This week we watched the movie Fall starring Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and directed by Scott Mann (Heist).
Brent’s review – “OK, so this is a tough one to review. It kept me entertained, and the premise was fun. Basically, two girls climb to the top of a supertall tower and get stuck at the top with no way down. The problem is, the girls are pretty dumb, and it pretty much rips off all the same plot and twists from 47 Meters Down, so I can’t give it a great review but is a fun watch. 7/10?”
Beth’s review – “Brent summed this movie up perfectly. I spent a lot of time in this movie commenting on all the better decisions they could have made, but at the same time I wondered if one of them was going to fall. I will rank it a little less because if you want to watch this type of movies, pick the one with sharks. 6 out of 10.”
Up next we watched Speak No Evil, starring Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, and Fedja van Huet and directed by Christian Tafdrup (A Horrible Woman).
Beth’s review – “This movie also had some bad decision making, but the plot of this was unique which made it more enjoyable to me. This is a horror movie, but not so much a scream out loud one, but more of a deep inner chill in what happens. If you watch this movie and the 1988 movie The Vanishing it will really make you question going on vacation. 9 out of 10.”
Brent’s review – “Both our movies this week were “what would we do in that situation” movies. While my belief that I could slide down the tower in the movie above like a giant fire pole would probably result in me dying, I’m sure that I would have faired better than the family in this movie. I’d like to talk to somebody that went into this not knowing anything about it. 8 out of 10.”
It’s birthday season in our house! Up first, Dean turned six years old this week. Dean is still an easy going kid, who likes to take his time making decisions and doing things in general. His favorite things right now are video games, curling up for a show or movie, wrestling, and playing Uno or other board/card games. He picked to have his birthday party at the Roller Dome, and invited a lot of his friends, with almost everybody he invited showing up. (Thanks Ben, Tyler, Leah, Oliver, Braeden, Sam, Elise, Charlie, and Simon!) He also picked out two dinners this week, first was Wild Crab with just his parents and siblings, and later Red Lobster with his grandparents (notice a theme?). We found out we are 3 for 3 on our kids loving snow crab. Presley also had her first birthday celebration a few days early, getting to open her first presents and eat birthday cake, more on her next week.
We’re also slow blogging this month as in addition to our normal busy lives, Cliff had hockey tournaments the last two weekends. Two weeks ago, Cliff played 8 games of hockey over the weekend, with his teams winning 7 of 8 games, including a game Cliff played goalie and impressed everybody watching with his great play in a big victory. There was no championship at that tournament, but if there were we think we would have won. This weekend, his Force team had another tournament, and Cliff’s team played 7 games of hockey. Officially, they finished 4 wins, 2 losses and a tie, with the last loss in the championship game. However, that game had referee miscount the goals and should have ended in a tie. All of the parents were mad and the kids were sad, as who knows how it would have ended if they’d kept playing.
We’re continuing our 2022 recap this week with our top 10 songs of 2022. We starting doing this ranking last year, then worked our way back through multiple other years in the following months (which you can find here).
Honorable Mentions: Spoon – Wild, Goose – Moonrise, Hatchie – Quicksand, The 1975 – I’m In Love With You, Eels – Learning While I Lose
10. Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
Beth’s thoughts – “We initially had this song just out of our top 10, but both of our boys said we were crazy and it should be in the top 10. This is one of her most popular songs. I think it definitely grows on you the more and more you listen to it. (Check out the real video on youtube, which Vevo doesn’t let us link to.)”
9. Zach Bryan – No Cure
Brent’s thoughts – “There were a lot of great songs on this double album, but we liked this one the best. It’s one of the most upbeat tracks on the album, and kind of reminds of something Seven Mary Three would have done twenty years ago.”
8. Sam Outlaw – For the Rest Of Our Lives
Beth’s thoughts – “I definitely like this song a little more than Brent, but I can play my girl card once in a while. This is a catchy little love song that makes you want to sing along.”
7. Prince Daddy and the Hyena – El Dorado
Brent’s thoughts – “This was a band we discovered from listening to Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen’s music podcast Indiecast. The last few years we’ve made a list of all the bands they recommended on there and tried out at least one song from each of them and bought roughly our top ten we enjoyed to try out. Hope you all like this one that was one of our favorite songs we found from that process.”
6. Weezer – A Little Bit of Love
Beth’s Thoughts – “Weezer put out 4 extended play records this year, one for each season. This definitely sounds like a Weezer song so if you can go along with older Weezer then you will like it. It is upbeat and has some catchy lyrics. I like having some positivity mixed in my day and this song does it for me.”
5. Gang Of Youths – In the Wake of Your Leave
Brent’s thoughts – “This was another band we discovered from Steven Hyden’s music recommendations (great writer, check out his books or columns on Uproxx.com). This band seems like they should be bigger, as their music is really polished, catchy, and their videos are fun.”
4. Panic! at the Disco – Don’t Let the Light Go Out
Beth’s thoughts – “This Panic! at the Disco is just a great rock song. The guitar at the intro at the beginning along with the vocals and catchy chorus all come together perfectly in this song.”
3. Mandy Moore – Four Moons
Brent’s thoughts – “Mandy Moore’s put out two great albums in the last two years, working with her husband Taylor Goldsmith (frontman of the amazing band Dawes). It’s some of her best music, and hearing these songs live in Nashville made us dig them even more. There were three tracks we debated from her new album, but ended up picking this one. (Check out the real video on youtube, which Vevo doesn’t let us link to.”
2. Bowling for Soup – Getting Old Sucks
Beth’s thoughts – “This is one of our boys favorite songs and they are randomly putting it on themselves. This song has the same fun punk rock sound that Bowling for Soup is known for. Brent and I also think some of the lyrics hit pretty close because we are getting old and you know what, it sucks. (Check out the real video on youtube, which Vevo doesn’t let us link to.”
1. Avril Lavigne – All I Wanted
Brent’s thoughts – “The top two spots on this list go to bands that have been around since we were much younger, putting out new music that sounds just as good and fun as their older stuff. The top song is Avirl Lavigne with Mark Hoppus (from Blink-182) doing a simple, kick-ass punk song that sounds like both of them still nailing it as good as they ever have.”
Rock N Jazz 