" For a second there it looked like the shrieking young female film-going crowd was going to win a major fight on the box office battleground. But the second part of the "Twilight" saga, "New Moon," couldn't eclipse (ha ha) "The Dark Knight's" $158 million opening weekend record.

"New Moon" did nab its share of box office records - fastest to $100 million, highest single-day gross - but I can't help slighting those achievements because this franchise is just so awful. I saw "Twilight," and it was mildly nauseating when I wasn't laughing. Maybe it's because of the age gap - after all, the "Twilight" films are squarely aimed at teen and tween audiences. Maybe it's because I didn't read the books and feel too foreign to the story. Maybe it's because I'm a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fan, and there's only room for one (non-sparkling) rendition of the blood-sucking race in my heart. Or maybe it's because the first film was marred by shallow writing and acting that alternated between boring and hilariously hammy.

But there's more to this oddly victorious sensation I'm feeling after this weekend. It seems I'm not immune to the box office battle lines drawn not by age, but sex. As a "Star Wars" and Batman fan, I feel this weird sense of co-ownership over "my" movies that's wounded when they're topped by "theirs," such as "Titanic" or "New Moon." That same sense felt triumphant last summer when "The Dark Knight" smashed several dozen box office records.

Then again, maybe I'm of perfect maturity to be seeing "New Moon."

-David "

" "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has gotten steadily better as its "Seinfeld" reunion arc builds up. The Nov. 1 episode was your traditional mix of Larry getting upset about tipping protocol and putting his foot in his mouth in public. The week following was far funnier, with sharp storytelling, as Larry argued with children and wore women's underwear to cover Jeff's adultery.

But the Nov. 15 episode was by far the best of the season. The four "Seinfeld" principles, plus a few guest stars from the show, rehearse the reunion taking place within the "Curb" universe on the actual "Seinfeld" set, fully refurbished. Not only is this semi-fictional glimpse behind the scenes of the best sitcom of all time a treat, but the show is packed with great comedy.

Marty Funkhauser hilariously intrudes on the set to annoy Larry and tell probably the most profane joke I've ever heard to Jerry. And Leon is deployed by Larry to impersonate a Jewish accountant who has a disease Michael Richards fears he's developed, and their meeting plays off Richards' infamous standup racist rant a few years ago in maybe the most hilarious fashion possible.

One more week and another season of "Curb" will have passed. If it wasn't for the "Seinfeld" crutch I'd have said "Curb" has enough comedic life to continue another season, but as it is, I hope we're just being treated to a spectacular bow-out.

-David "

" Two quick thoughts:

- I watched "Monsters vs. Aliens" the other day. Both tightly made and fun, the movie was also clearly designed for 3-D. The lack of 3-D power in my HDTV/PS3 didn't sour the experience at all, but it did make me wonder how far off we are from such a setup (maybe not very).

- Glad to see the Auburn Movieplex is reopening, and with more communication between it and the Fingerlakes Mall theater, perhaps we can see more niche programming, such as first-run foreign and independent films. Perhaps.

-David "

" Last week I watched a striking counterpoint to a blog entry I made in late October about Nine Inch Nails. There I talked about the type of concert video born from an open camera policy - in this case, a raw, rough-hewn patchwork of audience perspectives that captured NIN performing "The Downward Spiral" in its entirety for the first time ever in New York City this summer.

The Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense," directed by Jonathan Demme, is about as much of an opposite concert film as one could find. The shaky view, oversaturated sound and heavy audience presence in the Nails show is replaced by static, long-held shots recorded on professional film with a crisp soundtrack and next to no sign of spectators - sight nor sound - in "Stop Making Sense." Frontman David Byrne apparently went out of his way to blacken as much of the musical equipment as possible and even forbade water bottles from the stage.

The heightened focus on the music makes "Stop Making Sense's" clever setup even more fun to take in. Byrne begins the set playing "Psycho Killer" with an acoustic guitar and a programmed beat on a drum machine, with only his epileptic movements and anxious voice to hold everyone's attention. He's gradually joined by the other members of the band and a full cast of backing players, about 10 in all, as they giddily stomp through Talking Heads classics like "Burning Down the House" and "Life During Wartime."

