Review

***1/2 out of four Let's get the semantics out of the way. This album is not a “rap” album. It is not for anyone whose only knowledge of the Roots is through its new “day job” as house band for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” The Philadelphia crew's 10th studio album is a stone-cold concept record that I had to listen to three times to catch everything. Working backward to tell the story of a hustler named “Redford” (a Sufjan Stevens reference, BTW)

***1/2 (out of four) Many people will recognize themselves, or someone they know, in “Frances Ha” - though there may be an even split between those who specifically recommend the film to the people who would most appreciate it and those who merely say to a third party, “Oh, man. This totally reminds me of [fill in name]. But I'd never tell her that.” Passive-aggressive and expertly generational, “Frances Ha” is either hilarious or devastating, and probably both.

*** (out of four) For an idea of what to expect when you're expecting, don't see “What to Expect When You're Expecting.” Instead check out “Be Good,” another honest, homegrown effort from Chicago writer-director Todd Looby (2009's excellent “Lefty”). Shot primarily in Ravenswood Manor, the movie confronts an incredibly ordinary situation: Mary (Amy Seimetz) returns to her job following her maternity leave, while her husband, Paul (“Lefty” star Thomas J. Madden)

** (out of four) Imagine if Henry James were alive to hear that his 1897 novel had been adapted by writers whose previous work includes the “Dungeons and Dragons” movie and an episode of “Tales from the Crypt.” You can't make up this stuff. Something else that's hard to believe: Julianne Moore playing an irresponsible rock star with a young daughter, Maisie (Onata Aprile), whom Susanna (Moore) treats primarily as collateral in her war with her soon-to-be ex-husband Beale (Steve Coogan)

** (out of four) The hunted-in-the-woods thriller “Black Rock” would excite a lot more fans if Mark Duplass had finished writing the script. Instead, Duplass (the weak “Jeff, Who Lives At Home,” the fantastic “The Puffy Chair”) gives his director/star/"The League" co-star/wife Katie Aselton only bare bones to work with, leading to a 75-minute movie with characters who haven't been thought through at all. For no particular reason, Sarah (Kate Bosworth) invites both Lou (Lake Bell)

What: The first single from the Philadelphia rockers' upcoming sophomore album "Love Sign. " The band's debut "Stuck on Nothing" was one of the most purely enjoyable records of 2010. Recommended if you like: Cowbell, singing along with choruses, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. " It's impossible not to hear the similiarities. Does that get in the way of being thrilled for the band's ridiculously hummable, air guitar-worthy return? Not at all. Avoid if you hate: Fun, summer, driving with the windows down...

I didn't think anything could make me as cranky as a Rob Schneider movie does. (OK, his buddy Adam Sandler's movies do too.) But more to the point: Now there's "Rob!" ( 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, CBS; zero stars ) Schneider's confounding new sitcom that delivers some of the worst jokes put to paper about immigration, rape and many other racist and stereotypical behavior. And I swear I'm not going to play the "politically correct" card here. I'm just trying to say that this show is not funny--at all. Schneider stars a white, middle-aged, longtime...

"Bones" creator Hart Hanson and Fox used their successful series "Bones" to launch "The Finder," but it pales in comparison to that quirky, clever detective drama. Based on a series of novels by Richard Greener, "The Finder" ( 8 p.m. Thursday, Fox; 2 stars ) tells the story of Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults), a former military policeman who believes that the brain injury he suffered from an Iraqi booby trap has given him the uncanny ability to find anyone or anything--anywhere.

Review: Little Goat 820 W. Randolph St. 312-888-3455 Rating: 3.5 (out of 4) Heating up Stephanie Izard earned a loyal following when she brought home a "Top Chef" title in 2008. When her new restaurant Girl & the Goat opened in 2010 to rave reviews, she became even more adored. And now, with the opening of Little Goat, her spin on a classic East Coast diner, it seems fitting that the chef who had the whole city talking about pig face now is serving a smoked pork milkshake with a cherry on top. Opened last month in the West Loop, Little Goat has a lot going on....

