03/12/07
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
PAPA NOEL/Cafe Noir: As we get more and more African cab drivers, if this sounds like something you’ve heard in a cab, you might not be far off. With a strong Latin undercurrent, this man from Congoland was one of the prime moversof the Congo jazz scene prior to hooking up with Peter Gabriel. Letting the music carry you, the rumbas are lilting enough to make you not care that you don’t understand the words. It’s the kind of music that fills the bill nicely when you are in the mood for something foreign that you can get lost in without feeling lost by. Noel knows his stuff and puts it on display here quite elegantly. Check it out.
141 (Tumi)
AUDIOBOOK SUPPLEMENT
HARPER AUDIO
ANAIS NIN/Essential: A lot of first generation feminist achievement has been swept away in the rush of time so it’s nice to bring the human side of Nin back into focus. Doing readings frm 60 years of her diaries, recorded when she was in her 70’s in the 70’s, the new breed daughters of the American revolution in the audience were thrilled to be int eh company of this long time leading edge figure. Anyone young ladies who think the antics of Paris, Britney et al are empowering might want to take a minute to go back to the source and get a gander of what it’s really all about.
(Caedmon)
DVD SUPPLEMENT
KARPEL GROUP
TRAPPED: GLBT filmmakers working in cable have realized that if you want to mainstream gay cinema, give us a good story, recognizable stars and WOMEN in love. It works. It works in this tightly wound thriller about evil bad guys kidnaping the lesbian mom’s daughter and using her to get the secrets that will unravel the whole world. A taut thriller first, this well done popcorn entertainment has a lot more on the ball that you’ve come to expect from a made for cabler. With enough on the ball that this could have been a respectable theatrical release, thriller fans will be more than please to spend some time here letting the action unspool.
79957 (Genius/Liberation)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
PUMPKINHEAD-Ashes to Ashes: Some stuff is so deliciously over the top, even if you don’t like the genre or the subject matter, you just can’t resist. The third entry in this horror series has much more going for it than the usual downstream/direct to video entry. With baddies from “Alien” and “Hellraiser” going at it, who has a chance in this tale of murder heaped upon murder by baddies trying to cover their tracks when they are caught desecrating the dead and selling body parts. Some pictures were just made to get high to and this is certainly one of them. The demon that is really some kind of fucked up Gamera for suburban kids to burn blunts with let’s the good times roll, in his own way, of course. You’ve got the respect he filmmakers for knowing and respecting their audience as this series continues on it’s merry way.
18146
Volume 30/Number 132
March 12, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
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Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record