Unlike the Nails video, you don't at all feel like you're actually at the concert as you watch "Stop Making Sense." But you definitely want to be.

-David "

" Yikes - almost a week without an update? My apologies. I recently fell behind in my "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Dexter" viewings, so I'll have to give my thoughts on the happenings of the last three weeks of both series on Wednesday or Thursday.



"The Office" has continued surprising me with its consistent quality the last two weeks. The Nov. 5 episode saw the usually cheery Pam Beesly possibly at her darkest. Just recovering from the news that her emotionally stunted boss is dating her mom, Pam is once again enraged when Michael abruptly dumps Ms. Beesly - over her birthday lunch double date with him, Jim and Pam. After an outpouring of affection toward Ms. Beesly that even wins Pam over, Michael ducks out of the relationship when he learns that the grandmother-to-be is many years his senior. Instead of shouting out her frustrations, though, Pam stays restrained - almost intimidatingly so - until Michael offers her a chance to release her anger on Michael's face in the form of a punch.

I've seen complaints online that Pam's character is changing for the worst, but I don't quite agree. Given the change in her life - marriage, pregnancy, a new job - she clearly can't stay the carefree office "cool girl." As I've said before, her relationship with Jim had become a bore in the last two seasons because they were kept out of the audience's reach in their perfect happiness. As a happy but imperfect couple that makes mistakes and gets upset, they're far more interesting.

The Nov. 12 episode focused more on Jim as rumors of Dunder-Mifflin declaring bankruptcy spread through the office. Jim tries to be the workers' rock by asking them to continue doing their jobs, but Michael chooses a hilarious New Orleans-set murder mystery role-playing game to provide distraction.

The episode illustrated how Jim's character has also changed. First, he's no longer the perfectly-adept-yet-apathetic employee in his new co-manager position. Michael's fun-seeking strategy eventually proves more potent at allaying the office's fears, but Jim seems agitated by the thought of fun getting in the way of work. Second, Jim suddenly has something to lose - of course, his family's well-being. When Dunder-Mifflin previously faced the threat of downsizing, Jim showed next to no fear, just flippancy. Now, with a wife, a house and a child on the way, he truly can't afford to not care. And it's interesting to see how our once-perfectly carefree office "cool guy" responds to these new risks.

-David "

" Last Friday that familiar red envelope was waiting in my mailbox.

But my latest delivery from Netflix didn't contain a movie - it contained a key to several hundred of them.

As a PlayStation 3 owner, I had until then no way of using Netflix's Watch Instantly service through my game system. But last week, the online movie rental service shipped free discs to PS3 owners that gave them access to the service through the Sony console.

One major drag of the setup is obvious: the disc. Having to swap whatever game I'm currently playing for it whenever I want to watch a movie is kind of cumbersome. Thankfully, a permanent PS3 menu option to replace the disc has been promised for the near future.

The other main problem is the interface. Movies can't be blindly browsed through the PS3 except by selecting a genre and scrolling through un-alphabetized lists of 100. The best method of picking movies is searching through one's computer, adding movies to the Watch Instantly queue and zipping right to the queue from the PS3.

My last major gripe is the size of Netflix's Watch Instantly library, particularly the HD titles I can enjoy through my PS3. But the bargain of unlimited viewing at $10 a month balances this complaint out pretty swiftly.

To test-drive the viewing process, I watched the still-amusing "Hot Shots! Part Deux" and encountered no hiccups, save for a delay that was the fault of my spotty wireless setup. I next loaded up the fascinatingly gritty "The Proposition" in HD, which also played back as smooth and pristine as a Blu-ray despite the heavier data load.

Once Netflix streamlines the browsing process, PS3 owners will be able to enjoy a highly affordable, first-rate film delivery service on their systems.

-David "

" I can't say I've been in a hurry to blog about this week's episode of "South Park."

Not because I didn't enjoy it - on the contrary, the episode reached that rare peak quality where provocative ideas are packed between hilarious gags.

Still, those ideas weren't presented too tidily. Perhaps it was the absence of the "I learned something today..." monologue traditionally given by Stan or Kyle, but I wasn't sure exactly what creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wanted to say about this week's topic: the F word.

