'Kidnapped'

"Kidnapped" is really good. I thought it was about pirates and it kind of is. Mostly it's political.

Having visited Scotland and Edinburgh where part of the story is set, it's a very fine geographical read as R. Louis Stevenson is exact in pointing out landmarks, islands, hamlets, cities, castles, landmarks and other tidbits as our heroes trek across Brittania.

But there's also the element of family. The secrets among father and son. The sibling relationship Balfour and Breck form. Then there's that bastard uncle Ebenezer.

Combine that with the paternal relationship of the ship captain and the clan chiefs. Or how the boy Ransome was abused like a red-headed stepchild by the ship's first mate.

'The Dreaming'

This is the soundtrack to my nightmares.

Or a poor reaction to LSD.

Either way, it makes me anxious, nervous.

'Pacific Ocean Blue'

When Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue" was re-released all remastered and whatnot and then I learned it was one of the 1,001 Records I Had to Listen to Before I Die, I quickly procured it.

I was asked whether the album would be so revered had the this Wilson brother not drowned in 1983.

I then countered that most people would not be looked upon with such regard had they not died. In terms of artistic credibility, the best thing to happen to Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison and James Dean was dying. Personally and professionally, it was a poor move or circumstance.

But Hendrix, for example, never had the opportunity to go disco in the late-1970s or release a shitty 1980s record. Joplin was so awful that she didn't live long enough for folks to realize just how much.

Wilson did his friends and family no favors by drowning; but in rock music it's often more about the mystique than substance.

'Liege & Lief'

There's no bigger Anglophile than this guy. I love all things to do with England and the general vicinity.

Fairport Convention is a fantastic example of British folk music and the music bleeds fish and chips and golf.

It's just a really cool band that made really great music whether you like England or its people.

'Wise Blood'

Flannery O'Connor never had just the normal character. No, they were all freaks, grotesques, nuts, yahoos, weirdos, perverts and oddities.

All in the American South, too. Maybe commentary about how backwards the place is or maybe it wouldn't change if O'Connor lived in New York City, Los Angeles or Fargo.

I get the feeling that O'Connor wasn't a very happy person. Maybe that shows itself through the dysfunctional characters, the odd relationships and the insane goings-on. Maybe she wasn't too pleased with God as it appears she didn't think too much of religion, clergymen or anything associated with the church.

Maybe she just didn't like people. That's probably why I like O'Connor so much.

'The Grapes of Wrath'

Allegedly John Steinbeck loved the film adaptation of his most famous book about the Great Depression and the migration to California.

Although they kept true to a majority of the book, there is quite a number of scenes that didn't make the final cut due to decency issues since it was 1940.

This film also brings up a point about art and current events. This film was released a mere 11 years after the stock market crash in 1929 and, really, the country still hadn't recovered since.

In terms of war, were their many World War II films in the 1940s or Vietnam films in the 1960s or 1970s? That makes shows like "Generation Kill" and "Over There" singular in that they're being produced when the actual events are taking place.

It's instantaneous commentary about a controversial subject when the subject hasn't played itself out. Fascinating!

'McCartney'

The interesting aspect of the post-Beatle albums of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison (sorry Ringo ... just be happy being the luckiest son of a bitch in history) is how similar their work is.

There are probably a half dozen songs that could've fit perfectly on Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" or "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" or "Imagine." And vice versa.

Unironically, many of the songs put on these albums in 1970 and 1971 were recorded when the guys were Beatles and then re-recorded for their solo albums. Many are available on "The Beatles Anthology III".

So one thing's clear: The guys were not necessarily fighting about the music they were recording since it was really similar. Also, listening to "McCartney," it's clear that Paul wasn't doing grandiose concept albums and insanely well-produced progressive rock music. Just acoustic guitars, piano, tambourine and vocals. Nothing he wouldn't have done on the White Album or "Rubber Soul."

'Fun House'

Do you think The Stooges cared much for what others thought of them?

