Josh Bell
Story Archive
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Film
The Last House on the Left
Thursday, March 12, 2009 Wes Craven’s 1972 debut feature The Last House on the Left was a scuzzy exploitation film that gained notoriety on the drive-in circuit and became a horror classic.
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television
Fallon down
Thursday, March 12, 2009 Jimmy Fallon’s first week as the new host of Late Night (NBC, weeknights, 12:35 a.m.) was not exactly promising.
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Watchmen Review
Friday, March 6, 2009 Film critic Josh Bell reviews the highly anticipated superhero movie Watchmen, based on the classic graphic novel, and comes away disappointed.
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Talking about watching the Watchmen
Thursday, March 5, 2009 Jay Bosworth of Maximum Comics joins Josh to chat about the highly anticipated Watchmen, adapted from the classic graphic novel. Plus, the return of the CineVegas arthouse series with Two Lovers, and a slew of recommended new DVDs.
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Film
An empty spectacle
Thursday, March 5, 2009 In adapting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark 1986 graphic novel Watchmen (considered by many to be the medium’s greatest achievement) to film, director Zack Snyder has done what every die-hard fan would seemingly hope for: He’s stayed as close to the source material as possible.
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television
Back to the past
Thursday, March 5, 2009 Ashes to Ashes, like Life on Mars, follows a modern police detective who appears to be inexplicably sent to the past after a traumatic event.
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Film
"Dirt!" Headed to Vegas!!
Thursday, March 5, 2009 Dirt! is in the tradition of recent eco-documentaries like Flow and King Corn, turning a critical eye on an element of nature to which most people give little thought.
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Music
Justin Townes Earle
Thursday, March 5, 2009 Justin Townes Earle opens the fourth song on his second album by proclaiming, “I am my father’s son,” and certainly his parentage (he’s the son of alt-country icon Steve Earle) has earned him plenty of attention.
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Celebrating harmony with Little Big Town
Sunday, March 1, 2009 The best moment of Little Big Town's show at Sam's Town Live tonight came at the end of the sad acoustic ballad "Lost," written about the death of singer Kimberly Schlapman's husband.
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Music
Which God is mightier?
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009 Has the new wave of American heavy metal reached maturity? New releases from two of the movement’s top acts, Virginia’s Lamb of God and New Jersey’s God Forbid, beg the question: Which God is mightier?
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Music
Little Big Town
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009 With its layered four-part harmonies and rotating lead singers, this Nashville quartet draws as much from ’70s rockers like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac as it does from traditional country.
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Winning the Oscar pool, but at what cost?
Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 Much to the consternation of the handful of other entrants, I won my Oscar pool, correctly predicting all but three of the eventual winners. But is this a good thing?
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The Academy Awards of predictability
Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 Film critic and historian Tony Macklin joins Josh to preview this weekend’s Academy Awards, with their picks for who will win and who should win in each of the major categories.
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Film
Locals disappoint at Dam Short Film Festival
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 At Boulder City’s Dam Short Film Festival , Amber Beard’s sweet coming-of-age story Growing Up Vegas (also shown at CineVegas in 2008) took the top prize, and deservedly so.
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television
"Monkey" in the middle
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 Whatever happened to good old-fashioned nature shows? You know, National Geographic specials with dry British narration and lots of scenes of lions chasing gazelles?
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Music
Puscifer
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 It’s probably Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s own fault that the debut (and so far only scheduled) performances from his side project Puscifer were unable to live up to the hype.
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Film
A Dam wrap-up
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009 The trip to Boulder City is not as long as you may think, and it’s completely worthwhile for an event like the Dam Short Film Festival, which once again proved both the diversity and vitality of the short film as an art form.
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Shopping, Banking, Killing
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 Brian Black joins Josh to chat about new theatrical releases Confessions of a Shopaholic, The International and Friday the 13th, plus Changeling on DVD.
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Film
He can do fun, too
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne has garnered plenty of attention recently for his documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, a very personal and intense account of the aftermath of the murder of Kuenne’s friend Andrew Bagby.
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Film
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 Hollywood’s legion of flighty, pseudo-independent urban “career” women gets another shameful addition in Rebecca Bloomwood, heroine of the deeply conflicted romantic comedy/cautionary tale Confessions of a Shopaholic.
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television
A shaky foundation
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 In a surprising move, fans of TV writer-producer Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly) have already mounted a campaign to save his new show Dollhouse before it’s even premiered.
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Steve Martin, don’t you know better?
Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 Jeffrey K. Howard of KVBC Channel 3 and Vegas Film Critic joins Josh to chat about the wonders of Coraline and the horrors of The Pink Panther 2, plus the underrated W. on DVD.
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Film
Have a "Dam" good time
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 The Dam Short Film Festival returns to Boulder City for its fifth edition this week, expanding from three days to four and showcasing over 120 short films, along with receptions, awards and a filmmaker panel.
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Music
Dierks Bentley
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 Country singer Dierks Bentley mostly sticks with what he knows on fourth album Feel That Fire, while pushing his music closer to the country mainstream.
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Film
Whimsical creepiness
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 Coraline is a whimsically creepy story about a young girl dissatisfied with her family life, who ventures off into a magical world that at first seems appealing but quickly turns sinister.
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television
Unlucky number
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 The miniseries XIII (NBC, February 8 and 15, 9 p.m.) is based on a series of Belgian graphic novels that began in 1984 and are extremely popular in Europe, but the vast majority of the show’s audience will likely look at XIII as merely a second-rate Bourne Identity rip-off, or a pale imitation of 24.
