The Good East German

Tragic (but great) Lives, New Pornographers, and more picks

August 21, 2007

DVD: A deserved Oscar winner (and you thought that was an oxymoron), the quietly riveting The Lives of Others centers on the erstwhile East German secret police's use of wiretapping. (Thank God we never have to worry about anything like that happening here.) Also out: season one of Showtime's underrated Dexter; chapters 13–22 of R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet, and Reel Talent, a collection of early work by famous USC grads—confirmation that, yes, George Lucas' student films were better than Episode I.

MOVIES: Two actors-turned-directors, two different approaches: Justin Theroux enlists Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore for his rom-com Dedication while Ethan Hawke gets Ethan Hawke to costar in his adaptation of Ethan Hawke's novel The Hottest State. (Guess which one's more self-indulgent?) And in limited release, Hannah Takes the Stairs subtly evokes The Graduate, while Deep Water documents a tragic sailboat race.

MUSIC: Two solid releases from indie redheads: Rilo Kiley's catchy Under the Blacklight and the New Pornographers' relatively mellow Challengers. Dax Riggs just gets red in the face on the bluesy We Sing Only of Blood or Love, while M.I.A. refines her dancehall rap on Kala. Finally, Bruce Willis faves Architecture in Helsinki craft gorgeous melodies on Places Like This.

TV: HBO has three worthwhile alternatives to the late-summer doldrums (cf. Anchorwoman, tomorrow night on Fox): Kenneth Branagh's latest Shakespeare adaptation, As You Like It (tonight); the return of Real Time With Bill Maher (Friday); and That Ain't Right (Saturday), a standup special starring reliably blue Bob Saget. And Monday, the U.S. Open returns to the USA network.

BOOKS: Michael Erard's Um takes a fascinating look at those two-letter words we all know and, uh, overuse, while former Simon & Schuster editor Michael Korda spends 800 pages on why we oughtta like Ike.

WEB: Howard Stern is finally online, courtesy of Sirius and Sonos, while LimeWire will soon be going the Napster/BitTorrent (read: legal) route with a legit music store. It'll have to contend with a little outfit called iTunes, which is exclusively offering Beck's new online-only track "Timebomb," beginning today.