Ananas

Idlewild - 4/10 Of all the various acts making music today, there are few that come close to matching the charisma and presence of Andre Benjamin and Antwon Patton, who together make up Outkast. The duo have just released their third straight instant smash hit album, and have sold more albums than any rap artists in history. So who better to make the jump to the big screen, especially since this latest album is to serve as soundtrack to their debut film? Right? Wrong. First off, the album Idlewild is much less a soundtrack than their previous effort Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Most of the tracks that appear in the film come from that album, and although there are a few dynamite new tracks, it's generally a revisiting of that former glory. Big Poi (Patton) is particularly limited here; none of his contributions to the latest record make the final cut of the film, and Andre's showstopper "PJ & Rooster" is relegated to the credits. The Speakerboxxx material is strong and still holds up pretty well, but it will certainly come as a disappointing surprise to anyone excited for Idlewild: The Film based on Idlewild: The Album. And if only that were where this film's problems stopped, I might have been able to enjoy it anyways. When deciding who they wanted to direct their debut big screen feature, Outkast looked to their music video director Bryan Barber, who, although already acclaimed for his work in that medium, had never handled a full length feature before, and it shows. The pacing is incredibly inconsistent, and although the project is very unique and ambitious, it never seems to take flight. He undersells the show stopping moments, overemphasizes scenes that just don't work and in the end, is probably what's working against the film the most. He also penned the screenplay which seems little more than a 90 minute ode to the real life differences between Andre and Big Boi, which the press has repeatedly reported to be driving the duo apart. All the other characters, without a real life basis, just end up feeling like two dimensional rip offs of similar films. But he does have an interesting visual style, which no doubt marks his biggest contribution to the project. It's not to say that Idlewild is an entirely pleasureless project. Tony Award winner Hinton Battle's choreography on some of the musical sequences at "The Church" is astounding. The supporting cast is a who's who of some of the best character actors around, and they are uniformly excellent. And of course, the Outkast duo does make a very strong team, both on screen and in the studio. But because there's so little to fill the void between dance numbers and musical vignettes, it's kind of hard to get behind Idlewild at all. The film probably would have worked as a straight-to-DVD project, and I think that it can be enjoyed just fine as a rental once it does come out, but as a big screen feature it fails to hold any kind of weight. Until they get themselves some more creative collaborators, I think it would be best that this duo limit themselves to the recording studio.

A few not yet named, off the top of my head in no order: Mason (Dead Like Me) George Findlay (The Newsroom) Max Denby (Norm) Daniel Desario and Bill Haverchuck (Freaks & Geeks) Johnny Drama (Entourage) Davis Quinton and Hank Yarbo (Corner Gas)

Not necessarily the worst write off ever, but I hated the way they cut off the "TCW" storyline on "Scrubs". They left off Amy Smart's last episode insinuating that TCW and JD had worked through the drama issue, then she was never mentioned again. "Norm" also had an idiotic write-off for one of Norm's romantic interests Jenny. They had gotten together then she was never mentioned again. And she left her fiance for him. Seems rather anticlimactic.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - 6.5/10 More substance than the usual Will Ferrell fare, even if it isn't quite as laugh out loud funny. Beerfest - 6/10 The high points are absolutely gutbusting, although there aren't as many as I'd like. Still, it's better than Club Dread, so we can take comfort in that.

He's got jungle fever! He's got jungle fever!

You can also get a save if you come in and pitch the final 3 innings with your team in the lead, regardless of how big.

Louis And The Nazis - 7/10 A documentary that dwelves just deep enough to satisfy, but one that's wholly intriguing. Contains all sorts of interviews with neo-Nazis like Tom Metzger and the racist pop group Prussian Blue, and features all kinds of peripheral characters that paint a decent picture of these people. It's a bit of a shame that host Louis Theroux doesn't keep the number of interviewees a little lower so as to go a little more in depth into the main suspects, but one can understand why he needed to go larger. It's a satisfying expose that probably requires ones agreeing with the subject matter (that racism is idiotic and that those who practise it in their public lives are hypocrites), although if you don't, you should probably be jumping off a building right about now.

If one of those songs is a cover of Knives Out or Exit Music For A Film, I'm there.

The Oatmeal Crisp commercials with the father trying to convince his kids not to eat his cereal are awesome. "Is it Oatmeal or is it Cereal? Make up your mind!"

For shame, Ringy. The Norm MacDonald Bell commercials are awesome.

Apparently there's video of Gibby pushing Lilly. I need to see this video.

Album is the best rap record of 2006 so far, if not the best record of the year. It's not quite as consistent as the last two efforts, but it's highpoints are on par, and certainly beyond anything else released this year. The funny thing is that most of the people who have negatively reviewed the album don't say that it's a bad album, just that it's a step back for them (which I don't happen to agree with). Best Tracks: "Mighty O", "Morris Brown", "Chronomentrophobia", "The Train", "Call The Law", "PJ & Rooster". The breakout star is Janelle Monae, who completely steals the two tracks she appears on and who is probably the biggest talent on Purple Ribbon Records. The movie could go either way. Working for it is the band's charisma, the talented cash, the catchy music and the director's unique visual style. Working against it is the director's lack of big screen experience, a sense of sameness and a critical community that seems to come down hard on movie musicals not made by the Hollywood establishment. Either way I hope to be there opening day.

I don't think that it's quite as funny as Anchorman, but it's definitely got a lot more bite. All kinds of fun satire that runs well beyond just NASCAR. Will Ferrell also creates a character that is far more interesting than anything he's done before, and is so devoted to the moment that he makes moments work that under less capable hands would have come off as cheesy. I'd say it's a bit of a step back from Anchorman overall, but it also adds a lot of legs to Ferrell's career. Hopefully he keeps doing these smart mainstream hybrid comedies.

I don't get the "he's too young" comments. As already shown by the Heath Ledger casting, they're clearly going for a younger version of these characters. Phillippe and Ledger are both great actors, give it a chance.

I can't believe you didn't pimp any Egoyan films. I left a void open for you and you failed

BUT GOD WROTE HALF OF AVA'S MUSIC!

8 1/2 and The Bicycle Thief > *. Italian cinema is so awesome.

Jays rumoured to be considering shipping Eric Hinske to Boston. In a related story, fuck Ted Rogers, fuck JP Ricciardi and fuck the Blue Jays. If they had any commitment to success they wouldn't be shipping someone who has had a good year off to your division rivals. Bengie Molina is gone at the end of the year and you just shipped out Schowenweis, stop cutting costs already. For Chrissakes, Rogers made RECORD PROFIT this quarter. Fucking right wing common sense revolution loving motherfuckers are going to kill our chances of ever contending for anything.

I don't know if I'd say A&A's album was pretentious. Tom certainly, but We Don't Need To Whisper strikes me more as an audacious trainwreck. And that's kind of what happens when you take the dreamer out of a band and give him complete control of his own band without anyone to balance him. Likewise, I have a feeling that Plus 44 will be a wholely compitent snoozefest for the same reason. Mark and Tom balance each other out really well, it's a shame all this shit happened.