the man who used to be in guided by voices

Robert Pollard writes too many songs and releases too many albums. But that's why his fans love him. Even though Guided by Voices has d...

saw iii

The third installment in the horror franchise is more of the same, except less so .

badly drawn boy

It's been six long years since The Hour of Bewilderbeast . Badly Drawn Boy's latest record, Born in the U.K. , is as cozy and lush a...

little children

Todd Field's second movie is pretty terrific, although it could have been ever better . Also in Consumables, reviews of Deliver Us from ...

the decemberists

Colin Meloy's indie-rock group has never done much for me. Then I heard their new record, The Crane Wife . This is the warmest, most mov...

writing pad, lesson two: reviewing as storytelling

Greil Marcus is brilliant at taking an album and turning its songs, lyrics, and themes into a narrative -- he reviews the work by presenting...

writing pad, lesson one: the review as social observation

I mentioned before that I'll be teaching a class this weekend at the Writing Pad on the art of criticism, so I've been looking for ...

zerophilia

Good news: My review of Zerophilia is my first in The Village Voice . Bad news: I had to watch Zerophilia .

marmaduke explained

Is this commentary? Should it be in this blog? I dunno -- but it makes me laugh . A lot .

jesus camp

Jesus Camp , the new documentary about the religious right's desire to indoctrinate its children into the cause, is both disturbing and ...