Blaze of glory
George Palathingal Arcade Fire are back with album Reflektor and a dazzling new sound, which they're bringing to the Big Day Out in January.
Critics' picks
The Butler was inspired by a 2008 newspaper article about a black butler named Eugene Allen who worked at the White House - six days a week, never missing a shift - under eight US presidents, from Truman to Reagan. Taking a fictional leap with powerful results, director Lee Daniels' film is about Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker, pictured), a butler who sees US racial history remade after joining the White House in the 1950s.
Industrial strength
Craig Mathieson Trent Reznor is taking a sure-footed approach to a new era in the evolution of Nine Inch Nails.
It's a small world after all
Elissa Blake It's not quite rock'n'roll but Hi-5 love hitting the road and performing for their littlest fans.
My perfect weekend . . .
I'm very lucky, my ideal weekend is what I get up to every weekend. I'm new to Sydney, I moved from Melbourne eight months ago for my partner's work, and I like to spend time finding new things. I'm always so pleasantly surprised - the city is so picturesque and stunning.
Screen Grabs
Hypothetical suspects
GILES HARDIE Who would Bryan Singer cast if he were making his 1995 hit The Usual Suspects today?
Thor 2
Chris Hemsworth heats up Thor's block of ice
Jenny Cooney Carrillo Lightning strikes twice for Chris Hemsworth, who is back as the god of thunder.
Album
Arcade Fire's Reflektor likely to ignite blazing reaction
GEORGE PALATHINGAL Arcade Fire are back with fourth album Reflektor and you can bet the reaction will be as different as their dazzling new sound.
I love a good museum
Cal Wilson When it comes to museums, something old always delivers something new.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem: Two sides linked by deadly bonds
STEPHANIE BUNBURY A story from the Israel-Palestinian conflict tries to show those involved as genuine people.
Goldfinger
Showtime for Bond songs
MICHAEL LALLO A live stage show will feature 23 Bond film signature songs.
Album
Cut Copy are reticent conquering heroes
CRAIG MATHIESON On the day their fourth album, the impressive Free Your Mind, releases in Australia, the electronic quartet are beginning two months of international dates.
Screen grabs
GILES HARDIE Get ready to feel old. The Usual Suspects is now old enough to drink and vote.
Sticky carpet
Mary Mihelakos Dan Sultan's Back To Basics national solo tour brings him to the Thornbury Theatre tomorrow and Monday.
The crate
CHRIS JOHNSTON A Way of Life captures Suicide as partially deranged, beautiful losers speeding towards freedom.
Crunching numbers
Michael Dwyer There's no shortage of tunes or electricity when three of our most accomplished singer-songwriters join forces.
Hadley stays true to '80s romantic roots
Sarah Thomas Former Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley is still living his dream life.
Keeping a grip in the whirlwind of fame
CRAIG MATHIESON Her star shines bright, but Louisa Rose Allen has some issues with success.
Second album success story
Jeff Apter Nashville and a top US producer called for Farewell Fitzroy, Tom Busby tells Jeff Apter.
Shortlist weekly album reviews
This week: Moonface, The Rides, Ron D. Peno and the Superstitions, Sleigh Bells and more.
Melbourne film listings
Philippa Hawker and Jake Wilson New releases this week: Sister, Thor: The Dark World, The Butler and more.
Machete Kills
Back as the blade runner
Jenny Cooney Carrillo Danny Trejo returns as a vengeful secret agent in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills.
Critics' picks
Survival stories are all the rage in Hollywood. After Gravity comes Captain Phillips, with Tom Hanks (pictured) as a cargo ship captain kidnapped by Somali pirates. Based on real life events in 2009, it's a gripping drama directed by Paul Greengrass, who made The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum and another impressive hijacking tale in United 93. Newcomer Barkhad Abdi impresses as the intense pirate leader Muse. After seeing this, then Robert Redford as a solo sailor struggling to survive in All At Sea early next year, you may never set foot in a boat again. For a very different experience in art-house cinemas, the black-and-white silent film Blancanieves is a stylish Spanish take on Snow White.
Learning to keep the faith
Peter VIncent Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland says now it's all about the love.
