Way back when, in 2003, people took to calling the Kings of Leon “the Southern Strokes” as something of a pejorative. But hey, if you like Southern rock and you like the Strokes, where’s the problem? Four years later, their debut Youth and Young Manhood serves as a delightful nostalgia trip to the bygone era when rock swagger still had a place on the airwaves—before everyone got so tortured. The record has a comforting cohesiveness and a wonderful sense of momentum—simultaneously tight, jagged and freewheeling. Their sophomore effort traded in some of that exuberance for down-home melancholy but retained the essential crispness—every guitar line, every drumbeat exposed, marching along side-by-side—that sets this band apart. Opening are indie-popsters The Stills, another band that looks pretty in tight pants. Adept at pairing bright melodies and catchy hooks with a rock ’n’ roll edge, this Canadian quintet’s rich arrangements and sing-along choruses translate remarkably well to the stage. (kingsofleon.com, thestills.net) City Hall —LEE STABERT MUSIC THURSDAY, 7TH MUSIC PICNIC Part pot-luck supper, part spontaneous musical happening, this appealing biweekly event at the Ruby Green space seeks to take the mystique out of free and improvised music, making the avant-garde as accessible as a back-porch jam. The rules are simple: participants bring a covered dish and a musical instrument (whether they can play or not) and place their names in a hat. Throughout the evening, names are drawn at random for makeshift bands, and whoever gets drawn plays together for 15-20 minutes, regardless of instrumentation or skill. It’s the brainchild of Chris Davis, who books some of the most adventurous shows in town at Ruby Green and other spaces; as Davis says, the object is “to encourage non-musicians and shy folks who are hiding their shit under a bushel to join the fray and have a great time.” If you can’t work up the nerve this go-round, there’s always next time. For more information, contact criznok@yahoo.com. —JIM RIDLEY CHRIS KNIGHT Spinning tales of desperation in rural middle America, Kentucky native Chris Knight combines the heartland rock of classic Mellencamp with a hard-edged, often political lyricism reminiscent of Steve Earle. Knight’s 1998 eponymous debut for MCA Nashville introduced the artist with the single and video for the country-rock murder song “Framed.” Knight soon parted company with the Nashville establishment, spawning the alternative hit “Oil Patch Town,” a story of boredom in small-town USA. Knight’s fourth CD, Enough Rope, is a mixture of incendiary rockers and mellower country shuffles that showcase the songwriter’s emotional depth and range. The rough-and-tumble of “Jack Blue” and smooth, tremolo guitar-infused love song “Cry Lonely” mark the musical extremes, with Knight’s strong, rough-hewn vocals at the center of the mix. ( www.chrisknight.net ) Exit/In —TRACY M. ROGERS FRIDAY, 8TH WEIRD WEEDS W/PETER & THE WOLF Austin-based Weird Weeds play distinctive psychedelic folk-pop that, on their new record, Weird Feelings, features bowed guitars trading places with ethereal vocals and a refreshing non-linear approach to songwriting. No verse-chorus-verse here. Fellow Texans Peter & the Wolf’s newest is the aptly titled Experiments in Junk, where everything and anything becomes an instrument. On the track “Strange Machines,” singer Red Hunter sings, “Life could be so easy / All you do is make it so hard,” as handclaps, a shuffle beat, a wisp of violin and a ghostly choir back him. Peter & the Wolf made national news recently as they embarked on a two-week sailboat tour of the East Coast. Why? Gas prices. Hunter estimates they saved at least a grand traveling by water. Local openers include John Allingham’s Arizona Drains and bass-master CJ Boyd. Don’t forget to BYOB. ( www.weirdweeds.com, www.whiskeyandapples.com ) Ruby Green —ERIC WILLIAMS CORTNEY TIDWELL On her MySpace page, Cortney Tidwell cites among her influences, “beautiful music made by beautiful people...ghosts, fairies, trolls, unicorns, mermaids, tall trees....” Go ahead and roll your eyes now, you snarky cynics and miserable hipsters, because one listen to Tidwell’s new Ever Records release Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up will likely burn through your smug detachment. (That’s assuming you buy an import—it was released in Europe in July, but won’t hit the states till February.) A lush, dreamy confluence of electronic space pop and ethereal Nashville country-soul, Don’t Let Stars has been garnering rave reviews from major magazines, notably Mojo, Q and Uncut. Despite her sweet, almost shy demeanor offstage, she’s a fearless performer without a hint of self-consciousness. Her voice is lovely, echoing hints of both Björk and Beth Orton, and unlike many of her peers, she comes off as neither twee nor precious—just a genuine seeker of the mysteries hidden behind the veil of perception. Mercy Lounge —JACK SILVERMAN ANGIE APARO Over the past 10 years, indie pop-rocker Angie Aparo has undergone numerous musical transformations, from the minimalist fare of his ’95 debut to the polished, adult production of The American. 