The X-Files: I Want to Believe

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
My brother and my girlfriend are both hardcore X-Philes while I am not, yet all of us were disappointed with this muddled, oddly anticlimactic tale of a psychic pedophile priest, a modern Dr. Frankenstein and too much emotional grappling between Mulder and Scully (“Don’t give up!!!” Aaaagh!).

The Education of Hopey Glass

THE EDUCATION OF HOPEY GLASS by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
There’s something achingly poignant in this latest LOVE & ROCKETS collection starring the Locas crew of aging punks and ne’er do wells, particularly if (like me) you’ve been growing old (if not up) along with them over the past 26 years. And Xaime’s artwork, while undeniably streamlined, remains dazzling.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART
As the Bush Administration slowly, painfully winds down, let us take a moment to consider how even more unbearable it would’ve been without the righteous, hilarious, sometimes angry, always spot-on bullshit detectors at The Daily Show. In a media-oversaturated world, this is one show that remains utterly essential.

The Soup

THE SOUP
If you prefer a soupçon of train-wreck TV mocked by someone smart and funny, then E!’s condensed collection of head-shaking clips is both hilarious and cathartic. Hopefully the deluded narcissists of The Hills or Big Brother tune in to see how stupid and pathetic many people think they are.

The Colbert Report

THE COLBERT REPORT
When this show premiered in 2005, I was afraid that the Billo satire would get old quickly, but the brilliant Colbert has managed to craft perhaps the smartest ongoing satire of not just the right wing, but every short-sighted, knee-jerk, self-absorbed trait that makes America so Goddamn frustrating.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS
I am not well-traveled (to say the least), but the gastro-expeditions of Jersey-bred Chef Bourdain (a punk with the soul of a poet) not only make me feel like I’ve been to exotic locations, they actually make me want to go there (although I still don’t fancy offal).

The Hold Steady, Stay Positive

The Hold Steady, STAY POSITIVE (Vagrant Records)
While I’ve always respected Springsteen, aside from “Born to Run” (a perfect rock song), his music has always left me cold. Filling the void, Jersey stalwarts The Hold Steady’s pissed yet hopeful blast of punk Americana is rife with bold anthems that don’t evoke fist pumping or backwards ball caps.

The Dark Knight

THE DARK KNIGHT
At the risk of being hyperbolic (as well as redundant), a masterpiece. This movie works on every level, as a superhero movie, a crime drama and a complex character study, with spectacular visuals, mind-blowing action, a brilliant screenplay, an affecting score and across-the-board stellar performances. Finally, Bat-Perfection.
(for 1638 more words, see here)

Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight soundtrack

Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard, THE DARK KNIGHT original soundtrack
Listening to a soundtrack before seeing the movie isn’t exactly spoilerish, and the music’s quality doesn’t always correlate with its film’s. However… this score is absolutely incredible. There’s an epic, nightmarish, sweeping grandeur to it that creates a mood so palpable you can swear you’re in the heart of Gotham.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
I’m a huge defender of adaptations altering material to fit a new medium, but this sequel strays even farther from Mike Mignola’s comics’ beautifully realized Lovecraftian tone into an off-putting comedic fantasy (and I detest the parental turn of events). Another missed opportunity for a unique superhero / horror hybrid.

Ice Road Truckers season 2

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS Season 2
Basically, aside from the whiny bitching of Drew and Rick, the only drama this season comes from computer animated enactments of what COULD happen (but never does). With nobody going through the ice and no scenes of what happens after hours, this show is for truckophiles only.

Batman: Gotham Knight

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT
This septet of anime takes on Batman didn’t convert this non-fan of the genre. Kevin Conroy’s traditional Batman voice ill-fits these hyper-styllized Dark Knights. The writing is fine, and the Killer Croc and Deadshot segments looks nice, but ovearall this direct-to-DVD tie-in just feels like a botched experiment.

Monsterama

MONSTERAMA
This 15 minute documentary series is the best reason to DVR Monsters HD. In-depth features on such geek manna as Aurora model kits, Basil Gogos and Munsters memorabilia are beautifully lit and shot, making for amazing hi-def freeze frames. And it’s nice to see host Elvira getting work.

