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New in theaters - February 29, 2008

The Other Boleyn Girl - Two sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn (Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson), are compelled by their ambitious father and uncle to compete for the affections of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana) in order to win wealth and power for the family. Based on the bestselling Philippa Gregory novel.

Semi-Pro - Will Ferrell's latest sports comedy takes place on the basketball court. In Semi-Pro he plays Jackie Moon, who owns, coaches, and plays on the worst team in the American Basketball Association, the Flint Michigan Tropics. When word comes that the best teams from the crumbling ABA will be folded into the NBA, Moon and his teammates must come up with a way to start winning.

ALBUM REVIEW: Black Mountain - In the Future

Black Mountain
In the Future
Stormy High, 2008
** out of five

In today’s fragmented pop world, there are so many nooks and crannies that a person with a brain and some skills with his chosen tools can mine almost any musical legacy and have it seem fresh appealing to a specific audience. Thus it is with Black Mountain, a Vancouver band whose roots lay in the indie punk roots of their previous incarnation, Jerk With a Bomb.

What a funny old world. Head Mountaineer Stephen McBean must have had some kind of Damascene conversion on his way to practice one day, because instead of yer typical Canuck indie-ethos, Black Mountain trades in the bombast that marked the heavy rock from the seventies. All the touchstones are here: Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Spiders From Mars-era Bowie, Floyd. In the Future, Black Mountain’s second disc, covers no new ground, but further explores the largely forgotten musical detritus of a few decades back.

MOVIE TRAILER: Trick 'r Treat (2008)

As far as cheap horror movies goes Trick 'r Treat doesn't look too bad. Starring real actors like Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, and Dylan Baker - this could be a fun flick to catch on Halloween this year.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

MOVIE TRAILER: Pineapple Express (Unrated)

Someone has leaked the unrated trailer for the new Seth Rogen/James Franco stoner comedy Pineapple Express. Having Judd Apatow attached as producer and an August release date could make this the surprise summer blockbuster this year (like Superbad was last year).

Check it out below and let us know what you think.

New on DVD - February 26, 2008

The Darjeeling Limited Criticize This! pick of the week - If you're a fan of Wes Anderson run and buy this DVD today! It could be his best work to date and is by far his funniest. Starring Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman.

Goya's Ghosts - It's a shame the great Milos Forman helmed this mess of a movie. Not only is it his worst movie but he did the unthinkable - made Natalie Portman so annoying I couldn't stand watching her. The only saving grace is recent Oscar winner Javier Bardem.

30 Days of Night - Vampires pay a visit to Barrow, Alaska during the annual "30 days of night". Excellent retelling of the graphic novel (and one of the best vampire films in recent years). Starring Josh Hartnett, Ben Foster, and Melissa George. Also available on Blu-Ray.

Beowulf -  The story of Beowulf told in creepy motion capture animation. Also available on HD-DVD.

Also available this week: Silk, Death at a Funeral

COMIC BOOKS #29: The future of the DCU, Abyss, Zorro, and so much more!

Comic Book News:

Dan Didio talks about the future of the DCU and here.

New Releases:

Zorro #1
Abyss 3
Umbrella Academy 6
Batman and the Outsiders 4
Hulk #2

COMIC BOOKS is written, shot, and edited by Michael Goldberg

CT! WEEKLY - February 24, 2008

-It's Oscar night! Check out our CT! predictions.

-LA Times has a great interview with Jon Stewart on hosting the Oscars this year.

-The New York Times has a retrospect of the last 80 years at the Oscars.

-Is Juno really the most successful indie film in the last six years?

-Speaking of indie films - here's the list of the 2008 Spirit Award winners.

-You can download a sample of all the bands featured at SXSW 2008 in one torrent (a song from each band)!

-Pop Candy has a great Podcast on the making of Kurt Cobain: About a Son.

-Toronto lost Suspect Video (one of the greatest indie/cult video stores in the world) this week due to a huge fire (a lot of other good businesses along Queen West were lost too). Check out the CityNews.ca profile on the store that was posted the day before the fire.

CT! WEEKLY is a list of the top movie, music, television, game, gadget (and anything else entertaining) news of the week. If you have any news we can use drop us a line at info@criticizethis.net (or post a comment below).

CT! 2008 Oscar Predictions

We're so happy the Oscars are going ahead Sunday night with all the red carpet glitz, unpredictable acceptance speeches, and of course brilliant host Jon Stewart. It's a good year for film, and a great year for Canadians at the Oscars, with Sarah Polley, Ellen Page, and Jason Reitman among those nominated.

A lot of the races this year are tough to call, with No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood the two top contenders, although Juno may be this year's dark horse. Here, Criticize This! contributors Brian McKechnie and Cate Jones offer their predictions on who's going to take home the gold.

New in theaters - February 22, 2008

Be Kind Rewind - When junkyard worker Jerry (Jack Black) accidentally erases all the videotapes in his friend's (Mos Def) store, the pair decide to remake the films themselves in order to satisfy their one loyal customer. But in the process they end up developing a following in the community, and the demand grows for their original takes on the classic films. Directed by Michel Gondry, who previously directed the memorable Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep.

Vantage Point - An assassination attempt on the U.S. president in Spain is seen from eight different perspectives, and as each individual describes what they saw and heard, investigators work to piece the case together. An all-star cast including Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt and last year's Best Actor Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker.

ALBUM REVIEW: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
Columbia, 2008
*** out of 5

Like fellow travelers The Evangelicals, MGMT (pronounced The Management) are also purveyors of ear-bendingly twisted pop hooks, amping up melody and mood with deep growling keys and left-field curves. Their latest, Oracular Spectacular, seems to be further proof that 2008 is shaping up to be a fantastically savvy year. Really, I must remember to be more conservative with the old asterisks: the bar seems to have risen to a level that only the finest Fosbury flop could make it over.

True, a sonic link to The Evangelicals (whose Evening Descends was my first must-hear of ought eight) may not be immediately obvious to those who put on Oracular Spectacular for the first time, and I’m totally charitable enough to suggest that MGMT’s muse veers more into cosmic sleazoid funk territory than a wide-screen cinematic ramble. However, consider if you will the following facts, and I think you’ll agree with me that we’ve stumbled on an obvious and disturbing conspiracy.