A night on the town with Chopper
Rhys Muldoon I'll begin where I ended, asleep in Chopper's spare bedroom in Tasmania. I'm awoken, and I'll use the word ''abruptly'' as I've never been awoken by a large tattooed man with no ears before. Yes, it was Chopper and he was very close to my face. ''Hey, Rhys, hey, wake up mate.''
Miller's place in eternity
Elissa Blake A great but often overlooked American classic is christening Darlinghurst's new theatre.
My perfect weekend . . .
Sarah Thomas ''Work has me out of town a lot, so if I'm at home I'm a bit of a homebody on the weekends. I would probably sneak in a yoga class at Body Mind Life Rozelle. I love what it does for my dance practice; it boosts my training and physical performance and I get to relax in a chilled out atmosphere at the end of a busy rehearsal week.
Rabbit in the headlights
Bronwyn Thompson Boy & Bear's Dave Hosking found the band's initial rapid rise terrifying to deal with.
Smaug to the rescue
GILES HARDIE Benedict Cumberbatch has had a bad week, as The Fifth Estate bombed at US and UK box offices, but his next film is a guaranteed winner. He voices the dragon Smaug in The Hobbitmovies. Screen Grabs visited Middle Earth to meet the cast and crew in anticipation ofThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which will be out on Boxing Day. In our day on set, we learnt of five different Hobbits we nearly got instead.
The inspirational force of beauty
Garry Maddox A French drama about Renoir's muse has drawn huge box-office numbers.
The Partridge family
Kylie Northover Steve Coogan reunited with his original collaborators to revive Alan Partridge.
Sisters create a bigger, tougher, darker sound
ANNABEL ROSS Stonefield have been busy in the recording studio.
Comment
Surely kids can listen to decent music
Dave O'Neil Hi-5 are a gateway drug that leads to Bieber and One Direction.
Hail, Captain Everyman
Jenny Cooney Carrillo Tom Hanks has had a knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
NIN
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor doesn't want audiences' nostalgia
Craig Mathieson Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor still pushes boundaries, which surprisingly resonated with Kanye West's latest album Yeezus.
Screen grabs
GILES HARDIE Benedict Cumberbatch has had a bad week but his next film is a guaranteed winner.
Stage whispers
John Bailey As usual the Melbourne Festival's set to end with a bang, this time in the form of WERK.
Sticky carpet
Mary Mihelakos The line-up for the eighth Golden Plains festival includes You Am I, Neko Case and Yo La Tengo.
The crate: Country Girl
CHRIS JOHNSTON Warning: this song probably objectifies women. Maybe. Chris Johnston's not sure.
Steve Coogan
'It's sort of a low-rent Die Hard, I suppose'
KYLIE NORTHOVER Steve Coogan finally brings his best-loved creation, Alan Partridge, to the big-screen in an unlikely tale of digital radio, hostages and old-fashioned English prejudice.
Shortlist weekly album reviews
This week: Katy Perry, Grass House, Bill Callahan, Motörhead and Scott & Charlene's Wedding.
Melbourne film listings
Philippa Hawker and Jake Wilson New releases this week: Renoir, Blancanieves, Captain Phillips and more.
Another one for swindler's list
Steve Dow Matt Hetherington returns to the stage and the role of a con man in musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Beast brings on the primal instincts
Patrick Emery Tex Perkins explains why his latest incarnation, the Ape, is more than a 'Perko' side project.
Beyond the American dream
Craig Mathieson Brisbane rockers Violent Soho have turned their US stint into their best album yet.
Breaking the mould
Peter Vincent Eskimo Joe's latest album Wastelands is a big shift away from their old sound.
Critics' picks
Australian director Ivan Sen has built a following with two heartfelt dramas that deal sensitively with the struggles of indigenous Australians - the tender Beneath Clouds then the confronting Toomelah. Now comes Mystery Road, an impressive outback western that is a step towards more mainstream filmmaking. Aaron Pedersen (pictured) plays an Aboriginal detective investigating a teenage girl's murder in a country town.
Ryan Kwanten
Magical mystery tour back to home territory
Jenny Cooney Carrillo Working for Ivan Sen drew Ryan Kwanten back for Mystery Road.
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