Do you love American Beauty, but wish it had a lighter touch and a happier ending — and starred Hugh "Dr. House" Laurie? Okay, me neither really. Just checking.  But in case you do fit this particular niche, The Oranges is the suburban dysfunction film for you. Like a certain rose-petal-covered movie we know, The Oranges is a meditation on American life and American happiness directed by a British dude.  It also uses ... Read More

  Tomboy Written and Directed by Céline Sciamma Rocket Releasing The sophomore feature from French writer/director Céline Sciamma (Water Lillies), Tomboy is a light, lovely film about gender-bending and identity crises.  Or you could say that Tomboy is a film about childhood that gives children a lot of credit.  Set in a leafy Paris suburb during the last days of summer, the story follows a 10-year old girl ... Read More

  This past weekend marked the final string of performances of the U.S. leg of St Vincent’s Strange Mercy tour and Mercy us, is BUST glad to have made it to one of the shows.For those who haven’t given it a listen yet, Strange Mercy is the album St Vincent (otherwise known as Annie Clark) describes as the one in which she is finally relenting to her more artless instincts in an effort to reveal the more candid side of ... Read More

  If ever there was a performing artist that could make me severely regret opting out of grade school music nerd extracurriculars prematurely, it is Shara Worden.  Today marks the U.S. release of her new album All Things Will Unwind. This past weekend, I saw Shara play in Brooklyn at combination gallery/performance space Littlefield and needed to restrain myself post performance from searching through the yellow pages for some ... Read More

"It's impossible," observes Nigel Slater, "not to love someone who made you toast."   So begins Toast, an odd, colorful new film about food and love, and based on the English chef's memoir of the same name.  Slater's observations on both topics, read in voice-overs, bring humor to what is otherwise the story of a very sad childhood.   The story opens in a grocery store, where young Nigel (played by Oscar Kennedy, then ... Read More

BUST has returned from its pilgrimage to ATP’s I’ll be Your Mirror Festival and our ears are still (gloriously) ringing from the brain-rattling sounds of some of renegade music culture’s best in show. Similar to the original venue for this ATP festival (Pontin’s Holiday Camp in the U.K.), Asbury Park is a once prosperous seashore vacation capital turned economically (but photogenically!) desolate (perfect scenery for ... Read More

Tomorrow, BUST is making a pilgrimage to Mr. Bruce Springsteen's hometown--to check out a music and arts festival that's curated by a great, media-shy British band, and named for a Velvet Underground B-side.  Sweet Jane!  What a weekend! Starting at around mid-afternoon tomorrow, Asbury Park, birthplace of the Boss, will host three days of music (first and foremost), plus comedy, film, and even some literature.  It's the ... Read More

          Margaret Cho is very, very funny.  She is not, however, all that funny on the phone.  At least not with me, when she calls from Atlanta one weekday afternoon.  She's thoughtful, and sort of calm, and very polite.  So naturally I think, oh God, it's me.  I'm killing Margaret Cho's sense of humor.  But then I remember that part of what people love about Cho, aside from her ... Read More

  "One person alone cannot push an elephant." Tune in to PBS tonight at 10 pm for the broadcast premiere of "Pushing the Elephant," a powerful new documentary about Rose Mapendo, a Congolese Tutsi, a mother of ten, a victim of genocidal violence and an activist for peace and reconciliation.   Ten years ago, Rose Mapendo, her husband, and her children were arrested by the Congolese government and held in a death camp, as the ... Read More

         Remember that moment in your Facebook life when Dad joined up? (I know you’re on there, Frank Magee, but I’m not ready to talk about it.)  What about your 14-year-old cousin (when did she start wearing eyeliner??)   While an older generation’s foray into social networking has spawned public jokes and private nervousness, it’s a younger generation’s participation ... Read More