There was a lot of ideas going into this movie, too many ideas. Heaven and Hell battle over the soul of one man, a disfunctional boxer. Tacked onto this relatively simple plot is a lot of trappings -- glimpses of Hell and Heaven that should have been developed more. With Hell being an English speaking corporation and Heaven being Paris is an interesting concept, it actually proved to be more interesting the dismal boxer story. But we got only glimpses of what the afterlife was like and spent too much time focussed on the less-interesting and less-orignal boxer's fate.
Dogma took on similar subject matter and pulled it off much better. In Dogma the glimpses given of Heaven & Hell (Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, Penelope Cruz, the roller skating hockey playing kids) felt realized. I didn't need more time with Alanis Morrisette's God to understand Her or more time with Jason Lee's character to understand him. Here, I didn't understand the inner workings the afterlife. I had a lot more questions even about the main characters: Abril & Cruz. Even they were not developed well enough and felt more like shards of characters than actual people.

I would not say this movie is bad. It should be given credit for the ambitiousness of its subject matter. But it was handled poorly. The filmaker has lots of potential. This movie doesn't live up to its potential.

Alone Again Or is a song that's been stuck in my head for years. I know it from The Damned not from Love (who orignially wrote it). I lost my copy of Anything years ago and so when it gets stuck it my head there's nothing I can do about it. I always thought it would be a good cover for Calexico to do. It turns out they do a great job. That song itself get's 5 stars. The second remix of Woven Birds is good but the other two tracks are not. Convict Pool is subpar and the 1st Woven Birds remix is boring -- I am not a fan of remixes though.

Half the songs on the EP are quite good: Chanel #5, Crystal Frontier (both versions)& Crooked Road and the Briar. The rest are mediocre. None of the songs on this EP stand out like most of Feast of Wire does. They all have a second tier feeling. Nevertheless it is worth owning if you're a Calexico fan.

This is a stripped down bossa nova album. Gone are the electronics of Bebel Gilberto. Gone is the syrupy strings of Astrid Gilberto. Instead there is acoustic guitar, percussion, bass, and piano. Many of the songs are slow and intrcate (there is a Baden Powell cover here after all). It's a beautiful CD but lacks the innate catchiness to make it great. It's meant to be listened to quietly rather than blasted out of speakers of a dance club. All the ingrediants are here to be outstanding but Fonesca doesn't quite pull it off. Stand out tracks: Slow Motion Bossa Nova, The Night We Called it a Day, She's a Carioca, and Minha Dalva de Oliveira. If you like the Woman on Top soundtrack, you should like this.

If Bret Easton Ellis wrote fantasy this could easily be the result. Filled with jaded characters with dark appetites, The Iron Dragon's Daughter slips into the bleak tone of cyberpunk and applies it to land of fairy. Instead of bucholic landscapes we have overbearing cities where death is commonplace and is peopled with dwarves, elves, pixes, nymphs, and host of other fairy creatures. A cynical way of viewing this book would be to say that author was just some Everquest geek trying to convince jaded socialite that he was cool: drug abusing elves, mechanical dragons, S&M, and lots of death... To be less cynical, the book is unique and despite its nihlism entertaining. Swanwick is a great story teller with a good sense of pace, and a lean style of writing that allows the reader's mind to paint the details of Swanwick's world where he has left only broad strokes. The characters feel real, perhaps because they're so flawed. Child slavery, snorting pixie dust, fascist sentient ant colonies, human sacrifice, sexual mind games, and an omnipresent threat of destruction. You could call it fairypunk.

Calexico have always been good. Their music has always struck a chord with me. The one criticism I've had is that it veered too much into the spagetti western although it was some of what they did best. With Feast of Wire, they moved further away from that. Sure, its still there, but they've become more authentic. Songs like Guero Canelo, Black Heart, Not Even Stevie Nicks, Woven Birds, & Sunken Waltz make this by far the best CD of year (w/ White Stripes's Elephant taking 2nd). Many reviews use words like masterpiece to describe this album. I hope it isn't. To me it feels like the build up to something truly staggering.

This should be the perfect album. Every song is catchy and wonderfully crafted. They're all radio friendly. Yet, somehow, it fails to be the perfect album. It all seems too easy for Damon Gough. It's almost like he's showing off, like he never breaks a sweat. 'Yes, yes, we know you're that talented. Can you push the envelope please?' I've heard everything before. It's archetypal pop. Still, it's hard to knock this album and I am only knocking it because its so good, because it feels so effortless. It's a romantic comedy of a CD starring Hugh Grant playing Hugh Grant. Of course, it's good, how could it not be? But it lacks the heart to make it great.

Contained in this book are tales of things like leeches, moths, and an assortment of other spineless creatures. Each chapter is devoted to one such creature. Coniff is good writer, easy to read, and engaging. That being said he makes the perfect author to turn rather grim subjects into light reads. So while you're camping out this summer and swatting mosquitos you can read this book and marvel at the sheer amount of mosquito species out there and wonder which one is sucking your blood.

This is my favorite MoB album. In fact, it has what I consider one of the best songs ever written on it: Max Ernst. After having it on album in the 80's, I picked this up on CD a few years ago and listened to it again. Some have said it sounds dated. Yes, it does. But so do The Strokes, White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines, and most other bands out there. At least MoB actually sound like the period they're from. And I'm not knocking all the above mentioned bands, I'm just pointing out that it shouldn't be maligned because it sounds like the era its from.

That's When I Reach for My Revolver is a fantastic song. But the whole album is great. I've been listening to it again consistantly for about 5 years now -- and that's something I never do. It's in my top five albums of the 80's and would be one I carted off to a desert island.

Felt Mountain is a brilliant album that feels like the soundtrack to a James Bond-meets-Frankenstein-on Forbidden Planet. It has the otherworldiness to it of early electronic music artists yet rooted in the world of Shirley Bassey but painted slightly baroque. Look at the cover, Allison Goldfrapp apparent ode to the Bride of Frankenstein as Siamese Twins is rather telling of the strangeness that lies inside. The opening track, Lovely Head, is the best song on the album. Its a song I can't get enough of.