based on the Abscam FBI investigation of the late 70s in which several prominent politicians actually did go to jail.

A little more fiction or creativity might have made this movie better. It seems to aspire to a Pulp Fiction kind of noir, but it lacks the twists and humor to pull it off.

All that said, this is an enjoyable film. Just keep your expectations in check heading into the theater.

**** out of ***** stars

My Top 90 Albums of 2013

Christopher Owens

It was a robust year for music (as always). There is barely enough time to listen to all these albums, let alone many of the all-time great discs. 

There is lots to choose from here. But if you are a fan of hook-laden pop/rock music, don't hesitate to start with dropping everything you're doing right now and go buy the top 10 on this list. Then you can make your way to discovering 11 through 90.

Yuck, when they still had Daniel Blumberg

Much like my list of 2011's Top 70 Albums, Girls beats out Yuck for the top spot. This time, it's Girls' lead singer Christopher Owens' underrated solo album at #1 (made even more personally amazing after being blown away by his intimate show at the 9:30 Club). But Yuck gets some laughs too, because their album is at #2, which is incredible considering former leader Daniel Blumberg's breakway solo debut by his new band Hebronix clocks in at #3.

To listen to lots of highlights from this list, check out my free Spotify Best of 2013 list.

90. My Bloody Valentine – mbv

89. Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Take Me to the Land of Hell

88. Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – English Electric

87. Steve Martin and Edie Brickell – Love Has Come For You

86. Adam Ant – Wonderful

85. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2

84. Kanye West - Yeezus

83. Deerhunter - Monomania

82. Fonda – Sell Your Memories

81. 18^th Dye – Amorine Queen

80. Tennis – Small Sound

79. MGMT - MGMT

78. Lee Ranaldo and the Dust – Last Night on Earth

77. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

76. Johnny Marr – The Messenger

75. British Sea Power – Machineries of Joy

74. Empire Of the Sun – Ice On the Dune

73. Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors
72. The Olms – The Olms

71. The Little Ones – The Dawn Sang Along

70. Dean Wareham – Emancipated Hearts

69. Jack Johnson – From Here to Now to You

68. Elf Power – Sunlight on the Moon

67. The Boy Least Likely To – The Great Perhaps

66. Treetop Flyers – The Mountain Moves

65. Mandolin Orange – This Side of Jordan

64. The Paranoid Style – The Purposes of Music In General

63. Pop Levi – Never Never Love

62. Big Dipper – Crashes on the Platinum Planet

61. Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell & Angels

60. Dent May – Warm Blanket

59. Ducktails – The Flower Lane

58. Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love

57. Thao – Know Better Learn Faster

56. Robyn Hitchcock – Love From London

55. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

54. Islands – Ski Mask

53. Jim James – Regions of Light and Sound

52. Father John Misty – Fear Fun

51. Taken By Trees – Other Worlds

50. Grouplove – Spreading Rumours

49. Lorde – Pure Heroine

48. Darlings – Perfect Trip/Warma

47. The Strokes – Comedown Machine

46. Minor Alps – Get There

45. Kings of Leon – Mechanical Bull

44. Belle & Sebastian – The Third Eye Centre

43. Snoop Lion - Reincarnated

42. Free Energy – Love Sign

41. Kurt Vile – Wakin On a Pretty Daze

40. David Bowie – The Next Day Extra

39. Yo La Tengo – Fade

38. Eternal Summers – Correct Behavior

37. Tegan & Sara – Closer

36. Haim – Days Are Gone

35. The Coup – Pick a Bigger Weapon

34. Sebadoh – Defend Yourself

33. Weinland – Los Processaur

32. Mikal Cronin – MCII

31. Eleanor Friedberger – Personal Record

30. Surfer Blood – Pythons

29. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Split/Fly By Wire

28. Robert Pollard – Honey Locust Honky Tonk

27. Camera Obscura – Desire Lines

26. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

25. Iron & Wine – Ghost On Ghost

24. Jacobites – Old Scarlett

23. The Polyphonic Spree – Yes, It’s True.

22. Arcade Fire - Reflektor

21. Superchunk – I Hate Music

20. Of Montreal – Lousy With Sylvianbriar

19. Mazes – Ores & Minerals

18. Palmyra Delran – You Are What You Absorb

17. Jamaica – No Problem

16. Dead Stars – High Gain

15. Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion – Wassaic Way

14. Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium

13. The Blank Tapes – Vacation

12. Phoenix – Bankrupt!

11. The Postelles - … And It Shook Me

10. San Cisco – The Awkward EP

09. The Babies – Our House on the Hill

08. The Virgins – Strike Gently

07. The Replacements – Songs For Slim

06. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

05. Paul McCartney - NEW

04. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold

03. Hebronix – Unreal

02. Yuck – Glow and Behold
01. Christopher Owens - Lysandre

It's Always Warm in Philadelphia ... in December?

You may have noticed a distinct lack of world travel blogs lately here at Pop Culture Lunch Box. 

It's true, I haven't been going to excellent places of old like South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, and Brazil, but you know, I've never spent much time in Philadelphia, a mere 140 miles from Washington D.C. And it's a fun place. Especially on a 70-degree December weekend!

Well, that's if you don't talk about the ridiculous traffic. It took us more than four hours to get there Friday afternoon, much of that at a standstill in the few blocks approaching our hotel.

