by Tom Johnson I love Jack Black, and while I can’t say everything of his has been outstanding (Saving Silverman, as I often say, is the worst movie I’ve ever seen,) he has a good track record for being entertaining, and in a “rock” context, he is usually hilarious. He didn’t disappoint in the slightest. Now, let me make something [...]

by Mark Saleski Just sitting around yesterday, worn out from the events of Saturday (plus some sort of oncoming bug that appears to be draining all of my energy)…so I decide to watch Woody Allen’s Manhattan. I’ve never been able to put my finger on the reason before…why is it that I’m so attracted to nearly every danged apartment shown [...]

by Nick DeRiso The Doobie Brothers’ ex-frontman sneaks in a few of his former band’s more popular tunes during a new Eagle Rock Entertainment DVD, “This Christmas: Live in Chicago.” Thankfully, though, Michael McDonald leaves behind the treacly synth-soaked production values of those old records. I’d often wondered what it would have been like if McDonald had been able to [...]

by Mark Saleski The Darkness on the Edge of Town tour has taken on a sort of mythic quality, mostly because there has been scant video evidence. This “bootleg” tape unearthed by Camp Springsteen confirms what fans lucky enough to have seen one of the shows have known all along: this was the E Street Band at a fever pitch. [...]

by Mark Saleski It is perhaps too easy to dismiss the work of celebrities. In the case of Bruce Springsteen, there has been much vitriol expressed over his “supposed” blue collar leanings, as if success can (no…must) wipe out your roots. If you look back at this documentary on the making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, you can [...]

by Tom Johnson A coworker kept insisted that I have to see Old School, that it was just the funniest movie in ages. The day it came out he rushed out to buy it, watched it immediately, and has been quoting lines from the movie ever since. I should know by now, having suffered through previous suggestions of movies from [...]

by Mark Saleski Springsteen fans have been waiting years for the 30th anniversary release of Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Waiting, and waiting, and… And then the anniversary passed, with rumours and speculation fueled by smokes signals emanating from Camp Springsteen about how the set was “nearly complete.” Of course, since these smoke signals never quite spelled out what [...]

“The Guitar Hero” moves away from the tabloid side of the Jimi Hendrix myth, instead delving into the American guitarist’s sweeping impact on rock music and the instrument. That makes director Jon Brewer’s film not so much a biography, per se, as it is tone-poem love letter to Hendrix’s muse, and how it finally ignited. I think, at this late [...]

by Tom Johnson Every year it seems, some movie I see stands out immediately upon seeing it. Most memorably, Magnolia did it, American Movie did it, High Fidelity did it, Punch Drunk Love did it, and today, American Splendor did it. American Splendor is the real-life story of comic book writer and file clerk Harvey Pekar. I say “writer” because [...]

by Tom Johnson I have been mulling over how to properly review a film like Rivers and Tides, a documentary that follows sculptor Andy Goldsworthy as he creates his mind-boggling artwork. It almost seems cruel to attempt to judge a film like this, so beautiful, so gentle, and so mesmerizing, yet so far from what most movie goers will ever [...]