The Matador
Directed by Richard Shepard
By Travis Mackenzie Hoover

It’s impossible not to think of James Bond while watching Pierce Brosnan in The Matador. That is, how the lead’s sleazy, womanising hit man lines up almost exactly to the behaviour of the world’s most famous secret agent — and how genuinely undesirable the image turns out to be. It’s also not difficult to see his reality in the character’s bitter cynicism — always swept under the rug in the Bond films — as the work of a middle-aged failure rather than a suave ladies man (though that’s the image he clings to). The rest of the film isn’t up to these free associations, but it’s an agreeable time-killer nonetheless, with Brosnan crossing paths with struggling businessman Greg Kinnear and deciding that maybe he made the wrong choice. The fact that he’s getting panic attacks and flubbing hits may have something to do with it of course, and when he screws up a big assignment he has to turn to his “only friend” — whom he’s known for days — to help him out of a deadly situation. Kinnear is more than a match for Brosnan’s hilarious self-satire, and Hope Davis is sensational as Kinnear’s wife. The fact that neither of them sees anything wrong in having a hit man for drinks after midnight isn’t played for the irony it has, and the ending peters out in a bit of a fizzle; until then though it’s fairly droll and consistently absorbing even as it can’t keep up with its internal logic. You may never look at a Bond movie the same way again — but those movies have become such a chore that you can only thank the filmmakers for the fresh view. (Alliance Atlantis)

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One of this city’s superstar DJs, Misstress Barbara specializes in big beats for the masses, and with her three-piece band Girls on a Ducati, she’s extending her house pop chops to a more traditional live setting. With a guitar and mic, as well as keys and effects, she’s a capable front-woman but he... Full Review
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The deliberately lo-fi, yet earnest, split between Transit and Man Overboard sounds like the product of a bunch of friends growing up on punk and hardcore throughout the '90s. The hardcore leanings of Boston fivesome Transit lay the groundwork for the pop punk tendencies of the Jersey kids in Man Ov... Full Review
The Music Box
The term "videogame music" is often intended as an insult, deriding electronic beatscapes as rudimentary by comparing them to the 8-bit by necessity, bleep-based soundtracks of early Atari and Nintendo games. (See: Castles, Crystal) That Super Mario's theme music remains embedded in the frontal lobes of anyone under the age of 40 proves the critical weakness of the diss ― but it's also hopelessly archaic considering how much videogame music has evolved over the years.... Read More
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