Sarah Vowell

Hole drummer Patty Schemel's feisty personality infuses this fast-paced film, which not only documents her rollercoaster experiences with drug addition but also provides a lucid exploration of the Seattle grunge scene. Both aspects of the movie are fascinating, as the film is assembled with an energetic sense of humour and some startlingly intimate moments. But the level of detail sometimes makes it all feel rather dense to audience members who are unfamiliar with the music.

It's no wonder that Hole has been referred to as "the ultimate dysfunctional family"; the line-up has changed drastically over the years since Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson founded the band in 1989. They were introduced to Patty Schemel by Kurt Cobain, and later recruited bassist Kristen Pfaff to form their original line-up. In 1994, the drugs-related deaths of both Cobain and Pfaff, barely two months apart, shook them all to the core. Although they didn't stop their partying ways, and maintained their creative momentum with new bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. 

Subtitled The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel, the film recounts events of these years through Schemel's eyes, infusing the film with her raucous wit. Extensive clips of Hole's mammoth 1995 world tour give a vivid look at their drug-fuelled backstage antics, while interviews with the bandmates and other musicians tell the story in as much detail as they can remember (there are some fuzzy memories, understandably!). There's also rare performance footage and personal home movies, much of which was shot by Love. A sequence featuring Cobain, Love and their daughter Frances is almost shockingly intimate, giving a flavour of how these people lived as an extended family.

Continue reading: Hit So Hard Review

Far less funny and considerably more violent than audiences have come to expect from Pixar movies, "The Incredibles" is the animation studio's first feature to lack the winsome pizzazz that makes for mandatory repeat viewing.

Created by Brad Bird, the writer-director of "The Iron Giant," one of the greatest animated movies of all time, the story revolves around a family of far too sincerely glum superheroes trying hard to live normal suburban lives at a time when frivolous lawsuits have made saving the world cost-prohibitive.

But out of their spandex, they're just a bunch of sitcom clichés. Bob Parr (secretly super-strong do-gooder Mr. Incredible, voiced with idealistic comic-book resonance by Craig T. Nelson) is an irresponsible dad who tries to keep secrets and stupid mistakes from his (literally) stretched-in-every direction wife, Helen (a.k.a. Elastigirl, voiced with adoring irony by Holly Hunter). Their kids are, of course, a hyperactive 8-year-old named Dash (Spencer Fox), who can run 100 mph, and mopey teenage Violet (NPR radio's droll Sarah Vowell), blessed with a gift many junior high girls would kill for -- invisibility.

Continue reading: The Incredibles Review