2003’s One With the Sun finds Aparo producing mellow, almost surreal covers by artists ranging from Alice in Chains and Neil Young, and yet the same year Aparo released a collection of rootsy original love songs on For the Moon and Stars. His most recent project is a trilogy of love and war, beginning with the EP El Primero del Tres, which finds him venturing deeper into rock territory. With vocals influenced by Queen’s Freddie Mercury and heavier electric guitar riffs, it’s a theatrical five-song collection that, at least lyrically, deals more with love. Central to each of these projects has been Aparo’s strong tenor wail, simultaneously emotive and pensive. ( www.angieaparo.com ) 12th and Porter —TRACY M. ROGERS SATURDAY, 9TH NICKELBACK W/HOOBASTANK In this age of self-referential style-rock, there’s something appealing about Nickelback’s no-frills approach. Frontman Chad Kroeger says it like he means it, whether he’s singing about having sex, doing drugs or, as in the band’s current single, being a rock star (an occupation, he admits, that makes having sex and doing drugs a cinch). Expect to leave the Gaylord satisfied tonight, even if every song you hear sounds like it sprang from a rather shallow pool of inspiration. At their core, Hoobastank are similarly situated, though the guys in the band seem uncomfortable with that fate; they’re always trying to spruce up their meat-and-potatoes material with fancy hipster accents. As “The Reason,” their smash-hit power ballad proves, they’re best when they excise the ambition. With Chevelle and Hinder. ( www.nickelback.com ; www.hoobastank.com ) Gaylord Entertainment Center —MIKAEL WOOD NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OPENING GALA TELECAST What, you don’t have $2,500 for a ticket to the Symphony’s opening gala in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center? Come on, that’s what credit limits are for! Don’t worry, the concert will be telecast on Nashville Public Television—in HD no less, a first for NPT. The program, led by the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, reflects the key elements of NSO’s programming. A selection from the standard symphony repertoire features well-known soloists (two movements of Mahler with vocalists Frederica von Stade and Janice Chandler-Eteme), a piece by an American composer (Samuel Barber) and a cross-over experiment featuring Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain. The concert broadcasts at 6:30 p.m. on Sat. (rebroadcast on Sun. the 10th at 3:30), and it will be preceded at 6 p.m. by an interview with Martha Ingram, the woman who made this happen. —DAVID MADDOX SUNDAY 10TH SHE WANTS REVENGE W/ I LOVE YOU BUT I’VE CHOSEN DARKNESS L.A.’s She Wants Revenge play gloomy, robotic dance-rock that sounds like a parody of synth-fetishizing cohorts Interpol and The Killers. They’ve got the throbbing guitars, baritone vocals and lyrical obsession with sex and death, but each is exaggerated to such a point that they yield comedy, not drama. Despite the hilarious handle, Austin’s ILYBICD are nowhere near as funny as SWR; they make pretty, sober goth-guitar noise that reimagines Joy Division as an American indie band. With Mellowdrone. ( www.myspace.com/shewantsrevenge ; www.myspace.com/chosendarkness ) Exit/In —MIKAEL WOOD THE HOWLING HEX Burnt-out indie-guitar idol Neil Michael Hagerty’s post-Royal Trux combo, the Howling Hex, play surprisingly funky junk-blues grooves that never really go anywhere but sound great (not) getting there. Like the Trux, the Hex are a prolific bunch: Nightclub Version of the Eternal, their latest, is the band’s fifth release since 2003 (not counting three limited-edition vinyl-only albums). Each reveals a slightly different side of Hagerty’s artistic sensibility, but live, you never know what you’re gonna get. Caveat emptor. ( www.howlinghex.com ) The End —MIKAEL WOOD MONDAY, 11TH SUFJAN STEVENS Sufjan Stevens digs geography, as evidenced by his ambitious project: record an album representing each of the 50 states. Three years in, he’s got two in the can and a long way to go. In