To soothe what ails his aching psyche, Barry Kerch needs no antidepressant pill or psychiatrist's couch - just a drum kit and concert stage. The prescription of live rock also aids other members of Shinedown. Their emotion-roiling songs not only please fans but serve as a catharsis for the quartet, whose personal foibles often serve as inspiration for lyrics. For them, a live concert functions as a massive support group that helps Shinedown shed angst.

Maybe it’s because I’m a dad myself, but flicks with vengeful fathers have been added to my list of not-so-guilty popcorn-movie pleasures.

Oscar nominees Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren chew the scenery at will in "The Last Station," an account of the final year in the life of “War and Peace” author Leo Tolstoy.

While Hollywood pats itself on its bloated, vainglorious back for a year of “cinematic achievement,” the equally snobby and self-righteous Golden Raspberry awards sneak in the servants’ entrance and try to crash the party.

Bob Peterson didn’t need a phone call to wake him up Tuesday morning. The Dover native learned he’s in the running for an Academy Award by watching the nominations being announced on TV.

Ten films have been nominated for best picture this Academy Awards season -- that doubles the number of movies you need to see if you're going to be informed for your office Oscar pool. Here's a handy at-a-glance guide to the 10 nominees for the highest honor in Hollywood, courtesy of our reviewers.

Here are the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards. The Oscars will be broadcast March 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC.

To overanalyze the Grammys is to legitimize them, and we wouldn’t want to do a crazy thing like that, now would we? OK, fine – maybe that’s being a little too churlish. If the Grammys are about as relevant a musical barometer as, well, any other play-it-safe awards pageant out there, they may yet make some good choices with this year’s slate of nominees.

In “The Lovely Bones,” slain 14-year-old Susie Salmon isn’t in heaven or hell. Rather, she’s in “the in-between,” that bright blue horizon line where the setting sun touches the earth.

The Oscars will be bigger than ever this year, as the field for best picture expands from five to 10 nominees. That means fan favorites like “Avatar,” “Star Trek” and “The Hangover” just might make the cut, whereas in past years they would not.

It’s easier to watch a formulaic, mind-numbing chick flick like “When In Rome” if the leading man shucks his shirt to reveal perfect pecs and a taut tummy. That’s escapism. Sadly, Josh Duhamel, the hunk du jour in the romantic comedy “When in Rome,” keeps his chest – and charisma – under wraps.

Midday snow showers Thursday did not stop crowds of people from flocking to Harvard Square looking to get a glimpse of this year’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year – Anne Hathaway.

“House of the Devil” is a near-perfect re-creation of a low-budget 1980s horror movie, one of those films that lurked on the bottom shelf of the video store, below their better-known “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” brethren.

"Creation" often gets lost in period-piece trivialities instead of messy human emotions.

With apologies to Jim Croce, you don't mess around with Mel. Especially when he plays a dour police detective who watches his daughter get blown away right in front of him outside his Boston home in the new film "Edge of Darkness."