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[greensparty]

Movie Reviews: The Dink / Evil Dead Burns

This week I got to review two new releases, a sports comedy and a horror sequel:

The Dink

Let's talk about Josh Greenbaum. After winning a 2007 MTV Movie Award for student filmmaking, he has become a director who truly understands and appreciates comedy and comedy history. After directing some shorts and Funny or Die films, he did some work in television and indie film, but my introduction to him was the 2017 documentary Too Funny to Fail about the short-lived sketch comedy show The Dana Carvey Show. I loved it and named it my #1 Documentary of 2017 and included it in my Best Documentaries of the 2010s. In recent years, he's become a go-to comedy director for SNL cast member driven features, i.e. Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar and Strays. But it was his documentary Will & Harper that showed the masses he could mix comedy with more serious matters. I named it my #4 Documentary of 2024. In Greenbaum's newest narrative, it's a sport comedy The Dink that drops on Apple TV today.

movie poster

Dustin Boyd (Jake Johnson) is a washed up tennis pro who works at the tennis club of his father (Ed Harris). On the recommendation of his doctor (Ben Stiller, also a producer), Dustin does the unthinkable and takes up pickleball. In learning the sport, he forms a friendship with older and more experienced pickleball fan Candace (Mary Steenburgen).

Bottom line: there are some big laughs in this for sure, but at 1 hour 42 minutes, it felt way longer than it needed to be. It has high aspirations to sports comedy classics like Dodgeball and Happy Gilmore (hey, both of them featured Stiller), but at times it is trying too hard. There's some fun supporting roles from Fortune Feimster, Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman and more, but the standout of the entire cast is Steenburgen. People forget that she won an Oscar for Jonathan Demme's excellent Melvin and Howard, but she has shown great comedic timing in Back to the Future Part III, Elf, Step Brothers, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's great to see her shine as one of the leads here and not just as SNL would say "the female lead in a male-driven comedy". But if they had shaved a good 15 minutes off this, it would've been a stronger comedy in that sports comedy pantheon.

For info on The Dink

3 out of 5 stars

Evil Dead Burn

Earlier this month saw the release of the sixth Evil Dead movie. Created by Sam Raimi very early in his career, 1981's The Evil Dead looked at a group of friends at a cabin in the woods where some audio tapes unleash some evil demonic forces in the woods. It was a low-budget indie that did some many cool effects on the cheap and it caught on finding its audience over time. The 2000 book The Evil Dead Companion is a highly influential book about filmmaking. I read it and wanted to go out and direct ASAP after reading about their passion and enthusiasm and their trajectory of getting the movie made. But I digress. 1987's Evil Dead II was more of a horror comedy with equal parts laughter and scares. 1992's Army of Darkness was more of a fantasy film. 2013's Evil Dead was a remake that didn't come anywhere close to the original. From 2015 to 2018, the Star series Ash vs. Evil Dead brought back a lot of the fun of the original films thanks to star Bruce Campbell. 2023's Evil Dead Rise attempted to reboot the series. Now Evil Dead Burn continues the tradition of innocent people trying to get away from Deadites.

movie poster

Logline: After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws. As one by one they transform into deadites, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life - survive even in death.

I haven't been a fan of any Evil Dead works since Sam Raimi directed Army of Darkness except for Ash vs. Evil Dead. That being said, I went in cautiously optimistic that this might be good with Raimi producing. With the exception of the Dead audio tapes, this didn't even feel like an Evil Dead movie, it felt like some Gen Zer who is half-watching, half-paying attention semi-ripping off some of the original. The problem is that the original films that Raimi directed had a sense of fun to them, a horror film from a director equally influenced by monster movies and Three Stooges movies. This could've benefitted from some humor to say the least. Credit where it is due - there were a few set pieces, notably the opening scene on the lake, that had some genuine scares. But it's to the point now where they need to just let it die!

For info on Evil Dead Burn

2 out of 5 stars

[greensparty]

Chuck Russell, Director of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3’ and ‘The Mask,’ Dies at 74

He also wrote ‘Dreamscape’ and helmed ‘Eraser,’ ‘Bless This Child’ and ‘The Scorpion King.’

