Arts & Entertainment
We Didn't Start the Fire
Catch a Fire tells the true story of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke), a South African terrorist who joins the African National Congress (ANC) only because he is falsely accused of already having done so.
Press Play, Playa
Diddy and his Bad Boy camp taught hip-hop how to spend loot. Not some gambino-type Infiniti shit, I am talking Maybach shit.
Whacking Bush
At first glance Death of a President seems like an anarchist's dream: a mock documentary, set in 2008, which profiles the 2007 assassination of George W.
Badly Drawn Boy
Born in the U.K., the fifth album from Badly Drawn Boy (a.k.a. Damon Gough), sounds like a rock 'n' roll musical.
Bloody 'ell!
With a new album out and a national tour, Ben Kweller certainly is a busy fellow. Sacrificing valuable time for baby clothes shopping at a Cincinnati Old Navy, the one-man band takes a few moments to talk to Street about bloody noses, intellectual property, and even his music. Street: On your new album you play all the instruments yourself, was that something you planned on doing much prior to recording, or when exactly was that decision made? Kweller: It happened at the last minute.
Vote Mrs. Doubtfire in
Every week, a sizable number of young Americans tunes into The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and most have probably thought, at one point or another: "This guy should really get out of the whole late-night comedy thing and run for office." Stewart seems like the perfect candidate to some: his verbal whooping of Tucker Carlson on Crossfire proved his debating chops, and the rise of The Colbert Report gives him a natural running mate. Naturally, Hollywood is never too far behind, swooping in with Man of the Year to help indulge liberal fantasies.
Reviews
Chin Up Chin Up This Harness Can't Ride Anything Listening to This Harness Can't Ride Anything, the sophomore album from Chicago's Chin Up Chin Up, is much like a visit to the Midwest - forgettable. This Harness, recorded with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine), begins with promise.
Fairy Godfather
In the shadow of the massive success of his former band, Pixies frontman Frank Black has been diligently recording under his own name since 1993.
Tween flicks are for kids
In the adaptation of his novel Stormbreaker, screenwriter Anthony Horowitz desperately tries to combine the plot aspects of a James Bond movie and the humor of Austin Powers.
Where would Jesus camp?
Perhaps the most frightening movie Americans see this Halloween is neither Saw III nor The Grudge 2 but a documentary about evangelical Christians called Jesus Camp.
Betsy Palmer's triumphant return
As someone who has made a few horror films, Felix Diaz is a huge fan of the genre. A man who believes that such films give the viewer "something you can't get from real life," Diaz sought to give horror, sci-fi, fantasy and thriller films the credit they deserve.
Booty Rock
Featuring nothing but the gyrations of a particularly impressive female behind, the video for "Backyard Betty," Spank Rock's debut single, has a clear purpose: to get them asses shakin'. But the music is far from standard club hip-hop fare; in fact, the MC at the helm, 24-year-old Naeem Juwan, would rather avoid classification altogether. YoYoYoYoYo, Spank Rock's first full-length album, is a detailed collaborative effort: Naeem raps over beats ranging from Baltimore house to Hendrix, artfully layered by his childhood friend and producer, Alex "Armani XXXChange" Epton. Naeem attributes the eclecticism of the music to his move from Baltimore to Philly to become a Drexel student (and one-time Penn partygoer). "We come from Baltimore," he says, "and the cultures don't really mix up too much." Though early exposure to traditional hip-hop and the ecstatic phenomenon of 'B-more' club house continue to be profoundly influential on the pair, it primed Naeem for a musical awakening. "I really didn't know much about rock or punk or '80s, so when I went to Philly, things were a lot more diverse.
The truman show continues
In 1959, four members of a Kansas family were brutally murdered in their home. The gruesome killings inspired both a media frenzy and a literary classic, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Infamous illuminates the motivation behind the murders and Capote's coverage of the story.
Great Scot!
The Last King of Scotland is an intense political thriller that brings to life the mythical figure of 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker's performance as Amin mesmerizes.
Weird Science
Beck is a man known for wearing many hats at once. He has built his career upon shapeshifting, evading classification, seamlessly blending the unlikely with the illogical.
A Royal Flush
In an age when one can't swing a bat in a video store without hitting a biopic, it's easy to get sick of movies that chronicle the lives of famous people, no matter how interesting those lives may or may not have been.
Chinese Road Trip (Tom Green not Included)
In the Chinese film Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, acclaimed director Yimou Zhang (House of Flying Daggers; Hero) presents a compelling meditation on father-son relationships.
No Man is an Island
By all accounts, life on the road is nasty, brutish and long. And on the eve of a North American tour, Islands' Nick Diamonds is sick in a Toronto hotel room, speaking in low tones to protect his voice.
Home at Last
Political activism and artistic integrity go hand in hand," said a calm and composed Salim Washington over the phone from his New York office.