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**1/2 (out of four) In an indie film about a single mom struggling to make ends meet, you can pretty much assume that at some point she'll lose money and spend time in a strip club. It's just par for the course. “About Sunny,” however, discovers revealing ambiguities in typical material. Divorced Vegas mom Angela (Lauren Ambrose of “Six Feet Under”) says she gets drinks at a strip club just because it's near her house, but it seems like she's there to reassure herself that, having not given in to dancing, she still has exerted a measure of choice in her life.

*1/2 (out of four) Confirmed: 2013 is the year of movie amnesia. “Fast and Furious 6” marks the third time in fewer than three months (following “Upside Down” and “Trance”) a film has incorporated that soap-opera staple, and the plot point ain't improving with age. Neither is the “Fast” series, which perhaps assumes viewers also have amnesia and thus includes quick snippets from the past five films (which saw an increase in fun with 2011's “Fast Five”)

Mini-review: Saucy Porka 400 S. Financial Place 312-662-1351 Rating: 3 (out of four) Off to a good start Located on an odd little side street in the Financial District, Amy Le's Asian-Latin fusion lunch spot has the feel of a neighborhood restaurant in a part of town populated by sandwich chains in every direction. The former Duck N Roll food truck owner didn't stray far from her roots: Her first restaurant serves cross-cultural comfort food to the lunch masses in the Loop just as her food truck did, garnering a fan base of loyal customers along...

*** (out of four) If by chance you own pet dogs, chickens or giraffes, do not bring them to “The Hangover: Part III.” Things don't go well for animals in the movie. Things never go well for the Wolf Pack, as they are once again in over their heads in this funny and quick-moving finale to a trilogy that didn't need to be a trilogy, but made improvements with each film. Actually, “The Hangover” now bests the “Iron Man” franchise by a half-star (8-7.5 total) in my book.

New Slaves: ***1/2 (out of 4) Black Skinhead: *** (out of 4) Kanye West's face appeared on 66 buildings across the country last Friday to premiere his new song, "New Slaves. " Just days earlier, Kanye had endearingly declared himself "not a celebrity" at an NYC show--now he was stopping traffic while 20-foot-tall projections of his mug spit lyrics of equal proportion: "My mama was raised in the era when/clean water was only served to the fairer skinned/Doing clothes you would have thought I had help/but they wasn't satisfied unless I...

***1/2 (out of four) Daft Punk has always made music that contemplates our relationship with technology, and much of what they foresaw has happened: Our loves are digital (i.e. OkCupid) and so is our music (i.e. Skrillex). The French electronic duo has become one of the most influential musical acts of its generation while limitless amazement about the future has mostly receded in favor of a digital culture interested in re-blogging random scraps of our past - say, a “Soul Train” video tweaked for a modern audience, as was done...

*1/2 (out of four) Looking “Scream” in the face and blurting, “You call that self-referential?” the horror-comedy “Detention” unfolds with the hyperactive, exaggerated cleverness of Generation Now. That's not a compliment. Some people called “Project X” an obnoxious encapsulation of today's attention span-deprived adolescents; I'll take 20 wild parties before one onslaught of pop culture references so pleased with themselves they may as well be mumbled into a mirror.

*1/2 (out of four) Meetings between a troubled child and the fairy godmother who lends a hand don't get much more woeful than sassy, redheaded Glenda (Blake Lively) nearly urinating on 13-year-old Luli (Chloe Grace Moretz of “Dark Shadows” and “Hugo”) as the young girl lies in a ditch on the side of the road. With the Smith & Wesson .45 she received for her birthday, Luli has left her drunken mother (Juliette Lewis) behind in Nebraska and set off for Las Vegas, where she hopes to discover a world of excitement and opportunity.

***1/2 (out of four) The perpetually delayed release of French Montana's debut full-length “Excuse My French” has become a running joke among rap fans. Yet while it's amazing the record is finally here, it's a borderline miracle that “French” is actually awesome. Like his fellow torchbearer of contemporary New York hip-hop A$AP Rocky, French Montana is not a particularly memorable rapper, nor one who has many ties to any local sound. His voice is unremarkably gravelly, his delivery is blocky and his lyrics stick to the obvious.

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