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Home , Ben Gibbard, Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Greg Dulli, Mark Kozelek, Martin Lopez

THE HELL6AT£. LANCE

MAYS, 200S Carmike 10 Now in Theaters Iron Man Faith Burnham Best of all, the movie really does justice to its Baby Mama A&E editor characters with its flashbacks to their backstory and the conclusion of their epic journey. While A Plumm Summer Forgetting Sarah MarshaU I was anticipating wanting to see this movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Judd Apatow films are known for being on the about thirty more times, I'd prefer to never see The Forbidden Kingdom realistic end of the sex-comedy spectrum and it again. Howe er, I'll still be first in line for Street Kings Forgetting arah Marshall, with its insight- Harold & Kumar 3 when it comes out. Smart People ful script by Jason egal, is the most realistic yet. Because of its true-to-life feel, it doesn't Baby Mama Nim's Island have as many laugh-out-loud moments as more This isn't an ambitious film . It's a simple story, Leatherheads ridiculous movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin but the laughs are steady and the performances Under the Same Moon or Superbad. However, it does still have a lot of are excellent. Amy Poehler in particular sells Horton Hears a Who laughs. Russel Brand is particularly hilarious as this movie. It might not be the most memorable Aldous Snow, one of the funniest characters in movie of the year, but it might be one of the movie history. more pleasant and endearing. Village 6 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Smart People Deception Bay With 2006's Hard Candy and 2007's Juno, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay While its predecessor was insightful, delight­ Ellen Page is on quite a roll of excellent mov­ Forgetting Sarah Marshall ful and humor ... ful, Harold & Kumar Escape ies. This features outstanding performances from Guantanamo Bay is nasty and just plain by everyone in the cast, but the real star is the 88 Minutes unpleasant to watch. There are some funny screenplay. It gets both its humor and its un­ Prom Night moments, primarily because John Cho and predictability from dealing with problems that 21 Kal Penn can deliver a line like no one else. aren't usually shown in mainstream movies. Golden Soundz: Bombtastic Start for Music in 2008 Mitch Legato asst. .A&E editor

The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia () - April () Ex- member, teams up with ex-Afghan Whigs member Following up the masterpiece Ghosts ofthe Great Highway, releases an to put out some of their best music. Sounding like the sequel to the Whigs' equally impressive with guest spots from and of Death of death and debauchery. masterpiece Gentlemen, Saturnalia is a dark brooding tale Cab fame. Sounding like a Harvest-era Neil Young at times with a softer, brighter voice, The best song on the album is "Idle Hands." The song is complete with a string section April is by far the best release of the year so far. The only real draw back of the album and features the pair doing their best Nick Cave and Tom Waits impression. This makes is that the songs drag out a little longer then needed but not to the extent that it tarnishes for one of the most interesting songs of this year and one of the highlights of the most them in any real way. unique of the year. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular () Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (Indie Rock) Ignoring all the flaws in this album, it's a pretty solid and consistent album. Unfortu­ Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys once said "don't believe the hype" of the NME hype nately, the flaws are hard to ignore. While the actual music isn't that bad, it's just a little machine. These words couldn't ring truer than on Vampire Weekend's much anticipated too synthy and cheesy to be taken seriously. It would be difficult to find lyrics that are self titled debut album. While Vampire Weekend has a pretty orginal sound in its Grace­ more contrived and boring, yet despite all the negatives, the album ends up not being land-esque Afro-pop complete with indie whelps, the lack of any real musical prowess nearly as bad as it should due to two very strong songs ("Kids" and "Time to Pretend") can't be overlooked and ultimately the album fails to live up to the hype. Although it and a few other decent ones that hold it all together, somehow. has its moments (namely "A-Punk") most of the songs end up sounding like something you sang in fourth grade choir.

Opeth - Watershed () After losing ubertalented drummer and guitarist Peter Lindgren most bands would have given up, but not . Pushing forward on the group's newest album due in June Watershed leaves behind all Middle Eastern influences found on 2005's and the elements found on earlier albums are nearly lo t. Changing sounds to leave more room for soloing from former Arch Enemy guitar­ ist Fredrik Akesson, the album sometimes ends up sounding like Ride the Lightning era Metallica. Despite all the changes Akerfeldt's shift between growling and clean vocals has never sounded so controlled and his vocals are a bit less harsh than in the past the album. It's a far cry from but still holds its own, proving yet again Opeth is more then just a typical death metal band with progressive elements. After a long walk on the beach, Vampire Weekend release an overrated, overhyped album and stopped by Missoula in March (Photo by www.latimes.com) .