I sure hope Russell Crowe has a sense of humor about himself. Otherwise, when he sees “Tropic Thunder” it won’t be telephones he’ll throw around, it’ll be people. Specifically, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller and a writer or two.

Since 1986, Ethnic Fest has been a celebration of Tacoma’s cultural melting pot. And this weekend, 55,000 revelers are expected to turn out to newly renovated Wright Park for a weekend of exotic sounds, savory cuisine and captivating dance during the festival’s 23rd annual run.

By I have a rule. After many years of doing this job, I’ve learned that as a general rule the sooner an action movie serves up A) a car chase or B) a helicopter flyover the likelier it is to dump.

Welcome home, servicemen and women. And thank you, thank you, thank you, for all you do.

Farmers markets make me hungry. Perusing produce, seafood, meat and dairy at farmers markets in Tacoma, Puyallup, Gig Harbor and Olympia is a good way to work up an appetite.

There’s no way of sugar-coating this: Doughnuts – fried in oil and dripping with artery-clogging appeal – aren’t good for us. But, oh, do the best of them taste good: sweet and tender, cakey and crackly, begging to be dunked in coffee or milk. With that in mind, I toured South Sound’s independent doughnut shops looking for the best of what’s bad for us.

Something creepy this way comes. It’s “Beowulf.”

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock starts out with Foghat’s “Slow Ride” and just keeps getting better.

Jerry Seinfeld brings his A-game to “Bee Movie.” To a picture pulsing with bright gumdrop colors, he brings a sharp comic sensibility that adds edge to what otherwise might have been a too-sweet animated treat.

Rockaraoke night at Jazzbones isn’t your sissy karaoke night. With a live band and a gung ho following, it’s karaoke on ’roids! Another round of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ anyone? Rockaraoke is to regular karaoke as the Incredible Hulk is to Mini Me. It’s bigger. It’s bolder. It’s rowdier.

The Orange Box, a collection of five amazing games from Valve Software in Redmond, is so full of good gaming, you might not know where to begin.

It’s difficult to imagine anyone better suited to write and direct “Into the Wild” than Sean Penn. The story of an independent-minded young man who chose to divorce himself from American society and venture far into the Alaskan wilderness on a journey of self-discovery obviously resonated deeply with the fiercely independent-minded Penn.

Two culinary crazes have arrived in the South Sound: cupcakes and conveyor-belt sushi. Here are First Bites of both.

In the song “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan ponders, “Can you fake it for just one more show?”

Illogic and grim nonsense rule the day in “3:10 to Yuma.”

ABOARD THE SPIRIT OF WASHINGTON – I caught the dinner-train spirit on the inaugural run from Tacoma to Lake Kapowsin this month.

Halfway through the first rendition of “My Sharona,” I realized that karaoke at Bob’s Java Jive wasn’t my cup of cappuccino. I wanted something richer and smoother, more mellow and flavorful.

I own no fewer than five pairs of “Simpsons” underwear (boxers, not briefs). There’s a can of Buzz Cola sitting on top of my computer as I write this.

Though its rap-rock brethren have fallen from favor, Linkin Park endures thanks to having a strong pop element in its music. Rap rock, or “nu metal,” is dead.

If the Harry Potter series gets any darker, theaters will have to start handing out miner’s helmets with lights to help moviegoers penetrate the gloom.

The days are long. Whether the heat wants to play along, that’s another matter. But summer’s here, darn it, and I’m determined to celebrate the season like it’s 99 degrees.

Lock the door.

Ne-Yo has blown up like few other artists in recent months, having scored a pair of chart-topping albums with “In My Own Words” and this year’s “Because of You.”

“Ocean’s Thirteen” is all about the scam. Two-thirds of the picture is devoted to setting it up. The final third is given over to pulling it off.

The Police are back on the beat.

Welcome to the jolly world of “Shrek the Third.”

MassLine Media – Thursday’s main attraction at Hell’s Kitchen – is the Seattle musical collective that includes three of the hottest names in Northwest hip-hop.

If “Spider-Man 3” was the first “Spider-Man” movie, it would be the best “Spider-Man” ever.

I was out the door and en route to Tacoma Szechuan almost as fast as I’d answered the telephone.