No, not the four-letter one. It was the epithet commonly used against gays that this week's "South Park" explored. Cartman's use of that word to describe engine-revving motorcyclists who roam the streets of South Park sets off a 20-minute testament to the elasticity of meaning when the town's adults accuse the children of spreading hate speech.

In a broad sense, the episode's message is simple: Words mean different things to different people, and at different times.

While Parker and Stone make no attempt to say that the F word shouldn't trigger outrage when spoken hatefully, they do emphasize that it isn't always spoken hatefully. Part of the "South Park" creators' message seems to be that people should not treat words as immutable carriers of meaning - they should always mind the context. At the same time, people who say sensitive words should not argue that their intended meaning must be the one another person interprets.

On second thought, maybe "confusing" was the right direction for Parker and Stone to take with this message.

-David "

" After its lackluster third installment, "The Last Stand," the X-Men franchise seemed poised for one of the two fates that awaits a tired series based on popular (read: lucrative) source material: Endless revisitation, or a reboot. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" suggests the former much more than the latter, but it indeed moves the franchise in both directions.



I admit to basing my reboot claim solely on the castings of Danny Huston as Col. Stryker and Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed, also known as Sabretooth. Both characters' original actors - Bryan Cox and Tyler Mane - had stated in interviews that they wanted to reprise their roles. After all, Patrick Steward received that awkward-looking computer-generated youth cream as a younger Professor X in "Origins" - surely the gifted Cox could have gotten the same. Yet the characters were not only recast - in the case of Creed, they were also reimagined.

Whereas Wolverine's clawed nemesis was a one-note thug in the first "X-Men," he's instead presented as a parallel figure (and half-brother) to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in "Origins." The comic-inspired blond locks are traded for Schreiber's wooden brown crew cut, and Mane's black contact lenses are discarded altogether. Creed and Wolverine don't just literally rip into each other, they engage in psychological warfare rooted in a century of shared history.

The Sabretooth name isn't even uttered in "Origins," but its listing in the credits - not to mention the fact that any "X-Men" comics reader knows the character's real name - affirms that the franchise is, in essence, doing what its source material has done countless times - ret-conning.

I realize it's a wide leap to infer "re-boot" based on two characters' recasting, when that could have been motivated by dramatic preference (in Creed's case) or who-knows-what (in Stryker's). But I believe the recasting betrays a flexible attitude toward the franchise that could very well result in a more sweeping reboot, to some degree, in the near future.

(SPOILER)

As my last bit of evidence, look at Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson/Deadpool character. The wisecracking mercenary of the comics is instead made a mute mutant with Cyclops' optic blast and protruding swords grafted to his skeleton by "Origins'" end. (He looks far more like Baraka from the "Mortal Kombat" video game series than Deadpool.) Yet news was announced soon after the film's release that Reynolds would portray a more true-to-the-source Deadpool, without the host of powers he had in "Origins" and presumably his own altogether different origin, in a spinoff. The actor will also play the DC hero Green Lantern, but that's a whole other mess.

-David "

" Last week's episode of "The Office" affirmed what seems to be the secret to the show's success in its sixth year. After making Jim and Pam happy by pairing them up and removing the romantic tension that marked the first three seasons, the show's producers have finally found the right response: make them jerks.

After a few cold moments from Pam in previous weeks, it was Jim's turn to join in the unpleasantness last week. When he and co-manager Michael take a business trip, the more buffoonish Dunder Mifflin boss takes an accidental spill into a koi pond. The sight of his soaked suit draws much mockery from the office, and Jim must manage the mean-spiritedness in such a way that keeps the workers amused while keeping Michael from losing his cool.

The joke shifts to Jim when the Dunder Mifflin staff tracks down the security camera that captured Michael's fall - and Jim's neglectful backing away when he clearly could have grabbed his fellow manager. It's the latest in a humanizing sequence of events that has made Jim and Pam interesting again, just when their perfect little courtship looked to have placed them out of our touch.

-David "

"

I don't know what Cartman singing Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" had to do with ferocious whaling by the Japanese, but last night's "South Park" was funnier for it.

