I've heard this argument trumpeted in my Dylan nerd forums, but I don't necessarily agree. Dylan's the same guy who never recorded "Love is Just a Four-Letter Word" or finished a beautiful little gem like "I Can't Leave Her Behind." He also left songs like "Blind Willie McTell" or "Caribbean Wind" on the cutting room…

The 'Inside Llewyn Davis' soundtrack was good even despite his participation.

Favorite moment was the subtle(?) juxtaposition of Santa pulling a gun out of his closet as Nathan intones that Santa would convince children that they needed a Doink-It.

Courtney definitely plays it safe, which is fine for this stage in the game. There's a value in just being consistently good. Let other people eliminate themselves with grand ideas. It will be interesting to see what happens when she actually has to get creative. At this point, just based on editing, I think our…

There's definitely quality tracks in the decade, you just have to sift through muddy water to find the nuggets of gold. I'm even partial to 'Empire Burlesque' in a weird way. Objectively, it's a train wreck of an album, but it's far more fun than it has any right to be. It's the musical equivalent of a B-horror film.…

Not technically part of my weekend, but I watched 'Boyhood' on Thursday or Friday and loved it. Favorite film of the year to this point. Granted, I've only watched so many actual movies this year, as most of my viewing has been of the summer blockbuster variety, basically the equivalent of eating Lucky Charms.

Fuck yeah. This is why Jurassic World is going to make a trillion dollars next year. The franchise is far enough removed from the third one that you're going to hit a whole generation of kids who never saw any of the Jurassic films in the theater, and on top of that, you're getting the nostalgic 20-somethings like me…

Concur. I've got a pretty iron soul for horror movies, but prior to the ghosts, the movie did a great job of freaking me the fuck out. Once the more supernatural elements kicked into high gear, I was able to relax. I can't remember the last movie that made me feel as unnerved as I did while watching the first half,…

Do you want $100 or an Academy Award?

I tend to think it's just you. If he is a dick, though, it's because the fanboys made him this way. Imagine your boss riding you because you haven't turned in a report that had no actual due date. Now imagine you have MILLIONS of bosses and they're all going on the Internet talking about how you're going to die before…

If you were put off by the "Emotions Are Big And Here Are Some Emotions For Five Minutes" style of Handwritten, I think this album would be to your liking. It cuts back on that vibe.

I didn't love it on first listen either, but it latches on to you. I think there's a lot of good stuff going on under the surface that you won't catch if you decide to toss the album aside after a few listens. It's different than Handwritten, which was such an immediate album (for better and worse).

Gaslight has a weird history of misjudging their bonus tracks. On American Slang, "She Loves You" was one of the best tracks. I would argue that "Blue Dahlia" was the best track from Handwritten. And in the case of Get Hurt, all four bonus tracks, but especially "Sweet Morphine," "Mama's Boys" and "Have Mercy" should…

I wouldn't be scared off by the review. B- is a fair enough grade for the album, but I'd grade it a B+, especially if you already like the band and Fallon's lyrical tilt. The album does a lot of really good things and even where it's a little by-the-book, Fallon's ability to write a strong melody hasn't gone away. I…

I acquired the 2009 remasters of The Beatles' catalog and have been listening to those all weekend. Having only listened to the 1987 CD releases to this point in my life (well, those and Let it Be…Naked), it's somewhat shocking to suddenly hear everything in pristine sound.

Studio logic: People really liked that one thing we did. They enjoyed it way more than they expected to. Let's cram it down their throats until they choke on it and die.

Tom Petty turns us all into dads.

THAT is the best title they could come up with? Really? Fuck you, movie.

Or any human being. What kind of freak would complain if you put on Tom Petty?

Just started reading Jared Diamond's 'Guns, Germs and Steel' as my "history thingie to slowly work through while reading other stuff." Other stuff in this case will be '100 Years of Solitude,' which I know I should have read ages ago. Somehow, despite getting a bachelor's degree in English and an MFA, I had put it…