http://www.avclub.com/feed/ReviewThe A.V. ClubThu, 18 Mar 2010 14:07:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/greenberg,39337/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review In <i>Greenberg—</i>the latest caustic character study from writer-director Noah Baumbach—mumblecore darling Greta Gerwig plays a rudderless 26-year-old whose overarching philosophy involves taking the path of least resistance. Gerwig toils as a nanny for a wealthy Southern California family, halfheartedly pursues a singing career, and stumbles into bed with men she barely knows because wordlessly cooperating is often easier than saying no. Into her inert, apathetic life comes Ben Stiller, her employer’s black-sheep brother and housesitter, an emotionally fragile recent graduate of a mental hospital engaged in a passive-aggressive, decades-long battle with the compromises and vulgarity of the ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:07:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/greenberg,39337/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-bounty-hunter,39336/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Based on the onscreen evidence, not a single person in front of or behind the camera cared a whit about how <i>The Bounty Hunter</i> turned out. Director Andy Tennant and his two stars, Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, are all battle-tested veterans of forgettable romantic comedies: Tennant is responsible for <i>Fools Rush In</i>, <i>Sweet Home Alabama</i>, <i>Hitch</i>, and <i>Fool’s Gold</i>; Butler played creeps of different flavors in <i>P.S. I Love You</i> and <i>The Ugly Truth</i>; and Aniston hasn’t stopped squandering her guileless charm in the likes of <i>Picture Perfect</i>, <i>Along Came Polly</i>, and <i>Love Happens</i>. Together, the ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:06:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-bounty-hunter,39336/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/repo-men,39335/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review In a newscast near the beginning of <i>Repo Men</i>, an anchor informs her viewers about an ongoing conflict in Nigeria, pausing briefly to insert the quick aside, “…that’s in Africa.” That fleeting moment says a lot about the world of the movie, a place much like ours, only slightly dumber. It’s a bit more brutal, too. The economy remains in the tank, dividing the populace into two groups: those who have nothing, and those just hanging on to what little they’ve got. Medicine, at least, has advanced to the point that most any organ can be replaced ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:05:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/repo-men,39335/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-runaways,39334/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Late in <i>The Runaways, </i>Michael Shannon’s cold-blooded Svengali Kim Fowley dismisses the seminal ’70s all-girl punk band of the title as nothing more than a failed conceptual project. Those are the bitter words of a star-maker cavalierly tossed aside by his own creation, but there’s an element of truth to them as well. Like the Sex Pistols, The Runaways combined raw punk anarchy and cynical commercial calculation. They were prefabricated yet authentic, the product of estrogen-fueled rage and a sleazy music-industry lifer intent on exploiting ripe teenage sexuality. There is a fascinating film to be made about Fowley ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:04:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-runaways,39334/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid,39333/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review In keeping with the stick-figure line-drawings and overall comic-book nature of Jeff Kinney’s ultra-popular <i>Diary Of A Wimpy Kid </i>children’s books, the film adaptation is cartoony, both literally and figuratively. It periodically mixes in line-drawing animation, in the style of the books, to illustrate or punctuate the action; that visual sensibility livens things up considerably, and gives the film a loose, playfully arch <i>American Splendor </i>feel. At the same time, the characters are almost as two-dimensional as their line-art counterparts, and the story might be difficult even for kids to buy: This is a world where the most ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:03:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid,39333/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/neil-young-trunk-show,39332/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Jonathan Demme’s 2006 concert film <i>Neil Young: Heart Of Gold</i> captured the venerable musician on the heels of a brush with death. Young had just survived a brain aneurysm and released the quiet, contemplative album <i>Prairie Wind</i>, and the film surrounded him with family, friends, and longtime collaborators, all shot in pastoral tones in the intimate environment of Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. It’s a quiet, respectful, beautiful-looking film, shot by Demme with great care, as if trying to preserve a delicate treasure. If Demme’s follow-up, <i>Neil Young Trunk Show</i>, has a mission statement, it’s “Fuck ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:02:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/neil-young-trunk-show,39332/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo,39331/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review According to recent industry news, David Fincher is already considering directing a remake of <i>The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</i>, a Swedish film adaptation of the first book in Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published, bestselling Millennium trilogy. But it’s hard to say what the director of <i>Seven</i> and <i>Zodiac</i> could bring to a film that’s already as dark, moody, and