Arts & Entertainment
The used
Considering The Used haven't released a new record since 2004, any release seems long-overdue. But it's unlikely that Berth, a live album, will satisfy fans like new material - especially with the bands next LP, originally set for release last year, postponed to April.
Armed and Hilarious
The venerable Reno, Nev. Sheriff's Department has been touring the country to spread the Washoe County brand of cheer and promote their new movie Reno 911!: Miami.
As Heard on TV
The Show: Scrubs The Song: Martin Sexton, "Diner" Anyone who has ever kept the Garden State soundtrack on repeat knows Zach Braff's knack for musical selection.
Ghostly bad
The Messengers is an all-too-predictable scare flick that relies primarily on loud noises and sudden gruesome images for fright value. The story: a family moves to a deserted sunflower farm in North Dakota hoping to make a fresh start and a sufficient living.
Weighing the Options
It's officially that time of the year again. The weather's getting colder, the days are getting shorter and it's getting tougher to muster the strength to walk to class (or to Smoke's) depending on your proclivities.
The Safes
There is nothing quite so cloying as the sound of a completely mediocre album. The Safes unleash Well, Well, Well on the world with nary a regard for hooks or cohesion.
You Tube of the Week
It's a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long-forgotten documentations of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
writer's bloc?
A successful debut LP can be a blessing or a curse. It can be the precursor of legitimate greatness or it can spell doom for a band's future with the weight of unachievable expectations (think of the wasted potential of The Libertines or The Stills). The real pressure for these groups lies on their second album, where they have so much more to lose. Bloc Party fans everywhere had been crossing off days on their calendars in anticipation of February 6th, the release date of the band's second studio album, A Weekend In The City.
Ana's Mitchell
On The Brightness, Ana's Mitchell's third album, the singer/songwriter demonstrates a welcome departure from her earlier, more mainstream-sounding efforts.
Still nutty after all these years
Norbit is Eddie Murphy's favorite form of cinematic masturbation. By acting as a variety of characters, the comedian gets to showcase his chameleon-like ability to play to any stereotype thrown his way.
Youtube clip of the week
It's a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long-forgotten documentations of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
Bloody awful
In the ignominious tradition of Alone in the Dark, American actress Agnes Bruckner and German director Katja von Grenier have banded together to create one of the year's worst films with Blood and Chocolate. The plot is a simple boy-meets-girl, girl's-family-keeps-them-apart premise.
What's Gotta Give?
Everybody needs a passion. I have many - most of them somewhat irrational. For instance, I still believe I will end up with Lance Bass.
Engineering a career
The last thing you might expect to come out of the School of Engineering is an R&B album. But you probably haven't heard of Tara Betterbid, aka taragirl. Although taragirl refers to her sound as "organic R&B," someday her name could be added to the Philly soul pantheon, alongside Patti LaBelle, Jill Scott and Jaguar Wright.
DON'T ASK ME WHY
"Happiness is a choice," says overbearing Daphne to her youngest daughter Milly in Because I Said So.
Reviews
Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs Recording an album around the success of a cover of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" sure has a way of affecting a band's sound.
Music Reviews
norah jones Not Too Late If you're the type to sit on a New York City bench at sunrise, writing poetry and listening to music, then Norah Jones is the musician for you.
ACEs wild
There is so much blood in Smokin' Aces that Joe Carnahan makes Quentin Tarantino look like a pansy. Writer-director Joe Carnahan (Narc) weaves together a story about bloodthirsty, money-hungry hitmen trying to take down Vegas entertainer Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven) before he can snitch on his Mob contacts to the Feds (Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds). The dialogue is as fast and dirty as the gunplay in a film that is darkly funny and, funnily enough, somewhat serious, too.