The episode's main gag - a horde of cursing Japanese men murdering dolphins and whales with spears while children weep at aquatic amusement parks - was mildly funny in the show's typically absurd way. An outraged Stan seizes command of a vessel featured in a whale-saving reality TV show and wages war against the Japanese - but Americans are only impressed that Stan's boldness bumped the show's ratings.

When Stan and the fame-hungry Cartman and Kenny are held captive and escorted to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the show builds expectations for a sympathetic root to the Japanese's hatred of whales and dolphins. Instead, things take a hilariously absurd turn by revealing an American-doctored photo of a whale and a dolphin dropping the A-bomb as the Japanese's casus belli. Though the overall episode lands with the rest of this ho-hum run in terms of humor, the photo's reveal was a rare comic explosion.

-David "

"

Sunday's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was a major step up from the previous couple episodes - mostly due to the presence of Jerry Seinfeld.

In addition to advancing this season's arc of a "Seinfeld" reunion, Jerry's presence held a sympathetic mirror to Larry's neuroses. Really, how can anybody not like Jerry? And when he agrees with Larry - that, in this case, a personal assistant's midriff-baring shirt is inappropriate for their office - Larry seems less grouchy and more likable. Together, their banter about typical Seinfeldian sociological minutiae was not only funny but, somehow, still fresh.

The presence of Richard Lewis and his witty, backbiting rapport with Larry was another boost to an episode that finds our bald hero's propulsive urinary tract and propensity for making messes with food getting him into more trouble with total strangers.

"Dexter" continued from its cliffhanger double shooting of Debra and Agent Lundy. The pace of the episode was a heady sort of slow, but not much less enjoyable than last week's crescendo that brought us here. And the revelation at the end of the episode was not only shocking (in an earned, not-cheap way), but it strengthens Dexter's connection to John Lithgow's Trinity Killer in a way that transcends vocational fascination. (It's hard to get into more detail without spoiling a plot point revealed toward the beginning of this week's episode, so I'll stop there.)

-David "

"

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails - and his fans - are some of the most forward-thinking entities in the entertainment industry.

After the "Year Zero" ARG, the surprise free LP "The Slip" and the remarkably brilliant "Lights in the Sky" tour (pictured above), Reznor recently threw his fans another goody: A free 720p video of NIN performing its 1994 album, "The Downward Spiral," in its entirety for the first time ever at Webster Hall in New York City in August.

Reznor's decisions to a) Permit an open camera policy at all his shows and b) Perform the whole album laid the groundwork for the project, but it was the fans in attendance who filmed and edited the show that realized this latest surprise for NIN fans.

The "Wave Goodbye" tour on which the show took place signals a saddening end to Nine Inch Nails as a live act. But Reznor, an outspoken critic of record label practices and a pioneer in self-release price models, will continue making music. And hopefully continue making people think about the way they make, market, buy and indeed watch it as well.

-David "

" Sorry for neglecting the blog. "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves," which I'll review this week in Go, has devoured just about all my free time. I'll try to make up for it with a mega-post of sorts recapping the week in TV.

* Last Sunday's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" did little to convince me that this show should go past its current and seventh season. Larry's courting of women with disabilities for the perks - good parking, approving nods from strangers - felt like pedestrian egocentrism from old L.D. Guest star Rosie O'Donnell was merely there, Leon was barely there and Cheryl not being there was once again clearly a detriment to the likability of both L.D. and the show.

* "Dexter," on the other hand, delivered in masterful style. The complication of Dex's family turned from comic inconvenience to a fascinating complexity as he hunts down a policewoman who murdered her husband and child to, as she says, "escape" from domestic trappings. Like all of Dexter's prey, she catches his eye because she also escaped justice. But while Dexter pursues her, he wonders to himself whether he seeks the same thing that drove her to kill. And his rumination is earned - we've seen how Rita and the children have strangled Dexter's nocturnal hobby. After one of Dexter's best homicidal hunts the show has depicted, both for its suspense and the heated, vaguely sexual give-and-take between Dex and the murderer, he shrink-wraps his target (a plastic ritual to prevent evidence from popping up). Before killing her, Dexter realizes that his family has truly claimed his heart - a triumph for a protagonist whose cold, hollow personality has ruled our impression of him for three and a half seasons.

