A&E

While 2008 didn't reach the pinnacle of video game awesomeness that 2007 embodied, the past 12 months also provided an incredible lineup of hardcore titles from nearly every genre, with "Metal Gear Solid 4," "Fallout 3" and "Grand Theft Auto IV" emerging as the most stunning available releases.

Films released in January are not expected to be Oscars. What is expected of the new year is basically new trash, so make sure you keep your expectations low when going into "Bride Wars." However, even with those lowly standards, "Bride Wars" is just an absolute failure. It is downright bad.

Scotland has produced a lot of solid music. Plenty of relatively successful bands make the transition in the states, and even nowadays you'll seldom find hipsters who don't name-drop Belle & Sebastian within their first five sentences when talking about music. So it's easy to give a band the benefit of a doubt, especially if they've already received so much critical acclaim by all those charming U.K. critics, and a lot of it is good. But then again, a lot of it is bad.

Review of Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion".

One of the most anticipated dramas of the season, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" illustrates delightfully rich storytelling. Benjamin Button's (Brad Pitt) journey is presented in a wistful, melancholic manner, emphasizing the rawness of loss, death and looming mortality. Director David Fincher's haunting fable is unlike many other dramas of its kind. This epic tale is about a man who ages backwards, coming into the world as an infant suffering from all the infirmities of an 80-year-old man. As each year passes, Benjamin becomes younger and younger until he achieves infancy at the end of his life.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is currently presenting "Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913–2008," the first major exhibition bringing together the magazine's historic archive of rare vintage photographs and magazine covers with its contemporary photos. The exhibition, which opened Oct. 28, 2008, explores the ways in which photography and celebrity have interacted and changed, with portraits from the magazine's early period (1913–1936) and the contemporary Vanity Fair period (1983–present) as well as behind-the-scenes videos from key Vanity Fair shoots.

Clint Eastwood has been on the Hollywood shortlist for directing quality films since directing Sean Penn and Tim Robbins to Oscar acclaim in 2003's "Mystic River," winning the Best Director Oscar for 2004's "Million Dollar Baby" and weathering the lukewarm reception to "Changeling" earlier this year. But that doesn't excuse movie studios from throwing money at Clint and blindly accepting whatever stained package he gives them in return. This unchecked power has given us "Gran Torino."

Ah, the year in music. Like virtually every year, there was something for everyone in 2008.

Lonely robots, rambunctious villains and curious children were all part of the cinema stew in 2008, as Hollywood recovers from a whirlwind year of record-shattering ticket sales, heated writers' strikes and the passing of a few wonderful actors. With the Oscar race in its final lap, here's a look back at the year's best, by category.

Internationally renowned violist Jerzy Kosmala participated in the second Faculty Master Class last Monday as part of an inaugural series of events organized by the UC Irvine Music Department. Students performed pieces from some of classical music's greatest composers to a diverse audience of professors, students and community members.

"We are the last bastion against crappy, sound-alike radio in Orange County," says its philosophy on the KUCI website. "We are the voice of freedom for all the independent music that gets snubbed by the major labels. We are the defenders of the faith for those who choose to express a different opinion. We are corporate rock's worst nightmare. We are KUCI."

Overblown stage? Check. Melodic, atmospheric and sing-along numbers? Check. Two-hour rock spectacular? Definitely check. Coldplay in concert? Worth every painful penny.