Having a lot to say doesn't pay so well in the music world these days. Double albums either have a reputation as career killers or relics from a bygone era of musical pretension.
Movie-going audiences of today rarely associate Woody Allen films with intense drama, hot young stars or an operatic score, but Allen's new thriller Match Point has all three. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Match Point is an intense investigation of the difference between love and lust, and the psychological pressure of an adulterous relationship. The film follows Chris Wilton (Rhys Meyers), a Scottish tennis player past his prime who has moved to London to give tennis lessons to wealthy socialites.
By now everybody's heard of the "gay cowboy" movie. Director Ang Lee depicts the love story between two ranch hands the way other films treat heterosexual romance, without explicit agenda.
In a Venetian convent, an Inquisition officer condemns a depraved nun to eternal damnation for one night with Casanova, the city's promiscuous paramour in residence. "Seems fair," the sister remarks to herself, shrugging. Much like the wayward nun, the viewer of Casanova indulges in a guilty pleasure: Despite the punishment of a predictable plot and occasional preachiness, the charming comedy and beguiling characters bewitch the senses and shroud the judgmental eye. The film's premises invite predictability.
Every film embarks on a hope of discovery because every film begins with the birth of a world -- this is the promise of cinema.
The same month some were celebrating the birth of one Savior, the movie industry eagerly anticipated the arrival of its own: King Kong.
In radio, the way to end a show is to spare your audience the tearful goodbye and simply plug the next DJ.
Fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series have swarmed theaters to see the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and have been greeted with special effects wizardry and, after some brutal editing, a product true to Rowling's vision. While the 600-page novel might seem impossible to condense into a film of a mere two-and-a-half hours, only the details suffer while the rest of the book remains largely intact. If you've been following the Potter craze without reading the books, in this film it will catch up to you.
Chicago's best kept secret finally has hit the big time. For the past decade, Wilco has been building a following worthy of its newfound status as critics' darlings.
Having been a high school theater geek once, Rent holds a special place in my heart. This young suburbanite owes her initiation into the world of bohemia to Rent; I got my budding adult education to the tune of "Seasons of Love." So, when I heard my beloved rock opera was being turned into a movie, I found occasion to climb up on my shaky, teenaged soapbox again and decry the commercialism, the historical disrespect, even the immorality of such a venture. "Making Rent into a movie?!" I yelped.
In 1955, Memphis Sun Studio Recording producer Sam Phillips gave an earnest, young musician a piece of advice. "If you could sing one song, one song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on earth ... that's the kind of song that truly saves people." J.R.
Go-kart racing is one of the most popular genres. The games are typically simple, fun and easy to make.
I won't lie to you, readers: I spent most of Thanksgiving Break watching cooking shows on TV. The few moments I managed to tear my eyes away from the succulent desserts on "Emeril Live" or the undeniable obnoxiousness of Rachael Ray, I spent reading over my old columns. Tableau and I have come a long way.
In the fast-changing world of videogames, few titles are worth more than several hours of attention, fewer are remembered after a couple of months and fewer still become genuine classics. Even among the classics, the original Civilization stands out.
When I saw Madonna on the cover of "Vogue" in July, I thought to myself, "Wow, look how much she's changed." It had only been a year since she had started what I assumed would be her last tour, The Re-Inventions Tour, and for some time after that it seemed as if this 40-something, 80s pop idol had changed: She married a Brit, had two children and made a home in London. For all intents and purposes, Madonna had put those days of standing on the side of the street, naked, with more than a hitchhiker's thumb hanging in the wind behind her.
First things first: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Memories of My Melancholy Whores, touted as his first novel in 10 years, is anything but.
Pride and Prejudice has been compulsively told and retold on the silver screen -- in the last decade alone we have seen about a half-dozen adaptations.
Few holidays include traditions that not only allow but encourage celebrators to get "toasted." This claim may seem like a stretch in college, but in the real world it takes a special occasion to warrant the mass consumption of alcohol.
Now that stores are filling their windows with brightly colored lights and menorahs in preparation for the next big seasonal assault, it is easy to forget that there is still another semi-important day before the semester ends. Yeah, right.
At a roadside diner, Truman Capote thinks out loud. "In Cold Blood," he says, testing the title of his book-to-be.
