Metro - Entertainment

US – Saturday, March 20

The week's releases

Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.

James admits to ‘poor judgment’

Sandra Bullock is having quite a week with her dogs. On Thursday, husband Jesse James released a statement to People magazine about the affair rumors swirling around the couple, stating that a “vast majority” of the allegations are “untrue and unfounded,” but says, “It’s because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way.

They love rock ’n’ roll

The first time she met with Joan Jett about portraying her in “The Runaways,” Kristen Stewart was petrified that the rock legend wouldn’t take her seriously because she still looked like her character in “Twilight.”

‘Breaking’ character

Walter White thought he was about to lose it all when we first met him in the “Breaking Bad” pilot — the mild-mannered chemistry teacher discovered he had lung cancer, and in blind desperation turned to cooking meth to provide for his family.

Dreaming up life in a ‘Future City’

Gene Coleman has a recurring dream in which he finds himself in a strange city. “I don’t know where this place is, and I don’t think it’s any place that actually exists,” he says. “But it has these fantastic, almost surrealistic architectural qualities to it.”

THE WEEK THAT WAS
Metro’s expert newsologists rake through the week’s news foliage, in search of some truthful detritus

This week, the news community ate up the story of world’s fattest mom Donna Simpson — who, reports claim, actually hopes to increase her already ample girth to claim a new record.

Music

Letting ‘Freedom’ ring

Frederic Chopin wrote a piano sonata in A minor; Alicia Keys’ debut album was called “Songs in A Minor.”

Movies

Taking on a blockbuster

If the name Stieg Larsson isn’t familiar, the cover of his globally best-selling book may provide instant recognition, considering the novel is reaching Harry Potter-level ubiquity. The film adaptation follows suit, blowing box office records all over Europe for its roundly praised, faithful rendition of the story of two detectives (of sorts) who uncover family scandals in search of a woman who has been missing for 40 years. We sat down with director Niels Arden Oplev to chat about his version of the tale.

Movies

A chase worth pursuing

REVIEW. On the one hand, there’s no one as sexy and ambitious as Jennifer Aniston slinking around your average small-town, New Jersey newsroom. On the other, it’s a lot more fun when there is — and that’s kind of the point of “The Bounty Hunter.”

Movies

Not quite a ‘Runaway’ success

REVIEW. The story of Cherie Currie’s rise to fame as the teenage sex kitten singer with the Runaways is fascinating and ultimately sad, but there’s a reason you know Joan Jett’s name better.

Photo: WIREIMAGEStiller: You live and you learn

Ben Stiller had little trouble relating to his character in “Greenberg” — Noah Baumbach’s new film about a misanthropic failed musician adrift in Los Angeles after a nervous breakdown — but he insists that’s just because of a monumental birthday.

Music

‘The age of the freak is almost here’

For the past few years the tourist shops near where the SXSW Music Conference takes place have been selling goods emblazoned with the axiom “Keep Austin Weird.” And if the first night of live music was any indication, visitors, revelers and performers are taking the sentiment to heart. Here are a few of the highlights from Wednesday

Movies

There’s just no salvaging Jude Law’s latest bomb

REVIEW. It seems like all director Miguel Sapochnik was interested in filming in his debut feature, “Repo Men,” was graphic close-ups of torsos being torn open to remove vital organs. Unfortunately, Sapochnik was too distracted by filling the screen with bloody entrails to pay attention to simple pleasures like clear storytelling and compelling characters.

Movies

We’re not in middle school anymore ...

Jeff Kinney is just one of those lucky guys. Sure, he failed to land syndication rights to a popular cartoon he drew while at the University of Maryland, but that didn’t stop him. Undaunted, he started writing what would become the book series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and published it online. He attracted a huge following, a book deal followed, and a whopping 33 million books later, he’s a superstar. Now the executive producer on the movie version of the book, he was happy to talk with us about his adventure.

Movies

Bounty hunter meets fugitive

In “The Bounty Hunter,” it might seem that Jennifer Aniston is in familiar, cute-damsel-in-distress territory as she runs from her ex-husband (Gerard Butler), a former cop so down on his luck that he takes a gig tracking her for a $5,000 payday.

Flash-fried finger-lickin’ chicken

Here, “un-fried” really means flash fried. Flash frying is a high-heat deep-frying technique used to rapidly brown small pieces of quickcooking food such as tiny calamari or small shrimp to avoid overcooking them before the crust browns. Flash flying requires an oil temperature of at least 400°F — which means you have to use an oil with a high smoke point, like grapeseed oil. By poaching the chicken first and then flash frying it, I was able to eliminate 20 grams of fat and at least 250 calories from traditional fried chicken. Because the chicken is already cooked, it only has to spend enough time in the hot oil to brown the crust, which means it absorbs less oil.

Taken from “Now Eat This!” by Rocco DiSpirito.

The March MMMpod features conversation and music from Surfer Blood and The Allman Brothers Band (There's a double-bill you're not too likely to see. However, Gregg Allman does mention Hannah Montana!). We also speak with Vampire Weekend and the Dropkick Murphys.