currently out: it's all gone pete tong

nice teeth mate! weirdly enough, actor paul kaye actually looks pretty hot in a few scenes!

filmed about two years ago, the cult-ready film it's all gone pete tong (cockney slang for 'it's all gone horribly wrong') quietly made it's way to US shores via an extremely limited theatre run (it's only showing in NYC at the moment).

telling the ficticious, and usually hilarious, story of superstar DJ frankie wilde and his descent into hell and back, the mockumentary film mixes actual interviews with superstar DJ's with a surprisingly redemptive story about a wanker who turns out to be he best deaf DJ in the world.
though i'm probably not selling the film at all with this description, you have to believe me when i say that not only is '...pete tong' one of the best films of the season, but actor paul kaye (who is best known in the UK as BBC3 cult celebrity interviewer Dennis Pennis) is one of the biggest finds of the year with his equally shameless and heartbreaking turn as frankie wilde.

winning critics awards at toronto, HBO comedy festival and GenArts film festival, go and seek this little gem of a movie while you still have the chance.

my grade: A-

sweet film alert: fever pitch

this is a little behind, but if you haven't seen fever pitch yet, go and check out one of the more sweet honest romantic comedies out now.

inspired by the 1992 nick hornby story by the same name, the film has already spawned a 1997 UK version starring colin firth. almost a decade later, the farrelly brothers (something about mary, stuck on you) adaptation switches the leading characters' sports obsession from football to baseball... namely the 86 year 'curse of the bambino' that was recently broken after the red sox won the world series after almost 9 decades of losing (something i learned from watching this film!).

starring one of my favorite actresses drew 'just breathe' barrymore and SNL alum jimmy fallon, i was so won over by this couple's natural romance that i was absolutely gushing by the time i left the theatre!

though not entirely without it's faults, fever pitch is just one of those sweet romantic comedies that tries to offer a realistic approach from both sides of the coin... and if you're a sap like me... succeeds in the process.

my grade: b+

buzz film alert: sisterhood of the traveling pants

laugh all you want from the preposterous name, but i have a feeling that the film adaptation of this wonderful book will be a summer surprise smash!

originally written by ann brashares, the sisterhood of the traveling pants tells the story of a group of best friends who have to separate for the 1st time during their 16th summer. discovering that a pair of jeans miraculously fits all the girls, they decide to pass on the jeans to each other every two weeks, in hopes that it will create a stronger emotional bond even though they are physically apart.

with a smart teen friendly cast (alexis bledel, amber tamblyn, america fererra and newbie blake lively), the girls embark on personal adventures that takes them from greece to soccer camp to suburbia to the mall.

the books (so far there are three) are already bestsellers and trust me, the films release this summer will only propel the series to new heights.

quick review: house of wax

believe it or not guys, house of wax isn't that horrible!

with a campaign that seems like its only focus is that paris hilton bites the big one in this horror film remake, i approached house of wax with little to no expectation.

to my surprise, not only is this film strikingly shot (director jaume serra is a hot commercial director), but takes it's time with storytelling by focusing on, gasp, storyline, before the kids get waxed one by one 40 minutes into the film.

luckily for us, the cool and kick ass elisha cuthbert (24) leads a relatively strong cast through the scary gory bits.

if you're looking for a good honest gross out scare fest this season, go and check out 2005's first true horror movie (cause we've sure had some doozy's in the past few months).

my grade: b

cannes announces their 2005 lineup

the full list of competing films have been announced for this years cannes film festival.

hot tickets include the latest by wim wenders, david cronenberg, gus van sant, hou hsiao hsien, robert rodruiguez' 'sin city', lars von trier and atom egoyan. surprisingly, hong kong action director Johnnie To makes his competition debut with the mafia themed 'election'. while star wars and the latest by woody allen get themselves into the out of competition slot.

if you wanna see the full list, go here. or if you want to read more, check out this article.

music buzz: moloko's brilliant singer roisin murphy prepares for her solo debut release

simon henwood's artwork for roisin's debut album is so lovely!

fans of the post club, post indie, post pop funk duo, moloko, will be pleased to hear that lead singer roisin murphy has recorded an album of experimental folk, bleepity electro and minimalist house with indie producer matthew 'food' herbert.