The Full Color Guide to Marvel Silver Age Collectibles

THE FULL COLOR GUIDE TO MARVEL SILVER AGE COLLECTIBLES by J. Ballman
The breadth of this tome is incredible, as are the hundreds of pictures of classic Marvel memorabilia, much of which I never knew existed. Unfortunately, the clunky page layout and awkward, unedited writing are endemic of the most amateurish fanzines. Ah, the perils of self publishing.

Underdog

UNDERDOG
Sometimes I don’t understand how something so ill-advised can make it from greenlighting to the screen without enough people saying “Hold on… this is HORRIBLE!” to put it into turnaround. I know that Hollywood product is usually just that, and this is certainly one of those horrid, loathsome cases.

Haunted

HAUNTED by Philippe Dupuy (Drawn & Quarterly)
For his first book sans partner Charles Berberian, French cartoonist Dupuy presents a more expressionistic vision, with rough, sketchy art delineating dreamlike tales of isolation, self-doubt and other fears sadly common to the human existence. Not as instantly gratifying (nor comforting) as his collaborations, but well worth the effort.

Legion of Super-Heroes: 1,050 Years of the Future

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: 1,050 YEARS OF THE FUTURE (DC Comics)
FINALLY! A DC anthology that gives historical context to the collected stories! The Legion’s history has been rebooted so many times that annotation was mandatory, but here’s hoping this sets a precedent for all their collected editions. Still, the tales are convoluted enough to baffle the uninitiated. For fanboys only.

Get Smart

GET SMART
This surprisingly smart (ha?) take on the ‘60s spy spoof features great casting, some belly laughs (Alan Arkin and Dwayne Johnson steal the show), a hilarious Bill Murray cameo, homage to the original and Anne Hathaway’s legs. But a baffling emphasis on action dilutes what could’ve been a great comedy.

Wanted

WANTED
I never read the comic, but apparently this adaptation changes almost everything, turning a secret cabal of world-leading supervillains into a justice-serving league of assassins. Despite a few nice action sequences, this MATRIX pastiche just leaves the bland, familiar taste of compromised Hollywood product. And Jolie needs to eat something.

Swingtown

SWINGTOWN
CBS’ obviously MAD MEN-inspired tale of swinging in the suburbs of the 1970s suffers a bit from network TV restrictions and clichés, but the casting, art direction and music make it worth tuning in if you love (or lust for) that decadent decade. Mmm, who wants fondue?

Kirby: King of Comics

KIRBY: KING OF COMICS by Mark Evanier (Abrams)
Jack Kirby was comics’ most influential and important artist, but the industry (especially Marvel) usually treated him like a worthless cog in the machine. Posthumously, his legacy shines unquestioned, and this amazing book manages to make familiar images (which never lost their vitality) look fresh and new. Truly essential.

The Incredible Hulk

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Ang Lee’s 2003 HULK may have been ponderous, but at least it was interesting. This Hulk (equal parts comic & TV show) may smash the Abomination, spawn the Leader and serum-check Captain America, but it ultimately feels too slight (evidenced by its contrasting highlight: the crowd-pleasing Tony Stark cameo).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Undercooked and overblown, completely lacking in any resonant human drama or believable excitement, this meeting of the unrestrained minds of Spielberg & Lucas yields little beyond pining for the good old days of pre-CG. I squirmed as Shia Labeouf became Tarzan, and writhed in pain at the climactic wedding scene.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
Another potentially hilarious film lessened by the mushy, neutering hand of Judd Apatow. There are a few moments of genius in this satire of music biographies (particularly the Beatles segment [improv?]), but the film is permeated with Apatow’s patented mainstream compromise, causing the whole to fall short of TAP-greatness.

Rock On

ROCK ON by Dan Kennedy (Algonquin Books)
Ad writer Dan Kennedy got a job at Atlantic Records in 2002, quickly realizing the glory days of the music biz were fading. Actually, by 2002, they were long over, and that’s the problem with this book. You can’t cover a funeral after the body’s rotting in the ground.

Dreamgirls

DREAMGIRLS
My biggest problem with this parable about the golden age of R&B is that people didn’t OVERSING LIKE THAT in the 1960s and ‘70s. Believable period fashion means nothing when juxtaposed against the ear-splitting caterwaul of Jennifer Hudson. It’s AMERICAN IDOL’s world, we just suffer in it.

