Radiohead needs no introduction as enigmatic experimentalists, evolving with each album while maintaining an unmistakable sonic thumbprint. What’s more, each release is felt through the music world as a landmark cultural event, which is why 2011’s opaque The King of Limbs came as a bit of a shock after 2007’s beautifully user-friendly In Rainbows. After
Ah, Death Grips. A band you blast because your parents hate it, your friend’s cool friend rants endlessly about their brilliance and the critic’s love ‘em, going so far as to question if they are “the most important band to arrive this century.” They’re highbrow for the underground–huge walls of noise, abrasive beats, vicious lyrics
CNN’s May 8th United Shades of America focuses on Mexicans, Chicanos and less on our east coast Spanish friends the Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Argentinian-Americans. Hispanic culture is described by one interviewed Chicano musician as a “census word” … a giant catch-all term that is meant to cover all in the USA who speak Spanish.
In this gluttonous era of superhero movies, one of the valid criticisms is the lack of consequence or stakes as heroes and villains pound each other to a pulp. These super beings can do little harm to each other and outside of a band of henchmen (or nameless hordes of aliens or robots), the casualties
Golden Globe nominated Jonathan Pryce takes the lead in this easy going sit-com about immigrant life in the big city. Nat Dayan (Pryce) owns and operates the kosher bakery Dayan and Son he started with his father in 1947 in London’s East End. Against all odds, he keeps the tiny bakery open, competing against the Cotton
Tom Hiddleston finds himself in the middle of a very bad year in Ben Wheatley’s pot boiler about a social crucible in melt down. This should not be a huge surprise after his high tension “Kill List” and “Sightseers.” If anything, this movie continues the director’s explorations into the psycho-social foundations of violence; how the
MUTEK Montreal, which takes place June 1st through June 5th, has announced the final additions to the 17th edition of the technology and electronic music festival. The five-day outing already boasts around 80 live performances from a veritable smorgasbord of forward-thinking, international electronic artists including Ash Koosha, Colleen, and Tim Hecker, now MUTEK has announced
Despite a decades-long deep chill in political relations between the United States and Iran, culture is a different story. In particular, many movies from Iran have been shown and well-received in this country and others. A pinnacle of recognition for Iran’s thriving cinema scene came in 2012, when “The Separation” directed by Asghar Farhadi won
This Sunday on CNN (May 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.) make sure to tune into W. Kamau Bell’s United Shades of America where a level 2 prison, San Quentin, is Kamau’s focus as he introduces us to people behind bars trying to make the best of a stacked situation. There are four levels total in
Liza Johnson’s narrative fiction retelling of the White House meeting of The King of Rock Elvis Presley with President Richard Nixon packs the most entertainment per ounce of any film this year. It is an exploration into what did happen, and what might have happened, during a meeting of the two most opposite people one