TV Detail: Heroes review. Episode 305 "Angels and Monsters"
Heroes, angels, monsters, villains. This season, you can simply call them all the Heroes pawns in a game none of us quite understands yet. In one corner, you have The Company with Angela Patrelli, her three sons (Nathan, who's having a theological crisis of sorts; Syler, who's just trying to be good for mommy; and Peter, who's basically the new Syler now that he's taken his brother's power and the hunger that goes along with it), plus Mr. Horn-Rimmed Glasses Noah Bennet and, at least for the moment, his adopted daughter (and Angela's granddaughter) Claire.... read more
TV Detail: True Blood review. Episode 6—Cold Ground
Death is not unusual on TV, particularly on a show about vampires and serial killers. Already in True Blood, we've lost two waitresses, two petty criminals and a beloved grandmother. The first four passed with hardly a notice beyond the accompanying gossip about who might have caused it and whether or not they'd been sleeping with vampires. But the sixth episode is full of the weight of grieving a loved one, an emotion rarely explored on the small screen.... read more
SNL: Weekend Update Thursday premiere review
If you were to take Saturday Night Live during the election season, remove all the skits that aren't funny (meaning all of them but the opener) and the mostly uninspired musical guests, you'd be left with SNL's Weekend Update Thursday—the best idea Lorne Michaels has had in years. Even without a guest appearance by Sarah Palin—I mean, Tina Fey—the show had plenty of laughs. In the opening debate, both Obama and McCain deliver straight talk to questioner Bill Murray about how the Cubs won't ever win the pennant, much less The World Series.... read more
TV Detail: Life on Mars review—series premiere on ABC
The latest British import to hit American network TV is a cop show with a twist. In the original Life on Mars, which aired Stateside on BBC America the last two years, detective Sam Tyler is hit by a car in the year 2006 and wakes up in his beloved Manchester, U.K., in 1973, not knowing how or why he got there, whether he's traveled through time, lying in a hospital bed in coma and dreaming of the past, or just plain crazy. Like AMC's Mad Men, the show explored sexism and abuse of power, but Life on Mars was... read more
Call+Response: The most important film you'll see this year
OK, I'm not usually one for hyperbole, but I'm sure the 27 million people living in slavery right now might forgive a little drama. Call+Response is a wonderfully entertaining and enlightening film about the plight of modern-day slaves, from child soldiers in Uganda to child sex workers here in the U.S. It includes musical performances by Moby, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Switchfoot, Rocco DeLuca, Justin Dillon, Talib Kweli, Emmanuel Jal and Five for Fighting—and Dr. Cornal West steals the show. If you live in Atlanta it's showing at Midtown Cinemas and Le Font Theaters Oct. 9 - 16.... read more
Your Wednesday Morning YouTube Break
Courtesy of Paste senior contributing writer Reid Davis, here are three of the mostest awesomest videos in all of YouTube-dom...A modern-day update to the Airplane scene, "I speak jive," but with an unfortunate conclusion.... read more
Eddie's Attic Open Mic Night
I'm wired with a sometimes inexplicable optimism. It's what makes me check what's on the radio before popping in a CD in my car or visiting some band's MySpace page if the press release they emailed me looks interesting enough. So, from time to time, I enjoy a good open mic night, and in Atlanta, that means Eddie's Attic. I went last night to support my friend and Paste's books editor Charles McNair. Dressed in all black he sang his pair of literate, heartbreaking songs with all the passion and intensity an arena performance might have warranted. So did many... read more
TV Detail: Heroes review. Episode 304 "I Am Become Death"
The star of Season 3 definitely seems to be the hubris of our heroes. First Hiro, bored without a mission, creates one of his own by ignoring his father's single command as clearly as Adam in the garden of Eden. Now, it's Peter Petrelli's turn to play Anakin Skywalker. With all his constant whining, I'd always figured him for a Luke. But in Epsiode 304, he recklessly veers towards the dark side in an effort to save the world. Like Henry Paulson or Ben Bernanke, when catastrophe looms, the hero urge makes "doing something" irresistable, even if the cure might... read more
Paste-apalooza: Recent performances at the Paste Studios
Today, Matt Morris stopped by the studio at our Paste headquarters here in Decatur, Ga., around 11 a.m., followed an hour later by Joan Osborne (above), who played a powerful rendition of The Grateful Dead's "Brokedown Palace" as well as three of her originals. This feels about par for the course over the past few weeks, as our multi-media producer Kevin Keller has been working like a madman.... read more
TV Detail: True Blood review. Episode 5 "Sparks Fly Out"
After an uneven start, True Blood's fifth episode is the best yet. Bill Compton's (Stephen Moyer) talk to a gathering of the Daughters of the Confederacy (along with the rest of the town's most curious citizens) stirs up old memories, and a flashback reveals his vampiric origins. When his Louisiana regiment was broken up during the Civil War, Compton struck through the woods to return to Bon Temps and his wife and two children. But after proving his fidelity in the shack of a beautiful young widow, he's rewarded with a bite to the neck.... read more
TV Detail: Sanctuary review—Series premiere
Science fiction used to be nothing more than a novelty on Television, making periodical appearances in each decade since Buck Roger and Flash Gordon debuted in the 1950s. Not so much, anymore. Tonight, two sci-fi series premiered head-to-head, The Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sci-Fi's Sanctuary. Both shows promised unique visuals: the video-game interstitial cut-scene feel of The Clone Wars and the CGI environments of Sanctuary. The latter was filmed almost entirely on green screen with the scenery added in afterwards. The strategy allows for a show that was originally designed for the Internet boast a setting... read more
Biden vs. Palin in Kung-Fu Election!
