There is no life more punishing than that of the young, successful actor. | Photo courtesy of Studio Canal While many fans of Wong Kar-wai were disappointed by My Blueberry Nights, there's no resisting its lush art direction and cinematography. Norah Jones, however, may have been too inspired a choice. To any who think the Apatow stamp is a guarantee of funny, please watch Drillbit Taylor (if you can make it through the whole, dreary......

Sony thrilled they didn't stick with financially riskier, historically accurate all-Asian cast | Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Though the stumble by Leatherheads was the big weekend box office story, I think it's equally significant that little 21--a movie with relatively modest expectations--led the pack for the second week in a row. It's take of $15.1M ($46.5M) easily outpaced Leatherheads which debuted to a weak estimate of $13.4M and may ultimately finish third behind......

What's so amazing about this picture is that John Krasinski is only 5'7" | Photo courtesy of Universal I'll be in the minority when I attend Leatherheads this weekend because I'm not going to see George Clooney. As an increasingly obsessive fan of The Office (I record the repeats on TNT), I'm paying to see my man John Krasinski finally--let's hope--be in a good movie. After mega-stinkers like License to Wed and The Holiday......

Samantha Sidley and Alex Silverman at their Silver Lake rehearsal space | Photo via their MySpace page Alex & Sam may be a duo in title, but their fairly large band, sometimes up to twelve-members on stage, is quite a force of music that just puts a smile on your face. You can't really corner them into a jazz-blues rock or straight rock category. All we can say is that on stage, they've got......

Artist: Herbie Hancock Album: River: The Joni Letters Label: Verve Records Release Date: 9/25/07 I haven't had a chance to review a release from a "living legend" until this album arrived in my PO box. Herbie Hancock seems like someone who has done it all: a jazz icon unafraid of technology, a winner of multiple Grammy awards and an Oscar, and a virtuoso live performer - but he's never been a lyricist, and had never......

The Fiona Apple comparisons are inevitable. As soon as Sara Bareilles opens her mouth, she reveals the vocal depth of Apple with the pop sensibility of Rachael Yamagata and Regina Spektor and the soulful sultriness of Norah Jones and Feist. In fact, on her website, she says: "I write mostly on piano and I'm a girl, so lots of people say it's Norah Jones, or Fiona Apple. That's fine. I love Norah's subtlety and......

Jesse Harris, New York based singer/songwriter’s new album Feel, definitely has one doing just that. Not only is Feel his 7th album to date, he just recently wrote and composed, but not performed the entire soundtrack to Ethan Hawke’s film The Hottest State. While the soundtrack for the film has Harris performing just two of the songs and the likes of Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, M.Ward, Norah Jones and Cat Power taking hold of......

Remember being young and in total desperate I’m going to die without you love? That exact and exquisite pain is what The Hottest State, Ethan Hawke’s film based on his first novel (out in the 1990’s) is all about. Hawke produced and directed the film that meanders its way through present day, 1970’s flashbacks, music sequences, and hot sex scenes through the eyes of William Harding, a sensitive and emotional twenty-one year old actor trying......

Crash Mansion, a live-music venue and nightclub owned by the Bowery Restaurant Group and located at 199 Bowery in New York City , is opening their Los Angeles outpost tonight. They have transformed Myron's Ballroom downtown into a club. We read that is has a capacity for 1200 guests, 5 bars and two stages. Bands that have performed in the New York venue include: Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Usher, Gavin DeGraw,......

Sea Wolf - "You're a Wolf" It occurred to us that not everyone is aware of Sea Wolf as we thought. So we are going to give away the Sea Wolf ep Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low to three random commenters who watch the video above and explain what they like about it. Simple! The Police @ Honda Center Norah Jones, M. Ward @ Greek Sea Wolf, Josie Cotton, Nikki......

Welcome to the latest edition of 'Ask the MACist', the column where I answer your Macintosh and other technology questions. Our question this week comes from Sam, who lives all the way in Portland. He asks: "Even though Apple and EMI are not going to have DRM on their songs, is there any way to have songs from other companies in your iTunes without DRM to? With Apple announcing yesterday that they, along with......

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts......

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts......

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts......

A Word or 48: House was pretty good last night and the timing was great what with the blizzard hitting New England today. With the semifinalists declared on Idol and Paula Abdul declaring that she's never been drunk in her life, I get the feeling that show is really coming along now. Today - Wednesday - February 14th, 2007 Breakfast at Tiffany's (TCM, 4:05 p.m.) Holly Golightly, not the band Beauty and the Geek......

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts......

Norah Jones @ Amoeba (6pm, free) Fear, The Dickies @ Galaxy Theatre Stanley Clarke @ Vault 350 Radars to the Sky @ El Cid Miho Hatori @ The Troubadour sosohuman, Jucifer @ The Mint KRS-One @ Blue Cafe The Fray @ House of Blues Sparklehorse @ Henry Fonda Patty Booker @ Viva Cantina Castaneda @ Spaceland Chevy Metal @ The Canyon Darker Shadows Macabaret @ The Bordello Murderland, Candygram for Mongo, Automatique @ The......

Eleni Mandell, with her sixth full length release, Miracle of Five, hit up the Echo for the KCRW release party last night. The packed and almost giddy crowd filled with literally all walks of life (think middle aged baldies, a trannie, and the usual hipsters) were swaying along to EM’s hushed, moody, jazzy folk. Is jazzy folk even a thing? If it isn’t Mandell has made it one. Highlight of the evening? The Echo......

A Word or 24: The now much-maligned Lost is back. OK so this is a bad show compared to what else on (basic cable) TV right now? Tonight - Wednesday - February 7th, 2007 Sharks @ Ducks (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) College Basketball: USC @ UCLA (PRIME, 7:30 p.m) Friday Night Lights (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Racial tension brews in the Panthers locker room, or is it the Jaguars? Some kind of animal. Criminal Minds/CSI:......

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together in the sight of Rock and in the face of Roll, to join together you, dear LAist reader, and this New Music Tuesday in holy Matrimony. This mystical union is not to be entered into lightly, or unadvisedly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly (ha), and in the fear of the reaper. More cowbell. L'chaim. OUT TODAY: .38 Special - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: (A&M)......

The Monday holiday makes it a very light week for new releases. Here are a few things that caught our eye.... Dave Alvin West of the West (Yep Roc) – This is a concept album about California from the former leader of the Blasters. All these songs were written by California songwriters (Alvin co-wrote one of the songs). He covers Merle Haggard, Jackson Browne, John Fogerty, Jerry Garcia, Tom Waits, The Beach Boys and......

Here are five songs that are topping our iTunes playlist this week... Kick back and relax with Death Cab for Cutie's I Will Follow You Into The Dark. Death Cab play the Wiltern on October 21. Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am teams with DMC and Sarah McLachlan on the Just Like Me. The unusual "Cats in the Cradle" cover is plucked from McLachlan's new Bloom remix CD. The collaboration is odd, but it works. Of......

This weekend, we're partying with hipsters and horses. First, the party you can't go to: Tonight, Surface Magazine and Smashbox Studios are coming together for another one of their cool parties featuring art, pool, dancing, and more creative hipsters than you can shake a stick at. 9 PM on the Smashbox Studio lot. RSVP only. On Saturday, we think you should curl up with a good book, enjoy the rainfall and listen to CDs......