addition to 2003’s folk-infused Michigan and last year’s symphonic indie-pop trivia challenge, Illinois, the prolific Stevens recently released The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album. Whether genuine hubris or ironic idealism, there is something delightfully adventurous about this peculiar folk-popster’s ambition. And, if there’s any musical justice in the world, Stevens’ name will soon ride high alongside some of the most influential modern musical innovators. Within the confines of his lush, whimsical post-folk soundscape, he’s as funky as Prince, soulful as Rufus Wainwright and experimental as Moby. Rumor has it Oregon and Rhode Island are next in the running for the star treatment, but I vote Tennessee. ( www.sufjan.com ) Ryman Auditorium—JULIE SEABAUGH CHEYENNE KIMBALL Though they seem to occupy most of our available pop-cultural bandwidth, Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson aren’t the only blonde reality-TV vets with new albums out right now. Following in the footsteps of Simpson’s little sister Ashlee and former O-Town dude Ashley Parker Angel, this 16-year-old pop tart—the winner of 2003’s America’s Most Talented Kid—just starred in her own MTV series documenting the thrills and spills involved in making her debut, The Day Has Come. Cheyenne’s music is fun stuff: Shiny and tuneful in the Kelly Clarkson/Hilary Duff/Aly & AJ tradition, The Day Has Come also sports a modest country-rock twang that serves as evidence of her small-town Texas roots. And it probably cost less to make than Hilton’s record. ( www.myspace.com/cheyennekimball ) Exit/In —MIKAEL WOOD TUESDAY, 12TH AS TALL AS LIONS Girls giggle in the final seconds of “Love Love Love (Love Love),” As Tall As Lion’s single off its self-titled sophomore album. That’s to be expected with this band, the, er, pride of Long Island who sport GQ-style open jackets and flowing locks. After a disappointing debut that nearly wrecked the band, they’ve emerged with new players and a tighter sound that’s far from New York grit. Chiming guitars support plush, well-appointed harmonies driven by Daniel Nigro’s soaring voice. They seem to be aiming for Coldplay territory, though they have an earthier drive (and more energetic live show), which makes them much more intriguing. It’s not hard to imagine “Love Love Love (Love Love)” pushing this band to a bigger stage. ( www.astallaslions.com ) The End —WERNER TRIESCHMANN MIKE COMPTON W/ BUTCH BALDASSARI, MIKE BUB, DAVID LONG & MATT COMBS “Monroe mandolin-mania” is the pithiest available summary of this show by one of the ad-hoc combinations of bluegrassers that aficionados count as some of the Station Inn’s most savory delights. Compton and Long’s duet album, Stomp—released earlier this year on Acoustic Disc, a label belonging to yet another mando monster, David Grisman—is up for an IBMA award this year. It’s chock full of ferocious downstrokes in the master’s style, while bassist Bub and fiddler Combs are among the city’s blue-ribbon freelancers, and hence nearly fixtures on the Inn’s stage. That makes Baldassari the wild card, though just barely; he is, after all, the moving force behind the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and while the Monroe influence may be slightly less apparent in his work, in the end it runs just as deep. The Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER DAUGHTERS Last month, Daughters released their second full-length, Hell Songs—their first for indie behemoth Hydra Head Records. The first few seconds of the opening track, “Daughters Spelled Wrong,” is enough to signal a gigantic stylistic shift from 2003’s Canada Songs. Rather than aping the spazz-metal of The Locust and An Albatross, which they often do to a fault on their first record, Hell Songs finds the band exercising its inner Birthday Party. They still emphasize shrill, dissonant guitars and spastic, short arrangements, but the most notable difference is the lack of screaming, which they announced on their website with an apology: “We...realized that screaming is boring, sorry kids.” The new approach finds the band dabbling in arty territory, but without sacrificing any of the aggression of their first releases. The Muse —MATT SULLIVAN SANDRA McCRACKEN Sandra McCracken has been in town long enough (11 years, including four on Belmont’s campus) to realize that her abstract, thoughtful, spiritual-but-not-religious style of songwriting goes against the strongest local currents. “There are a lot of very literal craftsmen of song, a lot of people that write songs with the intent to have someone understand it the first time, and I don’t