* Wednesday's "South Park" came up with a 10-years-too-late story that amused in few spots. It satirized professional wrestling as an outlet for theater divas to grandstand with Jerry Springer-esque stories that gullible rednecks buy as gospel. Like the dead celebrities episode, the comedic climax was just another recycled joke - this time, "They took errr jobs!" But the South Park Elementary wrestling coach attempting to teach the WWE-starstruck boys the referee's position was mostly hilarious.

* "The Office" was surprisingly solid Thursday. Revealing that Michael is dating Pam's mother brought both Jim and Pam to previously unseen heights of emotional volatility - both even spat swear words. But their reaction felt organic - not totally out of character, a direction to which the show's writers have become disappointingly prone. In a few spots Pam's outrage seemed a bit much - especially in light of the abundance of patience she has shown putting up with all of Michael's past acts of mean-spiritedness, selfishness, sexual harassment and more. But overall, it was a rewarding high point for the season.

* Last, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" was once again mediocre. The show has settled into an unambitious groove where many of the jokes just don't seem inspired. But if its pattern this season continues, we're bound for a good episode soon.

-David "

" Hi Auburn,

I should emphasize that I said "first-run" movies. The Auburn Public Theater has a great cinema, but many of its movies are already available on DVD at the time of their screening. There are exceptions, though, such as "In the Loop," which was screened at the theater Oct. 9 and has yet to see home release.

I should also note that no matter the film's age, there is no substitute for the type of cinematic experience the Auburn Public Theater provides.

-David "

" David,
Have you never been to Auburn Public Theater's Movie Theater? There are often independent and foreign films run in their clean, cozy, Downtown location. Food Inc., for example, has run many times by popular demand and there have been discussions after that movie. The movies are usually $5 and open a new world of various genre right here in Downtown Auburn. I applaud their efforts to bring such movies to this area and urge you to attend so you will see that there is no "absence" of great thought provoking movie material in Auburn. "

" Hopefully Auburn doesn't stay a four-screen town for too long now that the Auburn Movieplex is closed. The absence of independent and foreign options in the city was already bothersome, but if the only first-run film options are some combination of "___ Movie" spoofs, Nicolas Cage action flicks and insipid romantic comedies, our movie scene will really turn depressing.

-David "

" At 18 chapters into "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves," I'm ready to call this the game of the year. It's the best I've played since "Metal Gear Solid 4," and along with that title the only other short-lister for the distinction of best PlayStation 3 game ever. I'll have more in my review next week.

This week I'll be discussing the Wii rail shooter "Dead Space: Extraction," itself a standout game. I'll also be giving away a free new copy of a Nintendo DS game!

-David "

" It seems there has to be balance between my Thursday night comedies. This week's "The Office" amused with Michael's paranoia about an Italian-American insurance salesman being "connected" - especially when that paranoia is stoked by Dwight and Andy's preposterous advice.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," meanwhile, was mildly decent. Aside from a hilarious joke that played on Charlie's illiteracy, it felt like a half-baked idea centered around the waitress's marriage. Motivated by envy, Dee goes after the groom - a guy she dumped in high school. Motivated by their will to live, Dennis and Mac try to set Charlie up with another woman to prevent the homicidal rage the news would provoke from their mentally unbalanced friend. But the matchmaking angle just doesn't take off like it should, and the episode doesn't either.

-David "

"

Last night's "South Park" was a bit better than last week's "dead celebrity" dud.

The story: When Butters' classmates learn he's never kissed a girl before finishing fourth-grade, they arrange a smooch with Sally, who sells them behind the bleachers at recess. The kiss convinces Butters that he's approaching manhood, so he figures he has to start earning money. He does so by leading other love-starved boys behind the bleachers and taking a cut of Sally's profits. As more girls join Butters' "kissing company," he starts to really stack the cash - and attract the attention of the buffoonish South Park police.

Turning Butters into a pimp and exploiting the contrast between his cute disposition and the misogynistic language coming from his mouth felt dated by a few years, but it was funny anyway. The police chief's unusual approach to undercover prostitution stings - arresting the John after "exchanging services" with him - was another steady source of laughs. The episode underscores the strength of the show's supporting characters, who can always be called upon to deliver an amusing story in lieu of the four boys.

