Review: Ludacris album - Red Light District

I like Ludacris for a lot of reasons, but the fact that he's feuded with Bill O'Reilly doesn't hurt. Ludacris doesn't break any new ground on his fourth album, but he does deliver exactly what his fans expect: solid rhymes over danceable beats. Basically, he is Coolio with more street cred. There probably aren't any hits as big as "Stand Up" or "Yeah" here, but there are enough radio-friendly tracks with club appeal to keep him off the game-show circuit for the time being.

Grade: B

Review: U2 album - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

If you're like me, and your favorite U2 album is "Achtung Baby," you'll find this CD absolutely splendid. If you yearn for the days when the band waxed poetic about lemons over lucid dance tracks, you might wish this record was more daring. Of course, if you're like the guys at the pub who stopped listening after "The Joshua Tree," you don't know what you're missing. This is a great album with memorable, rousing songs and will be in my personal rotation for years to come.

Grade: A

Mookie Of The Month - December

Can I Help You?

Mookie Of The Month - November

Review: The O.C.

Now I understand why people love reality television. This time-waster continues the dismal legacy of mind-numbing shows set in California featuring beautiful yet oh-so-tortured people. Overly dramatic, and yet still tediously dreary, shows like this give scripted television a bad name. I give it an extra letter grade for the pretty girls in small bikinis. Grade: C-

Review: Shark Tale

How does a studio afford to make a computer- animated flick with six A-list celebrities? Easy. Hire cheap writers to concoct a weak, unfunny script and then saturate the film with product placements. I haven't seen a more pathetic movie about sharks since 1999's "Deep Blue Sea." As a bonus, this underwater fiasco also features the worst example of Robert De Niro playing a caricature of himself since "Analyze That." I'm waiting for "The Incredibles," then I'm giving up on this genre. Grade: F

Mookie Of The Month - October

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Review: 'Joey'

NBC is hoping for spin-off magic, a la "Frasier," but my guess is "Joey" will be forgotten quicker than "The Tortellis". The sad truth is that even though he was the best character on "Friends," without the eye candy of Jennifer Aniston and the dry wit of Matthew Perry, "Joey" is just plain dumb. Grade: C+

Mookie Of The Month - September

Meet Mookie!

Review: Garden State

You expect a dark comedy to be funny. You never expect it to be inspirational. Although I was disappointed by the ending, as a whole I recommend this film for the laughs and for the message. Natalie Portman gets the regional accent down pat, and Zach Braff effectively tells this you-can't-go-home-again story. Rarely is a reflection on the pushing-30 folks of the world done so well, and so honestly. Grade: B+