The Holy Or The Broken by Alan Light
The Holy Or The Broken traces the history of a single song—“Hallelujah,” written by Leonard Cohen and originally recorded in 1984, with a chorus that invokes the Messiah and the holiday season and verses about struggles with more worldly desires. read more
Found in: Books, ReviewsT.I.: Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head
Two winters ago, T.I. went away on a parole violation. His parting gift: No Mercy, an overstaffed slog that wasted Kanye West and Scarface in the first 10 minutes alone. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsLes Misérables
The film features excellent singing, for the most part, but it also emphasizes fragility in a work that’s largely defined by its grandiosity. read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsThis Is 40
Judd Apatow might just be the dirtiest moralizer in all of Hollywood. His comedies boast some of the foulest language and humor of their genre, but, at the same time, they celebrate traditional religious values. While this may seem like a contradiction, it’s what makes Apatow’s body of work so unique and pertinent, as the director conveys timeless truths using a coarse modern vernacular. This Is 40, a loose sequel to Apatow’s Knocked Up and the latest example of Apatow’s values-based story-telling, tells the simple yet emotionally complex story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s wife), who... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsJack Reacher
As they say in sensationalist movie-poster-speak, “Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher.” Except in this case, that should perhaps be amended to “Tom Cruise is only kind of Jack Reacher.” The straight-laced megastar is, frankly, miscast as our eponymous hero, an ex-military policeman turned vigilante/detective who lives off the grid. Of course, this is not news to fans of the popular book series by Lee Child, who have been grumbling since Cruise first signed on. These days, the lamentations of the devoted are as expected as they are usually unfounded, but in this case they have a point. While Cruise... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsUnder Defeat HD Review (PlayStation 3)
Game designer and critic Tim Rogers reviews the HD rerelease of cult shoot-'em-up Under Defeat. read more
Found in: Games, ReviewsOn the Road
Adapting Jack Kerouac’s On The Road for the big screen has been a long time coming, and it was only a matter of whom would possess the courage—and perhaps a dash of martyrdom—to do so. Finally, Walter Salles has taken a shot at the long-deemed-unfilmable novel, and as would have been the case regardless the director, the film is going to garner a wide array of reactions. To Kerouac fans: proceed with caution. The authenticity of the film’s Beat flavor is mild at best. To everyone else: don’t look too deep, and the sexy surface will entertain marvelously for a... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsZero Dark Thirty
Chastain has a sort of gritty elegance as Maya, an intelligence operative who begins her assignment in 2003 a little green around the edges, and ends it in 2011 as a tough, semi-obsessed expert. read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsMice and Mystics Review (Board Game)
Charlie Hall explores the board game Mice and Mystics, which offers a simplified take on standard RPG conventions. read more
Found in: Games, ReviewsThe Hour Review: "Episode Four" (Episode 2.04)
With only two more installments left, The Hour brought several of its simmering plotlines to a boil in its fourth hour. read more
Found in: TV, Reviews
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