With the possible exceptions of Tipper Gore, cops and Scott Stapp, there’s no greater enemy to rock ’n’ roll than corporate suits: faceless, fun-hating squares who refer to bands as products and albums as units. Yet, according to Dan Kennedy in his new book, “Rock On: An Office Power Ballad,” these are the people who…
It was another Friday night in Barcelona. Or was it a Saturday? Jon’s memory is a little off. It could’ve been a Tuesday for all he remembers. Jon, a senior at Ithaca College, was out with some friends on a pub crawl. “We run into these two, just gorgeous, Danish girls,” Jon said. He performed…
For everyone who thinks Columbia is for cocaine, Belgium is for chocolate, Norway is for Vikings and has never even heard of Kyrgyzstan (let alone can pronounce it), there is finally a book that gloriously reaffirms all your favorite global stereotypes and misconceptions. “Our Dumb World” ($27.99) is a fictional atlas about real countries. Equal…
You know a person is planning to run for president when he releases a book. John F. Kennedy released “Profiles in Courage” in 1956. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and he was commander in chief a few years later. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has already released two books. Now add Stephen Colbert to this list…
To no one’s surprise, professional wrestling stars don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to headlining movies. After all, wrestlers are built for action, not acting. But as long as they’re provided with asses to kick and things to blow up, the results should still be somewhat tolerable. (See Duane “The Rock” Johnson…
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are learned disciples of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez school of filmmaking. Their two feature films, “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” are as much parodies as they are loving tributes to the zombie and cop genres, respectively. The latter of the two films earned Wright the street cred to…
A critic would have an easier time summarizing “War and Peace” in 600 words than trying to fill that same space with a review of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.” This isn’t because the film is especially dense or complicated, or that its plot is intricate. Come to think of it,…
For 10 seasons, the guys and robots at “Mystery Science Theater 3000” made their bread and butter off the type of movies “Grindhouse” so expertly pays homage to. Cinematic travesties like “Manos: The Hands of Fate” or “Devil Fish” were perfect for MST3K’s patented riffs and snide observations on the innumerable mistakes, errors and outright…
Abbott and Costello met monsters, Ernest went places, Chevy Chase took his family on vacations. And now it’s official: the Will Ferrell formula for comedy success is parodying strange occupations. Following in the footsteps of “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” Ferrell’s newest comedy knows better than to mess with a good…
Emerging in the wake of a string of dismal horror remakes, last year’s “The Hills Have Eyes” didn’t seem like it had much hope of setting itself apart from schlock like “The Fog” or the craptacular Paris Hilton vehicle, “House of Wax.” Yet the film’s unexpected mix of great casting, cheesily gruesome makeup effects and…
Had Groucho Marx been commissioned to write “The Idiot’s Guide to Hollywood,” his efforts might have turned out something like “Bambi vs. Godzilla,” David Mamet’s informative though absurd take on the movie business. Mamet, for lack of a less irritating phrase, is a literary triple threat. Author of 50 or more plays, screenplays and books,…
Too crass to be labeled a satire of American law enforcement and too hilariously absurd to be written off, “Reno 911!: Miami” is this century’s equivalent to the Keystone Kops. The only difference is Charlie Chaplin sports hot pants, Buster Keaton does blow and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle gets Tasered by an underage hooker. “Reno 911!:…