Evan Almighty

EVAN ALMIGHTY
So many people I like… so humiliated… by this… horrid, predictable, unfunny, painful to watch pablum… Steve, Lauren, Morgan, Jon, John… why? Why? Surely you don’t need the money! Was it blackmail? Extortion of some kind? I guess it just doesn’t matter. If I had a soul, it would bleed.

Hear and Now

HEAR AND NOW
Immensely moving documentary about an elderly couple getting cochlear implants and hearing for the first time in their lives. Filmed by their daughter, the movie not only makes you revel in the smelling (or hearing) of the roses, but marvel at the delicacy of us poor mortals.

Smallville Season 7

SMALLVILLE Season 7
Talk about overstaying a welcome. What was once a solid entrant in the Superman mythos has been dragged beyond verisimilitude with too many convoluted plotlines and shoehorned characters (mostly Supergirl). Sans Lana, Luthor and Millar-Gough, next season doesn’t bode well for a satisfying conclusion to this mess. A fanboy weeps.

Hell's Kitchen Season 4

HELL’S KITCHEN Season 4
TOP CHEF’s antithesis. Stupid wannabe chefs with little talent spend more energy in-fighting and bragging than proving they’re capable in the kitchen. And, Jesus, is every single one of them a chain smoker? That’ll help the palate! Gordon Ramsey’s really going to let one of these jokers run his kitchen??

Verminators

VERMINATORS (Discovery Channel)
Why do I watch this show? I hate vermin (rats and roaches particularly). Yet, like a car-crash-rubbernecker, my eyes are glued to this look inside infested Los Angeles (how can people live like that!?). But I’m thinking the novelty will wear thin as fast as living with bedbugs would.

Iron Man

IRON MAN
Maybe the golden age of superhero movies isn’t quite over yet…! Superb characterization, great acting, blistering action and a perfect tonal balance are only slightly dampened by a more traditional (and boring) slam-bang battle at the end (but oh! That post-credits tease!). The best Marvel movie since SPIDER-MAN 2.

DC Universe: 0

DC UNIVERSE: 0
As a semi-lapsed fanboy, I’m in favor of any sweeping event that allows DC to re-re-re-boot its universe (no Clark Kent-Lois Lane marriage, please!), but this prelude to FINAL CRISIS is pretty hard to follow if you haven’t been buying COUNTDOWN. Essentially a 50¢ advertisement you can skip.

Iron Man: Beneath the Armor

IRON MAN: BENEATH THE ARMOR by Andy Mangels (Del Rey)
An unintentional treatise on the problem with comics’ continuity obsession, this comprehensive story of Iron Man becomes headache-inducing when it shifts from objective history of the comics to an attempt to explain 45 years of oft-discarded continuity as a cohesive timeline. (And wow! ‘80s-‘90s Marvel Comics were UGLY!)

Achtung! German Grooves

Various Artists, ACHTUNG! GERMAN GROOVES (Bureau B)
For fans of foreign esoterica who miss the glory days of Crippled Dick Hot Wax, this comp of funky German instrumental hipshakers from the 60s and 70s is nice, but not essential. Irgendein POPSHOPPING Vol. 1 oder THE IN-KRAUT dient Sie besser.

Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist

WILL EISNER: PORTRAIT OF A SEQUENTIAL ARTIST
One of a few comic artists worthy of a feature documentary, the late Eisner is well served in this biography / tribute that nicely traverses 50+ years and might even convince a non-comics reader to pick up one of the master’s graphic novels (preferably before THE SPIRIT movie comes out).

The Best of LCD

THE BEST OF LCD: THE ART AND WRITING OF WFMU edited by Dave the Spazz (Princeton Architectural Press)
Fantastic collection of writing, comics and art from the late (boo internet) program guide / magazine of legendary free-form radio station WFMU (now available worldwide; yay internet). Essential bookshelf fodder for any fan of Slim Gaillard, EIGHTBALL, the Shaggs, Ernie Kovacs, Pastor John Rydgren, Steven Keene and (not or) nihilism!

The Replacements, Let it Be

The Replacements, LET IT BE reissue (Twin/Tone / Rykodisc / Rhino)
At long last, the ‘Mats Twin/Tone albums get the remastered reissue treatment with worthy bonus tracks (altho’ sans Westerberg blessing). This gold standard of ‘80s indie punk sounds as vital as ever and feels even more indispensable today, whetting the appetite for a similar treatment of the Sire records.

