falling out of love with the simpsons

I ask every Simpsons fan in my life the same question: How do you think the movie will be? They all have the same response: They grimace, fearing the worst. I'm the same way. The show hasn't been great in years, so it's hard to imagine that the movie won't be a embarrassing final nail in the coffin.

Ian Jones has a great piece in The Guardian about this shared dread among longtime fans. I imagine my friends will nod their head in agreement while reading this.

talk to me

Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor are both quite good in this filmic re-creation of the life of 1960s DJ Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene Jr., but the film itself follows the biopic conventions a little too generically.

Top 10 Smashing Pumpkins Songs

Yup, they're back. Billy Corgan is taking the '90s alt-rockers back on the road in support of a new album. Thanks to the fine folks at VH1.com, here's my look back at 10 classic songs from their heyday.

ratatouille

I taste-test the latest Pixar film in Consumables. I also take on Interview, Ocean's Thirteen, and the new albums from Amy Winehouse and Feist.

the bitter truth

"Someday, the Bush era may come to seem like a bad dream, a shameful, inexplicable interlude in American history. We're right to be outraged by Bush and Cheney, but we should also save a bit of outrage for when we look in the mirror."

introducing the dwights

Happy 4th, everyone. If you're in the mood for an Australian coming-of-age dramedy about a crazy showbiz family, you're in luck.

license to wed

It's John Krasinski vs. Robin Williams in this painfully unfunny romantic comedy.

And I have a question to all the married/engaged couples out there: Have any recent Hollywood movies gotten even remotely close to capturing what it's really like to be in a long-term relationship? I can't think of a one.

edward yang, 1947-2007

There are two movies I adore that I won't let my wife watch until they run on the big screen. In the time we've been together, they've never shown in a theater in Los Angeles. Not once. One is Hoop Dreams. The other is Yi Yi.

Yi Yi, written and directed by Edward Yang, opened in the dead of winter in December 2000. I had just returned to town from seeing my family over the holidays and had noticed that the film's short run was going to be ending the next day. I had to work and catch up on things I missed while I was gone, but I had heard enough good stuff about the film that I decided I needed to see it, no matter its three-hour running time and my general lack of pep.

The movie is about a family in Taiwan, and it looks at three generations who live together under the same roof. I love great ensemble pieces for their ability to interweave several characters into one narrative to better illustrate the complexities of daily life, the comings and goings of people, and the different perspectives different people can bring to the larger world. That’s all there in Yi Yi, and it absolutely floored me. It's smart, it's funny, it's moving, it's romantic, it's plainly terrific. In this young century, I haven't seen a better film.

I haven't seen it since, wanting to wait until it showed up at one of our great repertory theaters: the New Beverly, the Egyptian, the Aero, LACMA's Bing Theater. I balked on checking out its new Criterion DVD because I always prefer a movie in the theater experience, surrounded by other people. Especially a movie that’s as generous and open-hearted and communal as Yi Yi.

I ran into Edward Yang once after I had seen the film. I tend not to approach filmmakers or celebrities, but I had to make an exception in this case. He had made a film I absolutely loved. And I just had to thank him.

I just read that he died of colon cancer here in Los Angeles. I am ashamed I never got around to seeing his earlier films as I promised myself I would. I can only assume that with his passing, they will get back into circulation. And my wife will finally get to see Yi Yi.

ghosts of cite soleil

This documentary about power, poverty, and gangs in the Haitian slums opens today in New York. It's not a pretty picture, but it's one worth seeking out.

the hidden gems of elvis costello

Elvis Costello is on the road this summer to promote his new reissues, The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years and Rock and Roll Music. Over at VH1, I take a look into his lesser-known but still worthy album cuts and outtakes. It was hard cutting my list down to just 10 tracks.

white stripes

Icky Thump is easily the band's loudest record. It's also one of their best. Elsewhere in Consumables, I take on Wilco, Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.'s cover of a John Lennon song.

