After hearing multiple random endorsements from some well-respected sources (Rosa, Allen, Nina), I finally got around to seeing Little Miss Sunshine last week and came away more than satisfied with my $9.25 investment. Rewatching the trailer, I don't think it comes off as terribly funny, but it's got a charming, awkward, oddbal humor that for the most part seems to nail the dysfunctional family pretty perfectly. And for an indie film it's heavy on familiar faces--Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, and the nerdy kid from The Girl Next Door.

Four characters really stood out to me: the silent teenager Dwayne, precocious beauty pageant wannabe Olive, Alan Arkin's smack-addicted/smack-talking grandfather and Steve Carell's recently suicidal academic Frank. Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette's roles are a little more token, but it all works pretty well. Carell manages to pull off the impressive feat of being funny as a guy who just attempted suicide, while Abigail Breslin is about as believable as possible for a kid her age. It was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who previously did a ton of music videos I loved in middle school, namely "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Another highlight is the soundtrack, which is comprised largely of Devotchka. "How It Ends" was used in the trailer for Everything is Illuminated last year so I've been enjoying that for quite some time, and it also features prominently here to good effect.

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Definitely worth a listen: Norwegian band 120 Days' first single from their forthcoming Vice debut. As with most Scandinavian things, I heard about it from for the eardrums. It's something of a marathon, electrorock jam, with programmed beats/bass and synths over the occasional distorted guitar and Primal Scream-ish vocals. It got a 5-star review from Pitchfork, despite the fact that it sounds like a drawn-out, less accessible Kasabian version of the Miami Vice theme.

120 Days / "Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)"

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As reported on My Old Kentucky Blog, Kings & Queens are sounding pretty damn good. The sound is aggressive but layered, and all-around pretty classic rock sounding.

Kings & Queens / "King's Theme"

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I LOVE the simple idea of Stil in Berlin:

StilinBerlin explores the style of Berlin. We try to document the urban, cosmopolitan and multicultural spirit of the city, we live in. Fashion can describe what a city is, so we take photos of outfits that stand out and capture within them that spirit. We hope you enjoy the Berlin style as much as we do.

Now, I'm never going to dress like most of these people and the idea of this in itself isn't pretentious at all. But the idea of liberal American grad students using this as their fashion template TOTALLY is...and I find this amusing.