There are few actors working today who are more appealing than Forest Whitaker. His physical appearance alone is enthralling enough, lugubriously stalking the screen like a soulful, wonky-eyed bear. He's also a top-notch actor, regularly rising above lesser material, as in, we fear, his latest flick, "Repo Men" -- a high-concept sci-fi gore-fest in which he appears as a futuristic human organ ...

Of all Tim Burton's achievements, retaining an aura of cool despite making megabucks-movies for Disney is perhaps his most impressive. Key to the director's retention of his super-stylized, auteur vision is his supporting cast of regular collaborators. No shoehorned-in star turns from teen-flick dreamboats for Mr. Burton; where he goes, so does his troupe of quirky and eccentric players. Johnny ...

You don't go to contemporary country music for style tips, unless too-tight tank tops, overly-manicured facial hair and shiny. 10-gallon hats are your idea of a good look. (Nope. It's all yours, Tim McGraw). But that doesn't mean the world of twangy guitars and cowboy boots hasn't produced a few fashion icons in its time. And no one has better represented Nashville cool than Johnny Cash -- the ...

Plenty of modern bands know their way around a pair of skinny jeans, but rarely do they appreciate the value of a really great suit. Tindersticks are an exception. Formed in the early '90s, Stuart Staples and his cohorts slumped at the bar, sipping cocktails and looking elegantly wasted in Savile Row's finest while their Britpop peers were swilling pints and swaggering around the dance floor in ...

"I'm New Here," fibs the title of Gil Scott Heron's latest album. Certainly, it's been a while since the Chicago-born poet and singer had a new record in stores -- 15 years, in fact, and his previous disc, 1995's "Spirits," broke a 12-year hiatus. If anything, however, his reputation has only grown in the years since his productive heyday. Of all the people who could claim to be hip-hop before ...

Of all the epithets you could throw at "Lost" -- baffling, geeky, baffling, implausible, did we mention baffling? -- cool isn't really one of them. Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cuse ("Lost"'s head writers and resident nerd icons) long ago gave up on making the kind of show about which you could casually chat to non-fanboy friends without their eyes immediately glazing over. Now, as the island-based ...

We all need a lil' more Wayne in our lives. Whether that extends to buying an album where the hip-hop megastar tries his hand at rock music, we're not so sure, but it's always nice to see Weezy back in the spotlight. Next week's "Rebirth," Wayne's seventh album, follows hot on the heels of his Young Money label's December-issued comp "We Are Young Money." Not far behind "Rebirth" is the eagerly ...

It's hard to imagine Charles Darwin as anything other than the giant-white-bearded, Santa Claus–esque figure of his later years. Regardless, we were nonetheless pretty pleased to see that British actor Paul Bettany was tapped for the role of the great naturalist in new biopic "Creation." The London-born thespian has accrued a solid filmography over a decade-or-so-long career (ignoring his ...

British author William Somerset Maugham once said, "The well-dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice." While we don't fully subscribe to that view -- this is a fashion column, after all -- there's truth to the idea that you should have to scratch the surface a little to get to the true sense of a dude's style. Willem Dafoe has taken that approach to both his career and his wardrobe. ...

Happy birthday, Elvis! The late Mr. Presley would have turned 75 this week, and what better way to mark the occasion than adopting some of his most iconic fashions? So, will you opt for the ill-fitting sequined tiger jumpsuit with giant comedy collar or the sexy all-leather look from the '68 comeback special? Hold it, fellas. As much as we love late-period Elvis, there's a lot more to the King ...