Overrated / Underrated 2012: The ups and downs
A buzzed-about documentary from this year, this story of the Chinese artist-activist exposed the passion that’s made
Like a visual Twitter for shutterbugs, the photo app has earned a big enough profile to be referenced on
: As we head into next year, keep an eye on cable companies as the call for a la carte television steadily grows louder. Internet options such as
Prepare yourselves: The cloud is here. And while it’s intoxicating to consider the shelf space that can be liberated with all our favorite music floating in some nebulous hard drive over our heads, is there any substitute for buying something and savoring it? As convenient as media has become to find and consume, it’s worth remembering to appreciate these things as well. (Troy Maben / AP)
Maybe the most hummable train wreck on TV, this heir to the
The world of TV comedy is a land of low expectations, but this newcomer from the producer of “The New Girl” has enough promise to encourage optimism. Its premise of mismatched siblings raising a kid may not be the freshest, but it makes up for it in execution, starting with an agreeably goofy cast rounded out by the charmingly goofy
A somewhat baffling approach to TV viewing, this idea has surfaced in a number of publications showing people are actively watching shows they do not like. “The Newsroom,” “Smash” and the recent
The field of jazz banjo is fairly narrow, and even though Fleck has long flirted with fusion in his recordings, this pairing with a band that includes pianist Marcus Roberts and drummer Jason Marsalis finally brings his seemingly unconventional leanings into focus. The aptly named album “Across the Imaginary Divide” is intricate and joyfully swung, and the group’s stop at Catalina this week should be equally sharp. (Brian Tietz / AP)
The latest Bond installment is raking in the cash with its mature themes and another impeccably tailored turn from the granite-faced Daniel Craig. But connoisseurs know that any action movie is only as good as its villain, and that’s what makes Bardem’s turn as the twisted Silva all the more vital. Giggling and flirting through every scene, Bardem unveils a new, fun wrinkle to his bad-guy arsenal, first honed in “No Country for Old Men.” (Francois Duhamel / AP)
This gorgeous singer is a tabloid force of nature (particularly through the lens of the ongoing saga with her controversy-courting ex-boyfriend/assailant, Chris Brown), and her constant media presence would be a lot easier to take if there were interesting music left in its wake. But all we have is icily overproduced, mostly generic pop that’s indistinguishable from much of the pop charts, and no amount of significance read into its depressing backstory adds any depth. (Charles Sykes / Invision / AP)
Just look at this band’s name. Isn’t it adorable in its preference for lower-case letters and a matter-of-fact period at the end? But despite impressive sales for the album “Some Nights,” the typographically humble group is just being honest there’s just not much reason for excitement in the band’s melodramatic melodies and yelping, electro-tweaked vocals from Nate Ruess (formerly of the Format). May we suggest a new grammatical flourish, such as “Fun?” (Stuart Wilson / Getty Images)
Other than its Portland, Ore., setting, there¿s not much to differentiate this NBC show from the raft of supernatural-leaning shows that hit the airwaves in the post-”Harry Potter” era. But Weir Mitchell stands head and shoulders above his costars and his show’s middling special effects as the dryly sensitive Monroe, a reluctant werewolf who whiles away his time among adventures as a foodie, cellist and cozy sweater enthusiast. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
As Usher and even Justin Bieber have proved, the world needs young singers to step into Michael Jackson’s shoes as princes of pop. And despite a promotional push that included a puzzling (and not very funny) double-dip into hosting and performing as musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” there just doesn¿t seem to be much new to be heard from Mars. Is it a good sign when an “American Idol” cover of his “Runaway Baby” outshines the original? (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Though occasionally compared with Beck early in her career for her dalliances with electronics, Orton’s latest album is a purely organic affair. Backed by a crack yet understated band that includes drummer Brian Blade and guitarist Marc Ribot, the breathy-voiced Orton turns to elements of vintage British folk for a sunlit, woodsy collection buoyed by gentle guitar and strings that sound richly bittersweet any time of year. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Despite glowing reviews and a killer cast, “Seven Psychopaths” still underperformed at the box office, and maybe writer-director McDonagh is partly to blame for being just too difficult to sum up in a trailer. A twisted, self-aware blast led by a witty Colin Farrell, “Seven Psychopaths” is sharp enough to earn McDonagh another screenwriting Oscar nod, but he keeps being presented as something akin to an Irish Tarantino. He’s so much more. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
