Idle Pursuits

Outkast's big-screen gamble, Agassi's last shake, and more media picks

August 22, 2006

MOVIES: We really wanted Idlewild (above, left) to be great, but frankly we've seen better storytelling on T-shirts. The delirious song and dance numbers and 1930s costumes make for nice eye candy, but you're better off sticking with the funky, jazz-fueled sound track, which includes imminent hits "Morris Brown" and "Makes No Sense At All."

MUSIC: Also not making much sense—and yet, in this case, oddly compelling—is the two-disc collection Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, which features the likes of Bono, Sting, and Lou Reed crooning salty ditties. On a (slightly) less kitschy note, Kelis Was Here pairs the "Milkshake" maker with Top 40 staples Shakira, Scott Storch, and Sean Paul.

TV: Watch your back, C-Span. The Sundance Channel rolls out The Hill, a reality series about realpolitiking and interparty romancing in Washington, DC, and HBO keeps the politicos coming with the new season of Real Time with Bill Maher. And as Entourage and Deadwood wrap up their so-so third seasons on Sunday night, watch their respective casts fight to keep it real on the red carpet during NBC's telecast of the Emmy Awards (hosted by Conan O'Brien, above center, whose opening monologue should be reason enough to tune in). Later that evening, Jeremy Piven takes his shirt off in public.

DVD: Noah Baumbach's witty deconstruction of postcollegiate confusion, Kicking and Screaming, gets a much deserved Criterion edition, while the late, great Bluth family finally gets laid to rest with Arrested Development: The Complete Third Season.

BOOKS: Casino Royale may not hit theaters for another three months, but that hasn't stopped writers Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg from cashing in on early Bond mania with The Science of James Bond. The pair assess the scientific plausibility of 007's tech toys and conclude that most of those gadgets don't pass muster. What next? They'll be telling us that Russian spies aren't all smokin'-hot freaks.

WEB: "The king is dead, long live the king" is the theme at this weekend's U.S. Open, as retiring legend Andre Agassi and Roger Federer (top right) vie for the title of crowd favorite. Try and predict the winners of each day's matches in the Pick 'Em Game on usopen.org, and you might just score tickets to next year's tournament. Just because Agassi won't be there doesn't mean you have to stay home, too.