Remembering Chuck Russell 1958-2026

Director Chuck Russell has died at 74. After working in film crew for a few years, he made his directorial debut with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which he co-wrote with Wes Craven, Frank Darabont and Bruce Wagner. That wasn't just the best ANOES sequel, it was easily one of the best sequels of all-time. The cast even featured Patricia Arquette and Lawrence Fishburne. Other films he directed included The Mask, one of Jim Carrey's best movies of that era.

Russell, Cameron Diaz and Jim Carrey on the set of The Mask

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

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Chris Affleck, Mother of Oscar Winners Ben and Casey Affleck, Dies at 83

A schoolteacher, she was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died June 2, her family announced.

Remembering Chris Affleck 1942-2026

Sad news that Chris Affleck, the mother of both Ben and Casey Affleck, has died at 83. I don't normally post about parents of celebrities, but since she was the parent to two hometown heroes, I wanted to share. How proud she must've been to have gotten to see both of her sons win Academy Awards (Ben for Good Will Hunting and Argo and Casey for Manchester By the Sea).

Casey and Chris / Ben and Chris

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

[greensparty]

This Month In History - July

This has been quite a month for pop culture anniversaries as I've already celebrated this month in Black cinema, garage rock from July 2001, Richard Linklater movies, and album releases from July 23, 1996. Here are the rest I am saluting:

July 2, 1991: Into the Great Wide Open released

In July 1991, the 8th album from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was released. I was already a fan of Petty’s but this point and this album I bought that month on cassette tape. I listened to it quite frequently over the next few years. “Learning to Fly” is one of my favorites of the band. It’s an album that actually speaks to me more as I'm older than it did in my teen years as its songs about being true to yourself and trying to make the right decisions in life. Happy 35th ITGWO!

July 14, 1981: Beauty and the Beat released

In July 1981, the debut album from The Go-Go’s was released. The group burst out of the late 70s punk scene but their sound evolved and became more new wave / power pop. They put out some great albums during their time in the 80s and even after their 1999 reunion too, but this is their magnum opus. Just try not singing along to the majority of this album. In 2014, drummer Gina Schock signed my vinyl copy of this at the Northeast Comic Con! Happy 45th BATB!

July 15, 2016: Stranger Things premieres

In July 2016, the Duffer Brothers 80s sci-fi epic series premiered on Netflix! There was a lot of hype when the series dropped that Summer and I decided to check it out and give it a chance. It was one of the rare times where the series truly lived up to all of the hype behind it. I named it my #6 TV Show of the 2010s. Tons of references to 80s pop culture and a heavy influence from Stephen King, Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter made this truly binge-worthy. This past year the series came to an end. Happy 10th Stranger Things!

July 18, 1991: first Lollapalooza tour begins

It’s hard to believe there was a time before the big summer concert that is Lollapalooza. What is now a big concert weekend in Chicago each year, spent over a decade (with a few years off) as an all-day festival tour. That first show of their first year was in July 1991. Just as alt-rock was bubbling up from the underground, Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell set out to bring a festival like he had attended in U.K. (Reading, Gathering of the Tribes) to the U.S. as a traveling tour. In addition to the musicians on the main stage, there would be a side stage for lesser-known bands, booths from political organizations, and other attractions such as the Jim Rose Circus Side Show. That first year when it was announced, what got me excited was that Living Colour were one of the headliners. Then when I saw the rest of the lineup: Jane’s, Nine Inch Nails, Rollins Band, and Ice-T, I was all-in! I attended in August, the show at Great Woods in Mansfield, MA (a month before I began high school - FYI!). It was announced Siouxsie and the Banshees would not be performing as Siouxsie was under the weather, so all of the other bands played for an extra 15 min. Here was Rollins Band bringing their sound just before Henry Rollins was becoming a media personality. Next was Butthole Surfers, who were more of a cult band at the time. Then, representing rap music was Ice-T, who did half his show rapping and then the second half with his hardcore band Body Count. The thing was, it was less than a year before Body Count’s controversial debut album was released, but when they performed audiences barely noticed when they did “cop killer” (it sounded like most of their other songs). Next was a relatively new industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Even back then, Trent Reznor was a force to be reckon with! Next was my favorite band at the time Living Colour. For this show, JA’s Dave Navarro came out and played a cover of The Clash’s “should I stay or should I go” with Living Colour! Then the headliners JA performed. Their album Ritual de lo habitual was one of the my favorite albums at that time and it was being reported that this tour was going to be the band’s farewell tour (they reunited in 1997 and several times since, including the controversial 2024 show). I consider myself very lucky to have seen all these bands in their prime at exactly the moment when alt-rock was about to explode. In the years that followed, Lollapalooza became a platform to showcasing some of the biggest names in music as well as spotlighting new bands breaking through. I attended the festival again in 1995 and 1996. But this very first year as they were just starting remains a special moment in music history. Happy 35th Lollaplaooza!