think that was my natural instinct,” she observes. McCracken’s latest album, Gravity Love, isn’t so abstract as to get lost in the ether, though—there are moments when it feels quite homey and warm, like the sweet piano pop of “Head Over Heel.” McCracken, whose husband is fellow singer-songwriter Derek Webb, also reserves the right to translate Wendell Berry’s ideas (“Broken Cup”) or sew layer upon layer of meaning into the fabric of a song (“Gravity”) without worrying about commercial appeal. “I’ve been able to do work that is unfiltered—nobody’s telling me what to do, because I haven’t been successful enough for anybody to care.” Wry words from an underappreciated talent. Mercy Lounge —JEWLY HIGHT WEDNESDAY, 13TH MUSE Britain’s Muse played Nashville twice in 2003 in support of their U.S. breakthrough Absolution, bringing with them a distinctive symphonic crunch that lets fans of Queen’s majestic excesses, Radiohead’s math-rock mopes and William Orbit’s post-dance soundscapes all groove along in an appropriately aggressive and exhilarating manner. Even when playing in smaller venues, Muse play to an arena, which is as dazzling as it is incapacitating. When each cymbal on the drumkit has its own Intellabeam, you know you’re in for something visually ravishing. With the band’s habit of expanding the fire and fury of their material from the studio to live settings, prepare to be rocked properly. ( www.muse.mu ) War Memorial Auditorium —JASON SHAWHAN GUY CLARK Much honored in recent years, Guy Clark is the current artist-in-residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame. He’s set to play three Wednesday night shows in September, making this an apposite time for a fresh look at Clark’s work. Ever since The Everly Brothers covered his “Nickel for the Fiddler” in 1972, artists have taken to Clark’s narratives. And while a singer like Brad Paisley can do wonders with a Clark tune, the man’s own voice renders a song like “Desperados Waiting for the Train” with astringent good humor. On his new Workbench Songs, he’s sneaky and poker-faced, and singing better than ever. Paisley’s version of “Out in the Parking Lot” sounds great; Clark’s Workbench Songs’ version transcends local color. The show starts at 7 p.m., with the last on Sept. 27. ( www.countrymusichalloffame.com ) Ford Theatre, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum —EDD HURT THORNTON As a youth, Kevin Thornton was a fresh-cheeked cherub in the Baptist tabernacle choir. But now, with the misery of life creased into his face, Thornton crackles with wounded sexuality, packing his noir-pop sounds with Ziploc-tight emotional gravitas well beyond his collective years. His namesake band’s 2004 debut, Had a Sword, juxtaposed post-adolescent angst with mildly religious allusions. It was fire-and-brimstone minimalist rock for the Paxil-popping set. A few years and a couple failed major-label bids later, Thornton is still wringing cathartic truisms from his sacrosanct upbringing, just on a local level. Unfortunately, Saddle Creek loyalists still have yet to catch on. And unfortunately for us, this might be one of Thornton’s last sets as a full-fledged local, as he’s moving to Chicago later this month. ( www.myspace.com/thornton ) The Basement —JOEY HOOD THEATER THE DOYLE AND DEBBIE SHOW After a hugely successful engagement back in June, this hilarious satirical glimpse of the darker side of the country-music biz returns to Bongo After Hours Theatre. Writer/composer/actor Bruce Arntson displays his triple-threat abilities in spades with his portrayal of country has-been Doyle Mayfield, who’s out on the comeback trail with his new partner, played by the delightful Jenny Littleton. The songs are fetchingly good—offering tasty lampoons of classic Music City tunesmithing—and the actors wring every ounce of goodness (and weirdness) from Arntson’s colorful material. The show runs 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 30. For tickets call 385-1188. —MARTIN BRADY MORNINGS AT SEVEN Paul Osborn’s 1939 family comedy, concerning four older sisters who live in a small Midwestern town in the 1920s, has had two successful Broadway revivals—one in 1980 and, more recently, a 2002 production directed by the gifted Daniel Sullivan that featured an all-star cast, including Julie Hagerty, Buck Henry, Piper Laurie, Christopher Lloyd, Estelle Parsons, Frances Sternhagen and Stephen Tobolowsky. A nostalgic work that explores the importance of the family bond, Osborn’s play is filled with warm humor and vivid characters. The new ACT I production is directed by Michael Roark, and features a cast of talented veteran locals