los angeles film festival

While we can lament that 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days was a last-minute scratch, the Los Angeles Film Festival starts tonight and there are plenty of worthy films to see. Here's but a sampling.

you kill me

Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni make for a fun (if unlikely) romantic pairing in You Kill Me, an offbeat hit-man comedy from director John Dahl.

evan almighty

At last. A comedy about a flood wiping out humanity.

casting about

Actors' audition tapes for a fiction film instead become the raw material for Casting About, a documentary about the auditioning process itself. I thought it was thought-provoking, but I wonder what actors will think of it.

eagle vs. shark

This Sundance romantic comedy doesn't know if it loves or hates its nerdy characters. I feel the same way about it.

brand upon the brain!

The Guy Maddin silent-film spectacular hits Los Angeles. I cover the event in Consumables, and also tackle Arcade Fire, Knocked Up, Once and a litany of other delights.

hostel: part ii

Give writer-director Eli Roth credit for adding some new wrinkles to his Hostel sequel. But not too much credit.

chris cornell

The onetime frontman of Soundgarden is back with his second solo album. I don't dislike Cornell in his introspective guise, but Carry On could have used a little more muscle. And fewer Michael Jackson covers.

paprika

The newest animated film from director Satoshi Kon is beloved by everyone. Except me.

gracie

Based on Elizabeth Shue's childhood experience of playing soccer in boys-only leagues, Gracie is a bit of a family affair. After watching this sports film, I'm assuming the real story was a little more interesting.

the police

Well, the long wait is over. The Police's reunion tour kicks off this weekend. To get you in the mood, here's a list of 10 hidden gems from the band.

zz top takes the rock honors

VH1's annual Rock Honors program airs tonight, which includes a tribute to ZZ Top, who will be performing. For VH1's website, I looked back on the band's now 30-plus-year career. Click on this link and play along at home.

pirates of the caribbean: at world's end

This third Pirates is more ho-hum than yo ho ho.

maroon 5 return

Make snide jokes all you want, but Maroon 5's new album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, is actually pretty good.

the corporation

Having recently seen No End in Sight, the terrific Iraq War documentary by Charles Ferguson, I was reminded of The Corporation, an equally meticulous and riveting nonfiction film from 2004 about the roles of corporations in our daily lives. It's been a while since I've seen it, but Jonathan Rosenbaum's terrific review brought it all back. What a great movie.

wilco v. son volt

I never thought I'd live to see the day when a music critic would actually dare to say he preferred Son Volt to Wilco. Bless you, Mark Mauer.

even money

A drama starring Forest Whitaker, Danny DeVito, Ray Liotta, Tim Roth, Carla Gugino, Kelsey Grammer, and Kim Basinger comes out today. Why have you not heard of it? Because it's not very good: Even Money is the Crash of gambling-addiction movies, for better and certainly for worse.

luke wilson is wendell baker

The Wendell Baker Story, written and co-directed by Luke Wilson (who also stars), starts off so promisingly that it's even more disappointing when the whole film falls apart about halfway through.

michael keaton returns

Michael Keaton is the star of The Last Time, a mediocre film that doesn't have enough confidence in its central theme and instead resorts to David Mamet tricks. It'll disappear to DVD soon enough.

roger ebert teaches a lesson in class

As film critic Roger Ebert continues to recover from surgery, he tells of a bouquet of get-well flowers that came from a most unlikely person: Rob Schneider. His response to the gift touches on the common humanity that all critics share, and mostly shows what a decent, great guy Ebert really is.

