I’m not big on Hallmark holidays, so I’ll skip the Valentine’s Day stuff: I posted a song with love in the title yesterday, after all.

It’s a big parade day in New Orleans. My enthusiasm for Carnival 2026 remains restrained. I’ll be glad when it’s over, especially with people on my social media feeds using the term Deep Gras.  That literally means Deep Fat. In a word: Gross.

I’ve had this week’s theme song in my head since writing about Renee Good’s brothers. They’ve done their share of crying. The lone consolation is that her death made a difference. The smear tactics failed when Team MAGA dusted off the same playbook for the Alex Pretti murder.

I realize it’s unfashionable to be cautiously optimistic, but Project Dictator is on the ropes because of MAGA brutality and incompetence as well as the brave Minnesotans standing up for the rest of us. Thanks again, y’all.

Speaking of Minnesotans, Sister Cry was written by Mark Olson and Gary Louris for The Jayhawks 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall.

We’re adding an s to sister with these two songs: One is upbeat, the other was written by Richard Thompson who is rarely upbeat.

Our second act consists of two segments about movies.

The Sideways Effect: My countryman Alexander Payne’s 2004 film Sideways made Paul Giamatti an unlikely star. He played a cranky wine snob with a grudge against Merlot. After the movie became a hit there were rumors that it devastated the market for Merlot. It’s uncertain if this is true. Slate’s Willa Paskin investigates.

Giamatti’s character was never confronted with homemade fruity wine. I suspect he would have preferred to have his eyeballs pierced with needles rather than drink this:

Taxi Driver At 50: Taxi Driver began my lifelong passion for the films of Martin Scorsese. I saw it at least 5 times on the big screen during my misspent youth. It landed at #2 on my Martin Scorsese Dozen.

The dark and nearly demented mind behind Taxi Driver was not the director but screenwriter Paul Schrader. He recently sat for an interview with The Guardian’s David Smith. The headline says it all: ‘If I didn’t write about him, I’m afraid I might become him’: the making of Taxi Driver at 50.

Taxi Driver was the last score composed by the great Bernard Hermann, best known for Citizen Kane and his work with Alfred Hitchcock. The last word of our second act goes to Terence Blanchard:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth: I decided to skip movie casting this week in favor of this image of Ted Danson and Police drummer and CIA son, Stewart Copeland.

I wonder if Stewart ever sent Ted one of these:

Probably not.

Your Basic Basie: Count Basie recorded two albums of Beatles songs. This tune comes from the second one. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?

Classic Movie Trailer: Anyone surprised this was my pick? I would hope not.

Grading Time: I give Taxi Driver 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A. It’s a stone cold classic.

While we’re on the subject of stone cold classics, how about some Humble Pie?

Saturday GIF Horse: Paul Giamatti gets his wine snob on.

I don’t see any roses in the GIF, but what’s not to love about this Mancini-Mercer masterpiece?

Toon Time: I wrote about British politics the other day. Here’s The Guardian’s Ben Jennings take on Keir Starmer’s future.

Starmer is still hanging in there. Who wants to hang on the same wall as Boris Johnson?

Let’s close down this virtual jukebox with some more music.

Saturday Closer: Another week, another Tiny Desk Concert. This time, Chaka Khan.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese on the set of Taxi Driver.