Doubt it. Not that The Stooges started any thing new. The Beatles did it years before and many bands did it years after.

But The Stooges did it with energy -- raw, unforgiving energy that spit in the face of everything that came before.

There are saxophone solos for crying out loud.

'The Rising'

Someone needs to go through and create an anthology of post-9/11 American rock music.

Certainly Ryan Adams, Beck, Wilco and others would be included.

And Bruce Springsteen. "The Rising" is a fantastic album for Springsteen no matter the decade or whether or not some assholes fly commercial jets into skyscrapers in New York City. Had he released in 2000, it would've been just as good and poignant.

Nonetheless, it was released in 2002, a reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The thing is, it's obvious, which isn't a bad thing.

Forty years from now I'll listen to this album in my flying car and remember exactly when it was released and that feeling that enveloped a country (fear, indecision, nakedness, vunerability, hate) will rush back.

Now that's a good album.

'The Stone Roses'

Growing up from around the age of 13 with multpile guitar magazine subscriptions, you often heard about the Stone Roses although around 1993, listening to 4-year-old British rock wasn't my bag.

But this album was regarded so well as was John Squire's guitar playing that ever so often you saw something about them. Then Oasis hit.

Fast forward 10 years and you can look at most British rock bands and see a little bit of the Stone Roses in them.

Said singer Ian Brown:

"It's timeless. It still sounds fresh. I think if it came out this week, it would still make an impact."

No truer words have been spoken. He's right. This is a great, fresh album. It's dated, but in that good way. It let's you know what the best of the best of the late-1980s and early-1990s sounded like. It's a grand testament to that era.

'Mask'

The thing about goth music I never understood is how utterly unmenacing it was.

That's why I always kind of like learning about Marilyn Manson and heavier metal acts that are associated with the goth scene.

To me, that's menacing whether it's the music, the lyrics or the imagery surrounding a live show or music video.

Bauhaus? They should like dudes that eat at Chili's and buy potting soil at Home Depot. Other than the plumbing aisle, there's little menacing about the Depot.

'A Clockwork Orange'

What a unique book. It's a faceless world with no real culture or identity.

Then the language. Just when we think this dialect is used by everyone it's actually just used by the teenage rouges.

Most fascinating is the evolution of Alex, the book's hero. A young man with a heart for hate and violence, a passion for classical music and, yet, not a spot of dignity or respect.

It introduces the idea of violence as art when Alex opines about his heroes (Ludwig van, et al.) having achieved so much at an early age. It's almost Alex saw his kicking feet and punching fists as paint brushes. As if he's creating some grand bibliography.

Then he grows up as if none of it happened.

'The Breakfast Club'

This is the dumbest movie of all time.

Funny thing, it's regarded as a seminal film of the 1980s youth culture. I guess this means that 95 percent of teenagers of the time were insanely insecure. Others abused and scared.

Or maybe this was 5 percent of the teenage population, but it just felt like they were living a God-forsaken life.

It sucks going to school and having most luxuries at the tips of your fingers. Rough.

'Death in Venice'

My favorite books or movies are those in which the city or setting are heavily featured. Almost as if the city is as big of a character as the actual people or story.

Europe is especially appealing. It's incredibly old yet extremely progressive. It's where the old and the new meet. It's the home of the great empires, democracy, monarchy, the Renaissance, Black Death, the Holocaust and soccer.

It's a continent that clings to so much of its past, but can not contain it's ambition.

It's a place to live; and, better yet, it's a place to die.

'Ethan Frome'

Certainly, the man bedeviled by the woman is a very common theme in the books I'm reading.

Ethan Frome is no different than King Arthur, Charles Bovary, Hardy's Jude or John Flory.

Females always strutting their stuff for the menfolk and, of course, the men can't control their privates and all hell breaks loose.

Let's see: Charles and Jude die after a major heartbreak. King Arthur is pretty down about his situation when he goes. John Flory kills himself. Ethan Frome might as well.

