Dean and Britta have that certain je ne sais quoi, do they not? They're good looking, look and dress like Europeans, and dig artists like Joy Division and Nancy Sinatra. Hell, they even did The Squid and The Whale's soundtrack for Noah Baumbach. Their music is similarly themed: it's minimalist, beautiful, effortless, and full of an icy cool. (If one wishes to puncture the image, it's amusing to know that Britta Phillips was the voice of 80's cartoon icons Jem and the Holograms.) Dean Wareham, of course, has legions of fans from his work with Galaxie 500 and Luna, and this certainly isn't a huge departure from his signature sound. Expect dreamy and reflective tales with some irony and beautiful melody lines sprinkled throughout. The duo are touring behind 2007's Back Numbers, which combines some D&B originals with like-minded covers of The Troggs and Lee Hazlewood. Simply put, if you enjoyed Luna, you'll have a good time here. And for Wareham's more ardent fans, he has recently written a memoir about his life in music titled Black Postcards which will be published in March by Penguin. D&B arrive tomorrow at the Cactus Cafe for a pair of shows at 7 and 10pm....

You might feel lost and confused and out of place in this conservative, W voting, war loving society (well, half of it), but just remember this next time you are thinking about a one way ticket to Canada: Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscars! Y'all, did you hear us? Jon Stewart! Something has to be right in the world. We don't pretend to be experts, but our predictions are: Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman......

It's Tuesday, which means that your local DVD shop has several shiny new titles on the shelf. This week's biggest entry is James Mangold's Walk The Line, a Johnny Cash biopic in the mold of Ray that is up for five Oscars this weekend. The film wisely steers clear of a wide-scope biography, and instead concentrates on Cash's romance with second wife June Carter, his early music career at Sun Records, and his struggles......

This week at the movies there’s a little bit of everything. You got your Disney, your international, your race relations, and your Other. And by Other, we mean crap. Eight Below Man, Disney just keeps trudging along. Stories about cute animals overcoming immeasurable odds always work. Do what you know. Be sure to hire Paul Walker, because apparently he’ll take anything. *Cache A French mystery-thriller with political overtones about a man who receives anonymous......

To do this weekend: save the bank (and, consequently, family) from the bad guys, take pet monkey to the vet, mourn the state of Steve Martin’s career, have mild lesbian encounter, be appalled by people’s ignorance. Firewall A man is forced to break into the very bank his security program protects, or else suffer the loss of his much-younger wife and children at the hands of super (and super adorable!) villain Paul Bettany. In......

MONDAY [6] karaoke » Karaoke at Beerland (link) music » The Lay-Moes and Loy Bones at The Parlor (Free, 9pm) (myspace) film/comedy » Soul Cinema Mondays screens "Richard Pryor Live in Concert," the comedian at his finest. At the Drafthouse Downtown ($1, 7pm) (link) music/film » One of the most exhaustive music documentaries ever, "New York Dolls," the story of Arthur "Killer" Kane" reuniting with the legendary band, features interviews with Morrissey, Iggy Pop, Mick......

What do we want? MOVIES! When do we want them? NOW! *Before the Fall An interesting film set in 1942 Berlin about an elite school where the country’s brightest young men were trained to be future members of the Nazi regime. Yeahhh, there’s just nothing funny about that. A Good Woman Holy crap, Scarlett Johansson and her breasts are everywhere, it seems. At least this movie finally answers the question, “What ever happened to......

Another week, another steaming batch of new movie releases. What’ll it be, folks? Big Momma’s House 2 Martin Lawrence, your pigeonhole is waiting for you. *Nanny McPhee The new Mary Poppins - only uglier, and with more children. Starring Emma Thompson and brooding hottie Colin Firth. Supposedly this movie is doing very well in the UK. We could make a joke about unattractive British people here, but we’re far too classy for that. Annapolis......

Hurrah, it’s Friday! There’s plenty of stuff going on around town this weekend, but perhaps you can find the time to slip into a cool, dark theatre and enjoy one of this week’s new movie releases. *The New World Another take on the story of Pocahontas, this time by director Terrence Malick. Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, and our future husband, Christian Bale, star in a film certain to at least be more historically authentic......

We spent an inordinate amount of time going to movies, shoveling buttered popcorn into our trawls, and drinking Mr. Pibb through red vines (Watch this SNL clip we just referenced if you want to laugh. Crazy funny.) Well, just like with our illegitimate children, we refuse to name favorites, so with that in mind, Austinist presents to you our favorite 14 films of 2005 in no particular order. *UPDATE: A late editorial note, at......

Countdown to the holidays, people. With all the cold weather we’ll be having, it’s a great time to take a break from mall-madness and catch a movie. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re already aware that Peter Jackson’s monster LOTR follow-up, *King Kong, hit theatres on Wednesday, and it’s getting rave reviews. Why shouldn’t it? Giant gorillas are sooooo cute. The Family Stone We swear, this movie comes out in some form......

Some interesting cinematic offerings for you today, movie lovers. Much better than the dismal choices of last week (we read a review somewhere on the internerd in which the writer compared watching Aeon Flux to receiving an anal probe. Harsh). So cozy up in a theatre this weekend with one or more of this week’s new movie releases. *The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Forget the Christian undertones (or......

Okay, there are a couple of new films we’d be willing to see this week, but honestly we’re too busy geeking out over next week’s release of Harry Potter IV. One thing we should mention: Eminem's 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a film about his life leading up to his huge success as a rap artist, was released on Wednesday. But if you’re anything like us, you probably don’t care. *Zathura To......

We closed down the AFF Thursday night with Jeff Daniels and arguably the best film of the festival, "The Squid and The Whale". Writer/director Noah Baumbach has penned a heartbreaking tale, based on the real-life drama of his parents' divorce, peppered with bittersweet moments of dark hilarity. Author-parents Joan (Laura Linney) and Bernard (Daniels) have exhausted their marriage. Their love affair of the mind has burned itself to ashes, leaving both husband and wife enervated......

Some of us didn't get to as many movies at this year's Austin Film Festival as we would have liked, because we got busy and we were tired and, we admit, a little bit too lazy to drive downtown. And some of us missed some screenings because of baseball mania (you know who you are). Nevertheless, the last couple of nights of AFF 2005 are upon us and there are still cool and interesting......