Blog: Today's Tonic From ModernTonic.com

We are taking an extended holiday and will be back in 2011. Keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter. See you soon! Lies, dreams, and a big 'F you' are just some of our favorite radio moments of 2010. </div... more

Lone Star's title was only half right, while The Event's proved mostly ironic. Even so, there were plenty of reasons to forsake human contact and hole up with your DVR (or your laptop) this year. <em... more

There were plenty of movies worth recommending in 2010, even if lots of them happened to be documentaries. The Kids Are All Right Lisa Cholodenko broke into the mainstream with this sharply... more

There were plenty of movies worth recommending in 2010, even if lots of them happened to be documentaries. The Kids Are All Right Lisa Cholodenko broke into the mainstream with this sharply... more

A rap egomaniac, a masculine-voiced androgyne, rock royalty spawn and an elfin force of nature make up four of this year's Top Ten Albums. Robyn — Body Talk Pt. 1</strong... more

A rap egomaniac, a masculine-voiced androgyne, rock royalty spawn and an elfin force of nature make up four of this year's Top Ten Albums. Robyn — Body Talk Pt. 1</strong... more

Comic or tragic, truth or fiction, this year's best books get under the surface to revel in what lies beneath. Freedom, Jonathan Franzen The inner landscape of a middle-class family is laid bare through rotating first-person narratives, touching on politics... more

Every year around this time, a couple movies come along — usually from director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (Babel, 21 Grams) — that delve into emotional territory so unpleasant we wonder whether they're worth seeing... more

Sometimes the best documentaries are the ones in which the filmmakers don't know what the end results will be. Exit Through the Gift Shop (out Tuesday) started out as one obsessive, would-be director's examination of the underground graffiti scene and wound up as a fascinating exploration of the contemporary art world, raising the question, "Who decides what is... more

Carrie Fisher has been to the edge and back (thanks for the postcards!), but she lets her braids down even further with Wishful Drinking (premieres Sunday). If you missed the writer-actress' introspective one-woman show on Broadway, don... more

Unlike its distant cousins, you can judge a magazine by its cover. The covers of the U.K.'s seminal youth-culture bible i-D magazine have chronicled decades of style-making. Now, upon the glossy's 30th birthday, its editors have gazed in the rearview mirror and taken stock of the past (as most do on their 30th... more

Cuddly families, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, fluffy Christmas trees loaded with festive ornaments...you won't see any of these in the dark Finnish holiday fable Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (now playing in NYC; opens in L.A. December 10). Instead you'll find a vengeful St. Nick encased in ice, reindeer as local cuisine instead of transportation... more

Gifting these books — to friends, family, or yourself — will ensure you're not doling out coal this holiday season. Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, Stephen Sondheim The king of musical theater treats us to the lyrics of his beloved songs... more

Men may come and go (ahem) in our lives, but our girl friends stick around through thick and thin. An examination of the special relationship shared between a girl and her gay arrives in Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys (premieres Tuesday) a reality series following the delectable drama experienced by four platonic pairs in New York. While all... more

As we careen into the holidays, these new music videos have us feeling the spirit. Active Child: "I'm in Your Church at Night" In a storm of flour, three zaftig bakers create angelic human beings, one of whom is L.A.-based songwriter Pat Grossi... more

We love Tom of Finland as much as the next gay, but we occasionally find ourselves moving his penis-laden portfolio from our coffee table when the parents (or the boss) stop by. Hence we're thrilled with Quaintance (out now), a collection of paintings from homoerotic bodybuilding connoisseur and preeminent... more

"If a man is going to black your eye, you're not going to insist he wear a condom," explains J'Mia, a 28-year old HIV-positive mother of three, in the unexpectedly enlightening documentary The Other City (premieres Wednesday). This is the reality of HIV/AIDS in America today, where an out-of-control epidemic is waging a cold war in the shadow of our government... more

We love sorting through the pop culture scrap heap to unearth hidden gems for you, but with so much crap online even Modern Tonic needs to outsource occasionally. Luckily, the YouTube curators at Devour.com have already done the heavy sifting for us, plucking only the choicest cuts... more

Pop music has never wanted for artsy girls. But Cameron Mesirow — who records as the electronic act Glasser — is artsier than most. Her debut Ring (out now) has roots in Kate Bush, Bat for Lashes,http... more

Not since Demi met Patrick has ghost lovin' been so sexy. Miguel (Cristian Mercado) is a scruffy fisherman with a very pregnant wife. Santiago (Manolo Cardona) is his sexy secret lover. The stunning <em... more