UNDERRATEDEl Rey Theatre: This stately Art Deco...

UNDERRATED

El Rey Theatre: This stately Art Deco palace seems to have dipped in stature these days, between the nearby Wiltern and the recently renovated Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood. But a recent visit reminded us how lucky we are to have so many terrific concert venues at our disposal, and the El Rey’s sound, sightlines and atmosphere compare favorably to those of any room in town. Plus, you can actually find street parking, a bonus that nearly had us weeping with joy.

‘Silverado’: Contemporary stabs at westerns such as “Appaloosa” always send us pining for this 1985 adventure in spite of ourselves. Pitch-perfect performances by Scott Glenn, Brian Dennehy and an understated Kevin Kline stand up against curious but entertaining casting like John Cleese’s overmatched sheriff and Kevin Costner as Glenn’s “loose cannon” brother. We love dark-night-of-the-soul westerns like “Unforgiven” too, but for a fun afternoon on horseback, this one’s not to be forgotten.

OVERRATED

Medleys: Josh Groban has been cheered and jeered for his Emmy-night singing of a medley of 27 theme songs from classic TV shows. Was it an amazing display of vocal range or just plain cheesy? Either way, we think Groban had the deck stacked against him, given that Bill Murray was making fun of the form some 30 years ago. Memo to awards show producers and aging rock bands: The only medley we’ve cheered lately was the one involving Michael Phelps and the U.S. swim team.

TMZ on TV: Railing against these deepest of muckrakers is a little like shaking your fist at the weather these days, but just for fun, everyone should take a gander just once. In a sense, this show is exactly what we and our celebrity-obsessed culture have spawned, all salacious narration and cringe-inducing innuendo disguised as stories. But it’s the mutant child of our tastes, so attention must be paid. That way we might at last learn to stop paying attention.