A big-screen adaptation of Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi's popular children's book series, The Spiderwick Chronicles follows three kids named Simon, Mallory and Jared as they try to keep a magical book from falling into the hands of some unsavory goblins....

2008 has yet to reveal its true heavy hitters release-wise, and it's just as well: I haven't even had time to absorb a thousand or so top ten lists, my own personal reflections on 2007, and my expectations for the new year. Even so, there is a handful of intriguing things this week, provided you like Various Artists. Typically, I'm into Various Artists only when the compilation features new, unreleased and / or collaborative......

Trent Summar’s story-telling capabilities and straight-up country sound drive his latest album, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades. His music has been covered by artists such as Jack Ingram (who scored a hit with his adaptation of Summar’s “Love You”) while Summar has also collaborated with country stars like Pat Green. (They co-wrote “Somewhere Between Texas And Mexico” off Green’s Lucky Ones record.) Summar fronted the band Hank Flamingo prior to working with The New Row Mob.......

Bellingham, WA's The Trucks carry on the loud-and-proud post-riot grrl tradition of acts like Peaches, Le Tigre, and The Gossip, playing guitarless, keyboard-driven pop-punk that'd be perfect for your little sister's sleepover if their hit single wasn't called "Titties." Maybe it is anyway. Depends on your sister. Anyhow we got to chat with singer/visual artist Marissa Moore, who also doesn't get why the SXSW schedule isn't up yet. Share a story about a visit......

The Golden Globes are not the most esteemed of the arts awards, but their nominations can sometimes be a sign of what films/people/TV shows will be nominated for Oscars and Emmys. If you are into that kind of thing, you probably already picked your favorites when the nominations were announced Thursday morning. Our GG items of note: Penelope Cruz is up for best actress in a drama for Volver. We saw this film at a......

Ah, the sweet smell of college freshmen. School's back in session, summer is almost over (in theory), and it's a few weeks before the holiday movie rush begins (Exhibit A: this week's slim pickin's). *Trust the Man We’ve got one word for the entire cast of this movie: yum. The Wicker Man God bless Nic Cage. He tries, ya know? What a trooper. The Quiet This film is receiving fairly poor reviews, which is......

SNAKES ON A MUTHAF*CKIN’ PLAAAAAAANE! Because it just hasn’t been said enough. *Snakes on a Plane We debated about whether or not we should recommend this one, and we only do so out of sheer, morbid curiosity (plus, we really like jumping on bandwagons. A lot!). There aren’t words to express how ridiculous/awesome this movie must be. It’s like a whole new genre of film. We’re witnessing history here, folks. History determined by an......

Imagine you’re on a bus traveling halfway across the country to your destination. A destination that, in your mind will mark you a “winner” or a “loser” in life. It’s your life’s ambition waiting there, so you go. On the bus are the people your mother warned you about, types you normally wouldn’t associate with in life: An aged heroin sniffer with a porn collection; a self-imposed mute teenager who worships Nietzsche and communicates......

WEDNESDAY [2] [music] Ghost of the Russian Empire, Lomita, Fire v. Extinguisher, Moth Fight at Beerland LINK [music] "Wax Wednesdays" at Ruta Maya (8pm) LINK [music] Rhett Butler at Cactus Café ($7, 8:30pm) LINK [music] Free Nugs & the Kickbaxx, The Hudsons at Threadgill's LINK [music] Abba Yo Yo's, End of the Year at Snake Eyes Vinyl (7pm) LINK [music] Teenage Symphony, The Shells, Economy at The Chain Drive (9pm) LINK [music] Band of Heathens......