02/05/08
UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES
BECK/Odelay (Deluxe Edition): The album that transitioned grunge to alt and set the bar where Beck couldn’t reach it again as well as giving the entire genre a run for it’s money. If your nostalgia is pegged to the 90s, this album has retained a sound that will still mean a lot to you. The expanded deluxe edition has a bunch of period singles and b sides that were either released overseas, on b-sides or in other off beat ways. The sound and fury are all right at the front and this is a main party record for people of the times.
DVD SUPPLEMENT
WARNER HOME VIDEO
MICHAEL CLAYTON: George Clooney seems to have found the formula to balance fluffy pics, serious pics, popcorn pics, mainstream pics and keep his career buoyant throughout it all as well as turning himself into a diverse brand that appeals to different audiences. Here, he does his serious/popcorn pic turn as he successfully brings his dramatic character side into a mainstream role. There’s always a coming and going of lawyer/courtroom pics, but this one is densely and tightly dramatic putting it right up there with the best the genre has to offer as it follows the story of an imperfect fish out of water looking for redemption as he swims against deadly tides. With laser etched, razor drawn performances from all, this taut thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat, grinding away at that bag of popcorn until the conclusion drops it’s ton of bricks in your lap. Hot stuff that’s going to be remembered as a solid, winning pic you’ll find it easy to go back to and revisit.
NO RESERVATIONS: Someone has this ax to grind that they just want to see la Zeta make it in mainstream, kind of dated romantic comedies. The problem isn’t her, it’s the lack of executive talent on board these days that knows how to deliver these pics in the classic fashion rather than in the paint by numbers style they have been doing. Here we find Zeta as a hard charging contempogal whose type A lifestyle gets tossed on it’s head and what she goes through to adjust. Hmm, it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day and it is the chick pic you need to bring home if you wan t to score points. Not as embarrassing as a Jessica Simpson pic and not as strident as Diane Keaton tries to be on this turf, if your girl let you watch the Super Bowl in peace, you might be able to get away with roses from the supermarket if you bring this home as well that night.
Volume 31/Number 97
February 5, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record