-David "

"

I forgot to post my thoughts on last week's episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which was a return to hilarity. The gang's attempt to force Frank into an intervention falls apart before it begins as Mac woos another middle-aged woman (Nora Dunn) and Charlie, Dennis and Dee discover the magic of drinking wine from a soda can. Sure enough, the gang getting drunk and being jerks equals laughs.

-David "

" Want to know why video game criticism is a joke? The French edition of PlayStation 3 Magazine recently awarded "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" a 21/20 score because it "combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more!"

Why don't they just ask the developers to write the review for them?

(I'll be picking up "Among Thieves" this week for review soon in The Citizen's Go entertainment guide.)

-David "

" It pains me to say, but I hope "Curb Your Enthusiasm" doesn't continue past its current and seventh season.

While funny, Sunday's episode just felt like Larry David's misanthropy has been ground down into a tired formula. His gripes with other people's behavior have become predictable and interchangeable. What's worse is that, without Leon or Cheryl in last night's episode, all we got was 30 minutes of incredulous, aggravated old L.D. And I'd like to remember him that way - and not become aggravated myself.

-David "

" Rumor has it Kanye West is headed to a Hindu ashram in India. One could speculate that this represents the "time off" West told Jay Leno he needed after five workaholic years since the 2004 release of his breakthrough album, "The College Dropout."

Such a retreat could help West resolve the emotional rifts clearly lurking below last year's half-brilliant "808s & Heartbreak," many of which were inflicted by the sudden death of his mother in 2007. It could also grant him the perspective to prevent any more acts of public malice as vicious as him bludgeoning Taylor Swift over the skull with a microphone at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

I'm sorry, is that not what happened? Because the indignant fury West's buffoonish stunt provoked from fellow entertainers and the public would lead one to believe he did something far worse than steal another entertainer's spotlight at an awards show that's woven its lack of decorum into its identity.

If West's retreat to India is the result of personal reflection, so be it. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the massively insecure hip-hop star is planning this journey because he's been demonized by a grossly overreacting public for the type of bad awards show behavior that's rewarded with talking head reverence a year or two later.

And that would be a drag. If all entertainers were more well-behaved and less passionate about their art, awards shows would be an even bigger bore.

-David "

" Boring as they've become since hooking up, "The Office's" Pam and Jim still emit residual light from one of TV's most endearing courtships.

Their union doesn't always translate into great TV (though they're not the reason the show has sputtered since season three - cheap, lousy writing is). But it's hard to argue that the characters didn't earn the right to be happily boring through three seasons of heart-tugging flirtations, misunderstandings and other awkward gushes of feeling.

Which is why it was kind of a letdown to see "The Office's" writers base Pam and Jim's long-awaited wedding on a viral video set to an autotuned Chris Brown song. The dancing was cute enough, but people not familiar with the meme (like me) were probably pulled out of the moment by their confusion. That, and a song by a young man who viciously assaulted his girlfriend earlier this year doesn't set the most romantic mood.

The idyllic scenes of Jim and Pam's secret ceremony aboard a ship near Niagara Falls gave their marriage some emotional heft. I'm not saying the wedding shouldn't have amused - that would have been equally unjust to both the spirit of "The Office" and Jim and Pam's relationship. But turning their hard-earned moment, five seasons in the making, into a viral video recitation was - like much of "The Office" these days - a bit cheap.

-David "

"

Taking on this year's dead celebrity mania seemed like a natural move for "South Park," but Wednesday's episode severely lacked focus - and laughs.

The show's return from a four-month layoff finds Kyle's Pez-head younger brother, Ike, seeing dead celebrities (mostly Billy Mays) "Sixth Sense"-style. Yet all Mays' presence amounts to is a running joke about Chipotle Mexican Grill's underwear-staining menu. The rest of the episode meanders from unimaginatively mocking "Ghost Hunters" to unimaginatively mocking child beauty pageants to unimaginatively mocking Michael Jackson. (The Jacko humor was especially rote, because all the jokes were recycled from season eight episode "The Jeffersons").

