“Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.” RADIOHEAD: Nude [Dir. by SCOTT COLAN] * REWIND: 2008 The Year In Yoon 2008 [Photos by TIFFANY YOON]
THERE WILL BE BLOOD: They Might Be Giants
[Photo by SUSAN ANDERSON] BY DAVE ALLEN It might sound like an insult to call a band’s sound cartoonish, but in the case of They Might Be Giants, it’s really not. I first encountered their music on the FOX cartoon show Tiny Toon Adventures in a kind of music video where the character Plucky Duck acts out the song “Particle Man,” getting pummeled by a variety of heavily-muscled of the professional wrestler-meets-comic book superhero type. The band’s wry, funny lyrics mesh with the arch musical sensibilities of the two core members, John Flansburgh and John Linnell — organ, accordion and […]
REWIND 2008: The Year In Giant Rock Pix
? [Photos by TIFFANY YOON, JONATHAN VALANIA, PAUL PUGILESE, MICHAEL DONOVAN, JEFF FUSCO, DAVE ALLEN] * BREAKING: Court of Common Pleas Judge Idee Fox just ordered Mayor Nutter and the Free Library of Philadelphia to halt their plans to shutter 11 branch libraries after 5 p.m. tomorrow. MORE * NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t FRESH AIR While his Office character may take himself seriously, actor Rainn Wilson seems to be all about the laughs. Wilson plays beet-farming, archery-loving middle-management kook Dwight Shrute on the NBC hit television series. Now, Wilson is trading his crossbow for a […]
CLUSTER & ENO: Ho Renomo
WARNING: Extremely beautiful. WIKIPEDIA: Anna Pavlovna Pavlova (Russian: ????? ????????? ????????) (12 February 1881 [O.S. 31 January]–23 January 1931) was a Russian ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the most famous classical ballet dancers in history and was most noted as a Principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognised for the creation of the role The Dying Swan and with her own company, would become the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world.
SIGH: Zooey Deschanel Engaged To Ben Gibbard
[Image via INDIE ROCK OLYMPIC SKETCHES] PEOPLE: Zooey Deschanel [pictured, left] is ready to walk down the aisle, PEOPLE has learned. The actress and singer, 28, and Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard [drawn, above], 32, who is also in the indie band the Postal Service, got engaged before the holidays, a source confirms. Deschanel, currently starring in Yes Man opposite Jim Carrey, also released her first album, Volume One, in March with her band She & Him. Her rep was not available for comment. MORE CELEBRITY BUZZ: There has been some confusion over who, exactly, has won the […]
HEAR YE: Raphael Saadiq The Way I See It
Now playing on PHAWKER RADIO! WALL STREET JOURNAL: It’s been a big week for R&B performer Raphael Saadiq, whose critically acclaimed new album, The Way I See It, has just been named iTunes #1 Best Album of 2008. With an average customer rating of four-and-a-half-stars, The Way I See It is praised in an iTunes online review for “inhabit(ing) the atmosphere of late-Sixties Motown and Philadelphia International, incorporating the distinctly echo-laden drum shuffles of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, as well as the swelling string choruses of the Delfonics and the Stylistics … music pours from this performer as easily […]
CINEMA: The Trouble With Marley & Me
BY JONATHAN VALANIA So, just got back from holidaying at my sister’s down in the Dirty South. (Oh, it was lovely, thanks, you’re a lamb for asking) And as is the Christmas tradition, Uncle Jon gave his sister and her hubbo a 2.5 hour respite from the rigors of parenting and took my nephews (ages 8 and 10), niece (age 4), and my mom (age 68) to the movies. We went to see Marley & Me, the movie version of Inquirer columnist John Grogan’s best-selling book, based on his reportedly wildly popular newspaper columns about life with Marley, AKA the […]
MEDIA: The Curious Case Of The Man Shot For Talking At A Brad Pitt Movie That Became A Global Headline, And The 3 Men Shot Dead In One Day That Did Not
INQUIRER: Three shootings yesterday in Grays Ferry, Kensington and West Oak Lane left three dead and three in critical condition, police said. All the victims were male, and all were shot on the street. No arrests had been made as of last night. Just before 6 p.m. in the 1300 block of Harmony Street in Grays Ferry, two men in their 50s were shot. One, age 56, was shot once in the head, the other on the right side of his body. Both were pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. About 6:30 p.m. on the 800 […]
THE BEATLES: Piggies
[Dir. by SCOTT COLAN] PREVIOUSLY: WHO WANTS TO KILL A MILLIONAIRE: Fatcats Continue To Lead ‘Life Of Riley’ On Taxpayer Dime
GAYDAR: A Family Of Strangers
BY AARON STELLA Welcome back happy campers to another edition of my so-called ‘you-wouldn’t-believe-it-if-I-told-you’ life story. Last time around, I mentioned that I was developing a relationship with a family with ulterior motives unbeknownst to me. I also mentioned that they would eventually become my family. Things get kind of wild from here on out folks, so hold on to your hats! The year is 2001. I’m a sophomore at the Catholic high school in Cullman, AL, practically friendless, and in thrall to a feeling of powerlessness among my peers and family members. Giovanni, the German exchange student that had […]
UPDATE: Satanic Santa Plot Thickens
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Bruce and Sylvia Pardo started the new year in 2006 with all signs pointing to a bright future — an upcoming marriage, a combined income of about $150,000, half-million-dollar home on a quiet cul-de-sac and a beloved dog, Saki. But things quickly turned sour and divorce documents paint a bitter picture of Bruce Pardo’s increasing desperation as he lost first his wife, then his job and finally the dog. By fall 2008, Pardo was asking a judge to have his ex-wife pay him support and cover his attorney’s fees. Pardo’s downward slide ended Christmas Eve, when the 45-year-old […]
CINEMA: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
GRAN TORINO (2008, directed by Clint Eastwood, 116 minutes, U.S.) VALKYRIE (2008, directed by Bryan Singer, 120 minutes, U.S.) THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008, directed by David Fincher, 167 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK, FILM CRITIC Our country’s economic future may be starting to resemble a three-card monte game but those brave and handsome Captains of Industry are standing tall at multiplexes this Christmas. Uberstars Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood and Brad Pitt are all front and center on big movie posters this Christmas, marketing heroes who are protecting the poor, thinking traitorous thoughts and getting hotter with every […]