AP - 3 Doors Down, "3 Doors Down" (Universal Republic): Fist-pumping arena rock is a favorite target for critics, who remain somewhat baffled as to why these bands continue to fill major venues and play upward of 300 shows a year.

AP - Scarlett Johansson, "Anywhere I Lay My Head" (Atco): Memo to lovely, young actresses: Just because you're a performer who looks beautiful on camera does not mean you can sing. Do not be fooled into releasing a record. Seriously, don't.

Reuters - "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" seems to be more of a sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" than to the last film in the adventure series 19 years ago.

AP - You see the hat before the hero — that famous fedora, the one that stays put through every tricky situation, or at least at arm's length for a hasty getaway. And of course he still has the whip, the paralyzing fear of snakes and the catchy John Williams theme song that will surely gnaw at your brain for hours afterward.

Reuters - With established acts dominating the lineup of southern California's annual KROQ Weenie Roast y Fiesta Saturday, the fans knew what to expect and the bands knew exactly what to deliver.

Reuters - If Woody Allen's geographical shift from Manhattan to London caused some to see a more serious and philosophical side to him, his progression to Barcelona for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" might, for others, represent a welcome return to the neurotic, impetuous romances of his "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" and even his "Husbands and Wives" periods.

AP - A new staging of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" has been retooled for shock value, moving the setting to the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center and inserting liberal doses of flabby flesh and Hitler in drag.

AP - "But Didn't We Have Fun? An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870" (286 pages, Ivan R. Dee, $27.50) by Peter Morris: Any institution that endures in American culture passes through an interesting transitional period — the time when it straddles the line between an informal practice and a more structured, formal activity.

Reuters - Big is not necessarily better for the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" movie, which reaches theaters on May 30.

Reuters - Martial arts movies have always had a certain cartoonish element, so DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" makes perfect sense.

Reuters - "Waltz With Bashir," a self-styled "animated documentary" from Israeli television director Ari Folman, adds its voice to the maelstrom that has swarmed through Middle Eastern politics for decades.