like Layne Sasser, Clay Hillwig, Melissa Hade, Jim Wright and Pat Rulon. Performances are Sept. 8 through 16 at the Darkhorse Theater. For more information, visit www.act1online.com; for reservations, phone (615) 726-2281. —MARTIN BRADY THE GUYS Christ Church Cathedral continues its invaluable Sacred Space for the City Arts Series with this collaboration with Mark Cabus’ Green Room Projects. In observation of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Cabus and Jennifer Jewell will revive their performance of Anne Nelson’s thoughtful portrayal of what happens when a writer and a New York City fire captain convene to craft eulogies for fallen FDNY men who perished attempting to save lives at the World Trade Center. The play’s dark overtones and sad realities evoke grief, certainly, not to mention serving as a poignant reminder of the hugely historical event. But there is humor, as well as a reassuring tale of two unlikely people finding common human ground under decidedly uncommon circumstances. Actor Christopher Browne directed the original Green Room production in 2003, informed by his own firsthand experience watching the conflagration. Richard Northcutt directs this mounting. The single performance is at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10. Call 255-7729 or visit www.christcathedral.org for information. —MARTIN BRADY COMEDY IMPROV NASHVILLE Nashville’s newest improv enterprise has been steadily gaining devoted followers, and has recently extended its operations to include a “second-string” ensemble, Troupe 93. The primary cast has been devoting more of its performing time to long-form improv, where a solitary theme is developed and expanded upon in a single set. Meanwhile, Troupe 93 continues to work the more conventional quick-laugh scenes and games. Both teams will exercise their craft at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 at the 12th South Arts Venue above Las Paletas. For more information, visit www.improvnashville.com or call 418-0905. —MARTIN BRADY COMEDIANS OF COMEDY First there were the Original Kings of Comedy. Then came the Queens of Comedy, the Latin Kings of Comedy, and now no less than the Kims of Comedy and Queers of Comedy. In an effort to simultaneously sidetrack the “of Comedy” bandwagon and return the emphasis to quality over classification, the aptly-named Comedians of Comedy—including Brian Posehn (Mr. Show) and Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens)—debuted big with a self-titled Comedy Central series before branching out to a Showtime documentary and national tour. Forget relationship turmoil, blue-collar pandering and didja-ever-notice dithering. The Com-Com collective are a testament to what the next generation of stand-up can be: smart, neurotic and, above all, cutting-edge. They perform Sept. 8 at Exit/In. —JULIE SEABAUGH ART AMY BRODERICK Growing up in an academic household surrounded by books and talk inspired Broderick to create huge drawings covered with words and phrases that fill exhibition spaces. When an artist works at such large scale, it changes the content, and in this case the drawings should give viewers a heightened awareness of words as things with physical presence, with a range of associations not limited to straightforward decoding of semantic meaning. Many of Broderick’s pieces are densely layered, which gives them textural range and also introduces complexities regarding what can and cannot be understood. The Sarratt Gallery exhibit opens with a talk by the artist at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, with a reception to follow. The show is on display through Sept. 28. —DAVID MADDOX CAROLINE ALLISON/MARK BYNON/RICHARD FEASTER Caroline Allison has done several photographic series of typical but overlooked landscapes and people of Middle America, like shopping malls and deer hunters. Her work in this show at Zeitgeist looks at the interiors of VFW posts. In addition to recording the mundane details of a way of life we take as a given, her photos make these familiar spaces exotic and beautiful. Sculptor Mark Bynon participated in the gallery’s summer group show in 2005. He makes groupings of simple geometric forms in wood that he polishes and refines so heavily that the surface takes on metallic characteristics. Abstract painter Richard Feaster’s new series, “Picaro,” explores patterns of drips and ellipses as a meditation on the passage of time. Zeitgeist holds an opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. The exhibit runs through Oct. 14. —DAVID MADDOX “PORTRAITURE: PRIVATE LIVES/PUBLIC FACES” Cheekwood’s newest exhibit features