Now Is the TimeAlligators,Piggy & Cups, Apple-house Records [4/7/09] Lithe yet playful, Kitsap County quintet Alligators dec-orate their chiming, swirling, surprisingly diverse debutwith tasteful prog-rock, jazz, and psychedelic touches.Consequently, Piggy & Cups makes for a pleasing listen,vaguely reminiscent of the Church or a less synth-oriented Of Montreal, but it isn't necessarily the most memorable one. Notall indie-pop has to be studded with hooks, of course. Recom-mended for those who prefer atmosphere over songcraft.Broadcast Live, Boomerang Metropolis, Rebel Army MediaNot to be confused with Birmingham's Broadcast, Albany, NY'sBroadc

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Suddenly This WinterIn remembrance ofTony Award-winningfilm and theater ac-tress Natasha Rich-ardson (Patty Hearst,Cabaret), who died yesterday at the age of 45, here's a link to my blog post about David Mackenzie's Asylum, which features what maybe her best, most underrated work.After watching the movie, I felt sad...and not just becauseit's a tragedy. Why aren't more people seeing and talking ab-out it, I wondered. It isn't perfect—few pictures are—but that's beside the point. Some of the most fascinating films are marredby flaws of some sort, especially when they attempt to grapple with the inherent messiness of human desires, frustrations, and fan

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Movies of the Month: Part Four Several months ago, I reviewed the following controversial Chin-ese films for Video Librarian, and thought they were worth sharing.LOST IN BEIJING [***] (Yu Li, China, 2007, 112 mins.)In her native land, Yu Li's third feature experienced the best and worst her country had to offer. On the one hand, Lost in Beijingwas a hit. On the other, authorities pulled it from theaters after a few weeks and imposed a two-year ban on the director and writ-er/producer Li Fang (Summer Palace). Western viewers may not find the results as "pornographic" as China's Film Bureau—non-gratuitous nudity aside—but nor will anyone confuse this cl

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March to FuzzThese are the reviews and other pieces I'm working on this month.Amazon DVDs: Breaking Bad - The Complete First Season (with Emmy winnerBryan Cranston) [three-disc set], The Starter Wife (with Debra Messing and Judy Davis) [two-disc set], The Nanny -The Complete Third Season [three-disc set], Mulligans, Azur & Asmar - The Princes' Quest, and Little Dorrit [four-disc set].Amazon Theatricals: Sunshine Cleaning, Sin Nombre, and Tyson.Still playing: Confessions of a Shopaholic, Doubt, Gomorrah, He's Just NotThat into You, Milk, Rachel Getting Married, Two Lovers, and Waltz with Bashir.GreenCine: The Oscar Live Blog archive lives here.Siff

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