You could feel TV's ground shift the other night as Eddie Izzard launched The Riches on FX, his coolly ambitious satire. The humor was jagged, lit by violence, the characters hungry and gulping down plot, the tone steely-eyed anarchic. There was Minnie Driver, a con on parole, sobbing, throwing her … [Read more...]
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE
Brooks keeps showing up: on the latest NYRB subscription dropout card, and you have to wonder: what demo does this caricature appeal to? The 75-and-over crowd? Those lecherous old poets? Does this ancient ingenue actually sell magazines? Does anybody write in saying "OMIGawd, I never realized this … [Read more...]
SICK DAZE
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE BLOGGED We be thumping now anyway: Riley Rock Index now features a weekly rss feed, which works on your mobile. And next week: Abbey Road podcast. … [Read more...]
A MOVIE AND TWO BOOKS WALK INTO A BAR
Slate put me onto Snarksmith, a book-reader's blog, which led me to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring Robert Downey Jr. as an inversion of Chandler's Marlowe, and Val Kilmer as the gay LAPI who "shows him the ropes." The concept is clever, but moment by moment it's blisteringly funny. Still can't decide … [Read more...]
GUILTY PLEASURES
Story airs TODAY on HERE AND NOW, between 12-1pm EST on WBUR-FM Boston. Click here for the live stream, audio will get posted as soon as it's up. RILEY ROCK INDEX The Index is now in official hardcore soft-beta, including a new weekly features page for groovy updates. Click on "grapevine," … [Read more...]
OUT OF THE PARK
FEY ON TOP "I hear Aaron Sorkin is in Los Angeles wearing the same dress - but longer, and not funny." … [Read more...]
RECONSIDER BABY
DAVID THOMSON Reviewers couldn't get past the conceit of his Kidman crush, which motors his prose beyond devotional. Eccentric, over-the-top, and compulsively readable, in sections earning its analogies and fantasy roles, as Bee Wilson notes in LRB. LESLIE SAVAN The NYTimes especially seemed … [Read more...]
STYLE AS SUBSTANCE
PULL QUOTE "A composer whose core work represents brevity carried almost past its logical conclusion..." --Bernard Holland on Webern How many aesthetic distinctions get coiled up in that word "almost"? Discuss. … [Read more...]
BUT THERE IS A STAR, AND IT HAS A TAIL: THIS LONG
Gian Carlo Menotti 1911-2007 Along with all the other Amahls out there, a salute to Gian Carlo. Everybody should have such a regret in their obit: "I used it as an excuse to work less. Now I regret it bitterly." He was 95, and the Spoleto Festival he founded and ran for over fifty years made him … [Read more...]
KETTLE SHRUGS CITING POT’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES
File under: "My daughter's not gay so I have to find another way to be massively hypocritical..." "America's corporate boardrooms must step up to their responsibilities," he said. "You need to pay attention to the executive compensation packages that you approve." George Bush to the New York Stock … [Read more...]
OH BABY BABY BABY
GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE I can change, I swear... Stop him before he kills again. That is the judgment of the American people, and indeed of the entire world, as to the performance of our president, and no State of the Union address can erase that dismal verdict. President Bush has accomplished … [Read more...]
RIGHT ICEBERG, WRONG TIP
From NYTimes Arts Briefs this morning: 'CSI' vs. 'Grey's Anatomy' The addition of Liev Schreiber to the cast of "CSI" helped give CBS the top spot Thursday night, but "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy," which both won Golden Globes on Monday, put ABC on top among adults 18 to 49. According to … [Read more...]
WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU ABOUT:
The Painted Veil Sleeper of the year, with an unnecessarily distracting and anachronistic score by Alexandre Desplat featuring the very overhyped Lang Lang. Eragon Featuring the Come Hither Line of the Year: "You look... fit for battle." The Good Shepherd Good performances, weak writing, … [Read more...]
WHERE’S THE REST OF HIM?
You could quibble, punch up the lead (a Johns Hopkins report has Iraqi civilian deaths surpassing 650,000), but this wins the year-in-review prize for tone alone: Thousands of people died in the Iraqi civil war, which was costing the United States $100,000 a minute. U.S. forces began to negotiate … [Read more...]
Ungently
COLD SWEAT Idolator lists Jonathan Lethem's Rolling Stone profile, Ben Greenman's New Yorker overview, and Douglas Wolk's WFMU 2001 playlist (somebody BURN this). Alongside Jon Pareles's big statement, I'd put Phillip Gourevitch NY unposted profile from a couple years back. Besides Milo Miles at … [Read more...]