Negative Nancy

Some brief observations on two recent works of art:

• The Beastie Boys' The Mix-Up lives up to its name: something got misplaced somewhere alright. Weak, uninteresting, and sadly funkless, it makes The In Sound From Way Out, their mid-1990s effort in the same vein, seem like an underrated jazz jewel in comparison.


• I never liked Wes Anderson. I feel slightly better when I remember that I at least didn't have to pay to watch the 13-minute prequel to his new movie. It's called Hotel Chevalier and it's available on iTunes free or charge. It's also lame as hell; its mock gravitas and fake mockery (I don't even know what he's shooting for, to be honest) fill me with all sorts of questions, like why is this man directing movies instead of shooting classy nudes for Vogue?


• All albums by Regina Spektor are interesting the first one-third of the time you hear them. Then they get quite viscerally annoying. She can write a good hook; too bad she proceeds to drive it into your earhole over and over.