Last night at Zune LA, located on Beverly, the eagerly anticipated documentary on Joy Division premiered to an audience that included co-founder and bassist Peter Hook. Hook kicked off the evening DJ'ing to everyone while they were served cocktails and appetizers prior to the film, and generously answered questions after the the film. The movie was excellent. It told the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis' life by the people who knew him......

Robocop lives again! | Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema Michel Gondry is one of the few major directors who still relies on almost entirely visual humor in his films. Be Kind Rewind has numerous instances of pure daffiness and a few nuggets of outright brilliance. Yes, Martin Lawrence still has a flourishing cinematic career. Wonders never cease. For the first couple of episodes, Californication relied a bit too much on David Duchovny banging......

If you see folks walking around with some dirt on their foreheads today, they proabably did it on purpose. It is Ash Wednesday, where Christians are supposed to fast, pray, repent after the debauchery of Mardi Gras and (Super Tuesday). So here' are a few debauch-free events for tonight: WORDS The ALOUD series continues with John Burnham Schwartz, author of Reservation Road, who talks about his new novel set in 1959 Japan where a non-aristocratic......

Whether you are a devoted fan of Joy Division or simply a casual listener, Control should be high on your must-see list of movies. It is a masterfully and intimately told story about one of the more opaque musical figures of the last thirty years, Ian Curtis (my LAist review of the film is below). Yesterday, I had the chance to speak with one of the film's producers, Orian Williams, who spent ten years......

Like Jim Morrison before him, Ian Curtis exists in the mind's eye as more of an idea than a real person. Certainly, his early death contributes mightily to this perception. Anton Corbijn's Control, however, rescues him from the murky fog of legend and restores him to a state of full humanity. It is, simply, a remarkable film, as much for what it is as for what it is not. It resists the temptation towards......

After the disaster that was Evan Almighty, Steve Carell seems to have recovered (albeit slightly) with Dan in Real Life. Carell stars as a widower who inadvertently falls in love with his brother's girlfriend--hey, who fucking hasn't?! Celebrated French hellcat, er, actress Juliette Binoche stars as said girlfriend (which is good). Dane Cook is the brother, though, which is bad. Which is awful. Which sucks so hard there's no way I'm seeing this movie.......

The Swerve Festival is taking place at Barnsdall Park on Friday, Sept. 28th and goes till Sunday the 30th. There will be movies, music and art for all three days. ...

Interpol Our Love to Admire Capitol Records released: July 10, 2007 On Our Love to Admire, their major label debut on Capitol, Interpol still sound like Joy Division and they are not apologizing for it regardless of how often they are knocked for it. And really, they shouldn’t. The band has long transcended the comparisons and established its own identifiable sound, full of machine-like guitars, ominous piano lines and ennui-infused vocals. Interpol is as......

Valentines Day left you feeling dirty? Cleanse yourself with these heartwarming tracks from the cyberspa. I'd like to thank God, my parents, Rick Ruben and The Hype Machine for making this possible. Happy Mondays - The Boys Are Back In Town (Sound of the Suburb) Fuzzy sonics… Mountain Goats - The Boys Are Back In Town (Sound of the Suburb) Just as you’d imagine… Wilco - Cars Can’t Escape (The Music Slut) Clearly, Jeff......

We know Manchester is quite a distance from Los Angeles, but with all the differences between them, it’s undeniable that the people of the City of Angels and the people of the city also known as “Madchester” at least have their good taste in music in common. Producing some of the greatest and most eclectic names in British music, the chaotic, yet prolific Factory Records was formed in Manchester in 1978, giving the world......

The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics (Warner Bros.) – As much as we loved The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots we're glad they're trying some new things on this one. While it's not as stylistically consistent as their other albums, there are enough quality songs to recommend it. Catch them live at the Hollywood Bowl on 7/23. Irving Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers (Eenie Meenie) –......