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.