Arts & Entertainment
Defibrillator: Deerhoof
Deerhoof Milk Man 2004 Maybe it’s their San Francisco sensibility that makes Deerhoof’s harshest moments sound soothing.
Riding The Lightning
The joy of Of Montreal used to be found in the fact that they didn’t take themselves seriously. Their unashamedly upbeat, poppy style was complemented by inane lyrics and simple song constructs, forming the ultimate peppy guilty pleasure music.
Phila Phunk Punk
Brown Recluse Sings www.myspace.com/brownreclusesings If the members of Belle and Sebastian dropped acid with the guys from Elephant 6 somewhere before the turn of the century, the result would be the music of Brown Recluse Sings.
Man Vs. Machine
Since their 2006 release Ten Silver Drops, The Secret Machines have gone through a thorough process of renewal.
Guilty Pleasures: Election (1999)
Election 1999 Alright, technically Election isn’t a guilty pleasure. With a 93% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this brilliant satire is nothing if not a cult classic and critical darling.
Spare Change
It’s not difficult to tell when a film is fishing for an Oscar, and that effort sometimes pays off.
The Internet Is For Porn... When Kevin Smith Isn't Silent
Street: You had to appeal to the MPAA to overturn Zack and Miri’s original NC-17 rating. Did anything have to be edited out? KS: No.
Sinking Economy = More Porn Stars
Perhaps one of the most aptly named films to come along in a long time, Zack and Miri Make a Porno allows director and writer Kevin Smith to explore the tricky territory of “friends with benefits.” Best friends since forever, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Penn alum Elizabeth Banks) run into hard times and resort to the wonderful world of adult entertainment to keep themselves afloat.
Election Perfection
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Jimmy Stewart’s earnest depiction of a small-town man’s ascent to the Senate and his surprisingly tough stand against political corruption have captured the hearts of American moviegoers for nearly 70 years.
Forgotten Cinematic Masterpiece: City Lights (1931)
Few films in cinematic history have withstood the test of time better than Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.
Life Isn't Beautiful
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, based on the eponymous novel by John Boyne, recounts the tragedy of the Holocaust as filtered through the innocent screen of childhood naiveté. The plot centers on an eight-year-old German boy, Bruno (newcomer Asa Butterfield), whose father (David Thewlis) is put in charge of a Nazi death camp.
Guilty Pleasures: Xanadu
Xanadu 1980 I have a secret that threatens to destroy my credibility among my serious-theater friends: I cannot get enough of Xanadu.
Calling All Muses
Woody Allen + Diane Keaton The on- and offscreen sparks between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are redolent of a connection Scarlett Johansson can only dream about.
Defibrillator: The Libertines, "Up the Bracket" (2002)
By the time I entered high school, I was already months into the greatest love affair of my lifetime.
What Became of The Likely Lads?
The new millennium ushered in an awkward moment for British music. After 2000, most of the bands that epitomized '90s Britain were not producing new material.
Don't Let The Mirage Fool You
Oasis doesn’t release bad albums. Their work spans a range from good to great, and the band’s immense talent is almost always obvious in their tightly woven, upbeat pop-rock records.
Not The Change We Need
As a white Jewish boy from Boston, I’m an unlikely candidate to review West Coast rapper Murs’s latest release, Murs for President.
Trail Blazers
Trailers are more than the reason you can come 15 minutes late to a movie. A good preview can get an audience buzzing about a film months before its release, and a bad one can ensure that no one shows up on opening day.
Don't Worry, Bee Happy
A female-dominated cast in a coming-of-age story rife with racial intolerance and the search for identity are the perfect recipe for a total cheesefest.
