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MOVIES
MONSTER HOUSE
The voices of Steve Buscemi, Nick Cannon, Maggie Gyllenhaal (PG)
If cars can be anthropomorphized and turned into beings with
personalities, why not houses? That conceit — a cranky haunted home in
need of some serious improvement — propels this summer gem from first-time
feature director Gil Kenan, who furnishes a kids' tale with dazzling CG
animation and a cool, sly wit.
CARS
Voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt (G)
The geniuses at Pixar have created a star vehicle for a bunch of...star
vehicles. A bunch of wisecracking automobiles, to be exact. Director
John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug's Life) ably mines the pleasures of
small-town America you can't see from any highway.
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
(PG) General Motors, that's who. This summer's ''other''
eco-consciousness-raising documentary examines, with prosecutorial zeal,
the tragic and all-too-brief life of an emissions-free car.
MUSIC
JOHNNY CASH
American V
The later work of Cash — that is, the series of unforgettable recordings
he made with producer Rick Rubin — was informed by an unshakable sense of
his own mortality. And no more so than on the weary but defiant tracks
of this haunting album.
KEANE
Under the Iron Sea
The sweeping piano accompaniments and obsessive-lover prose that once
brought this Brit trio unfair comparisons to Radiohead and Coldplay have
been replaced by gorgeous symphonic arrangements and more self-assured
songs.
SUFJAN STEVENS
The Avalanche
Those who prefer their indie pop esoteric and literate should appreciate
these tracks left over from Stevens' glorious Prairie State ode,
Illinois. Few can sing about Adlai Stevenson and Saul Bellow — and fewer
still really mean it.
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
Sinner
Crunchy riffs? Check. Big servings of sass and grit? Check. Raspy, sexy
vocals? Check. No doubt about it, this is Ms. Jett's best work in years.
THELONIOUS MONK with JOHN COLTRANE
The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings
It's not an exaggeration to describe this collaboration as history in
the making.
GOLDEN SMOG
Another Fine Day
These alt-country pioneers have adopted a sound that is less rootsy,
even as the songwriting turns more pungent and evocative.
DVDS
YI YI
Wu Nianzhen, Elaine Jin, Jonathan Chang
(Unrated) Writer-director Edward Yang explores, in great and loving
detail, the business of everyday life for three generations of a Taipei
family. Chang, in particular, shines as a young boy tormented by his own
curiosity (and a pack of girls). This spiffy new Criterion release
boasts a terrific transfer and lotsa cool extras.
WHY WE FIGHT
(PG-13) The long-term effects of that murky governmental/corporate
culture Eisenhower called the ''military-industrial complex'' are laid out
in Eugene Jarecki's provocative documentary — and we should be both
frightened and angry.
JOHN WAYNE -- JOHN FORD FILM COLLECTION
(Unrated) If John Ford truly is, as many critics and academics think,
one of the world's all-time great directors, and John Wayne was his
all-time favorite actor, why wouldn't you buy this amazing eight-film
set? Reach for your wallet, mister, nice and slow...
KISS KISS, BANG BANG
Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer (R)
A petty thief, on the run from cops in New York, finds himself — after a
series of strange encounters — in Los Angeles, preparing for a screen test
by trailing a tough PI (who happens to be gay). Beyond being a swell
piece of comedy noir, this film is also a swell piece of movie-making
that reminds us of the superlative talents of Downey, Kilmer, and
writer-director Shane Black.
TV
Entourage
(HBO, Sundays, 10 -- 10:30 p.m.)
In season 3 of HBO's delectable summer
treat, the pitch-perfect ensemble is back in full force as Vince and
crew deal with the aftermath of Aquaman's success. Real-life guest stars
like Paul Haggis lend Hollywood weight, and, as always, Jeremy Piven
hammers it home as Vince's charmingly incorrigible agent, Ari. Lloyd!!
BROTHERHOOD
(Showtime, Sundays, 10 -- 11 p.m.)
Politics and family ties get twisted
when two Irish-American siblings — state legislator Tommy (Jason Clarke)
and gangster older brother Michael (Jason Isaacs) — battle it out to see
who's king of the Hill district in working-class Providence.
LIFE ON MARS
(BBC America, Mondays, 10 -- 11 p.m.)
Follow the challenges facing a
modern-day detective (State of Play's John Simm) after he gets hit by a
car while tracking a serial killer and ends up in...1973? This is not
your mother's procedural drama.
BOOKS
THE RUINS
by Scott Smith (Horror)
Tourists encounter unspeakable terrors when they find themselves
stranded in Mexico's jungles. Smith, in his first novel since 1993's A Simple Plan, crafts a taut thriller that can deliver chills on even the
hottest of days.
CROSS COUNTRY
by Robert Sullivan (Nonfiction)
Sullivan's absorbing travelogue of his family's drive across the U.S. is
a real trip.
THE NATURAL DISORDER OF THINGS
by Andrea Canobbio (Mystery)
A beautiful dame, a solitary architect, and a dead dog are all entwined
in this cleverly sinister, noirish tale, translated from its native
Italian.
GET A LIFE
by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian (Comic)
Fall in love with relationship-awkward Parisian Mr. Jean in the
hilarious, touching volume of his earliest misadventures.
