The pop punk stalwarts in Bowling for Soup have spent the years since their brief reign on the top of the charts in the early 2000's in a holding pattern that, musically speaking, one could argue has gone on for their entire career. The Texas quartet has always trafficked in the kind of glisteny, confectionary pop punk that makes Jimmy Eat World sound like Black Flag by comparison. One might argue that the bread and butter of pop punk bands is the ability to get in touch with the perpetual teenager mentality that makes this kind of music more widely appealing and radio friendly than most punk, which is the kind of thing Bowling for Soup has done so well for their entire career.
Now Playing: Rio Genre: Animated Comedy Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann From the creators of the pretty good "Ice Age," out this weekend is the likely equally pretty good "Rio." The film follows Blu, a macaw voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, who is the last male of his particular species.
"Let this whole town hear your knuckles crack," John Darnielle declares on "Damn These Vampires," the opening track on the new Mountain Goats album, "All Eternals Deck," kicking things off with some of the bleakest and moodiest imagery he's written since the Mountain Goats first became a real studio act with 2002's "Tallahassee."
Now Playing: Arthur Genre: Comedy Starring: Russell Brand, Jennifer Garner, Helen Mirren After scoring a huge hit last week with "Hop," another Russell Brand starring vehicle, "Arthur," releases this weekend. It is a remake of the 1981 classic of the same name that starred Dudley Moore in the title role.
Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy," is the director's first narrative feature in nearly a decade, his first non-Persian language film and his first film shot outside of Iran ever.
Now Playing: Hop Genre: Comedy Starring: Russell Brand (voice), James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco In the style of such great films as "Garfield," "Scooby Doo," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," "Hop" takes a cute CG animal, mixes it with a bad story and phoned-in acting, and creates a probably profitable kids movie.
If you bought tickets to Screeching Weasel at the Trocadero on Thursday, April 7, chances are you know that the show was canceled, but you might not know why.
Now Playing: Sucker Punch Genre: Action/Fantasy Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone "Sucker Punch" is the new film from ambitious writer/director Zack Snyder. His previous films were visually striking pieces of pop action ("300," "Dawn of the Dead," "Watchmen"), and "Sucker Punch" looks to be another fantastical ride that pushes visual effects to the brink of their power.
The Baltimore indie rock duo Wye Oak have spent five years refining their sound and ideas, and all the hard work has paid off with "Civilian." The duo, comprised of Jenn Wasner on guitar and vocals and Andy Stack on drums and keyboard (yes, he can play both instruments simultaneously) have made a name for themselves with their almost overwhelmingly intimate and haunting sound, characterized by dynamics so extreme that they would make the Pixies blush.
Now Playing: Limitless Genre: Thriller Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro Out this weekend is "Limitless," the latest in a string of middling attempts to try and prove that Bradley Cooper can be the new Tom Cruise. Cooper, star of "The A Team" and "The Hangover," plays Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck and recently dumped writer with gross long hair.
Now Playing: The Adjustment Bureau Genre: Sci-fi Thriller Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt "The Adjustment Bureau" opens this weekend, and is maybe the first legitimately good movie option of the year. The thriller stars Matt Damon as a New York congressman whose star is rising nationally.
James Blake's self-titled debut album is the kind of thing that doesn't sound terribly appealing to most people on paper. Blake, a groundbreaking British producer, released four widely acclaimed EPs through 2009 and 2010, and the hype surrounding his work has reached something of a boiling point just in time for his big debut.
PJ Harvey's well-known practice of reinventing herself from record to record has finally lead her to the dicey realm of the political album. "Let England Shake" is Harvey's first solo studio album in four years after 2007's underrated collection of piano ballads, "White Chalk," and 2009's messy art rock collaboration project with John Parrish, "A Woman A Man Walked By," and true to form it manages to retain small elements from those albums and yet still depart from them significantly.
“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” proves underwhelming
Thursday was opening night of Cap and Bells' production of "Dead Man's Cell Phone." The plot line was confusing, and a little unbelievable. Gordon dies in a café (presumably of a heart attack). His cell phone continuously rings until Jean (Caroline Iciek, '14) confronts him and realizes he has died.
Ah, yes, another hipster-fest this weekend. Deerhoof performed at the Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) this past Friday, showcasing their tenth studio album, "Deerhoof vs. Evil," which was released in the United States on Jan. 25.
Now Playing: I Am Number Four Genre: Sci-Fi Action Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant "I Am Number Four" releases this weekend, to little buzz and low expectations. The film is based on a semi-popular teen novel in which the protagonist and his eight companions, baby human-like aliens, are hidden on earth from an evil race of invaders.
Imagine a random stranger steals your cell phone, uses it, and pretends she knows you. This sounds like a nightmare to most of us, but it's actually a dark romantic comedy MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl calls, "Dead Man's Cell Phone."
is a member of the 
