The Tribune

At this point it’s a social obligation to scoff at any Justin Bieber release, but where’s the fun in that? Justin’s lyrical contributions, trite as they are, provide seven original tracks on his new holiday album. The other four are ‘classic’ holiday songs in which Bieber adds miniscule doses of[Read More…]

interviewmagazine.com Jeffrey Eugenides began his new novel, The Marriage Plot, with a single idea: his female protagonist, an English student at Brown University in the early 1980s, is discovering love while the postmodern theorists she reads in her classes are deconstructing the very concept. The book, as he conceived it,[Read More…]

Do you ever feel left out during the holiday season because you don’t celebrate Christmas? Why not cure this alienation with comedy? This was precisely the thought that sparked Kosher Jokes for the Halaladays, a comedy show intended as a Christmas present, if you will, for Jews and Muslims. Featuring[Read More…]

Ryan’s Top Ten Albums of 2011: 10. Adele—21 This isn’t even a guilty pleasure. 21 is a collection of well-written and incredibly catchy, soulful pop songs with lyrics at once intensely personal yet universally relatable. Sometimes it’s just that simple. More pop music like this, please. 9. The Luyas—Too Beautiful to Work The Luyas exist[Read More…]

Emily Doyle / Players’ Theatre Dark comedy is a perplexing concept. Though initially a contradiction in terms, most people understand the subtlety involved in such a label. The work may make upsetting issues “lighter”; perhaps, conversely, it may convey typical subjects of comedy in acidic, disturbing ways. In both of[Read More…]

eraziel.com The Artist is cinema for cinephiles. Set at the dawn of the Golden Age of Hollywood, it’s at once a post-mortem and celebration of the silent genre. Director Michel Hazanavicius crafts a rich, beautiful world using minimalist cinematic strokes by today’s standards, and in his effort takes the viewer[Read More…]

filmofilia.com On the all-time stoner comedy list, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas doesn’t sniff any of the classics—Up In Smoke and Half Baked are safe—nor does it approach the charm of its White Castle predecessor; however, no one’s going to argue that this movie isn’t a good time.[Read More…]

You recognize success in mixing genres when connoisseurs on either side think the music is beyond their field. My friend, a venerable bluegrass expert, recommended Goat Rodeo Sessions to me, saying he failed to understand the classical nuances. After I listened to this album, I wanted to give it back,[Read More…]

Drake is living proof that not every rapper has to resort to insipid, vapid rhymes about dollar bills and girls in order to still talk about dollar bills and girls. Returning strong with his second studio album Take Care, Drake continues to rely on his articulate, straightforward lyrics and his[Read More…]

straight.com The first thing to note about Immortals is that it’s not 300, at least not entirely. Directed by the remarkable Tarsem Singh and produced by 300 frontmen Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari, Immortals brings an eclectic blend of stunning visual and creative elements together fairly successfully. Set in the realm[Read More…]