vice-focused as <i>Seven</i>, and as intricately procedural as <i>Zodiac</i>. Niels Arden Oplev’s <i>Dragon</i> adaptation is already a poisonous gem, in large part thanks to fearless performances and an unwaveringly graphic sensibility that doesn’t flinch at the ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:01:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo,39331/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/vincere,39330/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review The strange case of Ida Dalser becomes a fertile metaphor for the fascist movement in <i>Vincere</i>, Marco Bellocchio’s operatic, ambitious sketch of Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. According to <i>Vincere</i>,<i> </i>Dalser met Mussolini in the early 1900s, when he was a socialist leader and journalist. She eventually bore him a son and sold all her possessions to help him start his own newspaper, but he abandoned her right around the time he abandoned his political roots, and took a new wife around the time he began to espouse fascism. Dalser tried to raise a public fuss to regain ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/vincere,39330/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/william-peter-blatty-dimiter,39306/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review William Peter Blatty doesn’t fuck around. Best known for his 1971 novel <i>The Exorcist</i> (source of the 1973 film), Blatty writes, directs, and produces stories that wrestle with religion, quantum physics, the often-bleak nature of human existence, and some pretty awful jokes. He isn’t a great artist; his prose is overwrought and often hilariously clunky (“The genial and diminutive Armenian Prelate’s wily little eyes held a mischievous glitter”), and his grim single-mindedness often translates into a tone-deaf mixture of violence and bad comedy. But he’s an undeniably singular writer, and his work is compelling and thought-provoking ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/william-peter-blatty-dimiter,39306/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/jo-nesb-the-devils-star,39307/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Like <i>The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</i>, Jo Nesbø’s <i>The Devil’s Star</i> is a Scandinavian crime novel starring a protagonist with a checkered past, an uncertain future, and a girl Friday who assists him using her potent combo of computer savvy and photographic memory. It’s a sturdy framework on which to hang any number of red herrings, cloaked informants, and double-crosses. Unfortunately, <i>Star</i> also shares <i>Tattoo</i>’s draggy finale, as detective Harry Hole cracks a case that’s propulsive without being captivating, before finally taking bleary-eyed aim at demons within and without. <i>The Devil’s Star—</i>originally ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/jo-nesb-the-devils-star,39307/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/changrae-lee-the-surrendered,39308/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review In narrating the continent-spanning relationship between an American GI and a Korean refugee, Chang-rae Lee’s fourth novel, <i>The Surrendered</i>, seems to be making a connection between his acclaimed debut, <i>Native Speaker</i>, whose protagonist is Korean-American, and the uneasy suburbanite of 2004’s <i>Aloft</i>, whose discomfort with the immigrants around him represented a departure within Lee’s work. In spite of their cultural and emotional estrangement, the Korean War-scarred pair of <i>The Surrendered</i>, whose voices travel from deep inside the wells of their own unhappiness, inform Lee’s finest novel to date.  June Han is dying of stomach cancer when ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/changrae-lee-the-surrendered,39308/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/tara-rodgers-pink-noises,39309/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Books about musical history tend to skimp on the technical details. Which is understandable: Unless you play an instrument or can read music—not always the same thing—involved talk of modes and chord voicings, or about equipment both arcane and up-to-the-minute, can make civilians’ eyes glaze over. That sometimes happens in <i>Pink Noises: Women On Electronic Music And Sound</i>, but only because Tara Rodgers, the McGill University Ph.D. student who founded a website of the same name 10 years ago to spotlight female DJs, electronic musicians, and sound artists, is as interested in the way these women do ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/tara-rodgers-pink-noises,39309/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/nk-jemisin-the-hundred-thousand-kingdoms,39310/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review Around three-quarters of the way through the fantasy novel <i>The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms</i>, the protagonist complains “I’m tired of being what everyone else has made me.” It’s a valid sentiment from a character who’s theoretically the center of the plot, but whose main purpose seems to be to narrate the deeds of the far more powerful forces acting on and around her. A weak central character can make a book hard to get through, but there’s nothing disagreeable about Yeine, a barbarian warrior princess who has been named a prospective heir by her grandfather, the ruler ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/nk-jemisin-the-hundred-thousand-kingdoms,39310/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/king-lear-the-historic-omnibus-production,39271/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review What happens when you strip Shakespeare’s <i>King Lear</i> down to its basic plot, shuffling all the subplots and most of the comic bits off to the wayside? You end up with something almost maliciously pessimistic about what humans are capable of, but also something that moves with a malevolent sense of purpose. <i>Lear</i> is maybe the greatest work ever written in the English language, but it’s amazing how much one of the greatest works in the English language resembles a grim, gritty action film at its core.  