I was hoping "South Park" would strike at the heart of the real reason so many celebrities have died recently. With reality shows, blogs, YouTube, MySpace and other democratized media, we're creating celebrities more rapidly than ever and for less reason than ever (see: DJ AM, a background character on this week's "South Park," or Billy Mays - would they be nearly so known without the Internet?). So it's only natural that we'd recognize more names in the obituary section these days.

That "South Park" creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone would skirt this issue in favor of rehashing jokes about Michael Jackson's nonsensical tics is plainly ignorant, as Parker and Stone's spectral King of Pop says so often.

-David "

" (Warning: minor spoilers)

"Dexter," its dialogue as coarse and graceless as ever, remains one of TV's most addicting dramas.

Season four brings long-time funny man John Lithgow into the fold as the Trinity Killer, an ice-blooded serial murderer. His activity in fellow killer Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) home town of Miami draws back retired FBI agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine), who wants to nab Trinity before truly leaving his work behind.



The other major change in "Dexter's" setup is Dexter's child with new wife Rita (Julie Benz). The 24-hour commitment to raising the baby gets in the way of Dexter's nocturnal hobby of slaying wrong-doers. When he tries to cram both duties into his schedule, we get the events of the fourth season's initial "Living the Dream"/"Remains to be Seen" arc.

After committing a hasty murder due to drowsiness, Dexter drives off the road and totals his car (at the end of the first episode). He panics when emergency crews arrive because of the dismembered body in his truck, but Dexter is briefly relieved that to learn (due to amnesia) that he did not stow it there. Through the rest of "Remains to Be Seen," Dexter scrambles to patch together his memories and find his victim before anyone else does.

The same imperfections continue to drag "Dexter" down: hammy writing and mediocre acting (especially Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter's sister, Debra). Though the only premium acting talent on the show, Hall narrates with some cringe-inducing lines about his lost soul that any wayward teen would be quick to crib.

But as life-or-death storytelling goes, "Dexter" is the gooiest of treats. Dexter has a mile-long body count, he deceives his wife and cares little for other people, but we still can't help rooting for the guy as he continues cleaning up his bloody evidence trail in season four of one of TV's most guilty pleasures.

-David "

" Sorry everyone, I won't be reviewing "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" this week - I've yet to get through the game. I'll be talking about "Mini Ninjas" instead.



I'll still be offering a free new copy of "Ultimate Alliance 2" in tomorrow's Go, so be sure to read to find out how to win it. "

" I recently watched "Sunshine Cleaning" on Blu-ray. Amy Adams is Rose Lorkowski, a single mother working in a cleaning service and playing mistress to police officer Mac (Steve Zahn). When her precocious son is expelled from elementary school, Lorkowski scrambles to find the money to support his education. She follows a tip from Mac about the money in cleaning messy crime scenes, then enlists the help of her screw-up sister, Norah (Emily Blunt) in starting the titled service.

The Lorkowski sisters' childhood trauma from discovering their mother dead of self-inflicted wounds looms over their morbid new profession, particularly when Norah goes out of her way to locate the daughter of one of Sunshine Cleaning's "messes." For Rose, the more pressing conflict is her perceived failure to succeed while high school classmates marry money or, in the case of her once-sweetheart Mac, simply marry.

As a comedic drama, "Sunshine Cleaning" strays a little too far toward the latter strain of its genre for the humor to always feel welcome. Instead, the laughs mostly come uneasily; they are neither frequent nor potent enough to provide relief. Even Alan Arkin, as the Lorkowskis' father, fails to lighten up the movie with his never-ending line of get-rich quick schemes. Unlike his show-stealing turn in that other comedy with "Sunshine" in the title, Arkin is simply there in "Sunshine Cleaning."

What carries the movie above mediocrity is Adams' performance as Rose and, to a lesser degree, Blunt's as Norah. The sisters wear their psychological wounds well, and when Adams experiences triumph in her new profession, she truly brightens up the proceedings.

-David "

" The monotonous button-mashing against screenfuls of robot enemies in "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" feels like such a bore - both for my hands and my eyes - after the flowing finesse of "Batman: Arkham Asylum's" combat.

I'll have more about Activision's latest Marvel beat-'em-up/RPG hybrid in my Thursday Go column.

(Also, I'll be giving away a new Xbox 360 copy of the game! Find out how to win it Thursday.)

