If you don’t read his blog, you should. Charles routinely takes a scalpel to an array of film-related subjects and dissects them very carefully and with a great deal of large words. And then he takes that scalpel and stabs the subject a few more times for good measure, because, well, as long as he’s holding the damned thing he might as well use it.

Here’s an excerpt — his analysis of the Best Supporting Actor category.

Well, Holbrook’s old, so the Academy might give it to him. It ain’t likely they’ll get another chance. But I’m going with prevailing opinion, Bardem. He’s playing a part that’s eccentric enough to say “acting-with-a-capital-A” and Holbrook’s never been big enough to make anyone think he’s been screwed over by not getting an Oscar — in other words, he’s a “tv actor.” Affleck’s still young and his character is so unlikable, yet plausible as a real guy, that it’s probably not clear how much of it’s acting. Hoffman’s already gotten enough attention. Wilkinson devours all surroundings, but his character ain’t as cool as Bardem’s.

Click here to read “Oscar And The Grouch,” his take on tonight’s ceremony, which, in classic Chaz style, is about as misanthropic and cantankerous as we’d expect. And probably right on the money.

It warms the heart to see the exposure and acclaim that’s coming to Randy Randall. Randy and his No Age bandmate, Dean Spunt, have grown into first rate indie rockers. Their album, Weirdo Rippers, which is a collection of tracks from a handful of hard-to-find EPs, has garnered them some serious praise. Their success is a marvelous thing to see.

Randy and I worked together years ago at Rocket Video in Hollywood and then again at Amoeba Music. You couldn’t meet a more humble and sweet-natured guy. And dedicated. The reason he’s gotten where he is today is because of his dedication to and love for the music. Indeed, he left Amoeba because his touring schedule kept getting in the way of having to shuck dvds. The hard work seems to be paying off. Weirdo Rippers is making appearances in the upper end of year-end Best Of lists and the cover of the album, which features their L.A. venue of choice and they stage on which they cut their teeth, The Smell, is fast becoming ubiquitous across the indie music blogosphere.

The music is a logical next step in evolution from the stuff Randy and Dean pounded out in their last outift, The Wives. Whereas that was a blistering punk effort, this one leans more towards an atmospherric blend of knife edges and soft breezes. It’s the sort of approach perfected by Deerhunter and the reason why I like the album so much. I love musical contrast, so when I get expansive breathers like “Every Artist Needs a Tragedy” pushed smack up against pounding factory-setting scorchers like “Boy Void” I get excited.

They’re doing well. It warms the cockles of my heart, and as Woody Allen says, “There’s nothing like hot cockles.”

The video below is something I stumbled across over at the Forkcast. It’s part of a series of taped presentations that will be coming from New York music purveyors, Other Music. Enjoy.

No Age: purchase, Pitchfork Review (8.0), label page, Fader article

No Age – “Every Artist Needs A Tragedy”