It’s been proven with the success of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” that there’s money to be made with this former horror fringe-dweller, but we’ve reached a saturation point. This Halloween has seen a number of local zombie-themed events, and a counter-terrorism event in San Diego even hosted a zombie drill, which makes almost as much sense as an Easter Bunny hunt. Can Hollywood get back to run-of-the-mill maniacs with axes soon, please? (Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images)
Now that smartphones have made great strides in capturing the freakishly famous on video, footage is readily available anytime someone gets a little green in public. First Justin Bieber learned the dangers of dairy last month, and now Lady Gaga had a digestive incident of her own onstage in Spain. We just need a third incident and it’s a trend: Getting sick will officially replace the sex tape as the new low-budget career boost. (Ian Gavan / Getty Images)
The Garden State’s been the butt of jokes for years, but now the pop culture pendulum has swung the other way. It’s not that shows like the mercifully cancelled “Made in Jersey” and its predecessors “Jersey Shore” and “Real Housewives of New Jersey” give the state an inflated sense of self (New Yorkers will surely ensure that doesn’t happen), it’s that an overabundance of Jersey unfairly prevents so many other states from branding themselves with annoying stereotypes too. (Matt Sayles / AP)
After a 2011 that found him releasing three eclectic albums, trumpeter Douglas looked inward with his latest, a recording dedicated to his late mother. A lush collection of hymnals and elegies reworked into widescreen jazz, “Be Still” is highlighted by the crystalline,
With rustic harmonies and rousing melodies, all the ingredients are in place for this nouveau-folk band to win over the hardest musical heart. So why do so many of this U.K. band’s pleasant songs fade into the background? Maybe it’s the overabundance of breezily sincere emoting from leader Marcus Mumford or the inescapable feeling that all the earnestness in the world can’t overcome the sense this music isn’t saying anything new. (Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images for Guinness)
In the Internet era, pop culture topics seemingly exist on two settings: invisible or inescapable. The latest beneficiary is Psy, the amusingly self-effacing Korean rapper behind “Gangnam Style,” a techno-pop trifle/dance craze that went from
It’s easy to rack up genres in attempting to describe this Berkeley-based ensemble. Chamber-gypsy-jazz-folk? Sure, let’s start there, but the group’s latest album, “The Rain Is a Handsome Animal,” adds poetry to the mix with lyrics taken from the works of
By the time you read this sentence, it’s possible that this film brought to you by the “marketing visionary” behind the Teletubbies will already have disappeared from theaters. Here’s a tip for future visionaries: Don’t bring up the fact that your movie was made in the spirit of selling consumers something. Even though that tends to be true most of the time, at least have the courtesy to pretend it’s not on billboards. (Matthew Mitchell / Associated Press)
Some might best remember this song as the soundtrack for a twitchy Ray Liotta near the end of “Goodfellas,” but it made a welcome recent cameo in the excellent LCD Soundsystem documentary
With a new album due this week, this Baltimore-born group satisfies a key requirement for being an indie rock heir to the Grateful Dead by being utterly baffling to those who aren’t onboard. With the group’s signature mix of swirling
Given the overabundance of travel shows mutating and reproducing on TV, maybe it’s fitting that the most unique of the bunch exists only online. Levitch will sound familiar if you caught his starry-eyed turn in
You might remember Cherry as creator of the nearly inescapable “Buffalo Stance” back in the ‘80s, but a better reference point for her latest work is fiery jazz trumpeter Don Cherry (her stepfather). A ferocious mix of Neneh Cherry’s soulful vocals and powerful European free-jazz combo the Thing, this project mixes original music and songs by the Stooges,
Is it fair to knock a film if it seems already aware of its own inessentialness? Even this movie’s name admits to its own disposability, but for all the fleeting thrills that came from seeing Hollywood invent an action hero retirement plan on the fly with this movie’s first, it’s hard to imagine there’s more fertile ground to be tilled asking these vintage actors to return in all their alarmingly fit glory. On the bright side, it seems to keep everybody involved from running for office. (Frank Masi / Associated Press)
Beloved by a generation for extolling the virtues of “Girl Power” (as long as that power included small outfits and five distinct personality types), Sporty, Scary, Ginger, Daffy and Sneezy (or however they’re known) were back in the spotlight during the scattershot closing ceremony of the London Olympics. Now before things get out of hand, please leave us to today’s pop stars who seem only preoccupied with making boys call them — wait, is this progress? (Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images)