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Film
Shining a light
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 For the past eight years, the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival has been pursuing a successful strategy for attracting audiences, programming a limited number of films and pairing each one with a local Jewish organization or synagogue.
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The dregs of winter
Friday, Jan. 30, 2009 Josh and Las Vegas Weekly Managing Editor Ken Miller survey the wasteland that is the January movie season, starring awful romantic comedy New in Town and slightly-better-than-expected horror movie The Uninvited, plus Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Zack and Miri Make a Porno on DVD, and a rundown of worthwhile movies still in theaters.
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Film
New in Town
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 What exactly is wrong with city living? Every time some confident, career-oriented city dweller in a Hollywood movie finds him or herself in a small town, it’s only a matter of time before he or she has cast off the oppression of go-go urban life and embraced the simplicity, community and low ambitions of rural domesticity.
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Film
The Unnecessary
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 This week sees the opening of horror movie The Uninvited, which wasn’t screened for critics by press time. Just a few weeks ago, the same thing occurred with fellow horror movie The Unborn. We started wondering, what other similarly titled horror movies might not be screened for critics?
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Music
Steve Martin
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 Yes, it’s that Steve Martin, adding musician to a resume that already includes comedian, actor, playwright, novelist and screenwriter. Actually, Martin’s been playing the banjo at least as long as he’s been a comedian.
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Whatever, Oscar nominations
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 There really isn't much of a point griping or rejoicing over Oscar nominations. Still, they're a big deal. Weekly film critic Josh Bell offers his take on a few pleasant surprises and disappointing omissions.
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Film
Lunch and a movie
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Local filmmaker Tom Barndt’s surreal short films have shown up at CineVegas and the Dam Short Film Festival, among other places, and last year he and partner Samara St. Croix took their short film The Mark to the Sundance Film Festival.
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television
Untrustworthy
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Trust Me is thoroughly mediocre, an occasionally entertaining look at typical office shenanigans that could easily be transported to a law firm or a software company with few alterations.
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Music
Hoobastank
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Alt-rockers Hoobastank are unlikely ever to be known for anything other than their 2004 power balled “The Reason,” but they soldier on nonetheless.
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Music
Who are The Head Cat?
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Chances are you’ve never heard of rockabilly trio The Head Cat, who play Wasted Space this week.
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Entertainment
Here's looking at Casablanca
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Everyone’s heard of the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman classic, and is probably familiar with its numerous quotable lines, but that’s no substitute for watching the film itself.
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Dining
Democratic Dr Pepper
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 Dr Pepper promised everyone in America a free soda if Guns N’ Roses’ long-delayed Chinese Democracy was released in 2008.
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Blart!
Friday, Jan. 16, 2009 Comedian and filmmaker Jason Harris joins Josh to chat about Oscar contenders The Wrestler and Revolutionary Road, plus clear 2010 Oscar front-runner Paul Blart: Mall Cop, along with Last Chance Harvey and My Bloody Valentine 3D. Want more Josh? Catch him Fridays live on Xtreme 107.5 FM.
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Film
A shrinking CineVegas
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 Even as smaller local film festivals such as the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival and Boulder City’s Dam Short Film Festival expand, the biggest of all, CineVegas (owned by members of the Greenspun family, who also own Las Vegas Weekly’s parent company), is downsizing.
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Film
Wrestling with greatness
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 Listening to the buzz about The Wrestler, you might guess that it’s a movie about the resurrection of Mickey Rourke’s career.
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Music
Varsity Fanclub
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 Is it already time for another boy-band resurgence? Didn’t we just get done with the last one?
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television
"Lost" confounds, again
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 A handful of important characters—Claire, Jin, Michael, Faraday and Locke—ended last season with their fates in question. Who is really dead?
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Entertainment
A growing festival
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 Now in its eighth year, the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival continues to expand and build on its success, this year branching out to encompass 13 films and three different venues.
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Entertainment
"United" it falls
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 In Diablo Cody's United States of Tara, there's the sarcastic, worldly teen girl; her gay, classic Hollywood-loving brother; some clueless but well-meaning parents; and plenty of casual, matter-of-fact sexual references.
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Film
Last Chance Harvey
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 The standard line on Last Chance Harvey is that it’s refreshing to see a romantic vehicle for older actors, but the truth is that just because stars Hoffman and Thompson are north of 40 doesn’t mean that they get to avoid the worn-out pitfalls of the romantic comedy.
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Eastwood's swan song: brilliant or ridiculous?
Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 Las Vegas Weekly Managing Editor Ken Miller joins Josh to chat about Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (Ken loved it; Josh did not), plus new theatrical releases Bride Wars and The Unborn, and Appaloosa on DVD.
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Film
Home movies
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 It’s 42 degrees out, and Derek Stonebarger is trying to get people to party. “Dance, so you get warm,” urges Stonebarger, the co-writer and director of local independent film I.M. Caravaggio as a piano player starts up, and the scene begins.
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Music
Real country radio
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 These days, the term “country radio” might as well be changed to “pop-country radio,” since stations dedicated to the genre generally just repeat the same current chart-toppers ad nauseam.
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Film
"Wars" is hell
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 In Bride Wars, best friends Emma (Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) have been dreaming of their nuptials since they were little girls, and they both want the same thing: a lavish June wedding at New York’s Plaza Hotel.