The Number 23

THE NUMBER 23
It’s official! Joel Schumacher is utterly incapable of directing a cohesive film that fails to bow to (over)style over substance! And Jim Carrey is an awful actor! And movies love to insult the intelligence of their audience! And I wasted 1:45 of my life!

Wacky Packages

WACKY PACKAGES by the Topps Company, Inc. (Abrams)
This lovingly packaged, gorgeously designed collection of every Wacky Pack from Series 1-7 (1973-74) is an essential bookshelf item for any child of the Seventies who remembers a time when kid culture could satirize beer and cigarettes. The gags may often fall flat, but the nostalgia is crisp and sweet.

Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations...

BIZARRO AND OTHER STRANGE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE ART OF DAN PIRARO (Abrams)
Dan Piraro is undeniably one of today’s most talented newspaper cartoonists, and there’s much to enjoy in this overview, if you can get past the tiresome, unrelenting self-aggrandizement and vegan proselytizing. More art (there’s room on the pages) and less smug self-righteousness would’ve served this book better.

Can Rock & Roll Save the World?

CAN ROCK & ROLL SAVE THE WORLD? By Ian Shirley (SAF Publishing)
Entertaining, but somewhat slapdash history of the connection between rock and comics, this book is rife with errors and lazy writing (I don’t think “Marvel literally wet their pants” over “Magneto & Titanium Man”). Lots of well-chosen illustrations, but the book’s overall weak design doesn’t serve its subject well.

The Good Shepherd

THE GOOD SHEPHERD
The problem with movies that fictionalize history is that drama is diluted as we try to parse what’s real and what’s not. This ostensible history of the CIA is interesting, but ultimately falls into too many movie clichés to feel as hefty as its star-studded pedigree would indicate.

The Bridge

THE BRIDGE
A harrowing juxtaposition of beauty and sadness. Documentarian Eric Steel shot San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge for a year, capturing a shocking number of suicides. Interviews with friends and family flesh out the victims’ lives in this discomfiting (skirting the edge of exploitative) examination of human frailty.

Born Standing Up

BORN STANDING UP by Steve Martin (Scribner)
As someone who could recite Steve Martin’s comedy albums verbatim in junior high school, I found this deeply personal professional memoir both melancholy and inspiring. Martin’s self-proclaimed need for privacy comes across mostly in the book’s brevity, which leads the reader to wonder about the stories NOT told.

Screaming Females: What if Someone is Watching Their TV?

Screaming Females, WHAT IF SOMEONE IS WATCHING THEIR TV? (Don Giovanni Records)
I see hundreds of bands a year, and, at the risk of sounding Grampaesque, most of the kids today are hollow pastiches. New Jersey’s Screaming Females, led by the incendiary sparkplug brilliance of guitarist / vocalist Marissa are the real deal. This CD’s great, but live… they are transcendent.

Paul F. Tompkins: Impersonal

Paul F. Tompkins, IMPERSONAL (ASpecialThing Records)
One of the geniuses of the new millennium’s comedy renaissance (howzat for some hyperbole?), Tompkins’ full length debut CD is rife with ingredients that make comedy albums re-listenable: Lyrical delivery, a singular voice and a heaping helping of soul-lifting cynicism! OHMYGOD! Those balloons are GAUCHE!!!

John Adams

JOHN ADAMS (HBO)
HBO’s adaptation of David McCullough’s humanizing portrait of our most overlooked founding father is not only stirring edu-tainment, it’s appetite-whetting! I want more Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin and David Morse as George Washington in their own mini-series! But I doubt Abigail Adams was that hot.

The Spectacular Spider-Man

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
After decades of animated series that never captured the character (for me) like the original ‘60s show, this smart, stylish update melds 40 years of Spidey history into a fun cartoon for aging fanboys, Ultimate Marvelites and kids alike. And it’s the best looking Marvel-toon in decades.

Superman: The Music 1978-88

SUPERMAN: THE MUSIC 1978-88
Eight CDs of Superman music is a bit much for non-accolytes, and there is some filler in this huge (horribly packaged) set. But the remastered original John Williams score sounds better than ever, and the real surprise is how good Alexander Courage‘s score is for the otherwise risible SUPERMAN IV.