Rachel, Jackson, me, Zoey on the front steps of the Union League

Me in front of the Union League

And what a hotel. The Union League of Philadelphia, voted "the best city club in the country."It was founded in 1862 "to support the policies of Abe Lincoln." He was a member, as was William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses Grant. Today, it is members only and "remains a bastion of the elite." It is the "oldest and most prominent of the remaining loyalty leagues."

It takes a strong man to down a drink in Lincoln's library (during the wedding reception)

Zoey loved the stroll just north of our hotel past the beautiful City Hall, not too far from the "Rocky" steps

The lovely couple Tom and Tara, who know how to throw a wedding party. I never even got tired of dancing!

Saturday we mostly stuck around the downtown district, although the wedding itself was in a Catholic church in the old downtown section near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We made it back over to see those landmarks on Sunday. And Jackson insisted that this part of the trip was pretty boring compared to jumping on the hotel bed and getting candy from a street merchant.

A pretty great photo outside Independence Hall

Capital Bikeshare (on my shirt) hits Philly!

Give the kid some credit. He appreciates himself some Honest Abe.

Pat's. That says it all.

And what would a trip to this legendary town be without stopping in South Philly for Pat's cheesesteak? It's been several years since I had one, but cheesesteak with Cheese Whiz and "wid out" (meaning "no onions") is delicious. It's kind of like Imo's Pizza in St. Louis. You can't possibly imagine why it's so good and why it is so difficult to replicate.

My Radio Interview Describing the Transportation Communications Work I Do

Here is my recent interview on Transportation Radio. I discuss my work at Mobility Lab in publicizing Arlington County, Virginia’s cutting-edge transportation programs.

I discuss the possibilities for transportation agencies nationwide to do more with less funding (which seems to now be a permanent state of affairs) if they would take a look at Arlington’s blueprint for success and adopt some of the same transportation practices.

Arlington’s “transportation demand management” programs have something for every jurisdiction – no matter whether that area is urban or rural and has a top-notch subway system or simply teleworking and ridesharing programs. Virginia’s 15 TDM agencies is a great statewide example of how this practice can be implemented. Mackie says being “inside the Beltway” is a “double-edged sword” because the assumption is that bureaucrats in Washington D.C. don’t have a clue what goes on in the rest of the country, but the partnership opportunities D.C. presents are immense for hopefully strengthening TDM’s policy and funding cachet. Other issues discussed in my interview with Mackie include:

• Commuter transportation pre-tax benefits (which will likely be slashed within the next month and will essentially give much greater and unfair incentives for driving than taking public transportation), and
• The fact that removing traffic jams with very little funding can be significantly accomplished with TDM “demand-based” practices, instead of the typically “supply-based” method of simply building new, expensive, and unnecessary roads.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen

12 Years a Slave May Just Be the Most Important Movie Ever

My grandfather, Wade Mackie, was a great civil-rights leader in the Martin Luther King Jr.-era south of Louisiana. So when Roots came out when I was a little kid, I think I sort of inherently “got it.”

The TV miniseries certainly still hit me over the head like a sledgehammer. I’ll always remember Kunta Kinte’s plight and will always feel bad for all slaves and puzzle over how some people can be so downright bad, or at the very least clownishly imbecilic, with a big dose of sadistic. It’s still happening all over the world today. Unfortunately, slavery in some way will probably always be happening.

So then Django Unchained was released. With Argo, that was my favorite movie of 2012 (in fact, I named it my 67^th favorite movie of all time). This attacked Roots-era, pre-Civil War-era slavery with an eye for how violent it was and how ruthless. It added a huge dose of Tarantino humor and his style of the unorthodox. Despite that overlay, it was powerful. That’s why it was so good.

But then along comes 12 Years a Slave. This blows Roots and Django out of the water. There were loud sobs throughout the theater. I personally don’t think I’ve cried that hard since E.T. (seriously, I’m not making light, I always cry during E.T.).

So it’s a sad story, to say the least. It’s on-fiction based on a book written by Solomon Northup, a wonderful family man and talented and free musician from Saratoga Springs, New York who was recruited to tour the East coast in 1841 before getting kidnapped in Washington D.C. He was one of the few kidnapped slaves to ever escape captivity, which he does after 12 years at a string of hellish plantations throughout Louisiana.

It will be a crime if Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Solomon, doesn’t win the Oscar for best actor. This is a very important movie, and I’m really happy, in my grandfather’s honor, that, at least judging by Hollywood, we’re getting closer and closer to coming to terms with our country’s ugly past and moving forward into a much more tolerant understanding and appreciation of all our differences and similarities.

***** out of ***** stars

Appropriate Brings Race Into the Discussion at Woolly

Appropriate just wrapped at Woolly Mammoth in Washington D.C. and it is exhibit B of a triumphant return – after a series of questionable productions over the past year or so – as the city’s best theater company.

Following the also-excellent Detroit (exhibit A), Appropriate delves into comedic drama, with black playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins examining white siblings gathering with their families in Arkansas to determine what to do with their deceased father’s hoarded belongings in his decrepit mansion.

Wild child Frank (played with Stanley Kuwalski-like furor by Tim Getman), Bo (a Jack Nicholson-like, cell-phone addicted, big-bucks New Yorker), and nasty racist-like-her father Toni (the always-excellent Deborah Hazlett) discover possessions in their father’s house that lead them to confront whether their family has a history that includes KKK involvement.

The fact that Jacobs-Jenkins is able to keep the play from turning overly dark is a testament to his writing talent and gives Appropriate the stunning power to – hopefully – further our societal conversations about race and equity.

****1/2 out of *****