You’re probably familiar with Redbox — that’s the company that lets you borrow DVDs from a box outside the supermarket. Supposedly it’s all automated, but frankly they have a long…
Pete Chianca
Pete Chianca pays tribute to films about cleaning up elephant poop. Wait, what?
It’s a good bet that whoever says there’s no such thing as an original idea — in music or otherwise — has not taken a good close listen to Jonathan…
Did you ever wonder what Tales from Topographic Oceans might sound like if it were written by Rodgers and Hammerstein instead of Jon Anderson and Steve Howe? Me neither, but…
Given that as I write this, the forecast for the week is a steady snow starting on Tuesday and tapering off sometime in 2013, I have decided to spend the…
Popdose teams up with world-renowned CAP News for a look at the most important pop culture stories of the past year. February: Stern Gets Ellen, Kara DioGuardi to Kiss at…
Leave it to British folk-rock rebel Frank Turner to come in under the wire for 2010 with Rock & Roll, a five-song EP that offers 17 of the most compelling…
When I was a kid, every year around this time I would watch Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. I did this despite the fact that critics regularly put this 1964…
On ”Like Jerry Lee,” the opening track to Jason D. Williams’ new album Killer Instincts, he deals right off the bat with the uncanny similarity — in look, ability and…
”You can’t hold me, baby, with anything but contempt,” Elvis Costello sings amid dueling guitars on the explosive title track that opens his latest album, ”National Ransom” (Hear Music). It’s…
The Boston Phoenix described indie-folk act Leland Sundries as ”The Band meets Lou Reed,” and as intriguing a prospect as that is (I have to suppress an image of Reed…
Is the YouTube sensation known as Fred the new Pee-Wee Herman, or a harbinger of hell on earth? Pete Chianca knows the answer.
As a lake full of pretty young co-eds prepares to be eaten by fish this weekend, Pete Chianca reflects on the bloodthirsty creatures of his cinematic youth.
When Arcade Fire turned up in 2004, it was with nothing less than the most uplifting reflection on mortality ever put to record, the elegiac yet hopeful Funeral. Their 2007…
If there’s one thing American Slang isn’t, it’s a Bruce Springsteen tribute album. Gone are the direct references to Springsteen lyrics and mentions of Mary and Janey that dotted the…
The L.A.-based rock combo The Henry Clay People were the darlings of the blogosphere for a time in the wake of their 2008 album For Cheap or for Free. With…
Where does Stevie Van Zandt find these bands? It’s easy to imagine the Wicked Cool Records founder prowling around with his ear pressed up against strange garages, listening for the…
It’s that time of year again — and this April 1, Pete Chianca looks back at some of the finest fools in film.
I don’t know about everybody else, but I for one couldn’t be happier about the return of the ’70s flourish. You know, the urgent strings, the unnecessary but wholly welcome…
Deep in the scrotum-shriveling dead of winter, Pete Chianca resurfaces with a list of some chilly cinematic suggestions.
Now, don’t get the wrong idea: This is not a ”best of” list — that would indicate that I listened to every album released and compared them, which sounds like…
Thanksgiving is upon us once again, and you know what that means: Dinner, and awkward interaction with little-seen family members. And then dessert. Because let’s face it — without food…
In a stunning convergence of teeth and propellers, Hilary Swank’s Amelia arrives in theaters this weekend, inspiring Pete Chianca to look back at some other noteworthy biopics.
Pete Chianca has heard you giggling through Bob Dylan’s new Christmas album, and he doesn’t much care for your lack of respect.
One thing you learn pretty early on in Springsteen saxophonist Clarence ClemonsÁ¢€â„¢ memoir Big Man (Grand Central Publishing, 400 pages, $26.99, Oct. 21) is that youÁ¢€â„¢re not going to be…
Michael MooreÁ¢€â„¢s latest, Capitalism: A Love Story, opens around the country today, and if the early reviews are any indication, itÁ¢€â„¢s yet another cleverly executed and scathing reminder of how…
Welcome back to Farkakte Film Flashback, friends — and a Pete Chianca-led tour through some of the best time travel movies in cinematic history.
Pete Chianca is back with an all-new, all-alien edition of Farkakte Film Flashback, featuring five of the best (and best worst) interstellar visitors in cinematic history.
There is a new Harry Potter movie out this week, which millions of fans are extremely excited about, even though theyÁ¢€â„¢ve all read the books and know exactly whatÁ¢€â„¢s going…
I’m not a fan of the Ice Age movies. OK, I like the little squirrelly guy who continually risks severe bodily injury in search of a nut, because I can…