8/12/2009
For a band with song titles like "Vibrator" and "Danger! High Voltage," it might be easy to overlook the undercurrent of dark humor in many Electric Six songs. It was best articulated in "The Future Is in the Future," the song closing the band's second album, "Senor Smoke." However, "Switzerland,"...
8/12/2009
Reptilian horror feature is an environmentalist
PETA is probably the last thing anyone wants to think about when watching a mindless horror movie, but the militant animal rights group's influence is impossible to escape when watching "Frogs," a B movie depicting an upper-crust Southern family's destruction at the hands of the titular creatures...
8/12/2009
Despite dated racial politics, silent film wears nearly a century well.
American filmmaker D .W. Griffith essentially invented the template for what it means to be a director. He set the standard for the scope, vision, technical prowess and even polarizing popular opinion every great director from Orson Welles to Paul Thomas Anderson has embraced as part of his own...
8/10/2009
There is a regrettable consensus in modern filmmaking that asserts a film's independent spirit is best maintained by scoring the movie with music that wades through the backwaters of folk. From "Garden State" to "Funny People," most movies contend that someone playing an acoustic guitar and singing...
8/10/2009
Modern cult classic rewards repeat viewing.
No other film can pull off a mix of high- and lowbrow humor like "The Big Lebowski," the Coen brothers' follow-up to their massively successful "Fargo." Though the film was largely ignored by audiences and blasted by critics upon its debut, "Lebowski" has only grown in estimation and influence...
8/10/2009
Never has there been a more misleading title
The name of a work of art can often set unreasonable expectations for what follows. Viewers who enter "There Will Be Blood," for example, might be forgiven for anticipating a nearly three hour splatter-fest, rather than an atmospheric meditation on greed and the dark side of humanity.
8/7/2009
DeVito and company will take show to a half-dozen major cities.
Fans of the hit FX comedy, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" can now see their favorite foul-mouthed characters on-stage. Members of the show's cast, including Rob McElhenny, Glenn Howerton and Academy Award-nominated actor/filmmaker Danny DeVito, will be touring six major U.S. cities in...
8/7/2009
Frontman's tumble off-stage could take band off the road.
After Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler, 61, fell off the stage Wednesday at the band's show in Rapid City, S.D., the future of the band's current tour is still in question. Tyler sustained injuries to his head, neck and shoulder in the fall and is "very sore," reports BBC News. The singer is...
8/7/2009
Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West scheduled to appear.
The first episode of "The Jay Leno Show" won't air until Sept. 14, but the flagship round of guests is sure to catch the eye of hip young viewers. According to People, the premiere will feature a performance by rap/R&B stars Rihanna, Jay-Z and Kanye West to usher in the former "Tonight Show"...
8/5/2009
Sims often considered the first black supermodel
Naomi Sims, a model who broke racial barriers with her magazine cover appearances in the 1960s, died Saturday, Aug. 1, from breast cancer at age 61 in Newark, N.J. Sims's shot on the cover of a 1968 issue of "Ladies' Home Journal" is considered a landmark step in achieving equal opportunity for non...