-David "

" Did anyone catch Pitchfork's top 200 albums of the 2000s list?

I'm not going to get into the placements - except to say that I agree Radiohead's "Kid A" belongs at the top. Listening to it still gives me the creeps in an oddly warm way. Musically, it still sounds like it penetrates the mindspace of listeners whose lives are forever fused with technology and cultural shorthand that take shape at the speed of light.

But that's not the point - it's the fact that Pitchfork even made the list. Given that, you know, it's still 2009. Not only are there still five months (if you go back to when they probably started compiling the list) left in the decade, but also however much perspective one needs to weigh the relative merits of a decade's worth of music (I'll leave that variable up to you).

To illustrate the impact of that perspective, I point to Andrew W.K.'s "I Get Wet." The album was given a measly .6 rating by Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber when it was released in 2001. Yet it made the No. 144 spot on the webzine's best albums of the 2000s list. Daft Punk's "Discovery," given a 6.4 upon its 2001 release, ranked No. 3 - ahead of all sorts of 8- and 9-rated albums.

The only redeeming part of Pitchfork's list is the write-ups for each album. The webzine - alternately revered for its next-big-thing radar, reviled for its pretentious prose and respected for its influence on popular taste - comes through with 200 mini-reviews/retrospectives ranging from insightful to laughably esoteric and self-important. (It wouldn't be Pitchfork if they weren't). But as a list, it's worth about as much as any other list written by anyone else.

-David "

" Now for a TV comedy that's truly delivered this season - "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Larry David's misanthropy continues taking hilarious form, namely disputes over leaving tips, dinner party invitation etiquette and sexual behavior in a moving vehicle.

What looks to really prop up the show's seventh season, however, is its "Seinfeld" reunion arc. The fab four of '90s sitcoms is back, and it's already a thrill to watch their "real" personalities clash with Larry as he selfishly orchestrates the reunion to win back his estranged wife, Cheryl.

-David "

" My two favorite Thursday comedies are each off to surprising starts.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has been a bit underwhelming, especially this week's episode lampooning the recession and government bailouts. Frank (Danny DeVito) trying to off himself when a door-to-door knife sale goes bad was about the only time I laughed out loud.

The first week of "Always Sunny's" fifth season, a mortgage crisis/Octo-Mom riff, was consistently fun but rarely hilarious; the next week's road trip episode was similarly average. Here's hoping the show rediscovers its footing and delivers a half-hour on the level of the "Gas Crisis" and "Manhunters" episodes last season.

"The Office," meanwhile, is recovering from two subpar seasons with a storyline that first reeked of TV comedy hijincks but, so far, has produced many fun moments. Making Michael (Steve Carell) and Jim (John Krasinski) co-managers of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company has given the writers the chance to deepen the characters while delivering classic personality clash humor. As the rest of the characters shed the unrealistic behavior that bogged the show down in its fourth and fifth seasons, "The Office" slowly recovers from what was a disheartening drop in quality.

-David "

" (Hello readers. Citizen Pop replaces The Citizen's Cinema by widening the focus from movies to all forms of pop culture. I hope to update this more regularly than my last blog, if only because I have many more topics to talk about.)

I love Wes Anderson. And Marty Scorcese, and Woody Allen, and David Lynch, and so on. But their collective calling for the release of Roman Polanski following his arrest for a 31-year-old rape charge tests my ability to reconcile great art with the warped personalities that create it.

Could someone please give me a legitimate reason why this man should be released and his crime (one he confessed to, no less) disregarded? It seems all the defenses raised for Polanski range from character-based pleas ("His wife was brutally murdered by the Manson family," "He survived the Holocaust," "'Rosemary's Baby' was pretty cool") to pure legal idiocy ("he sort of 'did his time' abroad," the victim doesn't care anymore).

But there is no circumstance of this case that excuses Polanski from the fact that he raped a 13-year-old girl under the influence of drugs he force-fed her, consented to a 42-day psychiatric evaluation then fled the country when he learned a judge would likely imprison him further. Polanski has yet to face justice for his crime.

For the record, "Chinatown" is one of my favorite movies. But you'd think after OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson and so on that people would be wiser than to continue turning career triumphs into halos.

-David "