originally released as three ep's since january, this self titled debut album collects all the tracks and repackages them in a neat sexy collection.

not as mainstream as the moloko stuff, but roisin's amazing vocals are second to none. check out tracks here.

quick review: the amityville horror

is this reason enough to watch this film?... nah!

i love the fact that at every chance, the beautiful torso of lead actor ryan reynolds gets a nice oiled up (under the guise of sweaty) viewing. but besides that, the less than interesting remake of an already underwhelming horror film makes it's way to our screens this weekend.

retelling the story of the lutz family who move into the amityville house, where a year prior a whole family was murdered by the eldest son claiming the house told him to kill em all. upon moving in, weird things start to happen and... boo!... we the audience begin to see the...boo!... spirits that ... boo!... live in the... BOO!... house.

by the time the lutz family encounter the 'climax' of the film, the whole group of people that i was with were either sleeping or watching other aspects of the film other than the plot. not a good sign, if you ask me.

my grade: boo indeed
D for the film (A+ for ryan's hot bod! that alanis is a lucky lady )

quick review: kingdom of heaven

oh damn is he yummy

if big epic adventures about the crusades is your thing, then kingdom of heaven will definitely be the type of movie that will float your boat.

unfortunately, no matter how brilliant a visualist director ridley scott is, i couldn't help but wonder what the film would be like if i was watching the original 3 hours 40 minute cut that he submitted to the studio.

this much cut down version, has a glossed over plot line and an even flimsy-er character development of balian (orlando) and the spiritual journey that he takes on.

i must say that the only interesting element of this film is the fact that there is an overall acceptance of all religions and would either create a nice debate amoung religious liberals. but then again, who talks about religion these days from a non-zealot standpoint? most people are just going to watch the spectacular war sequence and talk about how cool it all is. yawn...

my grade: c+

NY Times' AO Scott offers one of the best opening line reviews of the week

My fave reviewer for the NY Times, AO Scott proves me right once again with one of the funniest opening line reviews of the week. This one is for the latest David Duchovny film 'House Of D'...

"The reasons to avoid 'House of D', David Duchovny's earnest, unwatchable coming-of-age drama, can best be summarized in a simple declarative sentence. Robin Williams plays a retarded janitor."

the return of the gorillaz

after previewing their album at this years south by southwest in austin texas, the gorillaz (co-producers damon albarn and danger mouse) are ready to unleash their new album onto the masses next month.

with a crazy cast of rotating members, the new album features performances by De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF Doom, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder, Dennis Hopper, the London Community Gospel Choir and the San Fernandez Youth Chorus.

though the 1st single 'feel good inc.' is typical gorillaz fare, i've heard a few more trax from this phat album and they are killer! get ready for a beatastic summer!

Turin Brakes are back with a new single and album!

one of my favorite vocal bands in the world, turin brakes returns to our ipods/stereos with their 3rd long player jackinabox. with their post summer harmonies and sweet sensitive lyrics, the first single 'fishing for a dream' also previews a more musically diverse sound from olly and gale this 3rd time around.

to watch the video for 'fishing for a dream' click on the real or windows link in their media section.

i honestly can't wait to hear the new album in may!

buzz new artist: juliet

who's the artist with the debut single that's uniting both hipsters and pop loving folk? her name is juliet and this 25 year old singer has released one of the coolest hypnotic tracks of the season.

produced by stuart price (aka jacques lu cont / thin white duke), the single 'avalon' has already been hailed as one of the best singles of 2005 AND named bbc's 'essential single' by tastemaker pete tong.

yes, this is serious hype, but the wonderful track reminds me of the dreamy classic anthem 'a fine day' mixed in with some nice electro trance elements.

watch the video and listen to the track here.
give this track a listen and hear what the fuss is all about.

finally! hollaback girl finally gets released. check out the video here.

if you haven't heard this instant anthem yet, then where the heck have you been? easily one of the best tracks from gwens wonderful 'love angel music baby' solo debut, it's now time to check out the new foot stompin video by gwen stefani here.

check out the latest video by kylie

kylie's got a new single and though it's not as genius as 'i believe in you', 'giving you up', co-written by Brian Higgins (sugababes), continues the kind of breezy electro pop that kylie is presenting in spades these days.

check out all things kylie on her website, or you can watch the video directly here on the media page of the hot virgin music site the raft