'Dumbo'

Reading all these books and watching all these movies, you run into a lot of opposition and hatred. Americans have been pissed off at a lot of people for a long time often times for no good reason.

Yet, some 50 odd years ago, knee deep in Dwight Eisenhower, McCarthyism, segregation and the Cold War, Walt Disney released "Dumbo, which includes an entire scene built around the two main protagonists (Dumbo and the mouse) getting drunk and hallucinating about a bazillion empty-eyed pink elephants performing a song and dance number.

Ten of the creepiest moments in animation history.

And our missiles were aimed at the Communists?

'Citizen Kane'

I think if I were a moviegoer in 1941, I would've been very fulfilled and pleased with "Citizen Kane."

It's a really good film no matter what decade. Like many films, it's not dated nearly as bad and there moments when you think it's a Coen brothers film. Some of the shots are fantastic, and Orson Welles just jumps off the screen.

Also interesting is the flow of the story. It starts with the movie reel news story about the character's death and proceeds to jump back and forth between the present and the past and telling the story through, say, a journal or a person's first-hand account. I doubt this type of storytelling was happening very much in Hollywood in the 1940s.

It's an epic at two hours.

It gets a lot of praise and deservedly so.

'Invisible Man'

"Invisible Man" should be essential reading for every literate American.

It takes race and boils it down to the individual. Nevermind politics and talking heads. NAACP or LULAC. Look at the singular person to try and understand hate and racism in America.

A brilliantly written novel and captures the essence of being black.

'The Manchurian Candidate'

Is Frank Sinatra completely overrated, or just merely overrated? Let's face it, he was significantly more style than substance and why he kept getting roles in good movies is beyond me.

I expected more out of this film. The actors seemed like they were stilted and overdramatic as if they were from the 1930s.

And wicked Angela Lansbury. "Murder, she wrote" has a entirely new meaning.

'The Once and Future King'

I've never given King Arthur much thought. He and his Round Table never struck much interest in me. Always seemed like kids' stories and folklore in the vein of John Henry, Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan.

But this is genuinely a fantastic piece of work. It's well written, sure, but T.H. White had something to say. Published in 1952, just seven years after World War II, in the midst of American congressmen performing a vehement witch hunt for communists and a Cold War, many people had a lot to say about war, about government, about right and wrong, Right and Might and war and peace.

We all can get caught up in the swords stuck in stones, being turned into birds or fish, or dashing knights saving damsels in distress, but "The Once and Future King" is about how we act as humans -- wrong or right, good or bad -- and the repercussions of the decisions made, not only by our elected or appointed officials, by us as individuals.

Maybe war has a place in the grand scheme -- this mystical and unreal existence purpepatrated by some God, gods or some insane accident. Maybe our instincts and our inner being is violent and all the murder, rape, genocide, war, fighting and hate is as natural as breathing.

But just as King Arthur knew his best friend Lancelot was screwing his wife, the optimist Arthur knew man was inherently evil, but he'd rather give everyone the benefit of the doubt and believe there was inherent good. In other words, hope.

'The Time Machine'

I often wonder who was reading H.G. Wells in late-19th century, early-20th century England. Were there learned folks in the city knocking out "The Time Machine" on a lazy Saturday and saying, "What the hell?!" Seriously, it had to be out there for the time. I mean, they were burning witches and shit a couple years before.

Wells is a pretty boring writer. It's like he's writing a news story. When the narrator says, "Weena was gone." He means that Weena is gone. She isn't coming back and don't think that her presence will be addressed further.

Why I really needed to read more than one of Wells' books before I die, I'll never know.

'The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators'

The 13th Floor Elevators have obtained some hipster status over the last 40 years or so by essentially being the lost boys of the Austin music scene and a wayward garage band.

Let's face it, it did the band a lot of good by Roky Erickson getting messed up with drugs and, in turn, in the head.

I don't mind them, but they're clearly not as good as we'd all hoped.

