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Arts and Culture Articles
Hancock rescues the summer
Will Smith's latest star vehicle takes an unconventional turn
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Depending on who you are there is some good news and some bad news about Hancock.
If you love superhero movies like The Incredible Hul¬k--where the traditional comic book structure of hero defeats super villain, finds romance and battles inner turmoil remains untouched¬--then you will most likely be disappointed by Hancock.
But, if you've had your fill of traditional superhero films after Marvel's one-two punch with the entertaining but still conventional Iron Man and the aforementioned, insipid Hulk, then the genre-twisting, Will Smith-vehicle Hancock should be a pleasant surprise for you in this year's so-far unexceptional summer movie season.
Tales from The Phantom Planet
California popsters build on their extensive career
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A few years ago, I was passed along a CD from a friend whose musical predilections I greatly respected. "Listen and thank me later," he said. So I threw it on in my office, aka my 1985 Volkswagen Vanagon, for musical reflection and criticism.
The album was The Guest by Phantom Planet, a band most well known for their song "California" or "that song from The OC."
Aqua blue, four-legged penis monsters
Spore Creature Creator unleashes your inner Frankenstein
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Creature Creator reminds me a lot of those little keychain Tamagotchis that were all the rage back in fifth grade. Only now, instead of waiting for your digital critter to "hatch" or spending agonizing hours feeding it, you just get to create it and then watch it go. It's like being on the god side of the digital beast universe. Which is, obviously, effing sweet.
Craving attention
Local author Kerry Cohen gives the inside scoop on Loose Girl
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It's hard to approach Kerry Cohen's Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity without expecting something at least halfway salacious, and Cohen happily delivers. However, the book also travels far beyond the realms of dishy gossip to deliver an intimate portrait of one woman's search for self-acceptance. The Vanguard talked (or e-mailed, rather) with Cohen this past week about Loose Girl, hate mail and why this author chooses to reside in the Land of Ports.
