The Decemberists-The Crane Wife
Capitol There’s always an underlying current of anxiety when a beloved indie band makes the leap to the majors, particularly one with as precious and precise an aesthetic as practiced by The Decemberists. Rambling, fey epics about forbidden love in the 18th century, Colin Meloy’s bracingly literate pop songs are an anomaly on the modern…
Lady Vengeance
2005 Park Chan Wook concludes his revenge trilogy with “Lady Vengeance,” a terrific black comedy about a young woman who spends 13 years in prison for a crime she confessed to but didn’t commit. When she’s released, she has a plan in place for vengeance against the true perpetrator. The remarkable Yeong-ae Lee stars as…
An open letter to the candidates
Dear candidates: What if I promise to vote for you? Hey, what if I double-dog promise? (OK, some of you; my ballot will limit me to marking the box for just under half of all possible candidates. I didn’t make the rules, you know.) Anyway, if I promise, will you please stop getting in…
The Baldwin Brother-Return of the Golden Rhodes
TVT Some will never give The Baldwin Brothers a chance on name alone. It’s their loss, for these Baldwins are not preening, fatuous members of the Hollywood acting dynasty, but a snappy, headstrong Chicago-based duo with a diabolical bent for heady brews of electronic-based jazz-funk. Like their 2002 debut, the long-in-development follow-up “Return of…
The Maltese Falcon: Three-Disc Special Edition
1941/2006 There’s no small irony that Warner Bros. “? whose spectacular DVD re-releases of classic films are nigh unrivaled “? is releasing a film whose signature line deals with “the stuff dreams are made of.” The studio hits one out of the park yet again; spread across a generous three discs and visually resplendent,…
Edmond
2005 Based on a lesser known, but by no means any less pungent David Mamet play, “Edmond” is perhaps as close-to-the-bone as the playwright can get. A deceptively simple tale of a man who decides to embark upon a life-altering odyssey of debauchery, murder and madness, “Edmond” fairly explodes off the screen, featuring William H.…
Beck-The Information
Interscope Beck’s ridden his muse like a teeter-totter for the last decade’ raunchy and raw, introspective and subdued’ yet the slacker musical fusionary rarely has allowed the two distinct sides of his outsized musical personality to meet until now. “The Information,” assembled piecemeal over the last three years with help from Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich,…
