Jill Scott is the central figure in this series, and its pilot was the last thing to be directed by the late Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain).

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, returns with Eliza Dushku, an alum of both shows, for Dollhouse.

If Anne Hathaway’s insolent, attention-craving character Kym seems intolerable after only a few scenes, and you begin to question whether you can spend another 100 minutes with her, then screenwriter Jenny Lumet and director Jonathan Demme have you right where they want you.

Australia’s The Black Balloon has its heart in the right place. The film observes autism through the eyes of Thomas, a 15-year-old boy (Rhys Wakefield) who struggles to accept his older brother Charlie’s (Luke Ford) disability, at an age when adolescents’ own self-consciousness becomes magnified.

Austin, Texas, trio White Denim has a minor identity complex. Caterwauling, slash and dash swing one moment (“IEIEI”); flailing funk rock grabs at MC5 the next (“All You Really Have to Do”).

Songwriter Morgan Nagler is the real deal. She has earned the praise of her friend Jenny Lewis, among others, for the bittersweet lyrics that are on full display in Swim’s eleven tales of alternating hope and heartbreak.

These days being championed by Oasis doesn’t do anything for your musical career. But in the mid-’90s, when Travis first came on the scene, Noel Gallagher’s endorsement brought much public awareness to the young Scottish group.

The West, a companion piece to the film The Legend of God’s Gun, sees Spindrift striking out on their own, and from under the protected wings of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

If U2 taught us anything, it’s that one doesn’t become the biggest rock band in the world by running in place. Even U2 had to evolve—they’ve managed to do it successfully over the years, as have their successors, Coldplay, as heard on their latest, Viva la Vida. Snow Patrol hasn’t received this memo, and if they keep releasing albums like A Hundred Million Suns, which is the equivalent of listening to someone tread water for 60 minutes, people will lose interest because there is nothing new in Snow Patrol’s tired repertoire to keep them coming back.