Just in time for tonight's debate between Sen. Joe Biden (D) and Gov. Sarah Palin, Atom.com has added the vice-presidential candidates to Kung-Fu Election. Having played as Biden, I can only tell the senator that ducking and upper-cuts seemed to work best. His super-gabbing mouth wasn't all that effective. And watch out for the governor's hockey blade and moose-hunting gun. Alas, all that wasn't enough as the Barracuda took me down in two rounds. Democrats better hope that the real Biden fares better tonight.... read more
Reeperbahn Festival Wrap-Up: TVOTR, The Constantines & Lykke Li
In Hamburg, the yardstick for conquering the Reeperbahn is concluding your Saturday night with a trip down to the Fish Market after it opens at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. So when I began walking through the stalls of vendors selling rows of eels, fruit baskets and St. Pauli soccer T-shirts, it was with a feeling of accomplishment. Credit my body's complete confusion about time zones, comraderie among foreign journalists or the knowledge that if I went back to my hotel room, I never would have made it back up for our final tour in the German city.... read more
TV Detail: Heroes review. Episode 3.2—"One of Us, One of Them"
In the third season of Heroes, everything is changing. Hiro has gone from savior of the world to comically inept. Nathan Petrelli has turned from a womanizing hypocrite to a good-hearted devout believer. The innocent cheerleader Claire is now angry and vengeful. Nikki is dead, but her twin lives. And the psychotic Syler is now Mr. Hornrim's new partner trying to catch the rest of the villains. Only Peter Petrelli is the same mix of naive good guy and annoying ball of angst, but those two mood swings have been split into two people—present Peter and future Peter.... read more
TV Detail: Fringe review. Episode 4—The Arrival
Fringe needed its enigmatic figure, and The Observer (Michael Cerveris) fits that bill quite nicely. Bald with no eyebrows. Impeccably dressed. Likes his roast beef sandwiches with precisely 11 jalepeños, though claims he wouldn't much be able to taste Dr. Bishop's rootbeer float. Present at three dozen instances of the pattern. Doesn't seem to age. Oh, and he can read Peter Bishop's thoughts.... read more
Reeperbahn Festival Day 2: Bon Iver follows The Beatles to Hamburg
When I think of the Beatles, I usually don't think of Hamburg, but that's apparently due to my own ignorance. After my Beatles tour today (complete with ukulele covers of "My Life" and "Shake it Up Baby" by our guide Stephanie), I know better. The Fab Four played their first gig as "The Beatles" at The Indra, a tiny club along The Reeperbahn, Hamburg's Red Light District. They weren't any good, but after playing well over 100 shows at Kaiser Keller and The Star Club, sometimes until 7 a.m., they learned how to entertain. The area is still a mix... read more
Sacred Harp in a strange setting
No one has done more to help revive Sacred Harp singing among a younger generation than two of the men at the Earl in East Atlanta this past Monday night—filmmaker Matt Hinton and musician Tim Eriksen. Hinton's film Awake, My Soul traces the history of America's oldest original musical tradition and the way it's thriving in pockets of the South. The original soundtrack features traditional renditions of old Sacred Harp (also called Shape-Note) tunes. But the Earl showcase was a release party for the second album associated with the film, this one featuring a variety of artists (Richard Buckner, Doc... read more
Reeperbahn Festival Day 1: Sleepless in Hamburg
I was born in Munich back when it was still called West Germany, just after Kraftwerk had released their first album. My dad had taken a job there, but we moved back to the States before my second birthday. The only things that hinted at a European genesis for me were an early love of Gummi Bears, a set of rubber Schlumpf figurines before friends had ever heard of Smurfs, and later on, a hatred for crappy American beer. It took me more than 30 years to return to the country of my birth.... read more
TV Detail: Fringe review. Episode 3—The Ghost Network
Fox has paired its new show Fringe on Tuesday nights with House, and each show's best character is a somewhat misanthropic doctor. Both are played by foreign actors—Dr. House by Englishman Hugh Laurie and Dr. Bishop by Australian John Noble. Laurie's character is among the surliest anti-heroes on TV since E.R.'s Dr. Rocket Romano was abusing everyone he came in contact with. His bedside manner can best be summed up by words like "mocking," "cruel" and "uncaring." But even he never implanted human test subjects' blood with a metallic compound that would years later intercept transmissions through a biological communications... read more
TV Detail: Heroes Review. Season 3 Premiere "Villains"
Heroes looked to put its sophomore slump behind it and return to its first season greatness last night. Aside from last year’s additions of Maya (Dania Ramzírez) and Elle (Kristen Bell), it also looked like a return to the original cast and, to some extent, the original plot (save the planet from a future giant explosion). Despite the fact that the first half of the new season is called “Villains,” the two episodes that aired back-to-back last night, “The Second Coming” and “The Butterfly Effect” relied on Sylar as the bad guy until the jailbreak towards the end.But even with... read more
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