[13.Nov.09] :. Intergenerational dilemmas -- how to be foxes, to be individuals and also parts of communities -- form the complicated heart of Fantastic Mr. Fox.
[13.Nov.09] :. Phillipe Diaz's powerful documentary The End of Poverty? is uncharacteristically revolutionary among today's issue documentaries, and all the more refreshing for its bluntness.
[13.Nov.09] :. Pirate Radio leaves out any mention of the usual historical and cultural background, say, sex as a potential means of mixing races and classes.
[13.Nov.09] :. A family drama, as mosaic of modern, globalizing India, as a love story that sneaks up on you, and as a discourse on post-modernity and tradition.
[13.Nov.09] :. Danish director Lone Scherfig spares audiences the trite clichés of a young woman's coming of age, directs a magnificent cast of actors, and defends her film against allegations of inappropriate sexuality.
[13.Nov.09] :. They're not necessarily the “best songs” in their storied catalogue, but these are the songs through which (perhaps) we might gain the deepest appreciation for their popular genius.
[13.Nov.09] :. And, in the end... With the release of Abbey Road, the Beatles ceased to be a band. They became, forever more, an idea: the go-to example, the archetype, of the rock'n'roll group. How do we remember the Beatles? How do we pay tribute?
[13.Nov.09] :. This was Pearl Jam’s final night out of four at Philadelphia’s Spectrum and during the surreal evening, Pearl Jam astounded the audience with rarities and unleashed their energy in a fitting finale for the historic Spectrum.
[13.Nov.09] :. The most comprehensive portrait of her significant body of work yet, Dolly is the perfect opportunity to consider the rich bounty of stories and ideas that live in her songs.
[13.Nov.09] :. This is party music about girls and getting high or getting up or getting down or getting "some mo'". But that doesn't mean the music is always so simple.
[13.Nov.09] :. This could have been the place to really explore issues surrounding the blind following of orders and the terrors of war. But this game plays it safe in every way possible.
[13.Nov.09] :. This gives us ample reason to resist the person, the artist and her work.Yet as performed by Beecroft and choreographed by the filmmakers, it is difficult not to be moved.
[13.Nov.09] :. A touching, heartfelt meditation on identity and isolation in a small town, Jeff Lemire is able to redress an H.G. Wells classic and make it as timely and disturbing as ever.
[12.Nov.09] :. The idea of an uncertain future affects most of the soldiers in Tattooed Under Fire, whether looking back on their recent service or forward to a first or next tour.
[12.Nov.09] :. Pray the Devil Back to Hell vividly conveys the pain endured and resistance mounted by women of diverse backgrounds and faiths during Liberia's civil war.
[12.Nov.09] :. The Prisoner's unapologetic payoff of surrealism and absurdism heads into that artistic realm where meaning is defined more by resonance than by immediately identifiable relevance.
[12.Nov.09] :. A preponderance of headless corpses and eccentric scientists means that this is certainly a macabre book, but the silliness of the pseudo-sciences it debunks makes it more entertaining than unnerving.
[12.Nov.09] :. From 1968-1969, the Beatles went from being a fractious group to a merely fractured one. However, along the way, as they headed off in their different directions, they managed to come up with some of their most enduring material.
[12.Nov.09] :. The Beatles managed to spend the morning of the next day, Feb. 8th, in relative quiet. On Sunday, they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and it was the night Beatlemania exploded.
[12.Nov.09] :. The Beatles presented an outlet for people to express their emotions by offering musical and stylistic satisfaction. Listeners were united through a common cause: the music spoke to them and for them.
[12.Nov.09] :. The Yellow Submarine exists. It’s not a mirage, or a mind game. Someone, inspired by the Beatles, built the Yellow Submarine, and it exits to this day.
[12.Nov.09] :. Following his quiet stunner of a debut album, this 22-year-old folk artist just proved that lightning, indeed, can strike the same place twice.
[12.Nov.09] :. Flores has added a few valuable numbers to her discography and a bunch of sassy standards that suggest once again that she will be happiest strapping on an electric guitar and rocking out on a stage.
[11.Nov.09] :. The Way We Get By focuses on the troop greeters' mix of loneliness and determination, the pleasure of feeling needed and the pain of growing old.
[11.Nov.09] :. It’s a testament to both Kobayashi’s work and the feelings of the Japanese people after WWII that such a harsh attack on Imperial Japan was made at all, let alone that it succeeded at the box office.
[11.Nov.09] :. Edwards' inside scoop on the story of the making of the classic Madness debut disc is, much like the album itself; a little unusual, a bit nutty, and quite brilliant.
