5 Things You Need to Know About

MOVIES

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D Directed by Eric Brevig; rated PG; out now To put on 3-D glasses, as cumbersome a visual aid now as they were in the '50s, is already to surrender to cheesiness. This loose take on Jules Verne's novel, with Brendan Fraser as the wayward scientist, is the ideal vehicle for stuff jumping out at you: yo-yos, waterspouts, antennae, dinosaur drool, the works. It's fun for tweens, a sedative for their parents. B-

MUSIC

John Mellencamp Life, Death, Love and Freedom; out July 15 Whereas once his indignation was trained on factory bosses, now it's Mellencamp's own broken-down self that's got him pissed. Producer T Bone Burnett creates delicate acoustics and puts the singer's disappointment ("Well I used to have some values") center stage. It will not brighten your day, but it's his best in a decade. A-

The Hold Steady Stay Positive; out July 15 These rock jams about aging hipsters from a band of aging hipsters are cut-rate Springsteen, right down to Craig Finn's croaky vocals and keyboard-riff rapture. But suckers for the veneration of things white people like (water towers, daddy issues, Joe Strummer) and fear (aging, townies, not being cool) will undoubtedly be charmed. B

DVDS

The Bank Job Directed by Roger Donaldson; rated R; out July 15 Based on the 1971 robbery of a London bank, this savory heist film adds spicy photos of aristocrats to the haul. Jason Statham, ever the East End Bruce Willis, leads the amateur cracksmen as they get tangled in about 56 subplots involving MI5, good and bad cops, porn dealers, black radicals and jealous wives. A burly, burrowing pleasure. B+

BOOKS

The Black Hole War By Leonard Susskind; out now This is the story of a 25-year argument between physicists Susskind and Stephen Hawking over what happens to stuff that falls into a black hole. Hawking says it disappears; Susskind disagrees. You could dismiss it all as nerd-on-nerd violence, but then you'd miss out on Susskind explaining why the universe is actually a hologram. B+