paintings, photographs and sculptures pulled from the breadth of the museum’s collection. Although portraiture makes up a large portion of Cheekwood’s collection, this is the first show to focus solely on these works, which implicitly explore the boundary between personal and public identity and inform viewers about historical attitudes regarding fashion, style and gender over the past three centuries. There will also be a gallery specifically designed for children, featuring hands-on activities that explore the show’s themes. The exhibit opens on September 9 and runs through the end of the year. —JOE NOLAN FILM SCOPITONE A-GO-GO Nothing to see here, people—just gorgeous gals and handsome gents in mod fashions, the wildest in ’60s pop exotica, and uninhibited dance styles fueled by swanky food and drink. The Belcourt’s fall membership party takes its theme from Scopitones, the music-video precursors made for 16 mm celluloid jukeboxes in the 1960s. (One of the rare machines sits in the Belcourt’s lobby.) If you’ve never seen Scopitones, they’re the quintessence of garish cool—wild dance numbers performed by lacquered chanteuses and pompadoured crooners in sets ranging from spider-web lounges to amusement parks. For Thursday night only, the Hillsboro Village theater will basically turn into the set of an Austin Powers prequel, with a visit by the hotties from burlesque team Panty Raid, fashion contests, nonstop Scopitones and ’60s-themed food and drink. (Expect lots of orange hors d’oeuvres and cocktail umbrellas.) A $40 membership gets you in; sign up friends and get perks ranging from free movies to use of the theater. For more details, see www.belcourt.org or call 846-3150. —JIM RIDLEY THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN Folks, sure things don’t come along often in the movie business—but after watching the trailer for Travis Nicholson and Blake McClure’s horror epic, I’m a believer. Good ol’ boys with motorcycles, samurai swords and kick-ass karate moves fighting an army of zombified Bubbas—tell me this movie doesn’t sound a hell of a lot better than The Da Vinci Code. There’s just one problem: it hasn’t been made. But that can be rectified with your help, as the filmmakers host an investment party 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to help raise enough funds to shoot in October. If you need more convincing, visit thesouthwillriseagain-themovie.com and check out the trailer, which could have been projected from inside Joe Bob Briggs’ skull. For more information, call 579-7667. The life you save may be your own. —JIM RIDLEY 3 X STANLEY KUBRICK: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE / 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY / DR. STRANGELOVE Wow, what should we see at the movies this weekend—that thing with teenage witches in a barn, or 2001 and Dr. Strangelove on the big screen? Here are three of the most controversial movies ever made, hated by some and regarded by many among the best films of the century, by a filmmaker who retained his sense of intellectual curiosity and outrage right up to the end. Kubrick’s 1968 science-fiction masterwork is the Weekend Classic Matinee this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Belcourt; the theater also offers his livid 1971 adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ dystopian satire, with Malcolm McDowell in his star-making performance as a conscience-free droog, and the director’s 1964 nightmare comedy about the end of the world, with Peter Sellers presiding in multiple roles. “Mein Fuhrer…I can walk!” —JIM RIDLEY BROTHERS OF THE HEAD Spinal Tap as directed by David Cronenberg? Velvet Goldmine meets Freaks? The descriptions I heard from people after this screened at the Nashville Film Festival were bizarre enough to have me kicking myself for missing it. Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, who made the Terry Gilliam documentary Lost in La Mancha, directed this mock-doc adaptation of Brian Aldiss’ illustrated novel about conjoined twins (real-life brothers Luke and Harry Treadaway) turned into glammy ’70s pop idols and sex symbols. The film opens Friday at the Belcourt. —JIM RIDLEY THE PROTECTOR Tony Jaa, Ong-Bak’s muay-thai ass-kicker extraordinaire, hits the megaplex with fists, knees and elbows in this recut of his overseas vehicle Tom Yum Goong for U.S. audiences. The plot involves giving Jaa good reason to beat the living crap out of people, which is fine by us. It starts Friday; for the action-junkie equivalent of a quintuple espresso, see it back to back with the insane Jason Statham skull-buster Crank. —JIM RIDLEY