July 19, 1996: Trainspotting opens in the U.S.

My Top Movie of 1996 and one of the greatest movies of the 90s period was released in the U.S. in July 1996. Trainspotting, adapted from the Irvine Welsh book, looked at a group of heroin-addicts in Scotland. At the heart of the story was Mark Renton (played by Ewan McGregor) who wants to get away from the life but can’t. Whereas most movies about drugs are dark and downright serious (i.e. Requiem for a Dream), Trainspotting did examine the tragic side of addiction, but it also showed why people do it. There was an energy to it. And wow - what energy it had! Danny Boyle really went for it on this one. Even when the movie got rather scatological and repugnant (i.e. the grossest toilet in Scotland scene), there’s still a wild kinetic pace to it and you can’t look away. Even if most of the crew are a bunch of hooligans, the audience kinda feels for Mark and wants to see him get away from the life. There’s also a lot of references to both A Hard Day’s Night and Clockwork Orange. When this came out, it blew me away. I immediately bought the awesome soundtrack and adorned my college dorm room with the movie poster. Back when I worked at Fuse in the mid-00s, Danny Boyle stopped by to promote his movie Millions and he signed by Trainspotting DVD for me! Happy 30th Trainspotting!

July 24, 1981: Blow Out opens

Brian De Palma sometimes gets a bad wrap. It’s considered cool to criticize him and complain that he rips off / pays tribute to other directors a lot. But film geeks like me look deeper. Just ask Noah Baumbach who co-directed a documentary on De Palma. I bring this up as we celebrate one of his best movies released in July 1981. Blow Out was a great thriller about a sound tech (John Travolta) who records some sound effects and inadvertently records an assassination of a presidential hopeful. It has references to the Chappaquiddick incident, Watergate and conspiracy theories. De Palma delved deep into his obsession with voyeurism (a constant theme in a lot of his films). The haters can complain that he ripped off Hitchcock and films like Blow Up and The Conversation all they want, but tell me you’re not on the edge of your seat as Travolta pieces together the photos with his sound recording? Or the climactic set piece with the killer (John Lithgow) and the damsel in distress (Nancy Allen)? Quentin Tarantino even named this one of his Top 3 Favorite Movies of All Time (Rio Bravo and Taxi Driver are the others if you’re curious). Happy 45th Blow Out!

[greensparty]

Box Set Review: Tom Tom Club "Let There Be Love"

Sometimes a side project takes on a life all its own. Such is the case with Tom Tom Club. The husband-and-wife team of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were already the drummer and bassist of Talking Heads by the early 80s. In 1981, they formed a side project while still being members of Talking Heads, who were very much in their prime. It's ironic that Tom Tom Club has actually lasted Talking Heads. In 2020, when I interviewed Frantz I asked if there could be another Tom Tom Club album since the last album was released in 2012? He said "You know there definitely could be a new Tom Tom  Club record, although I gotta be honest nobody is breaking down our door to make a new record. So whatever we did it would be a  labor of love." Talking Heads ended in 1991, but here at Green's Party I've gotten to cover them quite a bit: in 2023 with the re-release of their phenomenal Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense, I got to review the IMAX re-release, the expanded edition remaster of the soundtrack album and cover the reunited Talking Heads Q&A at TIFF. In 2024 I got to review the Super Deluxe Edition of their debut Talking Heads: 77 and last year I got to review the Super Deluxe Edition of More Songs About Buildings and Food. Earlier this year I got to review the compilation Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live as well. Full disclosure: Beyond this blog, I did get to interview Mr. Frantz for a project (he could not have been cooler I must say) and he mentioned that later this year there was going to be a box set of Tom Tom Club's releases. That box set comprised of 7 LPs Let There Be Love drops from Rhino this week.

box set cover

The box set contains the following: 1981's Tom Tom Club, their biggest selling album thanks to their hit "Genius of Love", which has been sampled a ton notably in Mariah Carey's "Fantasy". Talking Heads even performed it in Stop Making Sense too! 1983's Close to the Bone. 1988's Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom, which is practically a Talking Heads album since it features David Byrne and Jerry Harrison on "Femme Fatale". 1992's Dark Sneak Love Action with their cover of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing". 2000's The Good, the Bad and the Funky. 2012's Downton Rockers, which was mixed by Ed Stasium, thirty years after they worked with him in Talking Heads.