What were the odds that this frontman for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker would become such an advocate for the modern musician? In two well-considered posts that went viral online, Lowery first broke down the harsh realities of the new music industry, then took a young NPR intern to task for bragging about not paying for music. Whether you agree with Lowery or not, he’s doing important work in furthering the conversation. (Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
< Every summer brings one song that requires a frozen poker to the eardrum to escape, and 2012’s is this brain-infesting confection from Carly Rae Jepsen (pictured), which for some reason inspired a whole raft of musicians and celebrities to make a cover video in response. Although one involving the Roots and
Though the reviews for
Dismissed by its own company as a “hobby,” this little square hockey puck is a surprisingly enticing option for those ready to cut out their cable. Bringing the computer into the living room in an intuitive, simple way, it’s intriguing to access your music and streaming video using Apple’s typically elegant interface. Now all it needs is to be open to more of the Internet’s riches (with, say, a browser or
If there’s any potential fallout from the musical costume drama curiosity that is “
Samberg showed a gift for absurd laughs in his
Although there’s nothing wrong with loving where you live — and we do — the first track on this band’s summer-bright sophomore album is so puffed with Southern California pride that it veers into self-congratulation. Despite Bethany Cosentino’s vocals sounding like an irresistible mix of sun and sugar, a jangly pop song boasting “Why would you live anywhere else?” probably won’t help our rankings in the next “most hated state” survey. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
If you hear more shouting than usual from the neighbors this month it’s thanks to this event, which every four years rounds up the top soccer nations in Europe in pursuit of continental bragging rights. Though many countries have made the news while staving off further financial meltdowns, it’s inspiring to watch world-class athletes and face-painted fans (with their national tics) show their true colors, even if you’re ambivalent toward what everyone else calls “football.” (Oliver Weiken / EPA)
You can’t blame the DVD rental company for trying to up its profits, but some of its selections seem angled toward camouflaging themselves as bigger (and better) films.
You wouldn’t expect an indie rock drummer who appears to be engaged in a naked fight with Devendra Banhart on a recent album cover to release a record this contemplative. A collection of inviting and often melancholy pieces for solo piano, Rogove touches on pop and
Sure, it was fun for a while to watch the bearded Alexander Ebert bounce on stages with his expanding band like the Manson Family covering
Now that
The ongoing performance piece that is
Dare anyone speak ill of this heir to the classic rock throne? While it’s great to hear White playing with a drummer capable of more than the caveman beats of the White Stripes, it’s difficult to figure why such an avalanche of praise follows his every move. Yes, he’s got an ear for history, a sharp eye for visuals, and plays a killer guitar, but before we induct him into the
We admit a small measure of glee in watching the
Last week,
With the campy “Dark Shadows’ in theaters, we have to wonder if
Ordinarily it’s best not to get invested with Fox’s overblown but declining musical juggernaut, but once in a while a line must be drawn. With luck, by this time clearer heads will have prevailed and extracted this dorm room
Just when you thought a stake had been driven through the “five boys and a melody” pop formula that begot
Maybe better known by one of the names on his Twitter bio (“The Black Guy From ’40 Yr. Old Virgin’”), Malco should finally make a name for himself as a top-tier comic talent in
Each year brings one song thats inescapable, and 2012’s early winner is the daintily melancholy “Somebody That I Used to Know” from this Australian singer-songwriter. But its not enough that the song itself seems everywhere, it’s the many covers reproducing at an alarming rate on “Glee,” “The Voice” and
Though we could live without the footage of struggling baby penguins and the inevitable heart-rending “nature is harsh” lessons, there is no greater use of your large-screen television and HD video signal than this documentary series. Created by the people behind “The Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth,” this series digs into the perilous lives of polar bears, penguins and beluga whales and finds life worth savoring -- and saving. (Chadden Hunter / Associated Press)
A few thoughts now that “
The grand dame of dance-pop has an unparalleled track record of reinvention and a steady dedication to the cutting edge of music and fashion. Now, with her dated new album, “MDNA,” it’s time to accept that the 53-year-old singer rests alongside the
There’s no denying the pure entertainment in the
