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"Fringe" benefits

J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi series arrives with hype—and potential

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

Anointed this year’s Heroes or Lost before even premiering, thanks to online buzz, a screening at Comic-Con over the summer and the presence of co-creator J.J. Abrams of Lost and Alias fame, Fringe (Fox, Tuesdays, 9 p.m.; premieres September 9 at 8 p.m.) arrives with a daunting amount of hype to overcome, and its solid action/sci-fi execution isn’t quite as revolutionary as some may have hoped.

DragonForce

Ultra Beatdown

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

It can be hard to know whether to take DragonForce seriously. The songs on the British power-metal-throwback band’s fourth album, Ultra Beatdown, mostly push the seven- or eight-minute mark, and have titles like “A Flame for Freedom” and “Inside the Winter Storm.”

The Little Red Truck

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

It seems almost cruel to criticize The Little Red Truck, an earnest, cheery documentary about the Missoula Children’s Theatre.

Mumbling toward success

"Baghead" is a sometimes awkward marriage of horror and talkiness

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

Baghead bears many of the hallmarks of mumblecore—it’s about relationships among intelligent but inarticulate 20-somethings, it’s shot in a rough, hand-held style, it’s plotted loosely and simply—but it also aspires to something more, making a meta-commentary on the indie-film world and even functioning as a sort of low-grade horror movie.

Elegy

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

For a movie about an alleged hedonist and libertine, and one that stars one of the most beautiful women in the world, Elegy is remarkably dour and unsexy.

Anarchy on TV

FX's new motorcycle-gang drama revs up but doesn't quite get in gear

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

In the new FX drama Sons of Anarchy, a group of tough, macho guys work and hang out together, doing their intense, sometimes violent jobs while dressed in similar outfits declaring their affiliations. The women mostly watch from the sidelines.

Terrorism lite

Traitor is a popcorn thriller in political-drama clothing

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

After a 2007 filled with serious, weighty dramas about the war on terror, all of which ended up more or less tanking at the box office, this year has been relatively quiet on the terrorism-movie front. Enter Traitor, a slick political thriller from screenwriter and director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, which uses the fight against terrorists as the backdrop for a twisty suspense story that manages to wholly sidestep the war in Iraq.

The constancy of Motorhead

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

We were going to write a review of Motorhead’s latest album (it’s their 20th), Motorizer, to preview their upcoming concert, but then we realized there’s really no need. Motorhead have been an unchanging juggernaut for 30 years, and their loud-and-fast mix of metal and punk is pretty much immovable.

Slipknot

All Hope Is Gone

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

The mere existence of a new Slipknot album is something of a miracle; getting all members of the Iowa nonet onboard is a notoriously difficult prospect, and every one of the band’s albums seems poised to be its last.

Sweet hypocrisy

"Exiled" lets spoiled teens think they've learned something

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

An important part of watching MTV’s reality sensation My Super Sweet 16 is wishing horrible, unpleasant things on the bratty, pampered teenagers who whine and throw fits about petty, insignificant things and demand royal treatment from their family members and anyone around them.