Spoilers: Bailey has Leukemia; Vincent Kills Paige

On my last day in Texas I bought a copy of Sight and Sound, the British movie magazine best known for a poll it takes every ten years, asking critics and directors to determine the ten greatest movies ever made. It's easy to predict what will make the list-- Citizen Kane is always number one, followed by Rules of the Game and Vertigo and something by Kurosawa.
But that's every ten years. In between polls Sight and Sound does what every other movie magazine does, interviews filmmakers and reviews their movies. The one feature that I haven't found elsewhere, and probably my favorite part of the magazine, are the movie synopses that accompany the reviews. Every movie reviewed is also summarized; it's setting, characters and plot given in some detail with a complete listing of the film's credits. What makes it fun is that every movie receives the same serious treatment, and no matter how bad the review might be the summary is totally serious, with no hint of sarcasm or condescension.
Take this bit from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for instance:

Tibby befriends a young girl, Bailey, later revealed to have leukemia; Lena finds romance with Kostas despite her family's disapproval; Bridget succeeds in seducing the coach; and Carmen has a showdown with her father. Carmen returns home to discover Tibby has become more in touch with her feelings since meeting Bailey. Bailey dies.

It might seem unfair to enjoy that, and granted, I don't know that Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is necessarily a bad movie. Maybe when Bailey dies it's really moving; maybe Tibby's growth is realistic and well acted. But to see the familiar formulas stripped bare and laid out for you, to see clearly what the time, money, and hard work of countless people has gone into, and laugh at them for it, it's what makes me think about buying a subscription to Sight and Sound.
Even better are the horror movies, like House of Wax:

Nick saves his sister. Dalton enters the house of wax and is decapitated by Vincent, who then goes to the clearing to stab Blake. Paige [Paris Hilton] flees, but Vincent drives a metal javelin through her head. Carly and Nick realize the town is full of wax-encased corpses created by Bo and Vincent, the separated Siamese twin sons of the late artist Trudy. Carly kills Bo, and Vincent is engulfed when the House of Wax melts in a fire. The police arrive, and reveal Trudy had three sons.

When previews came out for that movie I heard a lot of people say they wanted to see it just on the off chance that Paris Hilton's character might be killed. I found that idea appealing, but hated the idea that I might pay $7.50 only to watch her make it out alive. Now, thanks to Sight and Sound, if I rent House of Wax I do so with the certainty that Paris Hilton gets a javelin put through her head.

While we're on the subject of spoilers, I would draw your attention to the following link. Be warned, you who care about Harry Potter and have yet to finish The Half Blood Prince, it's very url gives things away.

And one more recommendation-- rapper Immortal Technique. Yes, like many hip hop artists he's egotistical, homophobic, and misogynistic. But he also says things like "Condoleeza Rice is the new age Sally Hemmings," and in my book that makes him great.