"You're Gonna Miss Me," however, is damn near a perfect rock song.

'Last Tango In Paris'

It's creepy to read about this movie in hindsight. Allegedly, Maria Schneider, who played Jeanne, does not speak to director Bernardo Bertolucci or co-star Marlon Brando because of the "butter" scene.

As it turns out, the entire scene was improvised by Brando and Bertolucci, and, although there was no penetration, Schneider's reaction was real.

Then you learn that Brando improvised his entire dialogue because he hated the script. It's clear this was pretentious schlock made for the sake of contained pornography and "art."

Beautifully shot, however. And if you're a fan of the French language and breasts, it's worth it.

'A Fish Called Wanda'

This, simply, is not a very good movie. I'm not one to thumb my nose at low-brow comedies because they're somehow beneath me. I love to laugh. But that's kind of the reason I hated "A Fish Called Wanda."

It's not funny.

A couple things:

1. There is not one movie that I think Kevin Kline is good in. Not one.

2. Jamie Lee Curtis is a joke. For one, change your name. Two, how can God give such an amazing body to someone who looks like a man?

3. Just because you put two former Monty Pythoners in a movie doesn't make it funny.

4. One major uneven aspect of the movie are the ongoing, secondary references. Like Kline's Otto not like being called "stupid" and his fascination with Nietzsche. Also, the way he asks someone to repeat the "middle" option in a list. Also, Curtis' Wanda going orgasmic over foreign languages. They're referenced throughout but with no explanation.

5. I wonder if I'll consider today's comedy classics as dated as "A Fish Called Wanda" is today? Do directors today intentionally put little original, modern music to combat this?

'Blue'

It's simple. It's good. It's quiet.

It's headache music. It's a record you plomp down when you're dealing with a headache and the only direction you can go is listening to a record because reading a book or watching a movie is unbearable.

Side B is simply one of the better group of songs in rock history.

'Born to Run'

We can all pretty much pinpoint the greatest American movie. Even the greatest American novel.

Just toss in some Coppola, Scorcese, Wells, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner and stir (isn't it odd how "un-American" those last names look? It's like a log book from Ellis Island).

But I'm here to tell you the greatest American album is Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." There is no more of a critical and seminal record in American history. Sorry to Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Nirvana, Styx, Foreigner, 13th Floor Elevators, Mudhoney, Frankie Avalon, The Everly Brothers, REM, My Morning Jacket and Tool, but The Boss has the crown.

It's just so fucking sincere, so fucking desperate. It's impossible to ignore. Yet, it doesn't lose the ability to shake a hip and sing along.

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'

Again, another example of a piece of literature or art that I can't imagine being created any time before 1910 or something.

Given that up until the 1950s American Congressmen were persecuting "communists" in a public witch hunt, I can only imagine what times were like in the 1800s, a time, that I imagine, including people using "healing powders" and bloodletting to relieve headaches.

Then Lewis freakin' Carroll comes out with that mindscrew and we're all supposed to be OK? It's 2008, and I just read this flippin' book and I'm not OK. Imagine being some kid in 18-whatever picking this up for a nice read. Next thing you know you're in the corner of your room, shaking.

It's really a nothing book and I realize there's supposed to be philosophical undertones, but it's so dumb and inane at times that I can't imagine it being anything other than a kid's book. Or an acid trip.

'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'

This is a really cool book to read. It has such a style, a voice that is unique and true. It cuts the bullshit and shines through as a quality piece of literature in the vein of "On the Road." Maybe it'll never win the Pulitzer or National Book Award. Maybe it'll be championed by mild drug addicts and hipsters. But it doesn't make it bad.

More so, Thompson's character is so silly and lovable. For one, he is quick to make a series of poor decisions, but he's just as quick to not necessarily weigh the circumstances and potential repercussions and possibly, you know, rethink his decisions, but he'll dream up what he'll say to the cops when he's pulled over or accosted. This is what goes through a blatant criminal's mind.