28 weeks later

Loved the first one. But the new one is just so-so. Also in Consumables, I discuss Away From Her and new singles by the White Stripes, Avril Lavigne, and Interpol.

chalk

It's done like a mockumentary, but there's a lot of heart to Chalk, a great look inside the demanding world of high school teachers.

the salon

Hoping to grab the crowds who liked Barbershop, The Salon offers a similar milieu. If you can't get enough jokes about how white people are different than black people, by all means check it out.

the hip hop project

The documentary The Hip Hop Project operates in the inspirational, make-a-difference genre. Savvy rap fans may quibble with some of the assertions made in the film, but by and large it's an affecting look at a group of young people trying to change their lives through some thoughtfully-versed rhymes. The film opens Friday, May 11.

steely dan: hidden gems

Steely Dan, the crown princes of '70s snark, just kicked off another summer tour. In honor of that wonderful news, here is a salute to 10 of their best songs most people don't know.

another sad end to a lakers season

The Los Angeles Lakers lost in the first round, for the second straight year, to the Phoenix Suns. Two years into the new Phil Jackson era, I have to ask one more time: Why did he decide to come back? What has he added to his legacy? Why does he want this aggravation?

I was reminded of a piece I wrote almost two years ago with a fellow writer right before the Lakers announced that Jackson was coming back to coach the team. Other people were excited about his return. I was not.

I'm still not.

hot fuzz

I loved Shaun of the Dead, but Edgar Wright's new film, Hot Fuzz, isn't up to the same level. Also in Consumables, I review Jindabyne, Red Road and the Shins live.

waitress: adrienne shelly's unexpected swan song

Waitress, starring a terrific Keri Russell, turned out to be writer-director-actor Adrienne Shelly's last film. (She was murdered in New York in the fall of 2006.) My review appears here.

the condemned

The Condemned is recommended to fans of bad reality television and professional wrestling. Hey, you've been warned.

anniversary

When I got married a year ago, several of our great writers at The Simon offered me wedding advice. It was a real surprise and a treat at the time ... and it still is today.

vacancy

Usually, describing a movie as a "creepy cockroach of a thriller" isn't high praise, but in the case of Vacancy, it's a glowing blurb.

what does jackie robinson day have to do with barry bonds?

A lot, says author Zev Chafets, and I have to agree with him.

Jackie Robinson Day is an exercise in racial public relations. Baseball desperately wants to repair its connection to the black community, whose younger generation seems to regard the national pastime as only slightly more relevant than curling.

Chafets argues that Barry Bonds could help repair that connection, but because sportswriters (and MLB commissioner Bud Selig) dislike him so much, they continue to turn away black fans, who get sick of seeing Bonds attacked for the same things white players like Babe Ruth were adored for doing back in the day.

I hate Bonds as much as the next guy, but the racial double standard in baseball is certainly noticeable.

disturbia

Rear Window for the teen set? Probably, but it's an effective thriller with a surprising amount of brains and heart.

grindhouse: bloody, long

Grindhouse tops the list of items in my latest installment of Consumables. Also, I show much love to Killer Sheep and The Host and !!!.

j. hoberman on killer of sheep

Charles Burnett's rarely-seen 1977 movie Killer of Sheep is finally getting a proper theatrical release. (It's playing at the Nuart through Thursday.) The Village Voice's J. Hoberman writes about the film's greatness -- there's no pointing pulling a quote because the whole piece is great and dead on the money.

fighting words

The world of spoken-word slam poetry is too interesting for filmmakers to resist, but thus far they've yet to do it justice. Fighting Words is but the latest example of this problem.

kurt cobain: still dead, still missed

This piece was written for The Black Table three years ago to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide. I still agree with every word of it.

cinnamon

"My artwork and films are about responding to daily materials, conditions, tasks and/or gestures of people of African descent," experimental artist Kevin Jerome Everson says on his website. A collection of his films -- including the documentary-fiction hybrid Cinnamon, which will be having its Los Angeles premiere -- will be playing Monday, April 9 at REDCAT. My LA Weekly review appears here.

the tv set

Another satire on the banality of the entertainment industry? Yes, but writer-director Jake Kasdan's The TV Set has more depth than you might think.

let's go sailing

Her name is Shana Levy. She fronts a band called Let's Go Sailing. She lives in Los Angeles. Her new album, The Chaos in Order, is out now. It's darn good.

