Those weary of pretentious band names and bad stand-up comics' references to '70s sit-coms should feel vindicated by Dan Zukovic's sly, ingeniously self-reverential pop diatribe The Last Big Thing. The title refers to the name of a fictional publication headed by disgruntled cultural apocalyptic Simon Geist (yes, as in "zeit" -- one of Zukovic's few lapses). In fact, the magazine is a front; it allows Geist to set up interviews with artistic poseurs -- actors in soaps, models, etc. -- and to vent his spleen at the decline in taste and aesthetics.

Zukovic's rants are often brilliant and hilarious, and they're delivered with an insinuating drawl that's kind of like Jack Nicholson imitating Alan Alda. His gift for metaphor is keen too: the film's central motif is a trash barrel that distorts the reflection of Zukovic's face into a likeness of Edvard Munch's The Scream. The story, involving his impassive relationship with a disturbed woman who wants to start her own magazine titled Geist Has Fallen, is a sometimes creaky vehicle. But overall, The Last Big Thing surges on a tidal wave of exuberant bile. It deserves to be seen, if only for Geist's funny foray into music videos.