Frantz and Weymouth

As with any box set that is a collection of albums, some albums are better than others. When you have a compilation of curated songs (i.e. hits or a specific era), there's more of a consistency. I say this because we've never had a greatest hits compilation from Tom Tom Club. If they did a single disc comp with the best songs from each album, that would be all killer no filler. For a side project, they were definitely continuing much of the musical momentum of their primary band, i.e. new wave, funk, world music, and more. But some albums definitely lost steam at times. But when it does, stay with it because the band as a whole is Chris and Tina just having a party with all their pals and getting their funk on!

For info on Let There Be Love

3.5 out of 5 stars

[greensparty]

This Day In Music History: 1996

On this day in 1996, two of my favorite albums from that year were released on the same day! Here is my combined celebration:

July 23, 1996: Tidal and Three Snakes and One Charm released

One of the all-time great debut albums from a singer-songwriter was released in July 1996! More influenced by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday than rockers, Fiona’s sound has always stood out from everything else in music. She is a genre in and of herself. With her major-label debut Tidal being released, it was a slow-and-steady road of promotion and thanks to hits like “Criminal” and “Sleep to Dream” the album became her biggest hit: selling 3 million copies. Her voice was so intense and soulful. I’ve been a fan of all her albums, but this stands as my personal fave. Happy 30th Tidal!

The Black Crowes’ 4th album was another blues rocker! I bought it that Summer and listened to it a lot throughout college. The mid-90s era lineup of The Black Crowes is actually one of my favorites. "Good Friday", "Blalckberry", and "How Much for Your Wings?" are among the highlights. This has a real laidback vibe to it I dug. Happy 30th TSAOC!

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Henry Mancini "The Pink Panther Theme"

Musician Plas Johnson has died at 94 (read the obit from People here). He was a legendary saxophonist who played with countless musicians including Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys, Elton John and more. Possibly his most famous work was the epic tenor sax on Henry Mancini's theme from The Pink Panther from 1963. While it was a theme to the Peter Sellers movie, I always knew it as the theme to the animated series that I watched nonstop as a kid.

[greensparty]

William H. Wisher Jr. Dies: 'The Terminator' & 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' Screenwriter Was 71

William H. Wisher Jr., a producer and screenwriter who co-wrote The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, dies. He was 71.

Remembering William Wisher Jr. 1955-2026

Screenwriter William H. Wisher Jr. has died at 71. He was a close friend and collaborator of James Cameron. He did some additional dialogue and writing on 1984's The Terminator. Wisher Jr. and Cameron co-wrote 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which I believe is the best thing Cameron has ever directed. I will die on that hill! Wisher Jr. also had small cameos in both movies.

Wisher Jr. as the Galleria Photographer in T2

He did a number of script revisions on other action and sci-fi movies including John Woo's Broken Arrow and Die Hard with a Vengeance and Live Free or Die Hard.

The link above is the obit from Deadline.

[greensparty]

This Month In Richard Linklater Movie History

There's more than a few Richard Linklater movies released in July, but here are the Golden Anniversaries I am saluting this month:

July 5, 1991: Slacker opens

In July 1991, Richard Linklater's debut film opened. Alright technically this was his second film after the low-budget experimental super-8 filmed It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, but since that never received widespread distribution, Slacker is considered his debut. Filmed around his hometown Austin, TX for $23,000 this is one of the most groundbreaking independent films of the 90s or ever. Taking place over twenty-four hours (a Linklater trademark), it shows various bohemians, misfits, anarchists, conspiracy theorists and more. Not one character appears in this film for more than five minutes. I rented this shortly after Linklater's next movie Dazed and Confused. I was taken by how engaging this was and the choreography of the steadicam following these people for a minute and then we're onto a new person. It's a movie that gets better with each viewing too. I also picked up the book about the making of it too. When I finally visited Austin in 1999, I was inspired to visit some of the Slacker locations too. While Linklater has made better films than this, Slacker stands as an important film in that it announced him as a director and it was so inspiring to see some make something on a low budget (Kevin Smith has counted this as a big influence on Clerks and it shows). Happy 35th Slacker!