after the wedding

I loved Susanne Bier's last film, Brothers, but her latest -- After the Wedding, which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year -- isn't quite as amazing.

do film critics matter? (part 653,363)

I tend not to care too much about articles debating the relevance of film critics -- if you read film criticism, they are relevant; if you don't, they aren't -- but Lewis Beale in The Reeler has a well-balanced perspective on the matter. The comments after the piece are the usual collection of insightful and barely literate.

peyton manning, comic genius

Yes, Peyton Manning, a football player, was hilarious on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. I sing his praises in Consumables ... and also say nice things about LCD Soundsystem, the Silos, and Low.

the hills have eyes 2

The sequel to last year's remake of the 1970s Wes Craven horror classic is a stunning artistic statement. OK, maybe not.

usc in the sweet sixteen

After impressive wins over Arkansas and Texas in the first two rounds of the NCAA college basketball tournament, the Trojans take on the North Carolina Tar Heels tonight. Here's all the info you'll need to get ready for tonight's game.

the prisoner or: how i planned to kill tony blair

It's hard to say when audiences' saturation point for Iraq War documentaries will come -- if it hasn't come already -- but The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair is one worth checking out. It opens in New York today before expanding to other parts of the country.

adam sandler gets serious for reign over me

I loved Adam Sandler's dramatic turn in Punch-Drunk Love and I adored writer-director Mike Binder's prickly, moving The Upside of Anger. So the comedy-drama Reign Over Me, Binder's new film that stars Sandler, should be a slam dunk. Sadly, the movie goes awry for me.

color me kubrick

Based on the true story of a Londoner's successful attempts during the 1990s to pose as famed film director Stanley Kubrick, Color Me Kubrick is a failed satire about our obsession with celebrity culture. Even though it was made by two people who worked closely with Kubrick, you can't help but wonder what the great master could have done with such potentially great material.

billy zane, odd as ever

Perhaps the only reason to see the silly thriller Memory, which opens this Friday, is to catch Billy Zane at his ironically loopy best. But that probably won't be enough enticement for most people.

teenage mutant ninja turtles

Yup, they're back -- and their new film, the animated TMNT, isn't half bad.

tortilla heaven

George Lopez, Miguel Sandoval, and Lupe Ontiveros star in this low-budget religious comedy. Avoid like the plague.

r.e.m. enters the rock and roll hall of fame

Looking around the Web for an appropriate piece that paid homage to R.E.M.'s greatness, I was left unsatisfied. So I turned to my man Robert Christgau. This article came out in '96 as a review of their underrated New Adventures in Hi-Fi, but it serves as a nice little encapsulation of what the Athens band accomplished. It's at least as good as Eddie Vedder's induction speech.

fight on, trojans

USC's men's basketball team starts its NCAA tournament play Friday against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Here are three tidbits about the Trojan team, in case you're interested.

caffeine, the movie

Katherine Heigl fans may be curious to check out Caffeine, the 20-something ensemble comedy in which she co-stars. I'd advise against it, though.

time for a nap

I need no convincing about the importance of midday naps, but Louisa Thomas, part of the editorial staff of The New Yorker, lays out the argument in fine fashion nonetheless. Specifically, I love that she addresses the foolishness of demonizing naps:

I can't shake the sense that napping is slothful and decadent, for the lazy and weak. In a society that places a premium on the appearance of productivity -- even at the cost of actual productivity -- just the impression of wasted time is enough to damn the practice.

