Arts

Casa de mi Padre' capitalizes on pure silliness and kitsch

Throughout Will Ferrell's prolific acting career, he has pushed the lowbrow humor envelope, adopting various outrageous personas along the way. He was an ignorant, jingoistic racecar driver in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (2006), a clumsy human with a Christmas?inspired identity crisis in "Elf" (2003) and a fashion design icon known for the invention of the piano key necktie in "Zoolander" (2001).

Interview | Will Ferrell discusses tackling Spanish in 'Casa de mi Padre'

 Renowned funnyman Will Ferrell spoke to college press via phone about his new film, "Casa de mi Padre," a hilarious foray into the Spanish soap opera genre.

Elizabeth Landers | Campus Chic Report

A professor recently gave me "Pricing Beauty," (2011) an academic study of the modeling world written by Ashley Mears, a former model and current sociology professor at Boston University. I have always had a love?hate relationship with the modeling world of fashion. While I am repulsed by unrealistic body images, I am simultaneously attracted to beauty and the perfect "look." Women know that what we are looking at isn't real, but we accept the images and strive for them all the same. Though certainly not high?fashion, Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret catalogs contribute to the onslaught of bodies that we emulate.

Music Review | Odd Future's Hodgy Beats releases average EP

California hip?hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (more colloquially, Odd Future) dominated the Internet in 2011 and most of pop culture in every aspect. Once an unknown group of teenagers from Los Angeles, Odd Future burst onto the scene in early 2011 when its members - Tyler, The Creator and Hodgy Beats - performed the high?energy, slightly scary, mostly swag "Sandwitches" (2010) on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

TV Review | 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' still going strong in its second decade

In a culture dominated by 24?hour news networks and media oversaturation, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is a refreshing change of pace, with pointed political commentary filling out its half?hour running time. Now entering his 13th year as host of the show, Jon Stewart continues to deliver sharp political satire by deftly balancing current events and sophisticated humor.

Intriguing premise can't save 'Grimm'

Despite lacking character development and cohesive plot arcs, the charming and endearing qualities of NBC's "Grimm" stand firm. But whether or not these qualities are enough to make up for the show's general letdowns is another question entirely.

Interview | Emily Blunt

While promoting her new movie, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," the talented, beautiful and witty Emily Blunt thrilled fans at an early screening by coming out after the show for a question-and-answer session.

Wells' third album wallows in pop mediocrity

When artists put out a new album, they often change their musical style. Sometimes, this change is rewarding, as it allows a musician to evolve and build upon his or her foundation. Other times, such change can lead to a failed attempt at assimilating a genre the artist clearly cannot handle. In the case of singer/songwriter Tyrone Wells and his newest release, "Where We Meet," the change in style falls somewhere in between. Regrettably, Wells' latest album leaves behind the folky energy that dominated his early work. While he manages to offer listeners a different vibe, his old flair is sorely missed.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' is standard but enjoyable comedy

Expectations are an odd thing. Despite its actual quality, if the expectations for a film are especially high and it falls below them, the film disappoints the viewer. But, if expectations are low and a film surpasses them, it might delightfully surprise the viewer. For the little−known romantic comedy, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," expectations haven't really existed at all and, for this reason, a fairly average film turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience.

19-year-old actor discusses role as homicidal teenager

Known for playing tormented youngsters, Ezra Miller discussed his latest, most challenging role as a murderous teenager in "We Need To Talk About Kevin" (2011).

Originality eludes Gucci Mane on 'Trap Back'

Even with the extremely low bar set by other rappers, Gucci Mane's lyrics are just plain absurd. On his latest mixtape, "Trap Back," he talks about how he lives on the North Pole (on the aptly titled track, "North Pole"), how he wants to move his bed to his kitchen, and how he is going to start using a "Facecard" instead of his bankcard. Sadly, these gleefully weird details are too few and far between to support this overlong and disappointing mixtape.

3Ps perform 'Hamletmachine' in Balch Arena Theater

Top Ten Snooki Baby-Daddies

What's Up This Weekend

At Trattoria Toscana, Italian fare gets spotlight

For all the pride Bostonians take in the North End, the culinary offerings of most kitschy fixtures in this area leave a lot to be desired. Every place seems to have its drawbacks — too loud, too proud, too expensive. In fact, it seems that the only universally respected nosh is the cannoli at Mike's Pastry.

Eastbound' looks to end on a high note

Hollywood's favorite mullet is back and more heinous than ever. Kenny Powers, the larger−than−life character assumed by Danny McBride, has returned for the third and final season of the HBO series "Eastbound & Down."

Ethereal tracks mask flaws on Grimes' latest album

Grimes is not, in fact, an anarchic sludge metal band. No, Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, is a petite madam from Canada who makes ethereal dream pop ... On GarageBand.

Passionate songwriting fuels 'Wrecking Ball'

In a recent interview with several journalists in Paris, Bruce Springsteen explained how he has always viewed his work as being about "judging the distance between American reality and the American dream — how far it is at any given moment." Throughout his 40−year career, Springsteen has been lauded as a workingman's hero, but many critics doubted that a multi−millionaire rocker could accurately capture working−class sentiments at this late of a stage in his career. The resilient Springsteen succeeds in this mission with his 17th studio album "Wrecking Ball," delivering one of his most musically adventurous works in decades while at the same time offering a pointed social commentary on the economic inequality in the current American landscape.

James Barasch | Barasch On Books

Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World," by Stephen R. Bown, is an interesting hybrid of history and biography in which Bown tells the story of the golden age of European venture capitalism through the lives of six of the most influential businessmen between 1600 to 1900. These six men — Jan PieterszoonCoen of the Dutch East India Company, Peter Stuyvesant of the Dutch West India Company, Robert Clive of the British East India Company, George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company, AlexandrBaranov of the Russian American Company and Cecil Rhodes of Cape Colony — lived in an "Age of Heroic Commerce."

Jacob Passy and Alex Kaufman | Sassy Cinema

Movie music has shown us "A Whole New World," taken us "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and offered us a bit of that well-needed "Razzle Dazzle" in a humdrum world. For everything that cinematic soundtracks have given us, we'd like to take this column to celebrate songs in film.