VidVues/Tom's Picks
Tom Von Malder
Tom Von Malder of Owls Head has reviewed music since 1972, just after graduation from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He has reviewed videos/DVDs since 1988. His columns, VidVues and Tom's Picks, have been a fixture in The Courier-Gazette since 1979. He also writes about television and books on occasion.
Additional Column Posts (1 - 20 of 163) Next Page
Live concerts from Jethro Tull, New Order and tribute efforts
By Tom Von Malder - Jun 13Owls Head - Jethro Tull: A: A La Mode The 40th Anniversary Edition (1980, Chrysalis, 3 CDs + 3 DVDs). No one would ever call “A” a very good Jethro Tull ...
Go-Go’s, Numan and Hatfield
By Tom Von Malder - Jun 01Owls Head - The Go-Go's: God Bless the Go-Go's (2001, Eagle Records, CD or vinyl). Twenty years ago, 23 years after the all-female band formed in Los Angeles ...
Oscar winners: ‘The Father,’ ‘Minari’
By Tom Von Malder - May 24Owls Head - The Father (Sony Pictures Classics, Blu-ray or DVD, PG-13, 97 min.). Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, writer-director ...
One great performance in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
By Tom Von Malder - May 07Owls Head - Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros., Blu-ray or DVD, R, 126 min.). Daniel Kaluuya brings intensity to his portrayal of Fred Hampton, leader ...
Revisiting ‘The Who Sell Out’
By Tom Von Malder - Apr 23Owls Head - The Who: The Who Sell Out, Super Deluxe Edition (UMC/Polydor, 5 CDs, 2 7-inch singles). The Who's third studio album, originally released in ...
Skynyrd live, MacGowan examined
By Tom Von Malder - Apr 11Owls Head - Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 (Eagle Rock, Blu-ray + CD or DVD + CD or limited edition 2LP + DVD, NR, 165 min.). On Aug. 21, 1976, Lynyrd ...
‘News of the World’ and two other road trips
By Tom Von Malder - Mar 29Owls Head - News of the World (Universal, Blu-ray or DVD, PG-13, 118 min.). “News of the World,” directed and co-written by Paul Greengrass, is a meticulously-...
‘Promising Young Woman’ shakes the revenge genre
By Tom Von Malder - Mar 14Owls Head - Promising Young Woman (Universal, Blu-ray or DVD, R, 113 min.). Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan of “Inside Llewyn Davis”) has a strange habit. She ...
A sequel, a reboot and terror in the sky
By Tom Von Malder - Mar 01Owls Head - The Croods: A New Age (Universal, Blu-ray or DVD, PG, 96 min.). Seven years after the original movie, one's second favorite Stone Age family – ...
Vince Vaughn has ‘Freaky’ fun
By Tom Von Malder - Feb 19Owls Head - Freaky (Universal, Blu-ray or standard DVD, R, 102 min.). “Freaky,” directed by Christopher Landon, who co-wrote the script with Michael Kennedy, ...
Open ‘The Vault’ to an interesting caper
By Tom Von Malder - Jun 08Owls Head - The Vault (Spain, Paramount, DVD, R, 118 min.). While “The Vault” may not offer characters with a lot of depth, the execution of their robbery of ...
Not enough T&J in ‘Tom & Jerry: The Movie’
By Tom Von Malder - May 30Owls Head - Tom & Jerry: The Movie (Warner Bros., Blu-ray or DVD, PG, 101 min.). There are a few moments of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon Tom & Jerry fun in ...
Neeson slows down in ‘Marksman’
By Tom Von Malder - May 16Owls Head - The Marksman (Universal, Blu-ray or DVD, PG-13, 108 min.). For a film called “The Marksman,” there is remarkable very little shooting until the ...
Dawn of the New Romantics
By Tom Von Malder - May 02Owls Head - Classix Nouveaux: The Liberty Recordings 1981-83 (Cherry Red, 4 CDs). About the time Classix Nouveaux released their first album, “Night People” ...
Hercules and ‘70s exploitation flicks
By Tom Von Malder - Apr 18Owls Head - Hercules and the Captive Women (Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide) aka Hercules Conquers Atlantis (Italy, 1963, The Film Detective, Blu-ray, NR, ...
Jackie Chan vehicle out-actions Wonder Woman
By Tom Von Malder - Apr 05Owls Head - Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros., 4K + Blu-ray or Blu-ray + DVD, PG-13, 151 min.). There are things to like in “WW84,” especially the prologue and ...
Classics refreshed: Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens
By Tom Von Malder - Mar 21Owls Head - Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell: Deluxe Edition (1980, Rhino/Warner Records, 2 CDs). When Ozzy Osbourne was booted from Black Sabbath in 1979 for ...
Blackmore’s Night, Roxette + Bob Marley
By Tom Von Malder - Mar 07Owls Head - Blackmore's Night: Nature's Light (ear Music CD). On March 12, Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night will release their 11th studio album as ...
‘Lady Sings the Blues’ and other musical Blu-ray debuts
By Tom Von Malder - Feb 22Owls Head - Lady Sings the Blues (1972, Paramount, Blu-ray, R, 143 min.). Shortly after she left The Supremes and went solo, Motown Records founder Berry ...
Band’s ‘Stage Fright’ revisited
By Tom Von Malder - Feb 12Owls Head - The Band: Stage Fright 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (1970, Capitol/UMe, LP, 7-inch, 2 CDs + Blu-ray). “Stage Fright” was The Band's third ...