July 7, 2006: A Scanner Darkly opens

In July 2006, Linklater's second animated film after Waking Life was released. Similar to Waking Life, it was shot digitally with live actors, edited and then rotoscope-animated over it. This was an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1977 novel. This is a lot darker than much of Linklater's filmography and like a lot of PKD's work it's a dystopian future where there is a mistrust of the government. It may take a while to adapt to the animation style and the sheer gloominess, but I'd put this up there with Blade Runner and Minority Report as the best PKD adaptations. Happy 20th ASD!

[greensparty]

Remembering Jennifer Finch 1966-2026

This one hurts. Musician Jennifer Finch has died at 59 (read the obit from Stereogum here). She was the bassist for L7 from 1986-1996 and since their 2014 reunion. This news comes only days after they announced that she had an aggressive form of brain cancer and a GoFundMe was set up for her. I donated and I also posted about it here. Within days they exceeded the fundraising goal.

Finch onstage with L7

Finch began as the bassist in Sugar Babydoll in the mid-80s. That band featured Courtney Love pre-Hole and Kat Bjelland pre-Babes in Toyland. She, then, co-founded the L.A. band L7. At the peak of 90s grunge, the media fixated on the idea of an all-girl punk rock band with metal tendencies (not a pop-rock band like The Bangles or The Go-Go’s, but a full-on rock band). The old boys club press that regarded them as “not bad for a girl band”, missed the point entirely. They rocked harder than a lot of male bands at the time. They had many pop culture moments in their career: their big hit “Pretend We’re Dead”, appearing in the John Waters film Serial Mom, and performing at Lollapalooza ‘94. Sadly, L7 were a cautionary tale of an indie rock band that got signed to the majors after the 90s alt-rock explosion and when they didn’t deliver the major label album sales, they were cut. Finch left the band in 1996 and the band later broke up in 2001. 

Finch and her L7 bandmates circa 1990

Dave Grohl and Finch circa 1991

Finch and Kurt Cobain circa 1991

Finch and Courtney Love in early 90s

In 1994 after the death of Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff and before Melissa Auf der Maur joined, Finch appeared in Hole's music video for "Doll Parts" on bass. L7 were close with Nirvana in the 90s and for a short time, Finch and Dave Grohl dated.

L7 live at The Paradise on 8/11/16 with Finch far right

Finch was also a noted photographer and played in some other bands including OtherStarPeople and The Shocker. In 2014, L7 reunited and Finch toured and recorded with them. Here at Green’s Party, I’ve been lucky enough to witness what L7 has done since reuniting in 2014: I saw them live in 2016 (read my review here), reviewed the 2017 documentary L7: Pretend We’re Dead (read it here), got to review their 2019 reunion album Scatter the Rats (read it here) which I named one of my Best Albums of 2019 FYI, the 30th anniversary reissue of Smell the Magic and the 30th anniversary reissue of Bricks are Heavy. Finch has been a vital part of the band’s sound. While I did like some of the albums they released after she left the band in 1996 and prior to her return in 2014, she was an essential piece of the band’s sound. 

Thoughts go out to Ms. Finch's family, L7 and their team.

[greensparty]

(Non) Concert Pics: Bob Dylan

Thurs. 7/16/26 @ Leader Bank Pavilion (Boston, MA)

At the last minute I scored a ticket to see Bob Dylan while he was in town. I have never seen him live before and he's one of the few legends I hadn't seen yet. So normally when I'm not reviewing, I share concert pics, but BD has a no-phone policy:

signs posted at the venue

BD did not disappoint. He held court in the center of his band, didn't do any between song banter or crowd work. He did tons of Rough and Rowdy Ways, which is one of my favorite BD albums ever. The biggest "hit" he played was "It Ain't Me, Babe". I kind of wished for an artist who has been releasing music for over sixty-five years, he'd play longer, but beggars can't be choosers. It was phenomenal musicianship and that unmistakable voice!

Vaughan onstage

Before BD, I caught the tail end of Brittany Spencer and then Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band, who I was excited to see. He's known to many as the older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, but he is quite an impressive guitarist as well. I first became aware of him in The Fabulous Thunderbirds and I even included his solo album Baby, Please Come Home in my Best Albums of 2019 list. If you want to know more about the Vaughan brothers check out the 2023 documentary Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan: Brothers in Blues.

