Jan 30, 2010
Cinema
Michael Fassbender
First-time actress Katie Jarvis delivers a wonderfully expressive and nuanced lead performance as Mia, an aimless Essex teen in English writer/director Andrea Arnold’s superb second feature, Fish Tank. Mia, a foul-mouthed 15-year-old loner with a nose for trouble, lives in a council flat with her single mom (Kierston Wareing) and tween sister (Rebecca Griffiths).
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Jan 28, 2010
Live
Alec Ounsworth
Cold War Kids
The Wiltern—it should be noted—has excellent pretzels. The sound mixing however? Suspect at best. As the night wore on and Cold War Kids took the stage it improved, but sadly the brunt of the bad sound fell on dynamic opener Alec Ounsworth. Despite having a fantastic hat and compelling stage persona, he couldn’t quite rise above the truly crappy conditions.
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Jan 28, 2010
Music
Issue #29 - Year End 2009 - Best of the Decade
If Los Campesinos!’ first album, Hold on Now, Youngster, was the sound of worked-up adolescents pining for easy sex, and its rush-released follow up, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, the sound of crushed young adults learning there’s no such thing, the group’s latest, Romance is Boring, is the inevitable realization that even stable relationships don’t make sex any less elusive.
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Jan 27, 2010
DVDs
The Decemberists
The Decemberists’ 2009 album The Hazards of Love now has an animated album-length video companion, one that brings to mind those ‘60s and ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll films that were often watched with chemical enhancement.
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Jan 27, 2010
Music
Issue #29 - Year End 2009 - Best of the Decade
As an actress, Charlotte Gainsbourg has made a career by placing herself in the hands of collaborators. In 2006, she took that theory into the studio for the first time in 20 years, working with Air, Jarvis Cocker, and Neil Hannon to create dreamy sophomore album 5:55. Now, four years later, Gainsbourg is back with a little help from a friend—this time, Beck.
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DC/Vertigo
Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Sean Murphy
Jan 26, 2010
Comic Books
Web Exclusive
In the debut issue of Joe the Barbarian we meet Joe Manson. His mother constantly berates him to get his head out of the fantasy world of his sketchbook, and like many geeky adolescent boys he gets bullied at school.
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Jan 25, 2010
Music
Issue #29 - Year End 2009 - Best of the Decade
What an incredible year for Animal Collective! First they release their monumental Merriweather Post Pavilion to near universal critical acclaim. It charts in the Billboard Top 20, a feat nearly unimaginable 10 years ago when the band began releasing albums.
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Jan 23, 2010
DVDs
Web Exclusive
The first rule of Fight Club on Blu-ray is: You don’t talk about Fight Club on Blu-ray.
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Image
C. Allbritton Taylor, art by Jim Rugg
Jan 22, 2010
Comic Books
Web Exclusive
One Model Nation, an original graphic novel from Image, has a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and even the “who’s who” is a little muddied. “C. Allbritton Taylor” is also known as Courtney Taylor-Taylor, lead singer of The Dandy Warhols. Credited as “historian” is Donovan Leitch, of Nancy Boy, Camp Freddy, and some movie acting roles. The two are co-credited as coming up with the original concept as well.
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Jan 22, 2010
Live
Hotrats
You are in between albums. You are bored. You are fooling around in the studio. A side project is born. This is the story behind The Hotrats, comprised of Supergrass’ persona, Gaz Coombes (vocalist/guitarist) and powerhouse, Danny Coffey (drummer).
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