2 + 2 = 5.

1) M83 live at the Hollywood Knitting Factory (9/18/2004).

Epic, widescreen music in a tiny, intimate club. Highlight: "Gone"-- all DAT strings 'n' beats and dueling, dissonate guitars that would make Kevin Shields proud.

2) The cast of Criminal.

By the end of the film the wires were showing and the stage machinery was creaking, but that cast just kept gliding with their charm and talent.

3 and 4) The Prodigy's "The Way It Is" (from the album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned) and Mylo's "In My Arms" (from the album Destroy Rock & Roll).
So sue me, I dig on the new Prodigy album. The album's been getting a drubbing in the press but I love it in all its unoriginal, go-for-the-obvious block-rockin' beats. My favorite track is "The Way It Is" (narrowly beating out the bizarre electro-mook-rawker "Spitfire," featuring one Juliette Lewis [!] on vocals), a sleazy-analogued-out re-working of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Also in heavy-rotation on the old iPod (and in a similar vein as "The Way It Is") is Mylo's "In My Arms." He tweaks the keyboard riff from "Bette Davis Eyes," loops a vocal sample from the '88 cheese-hit "Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl (props to Timbo for his sleuthing skillz in figuring out that sample) and sets the pop-bliss meter to eleven.
(Sample "The Way It Is" on iTunes here; download "In My Arms" while you can over at Fluxblog.)

5) The ArcLight Cinemas, Hollywood.

After watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow marred by shitty sound (Thanks, Sherman Oaks Galleria!), it was so nice to go to a movie theater that's OCD about quality control. Perfect sound, projection, seating. They refuse to seat latecomers, serve alcohol, and have a stand of Taschen film books in the lobby. Plus you can always see someone from The O.C. there. Oh and they're next door to Ameoba. I'm beginning to think that it might just be the only place to see movies.