Virginia Yapp

April 3, 2008

Mack the Knife

By Virginia Yapp

Brooklynite Bryan Scary and his supporting band, the Shredding Tears, achieve liftoff with their second album, Flight of the Knife, an exceedingly bizarre concept album about the heroic endeavors of Airship Valentine and...

March 6, 2008

Oh So Emo

By Virginia Yapp

Buried beneath the inessential trash - the 10-minute digression of sonic experimentation of the album's titular track comes to mind - is the most essential, "emotional" album that Stephen Malkmus has released in years. M...

February 14, 2008

The Direct Approach

By Virginia Yapp

Okay, so Artsweek promised that last week's issue was our last foray into the fabulous functions of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. But, alas, space constraints led to the exclusion of one of the most ente...

February 7, 2008

Moving Pictures

By Virginia Yapp

There's a fine line between making reference to something and ripping something off. First-time director Jacob Medjuck's film, "Summerhood," manages to save itself from becoming one of those vacuous "Epic Movie"-type fil...

February 7, 2008

The Kids Are Alright

By Virginia Yapp

In an awards season that's been markedly ramped down due to the ongoing writers' strike, the inaugural presentation of the Virtuoso awards allowed a convergence of some of Hollywood's most noteworthy young talent on Wedn...

November 1, 2007

God Bless America

By Virginia Yapp

Hey America: You don't need literary credentials, an excellent command of the English language or even anything interesting to say in order to write a book these days.

October 18, 2007

You Slay Me

By Virginia Yapp

"Do you want to be like me? Or do you want to be me?" legendary outlaw Jesse James asks the increasingly fanatic Robert Ford, a remark that foreshadows the powerful, unforgettable film's bloody titular event.

October 4, 2007

Band of Horses Rides Again

By Virginia Yapp

Sophomore albums tend to be heavily scrutinized and picked apart by critics and fans alike, often unfairly. Expectations are amplified when your band's debut album is a critically acclaimed, Pitchfork-approved, list-topp...