Read the rest of the piece here.

fall out boy

Dedicated to always keeping an open mind, I review Fall Out Boy's new album, Infinity on High. The results? Read here .... along with my thoughts on Lily Allen, Zodiac, the Mountain Goats, and more.

captain america, RIP

Maybe only comic-book aficionados cared about the recent murder of Captain America in issue No. 25, but commentator Jacob Heilbrunn sees the iconic hero's death as symbolic of something deeper going on in the country: the realization that we're losing the war on terror.

the ultimate gift

Fox Faith is a new subsidiary of 20th Century Fox that specializes in religious-themed films that espouse Christian values. The company's latest offering, The Ultimate Gift, ends up feeling more like a sermon than an entertainment.

the brilliant zodiac

It's humbling and frustrating to realize that there's almost no point in writing a review when someone has articulated your points far better than you ever could. Such is the case with Owen Gleiberman's spot-on piece about David Fincher's terrific Zodiac.

taking the academy to task -- with class

Great piece by John Sinno, producer of the Oscar-nominated Iraq in Fragments, on his disappointment with the Academy that they chose to let Jerry Seinfeld mockingly dismiss the Best Documentary nominees as "incredibly depressing" during his introduction.

Sinno does a commendable job of not coming across as a humorless grump -- and he makes several good points, including the fact that the Iraq War was never mentioned once during the broadcast.

wild hogs

Tim Allen + John Travolta + Martin Lawrence + William H. Macy + homophobic jokes = a disaster.

a woeful oscar night

I didn't have a problem with the winners, but the broadcast was one of the weakest in recent memory. Elsewhere in Consumables, reviews of new albums by the Shins and Clipse, new singles from Timbaland and Modest Mouse. Plus, a look at Mike Judge's Idiocracy.

teach

Back by popular demand, I'll be teaching in March at the Writing Pad. The topic? Getting Your Name in Print.

field music

Two XTC-loving British brothers are the songwriting team behind Field Music. Their new album, Tones of Town, is so endlessly catchy that you may not notice that the band doesn't have much to say.

Neko Case: Live in Concert

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, gorgeous and atmospheric, was my favorite album of last year, but I was curious to hear how Neko Case would translate the songs in a live setting. I needn't have worried.

babel and for your consideration: two examples of what's wrong with this year's oscar season

Great piece in the Los Angeles Times from film critic Dennis Lim. In his DVD column called "A Second Look," he uses the video release of Babel and For Your Consideration to discuss how Oscar season has become a nearly unending celebration to self-importance. For Your Consideration doesn't do enough to mock that celebration, Lim says, while Babel represents the sort of overblown "message movie" that's become a staple of the season.

amazing grace

Director Michael Apted's film, Amazing Grace, about Britain's battle to end the African slave trade in the 18th century, boasts a strong lead performance by Ioan Gruffudd. The rest of the movie, however, is a bit of a snore.

money, baby

Doug Limon and Jon Favreau's (and also, really, Vince Vaughn's) 1996 film Swingers is perhaps the quintessential L.A.-in-the-'90s movie, a very funny, very touching look at male bonding and the singles scene. Swingers will be playing Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Aero. Screening info is here. My appreciation of the film for LA Weekly is here.

the broken west

This Los Angeles-based band has a new record, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On. Let the Big Star and Teenage Fanclub comparisons begin.

oscar-nominated shorts

The five Best Live Action Short and five Best Animation Short nominees will be screening in select theaters this weekend. Here's my review.

a valentine to james brown

In honor of Black History Month, here's my appreciation of the late, great James Brown, who died on Christmas Day, for VH1.

hannibal rising

It's even worse than you imagined.

top ten albums and singles of 2006

The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop music poll is out. My top tens appear here.

foreign-language films that didn't make the oscar cut

France's Avenue Montaigne, Kazakhstan's Nomad (The Warrior) and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Grbavica all missed the cut for this year's list of nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Were they robbed? Click on the titles for my reviews

can mr. smith get to washington anymore?

If you find yourself in downtown L.A. this weekend and you're hungry for a good political documentary, check out Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? Here's my review.

top ten movies of 2006

I've been meaning to put this up for a week, but writing deadlines and real-life obligations got in the way. But here they are ... links lead to my original reviews for each film.

1. The House of Sand
2. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
3. United 93
4. The Departed
5. The Child/L'Enfant
6. The Queen
7. Borat
8. The Puffy Chair
9. Children of Men
10. Letters From Iwo Jima

jennifer garner has a not-so-good cry

Catch and Release is writer-director Susannah Grant's ambitious attempt at melding the tear-jerker and the romantic comedy. But Alias star Jennifer Garner is miscast. Then again, the film has bigger problems than that.

what do matt damon, david lynch, and darren aronofsky have in common?