[11.Nov.09] :. The psychedelic trilogy -- Revolver, Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour -- stands as the artistic peak of a band that had retreated into the studio and found untold riches there.
[11.Nov.09] :. Comics have often used characters from Greek and Norse mythology to populate their books. What we see with the following examples is that the Beatles had, at the time, become the new mythology.
[11.Nov.09] :. Singer/ringleader Chris Robinson was in high spirits as he led the band through a crowd pleasing set that concluded the first leg of the band's fall tour.
[11.Nov.09] :. This is an hilariously off-kilter sketch comedy filled with often unexpected payoffs and utterly hysterical visual gags -- in addition to its wickedly funny cast.
[11.Nov.09] :. Butch Walker talks with PopMatters about the music industry, the problems that young bands frequently succumb to in the studio, and why it's more important to write songs than design T-shirts.
[11.Nov.09] :. Thanks to Disney's desire to preserve its heritage for future generations to enjoy, these limited edition box sets are like stepping back in time and witnessing the series premiere as it originally aired.
[10.Nov.09] :. Comprised of split screens, overlapping and overlaid sounds, an assemblage of images and noise, Copyright Criminals effectively stages its argument even as it makes it.
[10.Nov.09] :. A TV gem from decades ago finds itself compiled in a DVD set that will delight its viewers, whether they've seen "The Germans" a thousand times before, or have never been anywhere near a Flying Circus.
[10.Nov.09] :. Simon Axler, a stage and screen actor of near legendary stature, has earned the “reputation as the last of the best of the classical American stage actors.” The novel begins: “He’d lost his magic.”
[10.Nov.09] :. From December 1964 to December 1965 -- re-meet the Beatles as they made the transition from the world's best bar band to the forerunners of folk-rock. Has any band ever had such an astoundingly productive 12-months?
[10.Nov.09] :. Aside from such obvious aspects -- including the difference between black and white and color film stock -- the back and forth between the films was also reflective of their burgeoning creative output.
[10.Nov.09] :. Asobi Seksu's new album of acoustic reworkings of old material is not a startling musical reinvention, but it does allow the group to emphasize its melodies and songcraft.
[10.Nov.09] :. On their second major release, this Seattle-based garage-rock trio clean up their dirt-dragged riff rock and demonstrate an impressive knowledge of their musical roots.
[10.Nov.09] :. Songwriter Chad VanGaalen makes an album of brief instrumental tracks using a wide variety of synthesizers and occasional acoustic instruments. His keen ear for melody keeps this record grounded and listenable.
[10.Nov.09] :. PopMatters talks with Ed Falco and his niece, actor Edie Falco, about their life in the arts and Ed's gritty new novel, Saint John of the Five Boroughs.
[10.Nov.09] :. The creator of the universally-beloved Calvin and Hobbes was a perfectionist and a true believer in his art form, yet he hated the fame that his creations brought him.
[10.Nov.09] :. This is thrilling, sexy, funny, fresh, inventive, exhilarating, and ultimately, a first-class illustration of the "they don't make them like they used to" adage.
[10.Nov.09] :. While they might be right out of the Saturday Evening Post with their Norman Rockwell-esque moralizing and message, one cannot deny how thoroughly entertaining and iconic they both are.
[9.Nov.09] :. The Box feigns straightforwardness for half an hour or so, but Richard Kelly only uses the set-up as the firm handle from which he can fly off.
[9.Nov.09] :. If this smart, long-winded documentary proves anything, it’s that there are a lot of scars left from those bruising early days of the Chicago scene, and few are ready to stop scratching at them.
[9.Nov.09] :. Meeting the Beatles for the first time, what did we hear? Did we know? Could we have ever known? Today, we will look at the first three shots from the Fab Four, from 1963-1964. To Re-meet the Beatles, start here.
[9.Nov.09] :. The Beatles were the first band comprised of four distinct personas. This aspect would take them on a long and winding road that would eventually splinter them in four separate directions. The very thing that made them so special was what ultimately deigned their end.
[9.Nov.09] :. Because the more thoughtful songs outnumber the straight-forward rockers, and the harder songs are camped up, the album works as a whole.
[9.Nov.09] :. More than the backdrop to fiction, this seems a very individual soundtrack to lives lived with questions and conflicts: human beings as living musicals.
[9.Nov.09] :. There's something to be said for the power of their dreamy mood, but for all the searching On Fillmore does here, when they return to the light, it turns out the dark didn't hide as many treasures as they'd hoped.
[9.Nov.09] :. A theme like the one Zacks has chosen gives crate-digging an exceptional purpose, putting a non-Cuban audience in touch with music that might otherwise be lost to them, giving a shape to an idea that might otherwise sound like a non-sequitur.
