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'Wackness' on DVD
Things are looking up for recent high school grad Luke Shapiro. He's got a decent-paying summer job -- as a pot dealer. Luke's therapist happens to seek therapy through pot, and so he becomes Luke's client.
And -- lucky Luke -- his shrink has a hot stepdaughter.
Of course Luke's idyllic existence can't last. That's the premise of "The Wackness," writer-director Jonathan Levine's coming-of-age film set in 1990s New York. The flick stars Josh Peck as Luke and Ben Kingsley as the therapist.
Yes, "Pineapple Express" was the 900-pound gorilla of stoner movies this year, leaving "The Wackness" as the little stoner movie that could. Both came out this week on DVD.
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Hear Bird, Animal Collective
What Web site of what network is offering early listens to hip music?
Nope, it's not MTV. It's National Public Radio. At NPR.org/firstlisten, music fans can hear "Noble Beast" by feathery, whistling violinist Andrew Bird (beginning at 1 p.m. Jan. 8), "Hold Time" by M. Ward (beginning Jan. 12) and "Merriweather Post Pavilion" by freak-psychedelic band Animal Collective (on Jan. 19). All three will be up before their official release dates.
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Humans vs. Cylons, Round 4
In the Sci Fi Channel's hit series "Battlestar Galactica," humans from the planet Caprica created the Cylons -- who looked like robots and served like robots .¤.¤. until they mutated and began to look like humans. And act as nasty as humans.
Almost annihilated by a Cylon sneak attack, the humans now seek a mythical sanctuary known as Earth.
That's the back story. What makes "Battlestar Galactica" a great series is the way its creators took that over-used man-vs.-mutant-machine theme and used it to explore the moral dilemmas -- and often the heartbreaks -- of war, revenge, duty, survival, terrorism and, yes, the love thing.
Season 4.0 is out now out on DVD, just in time to catch up before Sci-Fi begins airing the series' concluding run of shows on Jan. 16.
-- Rick de Yampert, Entertainment Writer
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