'amadeus: the director's cut' at the new beverly

Amadeus won a ton of Oscars in its time, and 25 years later the film still holds up quite well, thank you very much. I sing its praises in L.A. Weekly on the occasion of the New Beverly's screening of the film's director's cut.

megadeth's 'endgame' and revolver's top 20 albums of 2009

Revolver polled its writers for their picks for the best hard rock/metal albums of 2009. My No. 1 also was the consensus pick: Alice in Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue. (My review is here.) In the issue, which is on newsstands now and looks like this, I say a few words about another album that made the Top 20, Megadeth's Endgame.

mountain goats - this year

My favorite Mountain Goats album remains Tallahassee, but I know everyone else would pick The Sunset Tree. We can agree to disagree about that, but does anyone question that this is their most beloved song? Kinda appropriate for a new year, too, don't you think?

"hey, that's no way to say goodbye"

I don't know if anyone else experiences this, but sometimes when I wake up I have a random song inexplicably stuck in my head. So, I've decided to start an infrequent column about this phenomenon called The Song in My Head, in which I'll write about that song. Maybe it'll be a critique. Maybe it'll be an association I have with the song. We'll see how it goes.

Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" was in my head this morning when I woke up. My only explanation was last night I went to my friends' comedy show called The Drinking Game, and during the event it came out that one of the game's contestants actually received a popsicle from Mr. Cohen. The guy worked in computers, and one of his clients turned out to be the singer-songwriter, and apparently Cohen was very appreciative and offered him a popsicle.

Checking my iTunes, I see I have two versions of the song -- the original studio recording and the live version from last year's Live in London. I know a lot of people adore the live album, and while I definitely enjoy it, the original version was in my head when I woke up. I've always liked the song's acknowledgment that love usually doesn't end with a bang but rather a whimper. It falls apart piece by piece, little by little, until one day you realize that something that once was so strong and so present is just ... gone. Part of what makes the song so sad is that Cohen doesn't oversell the sadness -- as always, he plays the dignified gentleman, which makes the tune all the more heartbreaking.

'leap year' review

I like Amy Adams. I like Matthew Goode. And I like director Anand Tucker's Shopgirl. So why isn't Leap Year any better than it is? I try to explain in my review here.

youth group - two sides

Their name is Youth Group. They're from Australia. They've barely made a dent on U.S. radio. But I really dig this song. As for the video, low-budget awesomeness.



Happy 2010, people.

'the lovely bones' review, plus a catch-up on other December films

December got away from me a bit, so I'm behind on publishing Consumables. My latest column rounds up my reviews of The Lovely Bones, Invictus, The Blind Side, A Single Man and The Headless Woman. And in case you missed my Avatar review, that's right here. (And my thoughts on Sherlock Holmes are here.)

my top 10 albums of 2009

Over at the Metro Times, the music staff has made their picks for the best albums of the year. You can find my list there (scroll down).

saturday night live - christmas for the jews

Incredible to believe that the same episode of Saturday Night Live that gave us "Lazy Sunday" also birthed this excellent Darlene Love-sung tune. Merry Christmas, everybody.

'iron cross' review

Actor Roy Scheider died in early 2008, but his final film, Iron Cross, is just now making its way to select theaters. I wish it was a more fitting farewell for the man. My review is up at L.A. Weekly.

the police - darkness

Fan-made video for the Police's grossly underrated "Darkness"? Hell yeah.

'sherlock holmes' review

As was done already with the Batman and James Bond franchises, the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes has been remade on the big screen as a dark, mega-action superhero. I like Robert Downey Jr. as much as the next guy, but this Sherlock Holmes didn't work for me. My review explains why.

'the hurt locker' wins best picture from LAFCA

The member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association met today to pick the best films and performances of 2009. Here's what we came up with. And here's my review of The Hurt Locker from over the summer.

weezer - we are all on drugs

In case you hadn't heard, Rivers Cuomo hasn't had the best of weeks. But he seems to be on the mend, which is good news. To be honest, I got turned off of Weezer quite some time ago -- their music is so "ironic" sincere that it annoys me on contact. But they're good for at least one dynamite track per album. "We Are All on Drugs" springs to mind as one recent case.

avatar review

Saw Avatar last night. What did I think? My full review is here.

fringe: grey matters

Pretty darn good episode of Fringe last night. I go into the nitty-gritty details over at Vulture.

jay-z - girls, girls, girls

Happy 40th birthday, Jay-Z. I'll never forget hearing "Girls, Girls, Girls" at the House of Blues in Anaheim the night the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees to win the 2001 World Series. I was there to interview De La Soul prior to a gig they were doing there, and "Girls, Girls, Girls" came over the speakers before their set. Crowd went nuts. Great memory.

'brothers' and 'the last station' reviews

My latest Consumables column rolls up its sleeves and reviews Brothers, The Last Station, The Road, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Me and Orson Welles.

You may be wondering, "Hey, Tim, how come you didn't review Up in the Air and Everybody's Fine?" Ah, but I did! Check out my Up in the Air review from Toronto, and my Everybody's Fine write-up from AFI Fest.

fringe: snakehead

Last night's episode of Fringe was a battle between two separate emotions: awwww (Walter Bishop's struggle for independence) and ewwww (all those slithering parasitic worms). My recap of "Snakehead" is up at Vulture.

'breaking point' review

Breaking Point is a crime-thriller that stars Tom Berenger as a disgraced former assistant district attorney looking for a shot at redemption. It also has Armand Assante in it. Oh yeah, it's one of those types of movies -- it's also got Busta Rhymes as a low-life thug. My review is up at The Village Voice.