Boston Phoenix | Culture | AAN.org

The Kult of Karlnew

The success of The Ricky Gervais Show can be ascribed almost entirely to the gnomic utterances of Karl Pilkington, the bald, round, bleary-eyed, sleepy-voiced producer for London’s Xfm, who serves as the show's co-host.

Boston Phoenix | Mike Miliard | 02-09-2006 | Media

Tags: podcasting, podcast, Extras, The Office

Gratis Expectationsnew

Music and movies, books and booze, electronics, furniture, even a car -- all can be yours for nothing, if know where to look, and how to avoid gimmicks and scams.

Boston Phoenix | Mike Miliard | 01-13-2006 | Shopping

Tags: shopping

Satellite of Lovenew

Howard Stern sees his new show on Sirius as just the beginning.

Boston Phoenix | Bill Jensen | 01-12-2006 | Media

Tags: radio

Not-So-Great Apenew

Peter Jackson’s King Kong has a long title, a big monkey but not much else.

Boston Phoenix | Aaron Solomon | 01-09-2006 | Video Games

Tags: video games

Video Games for 2006new

Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution are both slated to launch in 2006, though specific release dates -- like many pertinent details about the systems -- have yet to be disclosed.

Boston Phoenix | Mitch Krpata | 12-30-2005 | Video Games

Tags: video games

Annus Horribilisnew

The past 360-some days have been marked by epic natural disaster, interminable war, terrorist bombs, perfidious politics, and pop-culture inanity.

Boston Phoenix | Mike Miliard | 12-23-2005 | Commentary

Tags: yearinreview2005

Jocks in Cuffsnew

Sluggish performances by Mike Tyson and the Portland Trailblazers seemingly skewed the number of athlete arrests downward in 2005, but the sports-crime industry remained vital thanks to Lawrence Phillips and a little stylistic marketing kitsch.

Boston Phoenix | Matt Taibbi | 12-23-2005 | Sports

Tags: sports & fitness

Hacking Santanew

A computer expert reprogrammed an electronic Santa to say "Last year’s Rudolph was eaten by a polar bear, so I bought a new one from Wal-Mart!" And worse.

Boston Phoenix | Mike Miliard | 12-22-2005 | Shopping

Tags: shopping

Richard Pryor, 1940-2005new

Richard Pryor, who died of a heart attack December 10 at the age of 65, was the natural enemy of sanctimony and editorializing. His stand-up routines about sex and race were so disarmingly honest that they were -- and continue to be -- truly liberating.

Boston Phoenix | Steve Vineberg | 12-14-2005 | Performance

Tags: performance

Toy Glorynew

Be the cool aunt or the deranged uncle this holiday season. Let the other folk in your family buy the iDog or the RoboRaptor. You're going to get gifts the kids will actually remember -- for better or worse.

Boston Phoenix | Bill Jensen | 12-13-2005 | Shopping

Tags: giftguide2005

Inspect a Gadgetnew

Each year, the mainstream media proclaims the holiday season "The Year of the Gadget." As the mainstream media's b.s. detector, we are here to tell you that this is the first bona fide Year of the Gadget.

Boston Phoenix | Ryan Stewart | 12-13-2005 | Shopping

Tags: giftguide2005

Power of Attorneynew

Phoenix Wright isn’t a cyborg attorney from the future, or an attorney cum hitman. He’s a regular defense lawyer, and he instantly becomes one of the most engaging video-game protagonists to date.

Boston Phoenix | Mitch Krpata | 12-12-2005 | Video Games

Tags: video games

Life Less Ordinarynew

Continuing in the puzzling but welcome tradition of previous platform-exclusive titles like the Grand Theft Auto series, last year's Half-Life 2 lands on the Xbox.

Boston Phoenix | Aaron Solomon | 12-05-2005 | Video Games

Tags: video games