The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me
Mediocre mewling Soft pop—good soft pop—has a place in the world. Not every song must electrify. But The Watson Twins make Norah Jones sound like Sharon Jones. They make She & Him sound like Ike & Tina. Their spectacularly boring new album has so little dynamic variance that it literally pains the ear.... read more
24 Review: "10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m." (Episode 8.7)
Don't say I didn't warn you a week ago. Poor unstable Renee was due for an explosion of unruly proportions. You knew she was a bit unhinged when she sliced off the thumb of that goofy low-level guy at the end of the fourth hour. Then, after she infiltrated Vladimir's crew and she was forced to endure his drunken violent bouts of sexual aggression, you could just see it in her eyes. Sadness, depression, recklessness--yes, but with a pinch of pride. And there it is. About three quarters into the episode, the action and intensity begins to pick up after... read more
Hot Chip: One Life Stand
Electro-pop quintet’s latest dancefest runs hot and cold Hot Chip has always embraced paradox, juxtaposing masterfully crafted computerized tunes with heartfelt expressions of love, anger and melancholy. On the group’s fourth LP, a contradiction of substance emerges, and some of the band’s most brilliant compositions to date sit side-by-side with some of its dullest.... read more
The Last Station Review
Release Date: Jan. 15 Director: Michael Hoffman Writers: Michael Hoffman (Screenplay), Jay Parini (Novel) Starring: James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti Cinematographer: Sebastian Edschmid Studio/Run Time: Egoli Tossell Film. 110 mins. Tolstoy’s final war Despite its wandering backstory and revisionist depiction of a germinating religious movement helmed by one of the greatest authors of the 20th century, The Last Station features brilliant performances by both Christopher Plummer as the aged Leo Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as Sofya, his long suffering wife and working partner of 48 years.... read more
Dear John Review
Release Date: Feb. 5 Director: Lasse Hallström Writers: Jamie Linden (screenplay), Nicholas Sparks (novel) Cinematographer: Terry Stacey Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas Studio/Run Time: Sony Screen Gems, 105 mins. There is nothing misleading about a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. For the past decade, titles like The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe and Message in a Bottle unabashedly wielded the looks of love (and two more of his novels are in studio development). The trend continues with Dear John, a romantic tale of love found, love lost and love stupidly... read more
30 Rock Review: "Verna" (4.12)
For quite some time, 30 Rock has seemed content to spin its wheels as far as character development goes. Sure, the show’s undergone some changes due to episode arcs, like my much-hated Dealbreakers one late last year, but its characters have remained pretty well entrenched in their basic roles; at their worst moments, nearly to the point of self-parody. The show’s mantra could in some sense be summed up by Jack Donaghy in last night’s episode: “People don’t change.”... read more
Harvey Milk: Harvey Milk
Return of a lost sludgepunk opus Among doom-metal bands, Harvey Milk is Squirrel Bait, the undersung journeymen revered by their peers and overlooked by the scene’s Sunday drivers. They were the first and scruffiest in an indie-metal lane now densely populated with enlightened plodders like Isis, Pelican, Torche and Kylesa.... read more
Community Review: "Romantic Expressionism" (1.15)
“Ok, we need to hatch a scheme.” That was the defining line of last night’s episode of Community, which as usual does a great job illustrating both how the show embraces sit-com tropes while nonetheless belittling these formulas as absurd. How often in your life have you ever hatched a scheme? Aside from a couple really odd friends of mine, I’ve never seen this sort of behavior in reality, let alone any other type of fiction. Within sit-coms, though, scheming is only natural and in some shows happens on an almost week-to-week basis. Aside from the Simpsons, though (which is... read more
Army of Two: The 40th Day Review (Xbox 360)
Developer: EA Montreal Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 It takes two to make a thing go right Videogames, much like French kissing, ping pong or tandem bicycles, are usually best enjoyed with a friend. Fortunately that’s pretty much the entire premise behind Army of Two: The 40th Day, a game whose single-player campaign is moderately entertaining, but earns bullet-riddled props as a cooperative multiplayer experience.... read more
A Town Called Panic Review
Release Date: Out Now Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar Writers: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar Starring: Stéphane Aubier, Franco Piscopo, Vincent Patar, Jeanne Balibar Studio/Run Time: Zeitgeist Films, 75 mins. Delightful stop-motion throwback makes serious forward progress With the success of shows like Robot Chicken on Adult Swim and The Fantastic Mr. Fox on the big screen, there’s been a renewed interest in the world of stop-motion animation. And so, from Belgium A Town Called Panic arrives, a delightfully wacky story about a small rural community inhabited by toy figurines who are unpolitically-incorrectly integrated; where Cowboy, Indian and Horse can... read more
