Christian Science Monitor | Arts & Entertainment

Are professional music critics losing their clout?

30 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Amateur online reviews are creating competition and democracy in the race to have the first word on new albums.

Review: 'Traitor'

30 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Latest 'war on terror' movie falls down in casting likable Don Cheadle as a mass bomber.

Review: 'The House Bunny'

30 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Screwball comedy has a former Playboy bunny teaching dour intellectual sorority girls about makeup and men.

Review: 'Sukiyaki Western Django'

30 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

This riff on spaghetti westerns gets a Japanese twist as two Samurai fight it out over a batch of gold.

Review: 'Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer'

30 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Documentary captures O'Day's giant artistry as well as her eccentricities and struggle with drugs.

Folk flourishes in America's music scene – once again

29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

The latest revival is more diffuse, raucous, and energetic than ever.

Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff

29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Hip-shaking blues from Taj Mahal, a documentary tribute to Pete Seeger, karaoke-style singalong to 'Mamma Mia!' and more.

Sounding out character in movies

29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Movie sound design proves more art than science.

Review: 'I.O.U.S.A.'

23 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Documentary about America's monstrous national debt is this year's 'An Inconvenient Truth.'

Review: 'Hamlet 2'

23 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Irreverent comedy about a nutty drama teacher's remake of Will's play skids off rails.

Review: 'The Rocker'

23 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

A superannuated, would-be rock star is so passionate about his second chance at stardom you want to cheer him on in this oddball comedy.

Zimbabwe's art of stone

22 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

In midst of political upheaval, Shona sculptors struggle to get their work to Western market.

Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff

22 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

A Scottish songbird's debut, a Katrina survivor's bluesy tribute, a documentary celebrating black talent in America, and more.

Review: 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

16 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

New series of animated 'Star Wars' adventures retraces old ground with the same leaden dialogue as the originals.

Review: 'Henry Poole Is Here'

16 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Some touching moments in this tale of a man who doesn't believe in miracles but desperately needs one.

Review: 'Tropic Thunder'

16 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Daring satire pushes buttons as it parodies the moviemaking business.

Review: 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona

16 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Set in sun-burnished Spain, Woody Allen's latest offering celebrates as well as pokes fun at hot-blooded Latin stereotypes.

Mexican street art with an edge

15 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Oaxaca's art first burst onto the city's walls in 2006 after protesters clashed with police.

TV dramas' foreign accent

15 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

This fall a quarter of the new dramas will be adaptations of shows from overseas.

CD Reviews: Reggae – the authentic, the new, and the flamenco-flavored

15 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Latin reggae with a salsa tinge; Augustus Pablo's trance-inducing tunes; edgy, synthesized dance-hall grooves from British label Greensleeves; and more.

Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff

15 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Lyrical songs from Randy Newman, a charming screwball comedy out on DVD, a novelist's hysterical satire of the media, and more.

Screen wars: stealing TV's ‘eyeball' share

14 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Television, the long-dominant medium, becomes just one of many video outlets.

Increased professionalism keeps swimmers in the pool

13 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Athletes supported by generous endorsements are able to swim well past their college years.

Review: 'Pineapple Express'

09 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Black comedy about the adventures of two potheads is fitfully amusing but over the top on gross-out gore.

Review: 'Red'

09 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

A dog's killing leads the owner to seek first restitution and ultimately revenge.