The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

As long-time readers should know by now, I love the band Muse. Even though they're huge everywhere in the world except the country I reside, and due to them releasing a song for a Twilight movie soundtrack ("Neutron Star Collision") they've been branded as "uncool" amongst some in the U.S. (psst, they'd been around 14 years prior to that song's release, releasing 5 studio albums in that timeframe, but I digress), they're far and away my favorite all-time group. There are several reasons for this: 1) They're technically brilliant musicians; 2) No album sounds alike; 3) The band transcends genre; 4) They're unafraid of exposing their innermost nerd to the world; 5) Similarly, they're unafraid of tackling controversial subjects, including politics; 6) They always appear to be having fun, never taking themselves too seriously; and 7) You've never seen a concert until you've witnessed a Muse concert. Having said that, here's my...

Throughout my adult life, I've been about as big of a fan of movie critic Rex Reed as Oscar the Grouch has been a fan of morning people with the last name of Sunshine. Sadly, when comparing the two, Oscar appears to be the more pleasant of the two specimens. Before delving into my most recent beef with Mr. Reed, here's a brief list of his past controversies: - For the South Korean film Oldboy , Reed wrote, "What else can you expect from a nation weaned on kimchi, a mixture of raw garlic and cabbage buried underground until it rots, dug up from the grave and then served in earthenware pots sold at the Seoul airport as souvenirs?" - With regard to the Melissa McCarthy movie  Identity Thief , Reed described the lead actress of the film with the following words: "tractor-sized," "humongous," "obese," and a "hippo." - Reed was called out by The L Magazine 's Henry Stewart for his review of the 2012 film The Cabin in the W...

When reading a review of a film, a book, or an album, have you ever wondered to yourself, "Did this critic even read the book?" or "Did (s)he watch a different movie than I did?" This doesn't happen to me very often, but every now and again, I have to re-read the review and double-check to make sure I'm not on The Onion 's homepage. This very thing happened to me this morning, when I read a review of Marilyn Manson's new album, The Pale Emperor , by JC Macek III of PopMatters . In this review, Mazek said the following things: - "...Instead, the Marilyn Manson we hear on The Pale Emperor presents himself in the form of a slow and driving murky metal that brings in elements of dark blues rock and even alternative country..." - "...The driving metallic Honky-tonk guitars give way to some trippy Ennie Morricone-esque spaghetti western-styled desert rock..." - "...While the rest of the album does play with alternative co...

So, did you hear? Dick Cheney co-authored a column in The Wall Street Journal , where he both criticized and advised President Obama about the situation in Iraq. In light of this, word on the street has it that Tiger Woods will write a column where he gives helpful tips on how to have a very happy and long-lasting marriage. In the column, the Cheneys (Liz, along with Dick) wrote the following bits: - "Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many..." - "When Mr. Obama and his team came into office in 2009, al Qaeda in Iraq had been largely defeated, thanks primarily to the heroic efforts of U.S. armed forces during the surge..." - "The president is willfully blind to the impact of his policies..." - "...Weakness and retreat are provocative. U.S. withdrawal from the world is disastrous and puts our own security at risk." - "American freedom will not be secured by empty threats, meaningless red l...

I was reading a review the other day and the critic graded an album with a "C+" or in numerical form - 6/12. Wouldn't 6 out of 12 warrant an average "C" grade? Wouldn't the breakdown be something like this? (out of 12) 6 = C 7 = C+ 8 = B- 9 = B 10 = B+ 11 = A- 12 = A/A+ Well, I must be going. I'm about to write a review and grade an album a perfect 5 out of 5 stars - in other words, a C grade.