Tommy Director Dead at 84

Pioneering Frenchman directed 50+ films

(NEWSER) - Eric Rohmer, a leading light of the French New Wave and a prolific filmmaker for over 4 decades, died today in Paris. He was 89. Overshadowed early in his career by Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, Rohmer made his mark with his "Six Moral Tales," released from 1963 through 1972. They include My Night at Maud's, for which he received an Oscar nomination, and Claire's Knee. More»

DC's funk pioneer is gone

(NEWSER) - Chuck Brown, who created the "go-go" genre of funk in DC in the 1970s and remained a mainstay of black Washington's culture ever since, has died at age 75, reports the Washington Post . A snippet from the paper's obituary, by Chris Richards:

• "Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because 'the music just goes and goes.'" Full piece here .

He sang and played drums for the group

(AP) - With songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek," The Band fused rock, blues, folk, and gospel to create a sound that seemed as authentically American as a Mathew Brady photograph or a Mark Twain short story. In truth, the group had only one American—Levon Helm. Helm, the drummer and singer who brought an urgent beat and a genuine Arkansas twang to some of The Band's best-known songs and helped turn a bunch of musicians known mostly as Bob Dylan's backup group into one of rock's legendary acts, has died at 71. More»

Singer suffered fatal heart attack

(NEWSER) - Monkees frontman Davy Jones died of a heart attack this morning in Florida at the age of 66. Jones had the heart attack in his home, and was taken to Martin Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, a spokesman tells TMZ . He gave what turned out to be his final performance just 10 days ago in Oklahoma. More»

Salon offers up a mid-year list

(NEWSER) - Now that we're more than halfway through 2011, the Salon staff compiled the best books, movies, music, and TV of the year so far. Among its recommendations:

• Film: Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is quite good—but Lee Chang-dong's Poetry, about a 66-year-old woman who may have Alzheimer's, is a masterpiece. Another surprising inclusion: Matthew McConaughey-vehicle The Lincoln Lawyer, directed by Brad Furman.
• Books: You'd never know The Pale King, David Foster Wallace's third and last novel, was actually unfinished at the time of his death and pieced together by his longtime editor. Also worth checking out: novelist Andre Dubus III's memoir, Townie.