1. Art

On the Lam

Wifredo Lam's peripatetic life and exotic background combined for a compelling blend of human elements

By Michael Mills

Published: March 13, 2008

It's relatively early in the year, I know, but "Wifredo Lam in North America" is such a knockout that I'm prepared to go ahead and declare it one of the best exhibitions of 2008. Yes,...

2. Dish

Not Your Average Jo

City Diner cuts the mustard

By Gail Shepherd

Published: March 13, 2008

I don't want to go all maudlin here, but what the hell happened to diners? Maybe they do exist still, like endangered pachyderms retreating ever farther into inaccessible forest; you...

3. Dish

King Fisher

By John Linn

Published: March 13, 2008

These days, it's not just a question of where to find fresh produce, meat, and fish. It has to be organic. Local. Ethical. One market might have juicy, just-harvested sugar cane or...

4. DVDish

Three the Hard Way

By Robert Wilonsky and Jordan Harper

Published: March 13, 2008

No Country for Old Men (Paramount) "A horror comedy chase" is how a grinning Tommy Lee Jones describes No Country for Old Men in the making-of — meanwhile, his fellow actors...

5. Feature

The Muscle Men

Inside the "Rejuvenation Centers" at the heart of the nation's largest illegal steroid and HGH operation

By Michael J. Mooney

Published: March 13, 2008

Grass doesn't get any greener than on major-league baseball's spring training fields. It's the annual dawn of each season, when vivacious young hopefuls play catch with millionaire...

6. Film

The Games People Play

Michael Haneke and his brutal home invaders return to implicate you — again

By Jim Ridley

Published: March 13, 2008

For the crime of obliterating high culture, for the crime of getting off on vicarious degradation — and, above all, for the crime of sitting through any movie that resembles...

7. Film

Look Whos Back!

After the unspeakable Grinch, Horton is a surprisingly strong Seuss adaptation

By Ed Gonazalez

Published: March 13, 2008

Was Dr. Seuss, née Theodor Seuss Geisel, oblivious to his own genius? The allegory of his charming Horton Hears a Who! remains fluid today and, like its crafty rhymes, ebbs...

8. Game On

Pounding Headache

Patapon marches to the same damned drummer, over and over again.

By Gary Hodges

Published: March 13, 2008

You'll know in the first few minutes exactly what Patapon has going for it. There's the goofy premise, which casts you as the tribal god Patapon, lord of a band of creatures called,...

9. Letters

Letters for March 13-19, 2008

Published: March 13, 2008

Stars Align You can't keep a good reggae-pop performer down: Incredible... the coincidence is just unbelievable ("Man-Child in the Promised Land," Jonathan Cunningham, March 6)! I...

10. Live Wire

James Cotton

By Jonathan Cunningham

Published: March 13, 2008

Longtime blues man James Cotton cut his teeth playing mouth harp with Sonny Boy Williamson at the tender age of 9 in the Mississippi Delta. His blues harmonica has influenced rock...

11. Live Wire

Badfish

By Jonathan Cunningham

Published: March 13, 2008

Southern California's rock/ska band Sublime was one hell of a music outfit while it lasted. The group, fronted by affable lead singer Bradley Nowell, kicked out funky riffs and dubbed-out...

12. Live Wire

Chick Corea and Gary Burton

By Jason Ferguson

Published: March 13, 2008

Skilled musicians Chick Corea and Gary Burton used to make challenging and experimental jazz albums that verged on the avant-garde. These albums eschewed the spastic joy of the free-jazz...

13. Live Wire

Webb Wilder

By Jason Ferguson

Published: March 13, 2008

It seems strange to say this as a point of differentiation, but Webb Wilder plays rock 'n' roll. Not a hyphenated form of rock 'n' roll, not an ironically rendered reconfiguration...

14. ¡Ask a Mexican!

He Got the Frijoles

Spare Us Your Mangled Clichés

By Gustavo Arellano

Published: March 13, 2008

Dear Mexican: Mexicans are angry that the United States might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country, and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me...

15. Music

Impact Beyond the Stage

R&B singer KEM has spent the past year recording a promising new album but finding even greater joy offstage

By Khary Kimani Turner

Published: March 13, 2008

Life is good when an artist experiences a few career highlights during a slow period. Such is the life of Detroit-based Motown recording artist KEM, who brings his brand of well-received,...

16. Night Watch

Smokin' Salon

The Funky Buddha gets people, ugh, sharing spit and liking it

By Tara Nieuwesteeg

Published: March 13, 2008

When it comes to what goes into my mouth, I'm pretty discriminating. (I'm a vegetarian; what did you think I was talking about?) I also staunchly oppose the "five second" rule, thoroughly...

17. Bob Norman

They Can't Be Beat

Customers claim AutoNation lured them into bad loans

By Bob Norman

Published: March 13, 2008

The loan application for a Honda minivan showed that Jeannette Dorestin pulled in a salary of $2,600 a month from a company called Interealty. The problem was, there was no company...

18. Outtakes

Radio-Active Records Gives Back

Benefit show raises money for the mentally ill

By Jonathan Cunningham

Published: March 13, 2008

If there's one thing you can count on from the good folks at Radio-Active Records, it's their unwavering ability to provide a sense of community. Every time you walk in the friendly...

19. Outtakes

Cosmic American Tragedy

New book explores the life of troubled rocker Gram Parsons

By Bob Ruggiero

Published: March 13, 2008

To his champions, Gram Parsons was a cult hero, musical genius, and the primary inventor of "country rock." But he was also a tragic figure who died prematurely, an artist whose work...

20. Outtakes

Gang Green

Six essential Irish acts that would win St. Paddy's approval

By Lee Zimmerman

Published: March 13, 2008

With another Saint Patrick's Day almost upon us, we'll once again don the green, approximate some lame Irish accents, and prepare to ingest massive amounts of oddly tinted beer. They're...