1954/2006 The full-blooded epic “Seven Samurai” ignited the imaginations of a generation of filmmakers, causing Akira Kurosawa’s signature work to be endlessly recycled, riffed upon and revisited in countless movies around the globe. Viewing it again, in this age of bombastic Hollywood action spectacles that teem with CG excess, it stands even taller as a […]
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Alan Jackson-Like Red on a Rose
Arista Nashville So melancholy and introspective as to be almost emotionally monochromatic, Alan Jackson’s brooding “Like Red on a Rose” is an impressive left turn for the neo-traditionalist Nashville veteran, dialing down the sunshine streaking hits like “Chattahoochee” and infusing his evocative baritone with an almost palpable sense of pain. Jackson’s secret weapon? Placing himself […]
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Bob Dylan-Modern Times
Columbia The resurrection of Bob Dylan, which began with 1997’s “Time Out of Mind,” continues with the equally masterful “Modern Times.” In true Dylanesque fashion, the album’s title is a bit ironic; its sonicscape of blues, rockabilly and country waltzes isn’t exactly contemporary, but it is timeless. Sounding raspier than ever, the 65″?year”?old Mr. Zimmerman […]
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The Notorious Bettie Page
2006 Nearly 50 years since her radiant smile and razor-sharp bangs last graced a girlie mag, Bettie Page still holds an inexorable mystique over popular culture. Her “naughty but nice” persona “? the Fifties pin”?up queen was as comfortable projecting sunny sexiness as she was posing in bondage garb “? is at the heart […]
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The Maid
2005 Billed as Singapore’s first “homegrown” horror movie, “The Maid” is an intriguing blend of ghost movie staples with superior acting and a fascinating background which will be unknown to most Western viewers. A pretty Filipina (Alessandra de Rossi) arrives in Singapore on the first day of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, […]
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ATL
2006 Amid the journey from rap and hip-hop to the red carpet and Hollywood, one of the more promising personalities to make the switch is Tip Harris, better known in music circles as T.I. The Atlanta rapper stars in “ATL,” an engaging coming-of-age picture that successfully manages to rejuvenate a shopworn formula. Harris plays […]
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Justin Timberlake-FutureSex/LoveSounds
Jive Few artists have invested more energy in freeing themselves from their past than Justin Timberlake; his fierce determination to demolish his pretty-boy pop image is, at times, awe-inspiring’ having successfully stepped out on his own with 2002’s “Justified,” Timberlake spent the intervening years jet-setting, holding court with Cameron Diaz and remaining one of the […]
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John Mayer-Continuum
Columbia . Those who continue to dismiss John Mayer as an acoustic heartthrob are missing the bigger picture’ he’s still capable of penning a wrenching ballad, but his scope of vision encompasses so much more than making high school girls cry. “Continuum,” Mayer’s third and most accomplished effort to date, is a superb artistic statement […]
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Devo 2.0-Self Titled
Disney The signs were there when Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo began composing for children’s films like “The Rugrats Movie.” It should come as no surprise that something like “Devo 2.0” would eventually arise. Devo 2.0, a group of 10- to 13-year-olds, sings the Devo classics and a couple of new tracks by Mothersbaugh and fellow […]
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OutKast-Idlewild
Jive “Hey Ya!” was probably the worst thing that could’ve happened to OutKast.The mega-enormo 2003 single catapulted the Atlanta duo’ Andre 3000 and Big Boi’ from avant hip-hopsters creating intense masterpieces to a mainstream pop act; in short, a pair of artists once comfortably under the radar were now undone by their own ambitious achievement. […]