[greensparty]

Brenda Fricker, 'Home Alone 2' and 'My Left Foot' actress, dies at 81

Oscar-winning Irish actress Brenda Fricker, best known for her roles in "My Left Foot" and "Home Alone 2," has died at 81.

Remembering Brenda Fricker 1945-2026

Actress Brenda Fricker has died at 81. She won an Oscar for My Left Foot and then popped up in a number of films notably the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2: Alone in New York.

Fricker and Myers in So I Married an Axe Murderer

My favorite performance was as the mother in So I Married an Axe Murderer, where Mike Myers played the lead and the Scottish father, but Fricker held her own. She reunited with Myers in Pete's Meteor.

Other notable films included A Time to Kill and Albert Nobbs.

The link above is the obit from USA Today.

[greensparty]

Hal Williams, Actor on ‘227’ and ‘Sanford and Son,’ Dies at 91

He also played a 'Private Benjamin' drill sergeant in the film and TV versions and had a dramatic turn on 'The Waltons.'

Remembering Hal Williams 1934-2026

Actor Hal Williams has died at 91. He was known for playing Officer "Smitty" Smith on Sanford and Son (NBC 1972-1977).  I got into the reruns when I was a kid and a lot of the humor went over my head! Williams returned as the character on the spin-off Sanford (NBC 1980-1981). The other big TV he starred on was 227 (NBC 1985-1990), the head of the Jenkins family. I used to watch it as a kid! Even though Marla Gibbs and Jackee were the stars, Williams had some great moments.

Williams (center) on 227

Other notable performances from Williams included the drill sergeant in Private Benjamin and the TV spin-off (CBS 1981-1983), Flight, and a number of TV guest spots including Parks and Recreation.

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

[greensparty]

Dave Kendall, Creator and Host of MTV's 120 Minutes, Has Died

Dave Kendall, creator and former host of MTV’s 120 Minutes, has died.

Remembering Dave Kendall ? - 2026

Sad news that Dave Kendall has died (age unknown). He was an MTV producer in the 80s and his magnum opus was creating 120 Minutes. The alternative rock music show aired on MTV from 1986 to 2003 and Kendall himself hosted from 1988 to 1992. Even before the term "alternative rock" existed, there was college radio-based post-modern music and 120 Minutes was the place for it. Since Kendall was British, you almost felt like you were getting an inside scoop about what was hot in U.K. when he hosted. Once grunge and alt-rock exploded, 120 Minutes became so popular that they had a weekly show Alternative Nation (PostModern MTV pre-dated it too), but 120 Minutes was always a tastemaker of what was happening in alt rock and you went to it to discover new music or see great bands that might not make it into the regular MTV rotation. While Matt Pinfield, who hosted in the mid-late 90s, gets most of the attention for hosting 120 Minutes, Kendall was a good and memorable host. Years later, he was heard on Sirius XM's First Wave station (one of my favorite Sirius stations I might add).

Kendall hosting 120 Minutes circa early 90s

The link above is the obit from Consequence of Sound..

[greensparty]

This Month In Garage Rock History: July 2001

2001 was quite a year for the garage rock revival. More specifically July 2001 was quite a month in history for classic garage rock albums from that revival. Here's some I am saluting:

July 3, 2001: White Blood Cells released

The breakthrough album from The White Stripes was released in July 2001. By this point in the rock world, rap-metal and nu metal was starting to get stale. There were a lot of articles coming out about how garage rock was going to be the next big thing and The White Stripes were becoming the poster band for this revival genre. After releasing 2 great indie albums, 1999′s The White Stripes and 2000′s De Stijl, the third album White Blood Cells was the one getting a lot of attention. In 2002, the album was re-released on V2 Records and they started to get a lot more radio and video play with “fell in love with a girl”. Around that time, Garage Rock became the buzz genre with the Stripes, The Strokes, The Hives and The Vines taking the world by storm. I picked up this album in 2001 after hearing a little of it in a record store. There was something about hearing this album before they got over-hyped. The album is considered by many to be their best album and one of the best of the 00s. Happy 25th White Blood Cells!