Mounted in 1953 for CBS’ Sunday-afternoon arts-and-culture program <i>Omnibus</i>, Peter Brook ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/king-lear-the-historic-omnibus-production,39271/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/dillinger-is-dead,39272/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review It isn’t an insult to say that Marco Ferreri’s provocation <i>Dillinger Is Dead</i> remains a film of its time, a response to political, social, and cinematic ideas that were floating around in 1969, but don’t have much currency now. Even then, the Italian director’s radicalism didn’t import as easily as that of like-minded European auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard or Michelangelo Antonioni, and the new Criterion edition of <i>Dillinger Is Dead</i> makes it easy to see why his work was perpetually out of fashion. Save for a key passage of dialogue near the beginning of the ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/dillinger-is-dead,39272/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-white-stripes-under-great-white-northern-light,39273/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review It makes sense that the first full song performed in <i>The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights</i> would be “Let’s Shake Hands.” Emmett Malloy’s unusually stylish rock-doc is about The Stripes’ 2007 Canadian tour, during which they made a point of playing in remote towns and provinces—in every territory in the country, in fact—while finding time at each tour stop to make an unusual promotional appearance and meet some new friends. They played on city buses, boats, retirement homes, elementary schools, and bowling alleys, where they rolled a full game while rocking. The garage-rock duo ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-white-stripes-under-great-white-northern-light,39273/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/dvds-in-brief-march-17-2010,39270/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review <i>Twilight </i>mania has become so pervasive that even people who’ve never read Stephenie Meyer’s books or watched the two (so far) movie adaptations may feel like they’re nonetheless hip-deep in the romance between a mopey teen (Kristen Stewart) and a broody vampire (Robert Pattinson). And the warmed-over <i>Romeo And Juliet</i> clichés just heighten that sensation. At least there’s something in movie No. 2, <a target="_blank" href="/articles/the-twilight-saga-new-moon,35588/"><i>The Twilight Saga: New Moon</i></a> (Summit) that most people won’t have already seen: the spectacle of Stewart woodenly doing dangerous things in order to provoke hallucinations of the departed Pattinson dourly ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/dvds-in-brief-march-17-2010,39270/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/ludacris-battle-of-the-sexes,39218/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review It might seem strange to praise a rapper for his progressive attitude toward women and sex when he has songs like “Move Bitch” on his résumé. But on <i>Battle Of The Sexes</i>,<i> </i><a target="_blank" href="/artists/ludacris,20490/">Ludacris</a> treats his strong female verbal sparring partners as equals. Life is one big party for the Disturbing Tha Peace head honcho, and on <i>Sexes</i>,<i> </i>that party invariably ends in the bedroom. On the monster single “How Low,” Ludacris presses Chuck D into service, motivating strippers by speeding up a sample from “Bring The Noise” until it makes the <a target="_blank" href="/artists/public-enemy,8705/">Public Enemy</a> frontman sound like Alvin the chipmunk ... Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/ludacris-battle-of-the-sexes,39218/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-morning-benders-big-echo,39220/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review The title doesn’t lie: <a target="_blank" href="/artists/the-morning-benders,10833/">The Morning Benders</a>’ second album is both sonically hefty and generous with the reverb. But even while <i>Big Echo</i>’s dreamy, cinema-ready chamber pop provides a fine reason to blow out your speakers, it still feels hemmed in by the boundaries of modern indie rock. With whale-song guitars seemingly lifted from Beach House B-sides, toddling rhythms that could have come from <i>Big Echo</i> producer Chris Taylor of <a target="_blank" href="/artists/grizzly-bear,4294/">Grizzly Bear</a>, and world-music flourishes polished and pruned with Beirut’s ear for stateliness, each song sounds familiar, and when taken as a whole, the album tends to ... Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-morning-benders-big-echo,39220/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_reviewhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-whigs-in-the-dark,39221/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review On their first two records, The Whigs heralded a short turnaround time for the ’90s alt-rock sound. The band’s in-your-face hooks, which revisited the 1990s’ booming, guitar-driven style, seemed destined for arenas worldwide. But after sampling the stadium life while touring with Kings Of Leon, the group apparently can’t wait to get there, and its impatience resulted in the pandering <i>In The Dark</i>. That transition was made easier by the departure of bassist/co-songwriter Hank Sullivant, whose musical sensibilities were always a touch more experimental and nuanced. (Sullivant formed the fantastic Kuroma in 2008.) The new lineup is ... Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-whigs-in-the-dark,39221/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=type_review