Modern Family Review: "Moon Landing" (1.14)
Usually, I devote much of these TV write-ups to following an episode’s various plot threads and describing how they each develop and eventually resolve. It’s a somewhat formulaic, simplistic view of things, but so is TV; and for the most part, this usually allows me to run through all the points I want to make about an episode. Any explanation of what made last night’s episode of Modern Family great, though, is really lessened by that kind of analysis - its story heads in all sorts of directions, mostly without any sort of hierarchy, and still comes together effortlessly. It's not... read more
Lindstrøm & Christabelle: Real Life is No Cool
Masterful techno producer buffs up his pop chops on new collaboration Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm’s thrilling space disco is endlessly versatile. On 2008’s Where You Go I Go Too, it stretched out for psychedelic miles. On recent Prins Thomas collaboration II, it contorted into prog and funk. And on Real Life is No Cool, with vocalist Christabelle (familiar to fans as Solale from a couple Lindstrøm singles), it compresses into baroque electronic pop.... read more
Saint John of Las Vegas Review
Release Date: Jan. 29 Director: Hue Rhodes Writer: Hue Rhodes (screenplay), Danti Alighieri (story) Starring: Steve Buscemi, Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson Cinematographer: Giles Nuttgens Studio/Run Time: IndieVest Pictures, 85 mins. Buscemi divine in Sin City comedy Steve Buscemi projects such a specific persona that it’s nearly impossible to see him as anything other than himself. Supporting in an impressive number of the last two decade’s best films (Miller’s Crossing, Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Big Fish), he’s either the weird, insecure, vaguely pathetic good guy or the weird, insecure, vaguely pathetic bad guy.... read more
Dawn Landes: Sweet Heart Rodeo
A little too sweet Let’s say you trust Brooklyn-via-Louisville singer/songwriter Dawn Landes when she says the title of her new album isn’t a nod to The Byrds’ 1968 country-rock classic. Fair enough—Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons and company certainly weren’t the first, and Landes won’t be the last, to equate the ups and down of life and love to the tumult of a bareback ride.... read more
Lost: Season Six Premiere Review
The final season of _Lost_ is now officially underway. read more
The Soft Pack: The Soft Pack
California quartet sports new name, old sound Familiarity often gets a bad rap in modern music. Granted, most every standard-issue rock ’n’ roll band will bring to the seasoned listener’s mind any number of previous standard-issue rock ’n’ roll bands, but incorporating one’s influences as opposed to simply aping them is a special kind of science.... read more
24 Review: "9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m." (Episode 8.6)
Wow, uncomfortable situations galore defined 24's sixth hour. A Russian mobster coercing an undercover agent into sex. A father coldly killing his dying son to pacify his other son. A white-trash ex-lover leading a CTU analyst astray. The creepy co-worker of that same analyst who just doesn't know how or when to quit. As the clock's seconds tick-tocked to 9:59:59, I half-expected Jerry Springer to close with his final thoughts and signature line, "Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other."... read more
Patti Smith: Just Kids
Bohemian Rhapsody Patti Smith made a promise to the celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe that she would one day write their story. Now, twenty years after Mapplethorpe’s death to AIDS-related complications, Smith has kept her word, immortalizing their journey of innocent love and artistic pursuits amidst New York City’s bohemia in her memoir, Just Kids.... read more
Midlake: The Courage of Others
Shape-shifting Texas band takes hard left turn The disappointing thing about most Molly Hatchet albums—beside the fact that they’re horrible—is the blatant deception of their covers. During the band’s heyday, Hatchet album art featured a hulking, wide-eyed barbarian swinging a massive battleaxe as sinew and bits of bone fell about him like crimson snow. It was, in a word, badass. But when you dropped the needle, out came a sickening bilge of chuggin’ boogie blues and butt rock. The only thing hemorrhaging was your ears.... read more
Weeds: Season 5 DVD Review
DVD Release Date: Jan. 19 Creator: Jenji Kohan Starring: Mary-Louis Parker, Kevin Nealon, Justin Kirk, Elizabeth Perkins Studio/Length: Lions Gate Television. 286 minutes Dynamic fixture of TV comedy continues to grow The sly creative energy that crackles through every season of Weeds gives the series a light, easygoing veneer, the sense that it’s in no particular rush to get anywhere. But as a matter of craft and sheer endurance, it has proven itself one of the canniest shows on the air. Early this season, the characters seemed to be tangled in the past—Nancy uses a pregnancy to ward off... read more
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