July 9, 2001: Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP released

The self-titled debut EP from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was released in July 2001. I don’t know that I would call this their best album, but it definitely announced the group in a big way. The YYYs were formed in NYC in 2000 and were a part of the early 00s scene that The Strokes emerged from. The band was garage and indie rock like The Strokes, but there was an art rock edge they had that made them rise above all the others. The YYYs full-length debut album Fever to Tell wasn’t released for almost 2 years later, but this EP was enough to whet my appetite for what the band had up their sleeve. They are the greatest band to emerge out of the 00s and this is where it all began. Happy 25th YYYs!

July 30, 2001: Is This It released (in Australia)

The debut album from one of the great garage rock revivalists of the new millennium was released in July 2001 (August 27, 2001 for the U.S release that is)! The Strokes were part of the late 90s / early 00s wave of NYC rock (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were their peers) and a part of a back-to-basics rock sound that obliterated rap metal and nu metal that was popular at the time. Not one song on the album exceeded 4 min. They were so cool it almost made you feel cool just by listening to them. When I made my list of the Top Albums of 2001, I named this my #1 album of that year. The Strokes were a great band and I saw them live many times in 2003 and 2004. Their albums since have been mixed at best, but there is no denying that for one brief moment in the early 00s, The Strokes, along with YYY and The White Stripes were the top of the heap! Happy 25th Is This It!

[greensparty]

Donate to Jennifer Finch vs. Brain Cancer: It’s Time to Make Noise, organized by Aubree Miller

If you've followed Jennifer Precious Finch over the years, you… Aubree Miller needs your support for Jennifer Finch vs. Brain Cancer: It’s

Donate to Support Jennifer Finch

L7 bassist Jennifer Finch has been diagnosed with brain cancer and a GoFundMe has been set up to help Ms. Finch with medical expenses, treatment and recovery. According to this campaign:

The level of care Jennifer needs has gone beyond what friends and family can safely provide around the clock. As we face the difficult reality that Jennifer may have more good days behind her than ahead, we are asking for help to make the time she has with her friends, family, and fans as comfortable, meaningful, and full of love as possible.

We're raising funds to help cover:

Professional in-home nursing care, physical and speech therapy, medical equipment, and other essential care

Cover home-care expenses that will allow Jennifer to remain safely and comfortably at home

Recoup significant out-of-pocket medical expenses and legal fees

Preserve Jennifer’s legacy by creating an archive of her artistic and creative work

Completion of a significant creative project that was scheduled for release next year

The cost of giving Jennifer the care she needs is overwhelming, but it's what gives her the best chance for meaningful improvement while maintaining as much comfort, dignity, and independence as possible. These funds will also help to ensure Jennifer’s life work keeps making noise long after this moment.

Finch on bass

Here at Green’s Party, I’ve been lucky enough to witness what L7 has done since reuniting in 2014: I saw them live in 2016 (read my review here), reviewed the 2017 documentary L7: Pretend We’re Dead (read it here), got to review their 2019 reunion album Scatter the Rats (read it here), the 30th anniversary reissue of Smell the Magic and the 30th anniversary reissue of Bricks are Heavy. As I've mentioned before, the old boys club press of the early 90s that regarded L7 as “not bad for a girl band” missed the point entirely. L7 rocked harder than a lot of male bands at the time. Finch has been a vital part of the band's sound. While I did like some of the albums they released after she left the band in 1996 and prior to her return in 2014, she was an essential piece of the band's sound. Due to this diagnosis, she is sitting out L7's upcoming tour, but gave her blessing for the tour to continue without her.

L7 live at The Paradise on 8/11/16 with Finch far right

I just donated to this campaign and I encourage you to donate whatever you can and spread the word.

The link above is the GoFundMe campagin.

[greensparty]

Sam Neill, Actor in ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Piano,’ Dies at 78

The pride of New Zealand and Australia also starred in ‘My Brilliant Career,’ ‘Dead Calm,’ ‘In the Mouth of Madness,’ ‘The Final Conflict’ a

Remembering Sam Neil 1947-2026

Actor Sam Neil has died at 78. His biggest role was as Grant, the lead paleontologist in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Jurassic Park. While the dinosaurs were clearly the star of that film (and the sequels), Grant had an interesting arc in that he didn't want to have children and then he is the one protecting the kids. Grant returned in Jurassic Park III (one of the underrated sequels) and Jurassic World Dominion. The later wasn't a great sequel, but it was cool to see the older cast mix with the newer cast.

Neil on right with a dinosaur in Jurassic Park

Other notable films he did included The Hunt for Red October and as an actor playing Odin in the Thor movies including Thor: Love and Thunder.

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.