With a gently scuffed, quavering voice, this singer-songwriter reached new heights with her new album, which is titled in reference to her period of semi-homelessness. Produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner, the record is a quietly addictive listen with Van Etten’s lyrics on heartache and uncertainty landing with such disarming rawness that you sometimes wonder if she’s sharing too much -- yet you can’t help wanting more. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
On the surface it’s a forward-thinking move for the network to allow subscribers to watch past seasons of its original shows online, but ultimately
An inventive vocalist often filed under “jazz” simply for want of a suitable genre to contain his otherworldly sound, Bleckmann’s latest album is a gentle yet consistently rewarding take on the
It’s hard to complain about one of
Every generation has its era-defining band, and these sunny sons of Hawthorne certainly would qualify as one of them. And while after 50 years and an impossibly influential body of work they deserve the curtain call, it’s tough getting any more excited about this than the next, inevitable reconvening of the
This host is too young, that host is too old, this category is too big while the other is too small. The right films never win, there’s too much red carpet coverage and, of course, it’s all about campaigns and commerce, not the art. If these are common refrains for you, the
It’s a little puzzling in a best picture category big enough to nominate “War Horse” and “Midnight in Paris” that there was no room for this taut, almost startlingly grown-up thriller. A contender for adapted screenplay, for original score and for
In a baffling, over-the-top Grammy appearance last week, this former next-big-thing followed a well-worn route in looking for publicity: Start offending religious groups. And while all that seemed missing in Minaj’s exorcism-evoking performance of new single “Roman Holiday” was an outraged soft-drink sponsor à la
Ostensibly a bluegrass band if you consider only the all-acoustic instrumentation, this project co-led by Largo favorite (and former Nickel Creek mandolinist) Chris Thile offers a new, giddily supercharged take on folk-pop. The group just released its second album, “Whos Feeling Young Now,” which features a head-spinning mix of sticky melodies, instrumental fireworks and, for good measure, a twisted, rustic take on
M.I.A. performs during the Super Bowl halftime show last year. (Christopher Polk / Getty Images)
An in-demand producer who collects Grammy nods the way some collect stamps, Henry may be best known for the warm glow he’s cast on award-winning records by
For all the hype about the past-its-prime return of this L.A. band, there’s something very “Voodoo Lounge”-feeling about the news that
If a sports championship is near, it must be time for a celebrity to bungle a pregame take on the singer-slaying “Star-Spangled Banner.” Last week, it was
Welcome to 2012, where an artist can be the Next Big Thing, have the social import of her music debated among critics and be tapped for a too-soon set on “SNL,” only to have her sound just bad enough to conceivably kill her career after only two songs and a still-unreleased album. This is the ballad of Lana Del Rey, a possibly interesting artist with a decent voice who just might already be finished before she started. Who dares to be next? (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
With a ‘90s revival in full swing, there may be no more vivid time capsule of the decade than these blue-and-gold relics, if you can still find one near you. With most rentals a Red Box-fighting 99 cents, it’s a surprisingly workable option when all else fails. The odd reality is that despite all the talk of streaming video and technological advances, renting the movie you want can still be simplest and most efficient with a decades-old business model. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)
Coming soon to a
Days removed from a birth that reportedly took a whole hospital wing to accommodate, the Internet was abuzz over Blue Ivy Carter and her first vocal credit on
The second season for this IFC sketch comedy series with “Saturday Night Live’s” Fred Armisen and Wild Flag’s Carrie Brownstein has enjoyed more advance praise than ever, but it needs to deliver more consistency. Most gags merit more knowing nods than laughs, and as tasty as the meat can be skewering the sacred cows of urban hipsterdom, many sketches go on just too long. (Danielle Mathias / Associated Press)
First noticed for perfecting an eyebrow-shaded glare as Sylar on NBC’s “Heroes,” Quinto has risen from being Vulcan-ized as Spock in the
A welcome sighting on some year-end best-of lists, this category-busting songwriter deserves a wider audience, particularly among those waiting for
A flip of the calendar always inspires reflection on the previous year, and one moment from 2011 that leaves a mark is knowing
A U.K. singer-songwriter whose latest album made a splash among only select circles, Marling’s twisting and addictive “A Creature I Don’t Know” deserved a more fixed presence on the year-end lists of the last month. Though only a brain-scrambling 21, Marling is armed with a sharp, roomy voice and a wicked way with words that can recall a brilliant cross between