ac/dc: their hidden gems

If you just know "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back in Black," then enjoy my analysis of some of AC/DC's lesser-known tracks at VH1. (Hint: Most of 'em have something to do with sex.)

joni mitchell

Shine, her new record, isn't a galvanizing return to form, but if you give the disc some time, its beauty can sneak up on you.

chamillionaire doesn't drink or smoke

Those were just two things I found out about the "Ridin' Dirty" rapper in my recent interview with him for Blender.

band of horses

Cease to Begin is the South Carolina band's second album -- it's even more lovely than their first. My review appears at Blender.

the kite runner

The award-seeking adaptation of the Khaled Hosseini novel won't be arriving in theaters until December, but my review is up now at Screen International.

kid rock talks to me

To promote his new album, Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock sat down for an interview with me. The results can be found at Blender.

the final season

Another inspirational baseball film? I'm afraid so, but The Final Season has its heart in the right place at least. If it's on cable, give it 15 minutes or so. My L.A. Weekly review appears here.

baby elephant

Turn My Teeth Up! is the name of the new album from Baby Elephant, a collaboration between hip-hop producer Prince Paul (of De La Soul fame) and keyboardist Bernie Worrell (of Parliament-Funkadelic fame). It's an uneasy mixture of oddball humor and sincere testimonials to Worrell's legacy. My review appears in the Metro Times.

blender's 40 worst lyricists in rock

Yup, Blender magazine picked Sting as rock music's worst lyricist. But who were the other 39? The link to the piece, which I helped contribute to, is here.

bergman at the new beverly

If you've never seen Cries and Whispers or Autumn Sonata, now's your chance: Ingmar Bergman's harrowing family dramas screen at the New Beverly this weekend. My musings on both films appear in L.A. Weekly.

lake of fire

Filmmaker Tony Kaye's abortion documentary Lake of Fire opens this weekend in New York. It's an affecting but imperfect work. My review appears here.

bruce springsteen returns

The Boss is back with his new album, Magic. In honor of the occasion, I look back at Springsteen's greatest non-hits for VH1.

kanye west

Graduation, the new record from Kanye West, heads my latest Consumables column. Also included: reviews of Into the Wild, Justice, Beck's "Timebomb" single, The King of Kong and more.

will.i.am and blackstreet in blender

The new Blender with Kanye West on the cover has hit newsstands. I've got three pieces in there, but two are online currently: my interview with the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am and my look back at the making of the great Blackstreet jam "No Diggity."

feast of love

Director Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) returns with Feast of Love, a serio-comic look at relationships across age, race, and gender. Morgan Freeman and others do decent work, but it's all for naught.

trade

Just a reminder that a truly terrible movie can be made about a very important subject, Trade, a horrendous drama about underground sex trafficking, opens this weekend.

good luck chuck

Dane Cook looks uncomfortable, Jessica Alba is no comedienne. At least the penguins are cute.

in the shadow of the moon

The documentary about NASA's '60s adventure is worth seeing. So are a bunch of other goodies included in this week's Consumables, including Sunshine, 2 Days in Paris, and Deep Water.

moving mcallister

Some might say I was overly harsh in my review of Moving McAllister, a feeble road movie that represents all that's wrong with so-called "independent cinema." I think I was just being honest.

great world of sound

Great World of Sound, a smart sad little indie about con men trying to trick aspiring musicians into forking over their hard-earned money in hopes of a record deal, opens this weekend in New York. My review appears in The Village Voice.

the brothers solomon

Will Arnett, Will Forte and Kristen Wiig have all been funny in the past, and they'll be funny in the future. But in The Brothers Solomon, they're mostly just marking time.

earlimart

The duo Earlimart specialize in a studio-enhanced indie pop. Their latest album, Mentor Tormentor, evokes the dreary side of L.A.'s suburban sprawl in lovely ways.

ben affleck: director

Gone Baby Gone is the directorial debut of Ben Affleck. If you're someone who automatically dismisses him as a lightweight, you probably didn't see his underrated performance in Hollywoodland and you'll probably want to skip this crime drama as well. But while Gone Baby Gone has a strong feel for Boston's working poor, the film overall is a bit of a mixed bag.

ladrón que roba a ladrón

This Spanish-language heist film is targeted toward mainstream Latino audiences, but I can't help but think, "Hey, couldn't you come up with something better than a Ocean's Eleven knockoff with a smidgen of (rather timid) social commentary?"

