MUST SEE
Now showing: "Inception."
The movie that serious film lovers have been anticipating since this summer began finally arrives. "Dark Knight" helmer Christopher Nolan attempts to invade moviegoers' dreams with this wild action movie about a so-called dream specialist (Leonardo DiCaprio) who inflitrates the dreams of wealthy tycoons to steal valuable secrets. The film's plot is being kept tightly under wraps, but in true thriller fashion the broad outline involves DiCaprio assembling a team to aid him on one last big job. The members of that team include Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe and Marion Cotillard round out the supporting cast. 2 hrs. 28 mins. - Ethan Alter
- McClatchy Newspapers
COMING TO NETFLIX
Content owners are refining Web strategies and tinkering with release windows for their latest material. Hulu Plus - the new subscription service announced last week - is one outcome. Another is studios delaying the release of curix.
Tuesday Netflix offset that a bit by announcing a new arrangement with Relativity Media, the studio behind movies such as "The Fighter" and "Get Him to the Greek."
Instead of waiting for its movies to work through the pay TV pipeline before reaching Netflix, Relativity is giving Netflix earlier access. Its movies will still come out on DVD before they stream on Netflix, but the companies said their deal is a new approach that will get the movies streaming sooner.
- Brier Dudley, The Seattle Times
POP PICKS
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Big Boi, "Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Dusty Chico"
Eminem can rap about recovery and Drake can rap about the pitfalls of newfound fame. Each can eloquently argue, with mind numbing flow and envy inducing wordplay, about how tough things have been for them. They might even be right, but there isn't an MC in history that has had it as tough as Big Boi, and this disc, which weighs in at a trim fighting weight of 12 tracks of shifting tones and musical inventiontament to how good he is.
- Gregg Lipkin
LISTEN: Katzenjammer, "Le Pop"
"Le Pop"'s American release (nearly two years after its release in the band's native Norway) is cause to celebrate. This is a band getting its due outside its homeland, a deserved shot at international success for a talented band that deserves it. Katzenjammer's free spirit should appeal to an indie audience. It shares many thematic and instrumental traits with country music, but it actually fits best in the realm of The Pogues and Dropkick Murphys. So they don't write their own songs. So what? They play them, and they play the hell out of them. They play them until you believe them.
- Popmatters.com
ROAD TEXTERS
A study recently released by the Pew Center's Internet & American Life Project found that adults are just as likely as teens to text while driving.
Some of the key findings include:
* Nearly half (47 percent) of all texting adults say they have sent or read a text message while behind the wheel. A survey of teens reported that 37 percent admit to texting while driving.
* Half of all adults surveyed reported to have been in a car when a driver sent or read a text message. About the same number of teens said they were in a car when the driver was texting.
The details came from a nationwide phone survey of 2,252 Americans who are 18 or older. The findings about the teens came from a previous survey in 2009. - Sarah Lundy, The Orlando Sentinel
TECH TALK
The Apple iPad is setting the example for how popular and useful a slate or tablet style computer can be. Apple has a huge head start in this market, but there are a few companies starting to stir a bit.
Microsoft has long been a champion of the so called "slate computer" but has never brought one to market. They did recently announce that there will be several slates or tablets running the Windows 7 operating system. Also look for Google Chrome and Android on these devices at some point.