WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU ABOUT:

The Painted Veil




Sleeper of the year, with an unnecessarily distracting and anachronistic score by Alexandre Desplat featuring the very overhyped Lang Lang.

Eragon


Featuring the Come Hither Line of the Year: "You look... fit for battle."

The Good Shepherd



Good performances, weak writing, especially for the lead, which also weakens it central metaphor (that American wasps have no soul, God's frozen people, yada yada yada...) Juicy cameo by Joe Pesci. Choice score from Bruce Fowler and Marcelo Zarvos which melts right into the picture as you watch; it's not noticeable in the best of ways. One of those weird reversals where the melodrama and the twist get overplayed while the music stays understated.

BONUS POINTS



For
Ben Kweller's Brain Wilson story on Studio 360, followed by a high-wire solo turn on "God Only Knows."




MORE BONUS POINTS



For the tagline to the forthcoming schlock-horror Primeval: "based on true events."

ALMOST FORGOT


Jimmy Guterman's blogging again, hide the silver. (You'd think by now he would have weighed in on Salewicz.) Tipped me off to Amy Rigby's blog.