hating (but understanding) american idol

Thomas de Zengotita's excellent piece on the allure of American Idol comforts all of us who hate that show by agreeing with our complai...

writing about the wu-tang clan

I can't imagine how current teenagers could have any understanding of what a talented (and often hilarious) outfit the Wu-Tang Clan were...

Top Ten Movies of 2005

I've been meaning to put this up for a few weeks now. Let the mild debate begin. 10. King Kong Some movies have such tremendous upside t...

manderlay: even so-so lars von trier is pretty good

I loved Dogville so much that I both feared and kinda looked forward to the second installment in Lars von Trier's "U.S.A." t...

pazz & jop

The Village Voice 's annual music poll, Pazz & Jop, brings together close to 800 music critics to vote for their favorite albums and...

farewell to chris penn

An actor in search of a defining role, Chris Penn came closest to greatness with his understated performance in Robert Altman's Short Cu...

there goes your favorite local record store

With a nice mixture of music-geek purity and acute business sense, Tanveer Badal reports on the final days of a Los Angeles institution, Aro...