On Saturday, let us all wish a very happy birthday to Elvis Presley, my brother Joey and, especially, to David Bowie. I can’t believe the Thin White Duke is 64. I have a clipping in my Bowie scrapbook with the caption “David Bowie, 36.” I guess time is waiting in the wings for all of […]

Steve Carell, Paul Rudd provide plenty of laughs

In 2007, Jason Spooner released “The Flame You Follow,” and to this day, it remains one of my favorites — and I don’t just mean from a local musician. So when he sent me a copy of “Sea Monster,” I wondered if lightning could strike twice. Two songs in, I had my answer and made […]

Filmmakers need money. No matter how artistically pure or staunchly anti-commercial they are, every filmmaker needs money to make their dream film anything more than a carefully printed screenplay stuck in a dusty drawer. The stories in indie film are legends: Robert Rodriguez selling his body (for medical experiments) to finance “El Mariachi”; Kevin Smith […]

Top 10 for Portland store — Dec. 27-Jan. 1 1. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” (DVD) 2. Mumford and Sons, “Sigh No More” 3. Nicki Minaj, “Pink Friday” 4. Kanye West, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” 5. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, “Grace Potter and the Nocturnals” 6. “The Town” (DVD) 7. Florence and the Machine, “Lungs” […]