shoot 'em up

This ultraviolent, cheekily irreverent action thriller starring Clive Owen is strictly a love-it-or-hate-it affair. I'm with the lovers.

war

Congratulations: You've come to the blog of the only film critic in the world who actually liked War, the not-screened-for-reviews action thriller starring Jet Li and Jason Statham. My well-worded defense of the film is at Screen International.

balls of fury

Perhaps you're on the fence about whether to invest your hard-earned dollars on Balls of Fury. Let me help make up your mind for you.

kinski

Kinski are a band from Seattle that specializes in instrumental avant-rock. Don't be scared by that description: They're actually pretty great. Down Below It's Chaos is their latest.

closing escrow

When on vacation, my wife and I have a guilty pleasure: watching HGTV in our hotel room for hours. (Scandalous, I know.) It's easy to understand what's so compulsively watchable about the network's shows: These days, who isn't obsessed with real estate, its value, and its upkeep?

Closing Escrow, a film that opens this Friday, would seem to be perfectly situated to satirize that world, as the mockumentary follows three young couples on their misadventures through Los Angeles trying to find their dream home. But the unfunny movie barely has a brain in its head.

the new pornographers' new album

Challengers is the fourth album from the Canadian power-pop collective. My review appears in the new issue of Under the Radar, the indie-minded music magazine. If you're looking for just a one-sentence synopsis of my feelings on it, check here.

the simpsons movie

At long last, after much worrying and cynical naysaying, The Simpsons Movie comes to us. So what did I think? Check here -- and also see my reviews of The Bourne Ultimatum, Spoon's latest album, and a great new theater piece called Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings.

foo fighters: a fond look back

The Colour and the Shape just celebrated its 10th anniversary with a new reissue, including bonus tracks. Idolator may not see the point, but I nevertheless reviewed it quite favorably over at Blender.

death at a funeral

Discriminating comedy audiences may be hoping that Death at a Funeral, director Frank Oz's British farce, will be a respite from dumb Hollywood product. Which, I suppose, it is. But that doesn't make it worth seeking out.

howards end

The Academy, as part of its "Great To Be Nominated" series, will be showing a 70mm print of Howards End on Monday, August 20. My appreciation runs in this week's LA Weekly.

daddy day camp

It's not a question of whether or not Daddy Day Camp is good -- it's a matter of just how bad it is. The answers are here.

looking ahead to football season

With the St. Louis Cardinals' chances for making the playoffs looking dimmer and dimmer, let's focus on the St. Louis Rams for a moment instead. I've written a preview of their upcoming season at Deadspin.

rush hour 3 and rocket science

Both films open this Friday, catering to much different audiences. But these two movies suffer from the same problem of diminishing returns: Rush Hour 3 is but a pale shadow of its funnier first installment, while Rocket Science rides the coattails of an indie sensibility perfected in earlier films like Rushmore.

harry potter versus el-p

It wouldn't even be a fair fight: El-P would pound that sniveling little wizard. Both reside in this week's Consumables, as do reviews of La Vie en Rose and the abysmal Transformers.

no end in sight

At long last, No End in Sight, the exceptional documentary about the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq, comes to Los Angeles. My review from earlier this summer appears here.

underdog is here

If you have small children in your life, the chances are good they're dying to see Underdog, the new Walt Disney movie based on the old '60s cartoon. If you're forced to go with them, you'll have an OK time -- a ringing endorsement, I know.

woody allen, ace film critic

Ingmar Bergman died this week, and of all the terrific appreciations of the filmmaker that have popped up since, the best probably comes from 20 years ago. Reviewing Bergman's autobiography, The Magic Lantern, in The New York Times, Woody Allen (a Bergman acolyte) discusses the man's body of work with an enthusiasm and insight that's unparalleled. Woody wasn't trying to be pretentious when he talked about how great Bergman was; he understood him to his bones.

The 1988 piece appears here. (Warning: Formatting issues cause the ending of the article to get a little wonky.)

moliere

The Shakespeare in Love of romantic comedy-dramas about the young life of the French playwright Moliere. But not as good.

no end in sight: the interview

Charles Ferguson, the writer and director of the great new documentary No End in Sight, talks to me about the film in this week's LA Weekly.

manhattan

The greatest movie Woody Allen ever made returns with a new print for one week in New York starting today. The Village Voice's J. Hoberman may not be an Allen enthusiast, but his recent reevaluation of the movie is the best assessment of it I can think of.

snow patrol

The Glasgow band is taking one more trip across America this summer. I preview their latest tour.

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.