None of them got nominated for an Oscar. But they all made great movies in 2006.

the hitcher

Is The Hitcher as bad as you imagine? Honestly, it may be worse.

iraq and darfur: two tales of suffering

What's the difference between Iraq and Darfur? Nothing, says writer David Bosco, and that's the problem:

It's natural that Americans would yearn for a simpler and clearer conflict than Iraq to showcase their humanitarian impulses. But our concern for Darfur must not become a moral salve that allows us to abandon Iraq to its spasm of violence. There may be no blameless factions in Iraq, but there are thousands of ordinary victims. Unless it is clear that we are doing no good, we owe them more.

don't just laugh -- do something

Great piece from Courtney E. Martin in the Baltimore Sun who suggests that, while shows like The Daily Show are a great outlet for our collective disgust at the state of the world (and the Bush administration), we should be doing more than just laughing:

I'm not advocating boycotting sweet Jon [Stewart] or leaving The Onion to rot. I am reminding us all, especially the young and appropriately outraged, not to let our laughter soothe our social conscience. We should be so uncomfortable with the state of things that we can't idly sit by, giggling at our daily dose of fake news and then falling asleep.

In this side-splittingly hypocritical country, you are entitled to the pursuit of happiness - so go ahead, laugh. But please, refrain from laughing until "it don't hurt no more." It should hurt. It should hurt so badly that you have to get up from the couch and do something about it.

justin timberlake

It's not an unhealthy obsession -- I just respect the dude. OK?

the new music poll on the block

Idolator's new Jackin' Pop Critics Poll means to dethrone the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop music poll as the authoritative best-of list for popular (and semi-popular) music. But for me, the real story is the excellent essay Jackin' overseer Michaelangelo Matos contributes as part of the poll. Its exhaustive sweep of the year's musical trends and its sharp analysis of the poll's results emulate the enthusiasm of deposed Pazz & Jop maestro Robert Christgau's yearly tome. But at the same time, Matos doesn't try to mimic the Dean's denser-than-dense writing style. Matos proves himself to be a writer with his own voice, and he shines here.

children of men and letters from iwo jima

Over at The Simon, I review several of the Oscar-hopeful films of the season. Other than Children of Men and Letters From Iwo Jima, though, it's pretty rough sledding out there.

Robert Wilson Speaks

The theater director, known for Einstein on the Beach and The Black Rider, stars in a new documentary about his life: Absolute Wilson. I spoke with him for LA Weekly.

the only best-of-the-year film poll you'll need

Well, that might be an exaggeration. But the indieWIRE poll of 107 alt-weekly and alt-leaning critics is a good place to start. My only complaint: I wasn't asked to submit.

who loves the shins?

I do. You should too. And with their new single, "Phantom Limb," there's more to love.

Elsewhere in Consumables, I gush about Sonic Youth, Sparklehorse, and the best hip-hop album of the year: The Coup's Pick a Bigger Weapon.

will smith goes for his oscar

The Pursuit of Happyness is a pretty standard based-on-a-true-story "inspirational" tale. But Will Smith's seemingly indestructible charm keeps the movie from collapsing into Hallmark dreck.

ucla 13, usc 9: the fans have their say

Sometimes you don't need a sportswriter to summarize your feelings about a game's outcome; sometimes the fans can express it just as well.

Today's collection of letters in the Los Angeles Times sports section are all from Trojan and Bruin fans reacting to UCLA's stunning upset of USC last Saturday. The win destroyed the Trojans' chances for going to the national championship, ended their seven-game dominance of their crosstown rival, and (perhaps most importantly) shattered USC's air of superiority, of presumed dominance.

Nothing I have read sums up the experience of that game better than the elated, angry, mocking, pithy, clever responses from these fans.