Good music. Good grief.

This new album, Roots & Crowns, by Califone is doggone good. Someone loaned me the CD today and almost every track had me thrilled. Dig its rusty, lo-fi vibe and savor its melodic veins of gold.

In other music news, not only has Common stooped to shilling for the Gap in their new TV commercials for hoodies, he actually agreed to perform an "in the hood" pun. Fall into the crap is, more like it.

Waiting for Guffaws

Something I've noticed about Christopher Guest's body of work as a director is a pattern of diminishing returns with each new offering. Waiting for Guffman was brilliantly hilarious. Best in Show was very funny. A Mighty Wind was mildly amusing. Now comes For Your Consideration, which is vaguely depressing.

It's hard to say what's fading, except maybe it's all too self-conscious now. Everybody's in on the joke, both cast and audience, and the players who were once such beautiful losers are now just shrill caricatures of themselves. It's sad to see.

Another thing holding For Your Consideration back is that spoofing Hollywood has been done more times than (insert your preferred celebrity ho's name here). The whole cast seems tired; the mood is mean-spirited. Even Ricky Gervais retreads his The Office schtick one too many times.

Here's hoping comic genius Guest and his very talented troupe of merry men and women can make a real Hollywood-style comeback in their next film collaboration. Until then, I'm going to go home and just...well...bite my pillow!

Top 10 Romantic Comedies According to Me

When pressed, not unlike ham, to pick my favorite film genre, I would have to choose romantic comedies. Laughter combined with love is a hard combo to beat in any category, if you ask me. That said, the RomCom world has more than its share of stinkeroos, which makes the good ones all the more endearing. Now onto the list. Maestro!



Annie Hall
The modern masterwork of the genre.



When Harry Met Sally
No wagon wheel coffee table, this.



While You Were Sleeping
Sandra Bullock charms.



The Philadelphia Story
Hepburn, Grant, Stewart. You'd be an unsavory fool to ask for more.



Bringing Up Baby
Brilliant. No dinosaur bones about it.



Crossing Delancey
Wins with a whisper.



Kissing Jessica Stein
Surprisingly satisfying, even though the ending was lame.



Foul Play
A golden as Hawn's hair. As loopy as Chevy's grin.



Modern Romance
Albert Brooks at his best.



His Girl Friday
Wins for most words per minute. Banter so remarkable it should be bronzed.

Ruby in Paradise 2

This week's cinematic outing was a midweek journey down south to watch Ashley Judd give a very touching and multi-faceted performance in Come Early Morning. When I first saw the trailer, I got the feeling that this was the fraternal twin to her early film Ruby in Paradise. That made me very excited, since I love me some Ruby. While that previous film was more satisfying as a whole, both movies meander quietly alongside the struggles of a southern gal who hasn't had much luck in her life.

Come Early Morning was written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams, probably most famous for her role as the bisexual chiquita who wins Ben Affleck's heart in Chasing Amy. The plot is about as unevenly baked as a pan of cornbread in an old oven, but it still offers some quiet comfort. At times it feels like too many characters have been paraded out to add local color and layers of messaging, but the acting throughout is mostly solid. Besides Ashley's endearing interpretation of a sweet girl gone bad, the nicest surprise of the film is Jeffrey Donovan as Ashley's love interest. His is an unexpected face and his performance is equally refreshing. Laura Prepon, of "the red-head from That 70's Show" fame, turns in a nicely understated showing herself.

One of the most pleasing things about this film is the mood it captures. Cinematographer Tim Orr brings the small town feeling to life with a lustrous palette, the twangy soundtrack sets just the right tone and Adams deserves kudos for her ability to let moments linger lovingly. If she can just get her story straight, she has a promising career ahead.

Grey Gardens

My NYC homie came to L.A. to visit this weekend and brought with her an unusual cinematic offering: the documentary Grey Gardens. The film offers a glimpse into the lives of an aunt and cousin, Big Edie and Little Edie respectively, of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. The two women lived in seclusion in the East Hamptoms for over 20 years, seemingly forgotten by society and left to slowly break down inside their broken-down mansion.

In the mid 1970s, the Mayles brothers shot the film with handheld cameras and lightweight sound equipment, breaking ground for a new kind of filmmaking. Before the movie was made, the women made headlines when they were almost evicted from their home for its filth and disorder, but they were able to clean up their act. Still, cats and raccoons wander the house throughout the film as the two women reminisce, sing and bicker with charmingly sophisticated vocabularies, as these memorable quotes reveal.

Little Edie, 56 at the time of the film, seems to suffer from some kind of mental illness, but is able to find pleasure in creating eclectic fashion ensembles and dancing about her shabby suites.

Disturbing at times, the film is a fascinating look at the lives of two dysfunctional women who find themselves left to slowly fade away with only their warm memories and canned pate to comfort them.

Origin of the feces

The funniest thing I've seen on South Park for awhile is this hilarious scene where Mr./Ms. Garrison reluctantly explains the theory of evolution to his/her class in very colorful and irreverent (can you be irreverent about evolution?) terms. Rated R for language, don't you know.

Goodbye Old Party

I woke up this morning to the news that D.C. was turning blue. What a miracle.

Thank god America woke up on election day knowing that the destruction and corruption had to stop.

It may be mean-spirited, but this photo my homie forwarded me warmed the cockles in a big way. Blubbering neo-con offspring. What a beautiful sight. I would love to have a Norman Rockwell painting of this hanging over my couch.

And the cherry on top? Rummy getting run out of town. Ding dong, the dick is gone. Or at least one of them. It's a good start to stopping the insanity. Here's hoping Murtha can steer things in the right direction. The GOP's carte blanche has been revoked and not a moment too soon.

Good luck, donkeys. Kick ass.

Many happy returns

Pedro Almodovar's latest offering Volver is a candy-colored valentine of a black comedy showcasing a gaggle of loveable ladies (Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas and Yohana Cobo) who earn the audience's affection with great grace and humor. While this film lacks the sure-handed maturity and poignant wisdom of Almodovar's masterpiece Talk to Her or the irresistible energy of his comic gem Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver is an enjoyable ride that sent me out of the theater with a lingering smile.

While the "secret" in this film isn't well-hidden and the story loses fizz about three-quarters of the way through, Cruz's vivacity and the film's visual vibrancy are completely intoxicating. As usual, Almodovar peppers the script with his warm and sly wit for peak comic deliciousness. Despite the film's flaws, from first frame to final title sequence Almodovar's deep and abiding love for cinema and his leading ladies is tangible. Bravo.

Dubya's greatest hits

Check out this brilliant video calling George W. Bush on the carpet for his sins against humanity--all to the sounds of George Michael.

Face time

Flava Flav describing his dream girl to People magazine: "I want a girl who looks good when she wakes up in the morning. We could take her face and dip it in dough and she'll make some nice face cookies. Some girls wake up, man, you could put their face in dough and you'll get a gorilla cookie, for real!"