Secondly, I think it's Page 191 when Thompson's character finally comes to the stark realization that the decision -- some harebrained scheme -- he's about to make might not be the wisest. So self aware and, yet, oblivious.

'American Beauty'

The Grateful Dead, unfortunately, has always been painted with a broad brush.

For one, I hate the jam-band label. Also, hate that people follow them around. I would've been very uncomfortable with that. Then there's the hippie culture.

There's never been a bigger band to wring so much out of hype and labels than the Dead.

With all that said, they'll essentially a country band.

'Liquid Swords'

Hip-hop is like real estate: I don't know enough about it nor do I know where to find the good stuff in order to invest money into it.

Through a college experience, I realized I did like the Wu Tang Clan. So I was excited about GZA's "Liquid Swords."

I was not dissapointed. It's everything I like about the genre (simple beats, no choruses, clean rhymes) and barely anything I don't like (layers of production, choruses).

Besides, it's tough disliking anything by a bunch of dudes who love old kung fu movies.

'Fox and His Friends'

The only problem with gay German cinema is that Netflix begins recommending a bunch more gay German cinema to add to my queue.

That and the penises.

'Odessey and Oracle'

The Zombies are on of the top 5 most underrated musical artists of all time.

Overshadowed by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and the other heavyweights of the 1960s, The Zombles were a fantastic band that weaved a breathtaking tapestry of vocals over an unspectacular grab bag of guitar, drums, bass and keyboard.

"Odessey & Oracle" is considered their "Sergeant Peppers" or "Pet Sounds" -- their masterpiece. This is a most accurate description. A beautiful album that had just one hit.

'Barry Lyndon'

I often discuss film with friends. Part of the discussion is how movies are greenlighted and produced. For example, right now, Judd Apatow could walk into a movie studio office and ask to make a film about paint drying and he'd get a $3 million budget because everything that guy touches is turning to gold.

It's interesting reading about how the greats of the past got their pet projects made including Coppola, Scorcese, Kubrick.

For "Barry Lyndon," a 3-hour period piece about some dude, the studio OK'd the idea -- a film Kubrick really wanted to make -- as long as he cast one of the top 10 male movie stars of the time. So it was either Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal playing ol' Barry.

'Jude The Obscure'

I visited the William J. Clinton Presidential Library recently in Little Rock, Arkansas. As part of the displays, a number of books that Clinton considered some of his favorites were on showcase.

Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" was included.

The story chronicles Jude, a poor orphan, who seeks an academic's life more so than anything. Then women happen. Screws everything up. As usual.

"Strange that his first aspiration -- towards academical proficiency -- had been checked by a woman, and that his second aspriation -- towards apostleship -- had also been checked by a woman. 'Is it,' he said, 'that the women are to blame; or is it the artificial system of things, under which the normal sex-impulses are turned into devilish gins and springes to noose and hold back those who want to progress?'"

Maybe Bill should've taken more notice. Probably would've saved him a lot of trouble.

'The Fox'

Sometime in July 1968, Betsy Gettelfinger purchased a copy of D.H. Lawrence's "The Fox."

She -- or someone who really loved her -- paid 60 cents for it. I own it now. I paid 30 cents.

For the record, the "fox" isn't the man -- or Henry. The "fox" is every opportunity that is either missed or taken in life. When it passes by, there's a burning in the gut. When you grab the opportunity, you feel like you've gotten away with something, like a sly fox sneaking a dead hen out of the coop.

Making Henry (or man) the fox was entirely too easy.

'Crime and Punishment'

I am a better person for reading this book.

'Nashville'

I could've lived a thousand lifetimes and not seen this movie, and still been better off.

It's entirely too long and boring. There's no flow or connection. It's rambling and drab.

I don't think the writing's very good, which is a shame because this film is built more on that and the music more than it is the acting performances or the camera work.

One reviewer called it a "patchwork quit" of a film. But what's good for a blanket is not good for the cinema. A completely overrated film.