Johnny Depp doesn’t really look much like John Dillinger, the notorious 1930s bank robber. Dillinger was weasely, with a permanent half-scowl/half-smirk that suggested he was way better than anyone else in the room. Plus, he didn’t have Depp’s heavenly high cheekbones. Still, in Public Enemies, Depp plays Dillinger as such a charming and chivalrous guy that it may forever alter future generations’ perception of Chicago’s gangland don.
But Public Enemies isn’t meant to be a historically faultless portrait of that blood-riddled period. Director and co-writer Michael Mann fudged some facts in The Insider and skirted reality altogether in Miami Vice. This is entertainment. And for 140 minutes, Depp, Mann and the best-dressed gangsters you’ve ever seen do a bang-up job entertaining us.
The movie opens with Dillinger arriving at Indiana State Prison – not as a prisoner, but as a civilian leading a breakout of some of his incarcerated cronies. Not long after, the crew robs a Wisconsin bank, where Dillinger tells a poor customer to put away his cash. “I want the money’s bank,” he says. And so begins this modern-day look at a working-class hero, not unlike Robin Hood, who stole only from the corrupted rich – in this case, the bankers who thrived during the Depression (sound familiar?).
Around the same time, FBI agent Melvin Purvis (a sturdy Christian Bale, redeeming himself after the hammy Terminator Salvation) blows a hole in Pretty Boy Floyd during a shootout in an Ohio field. Soon, “shockingly unqualified” FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) sets up a squad of G-Men to round up the nation’s gun-toting gangsters (including Frank Nitti and Baby Face Nelson, who show up in Public Enemies) and taps Purvis to lead the manhunt.
Dillinger is promptly declared “Public Enemy No. 1,” despite his hero status with much of the public. At one point, he rejects a kidnapping plan because “the public don’t like kidnappers.” He doesn’t kill anybody in the movie either, even though he shoots his gun a lot. Mann keeps things moving with these shootouts, bank robberies and jailbreaks. But a soggy relationship between Dillinger and a hat-check girl (Marion Cotillard) slows down the film, and it’s kinda hard keeping all of the suit-wearing gangsters and G-men straight.
There’s a later scene where Dillinger’s old-school bank robberies get in the way of another gangster’s more modern and efficient way of making money, forcing the methodical Dillinger to team up with the impulsive Baby Face Nelson. It’s the filmmakers’ way of looking to the future while respecting the past. And for a little more than two and a half hours, this big-budget summer blow-out brings that past vividly to life. --Michael Gallucci
For a group that split into solo careers both spectacular (Fergie) and not-so-spectacular (will.i.am) since their last album, the Black Eyed Peas sound remarkably unified on The E.N.D. Loaded with state-of-the-arts beats, technology, and rhymes, the 15 tracks take everything hip-pop stands for in 2009, super-sizes it, and blasts it off in some cosmos-bound time capsule. As Fergie says on opener “Boom Boom Pow,” “I’m so 3008/You’re so 2000 and late.” That cut alone packs extra-low bass, robotic handclaps, Auto-Tuned verses, and a mid-song breakdown that doubles up on the beat. Elsewhere, all four Peas take turns at the mic – Fergie does her pop thing, apl.de.ap does whatever it is he does. But they’re at their best when they stick together: “Rock That Body” rides a glorious hook swiped from Rob Base’s “It Takes Two,” and “Imma Be” tries on about a half-dozen styles before time runs out without it settling on one. Things don’t get much deeper than “Let me see your body rock/Shakin’ it from bottom to top,” but that’s kinda the point. The E.N.D. is the sound of the Black Eyed Peas jumping from one place to another, holding hands as they leap into the future with their eyes and minds wide open. --Michael Gallucci
Nobody likes to talk about emo these days. Fans dodge the label. Record companies ignore the tag. And bands run in the opposite direction, screaming, crying, and whining (because that’s what emo guys do). So, for their fourth album, Taking Back Sunday pile on a bunch of slick tricks in hopes of hiding all that emo stuff lurking beneath the surface. But they’re not fooling anyone: New Again – the title itself is a nod to the group’s ersatz rebirth – is the same old sound. That doesn’t mean Taking Back Sunday aren’t good at what they do. New Again throws out enough chunky power-riffs to fuel a Kleenex factory. But frontman Adam Lazzara can be a real drama queen, pushing his voice to the cracking point on songs like “Lonely, Lonely” and “Capital M-E.” Better are the title tune and the handclap-powered “Sink Into Me,” which approach anthem status. But those are early highlights, and it’s not long before all that emo talk starts again.--Michael Gallucci
We’ve dreamed of being Indiana Jones (and Luke Skywalker and Superman and about a dozen other heroes) for years. Now our dreams sorta come true in this videogame for the Wii that puts you in Indy’s shoes. Wield your Wii Remote like a whip, thrust it forward to punch some bad guys in the face and use it to paddle your boat downstream. Way cool.
CD
Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2
(Concord)
Charles’ genre-defying 1962 classic (an R&B spin on country music) is paired with its follow-up on this great reissue. Since many of the songs were recorded around the same time, the 24 tracks roll seamlessly into one another. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” is the one you should know. The rest of this groundbreaking album is just as grand.
VIDEO
Glory
(Sony)
Before Denzel Washington became a subway action hero, he starred in this rousing portrait of the first black regiment to fight in the Civil War. The 1989 movie – one of the decade’s best – also stars Matthew Broderick and Morgan Freeman. It’s finally out on Blu-ray, which brings the bloody battlefield to vivid life.
DVD
John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto ’69
(Shout! Factory)
Lennon was still a Beatle when he played this concert with his new band, but it had been years since he was onstage. He runs through some oldies (“Blue Suede Shoes”), Beatles tunes (“Yer Blues”) and solo hits (“Give Peace a Chance”) like a guy who couldn’t wait to get back in front of an audience. Also includes performances by Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
R.E.M. mark the silver anniversary of their second album with a two-disc set that tags on a live show from Chicago in 1984. All these years later, Reckoning now sounds more focused than the band’s breakthrough debut from the previous year, with beefier production and weightier songs. The scorching concert includes a Velvet Underground cover. --Michael Gallucci
Nobody went to the first Transformers for Shia LaBeouf. Nobody went for Megan Fox either (well, maybe some of us did). Everybody who saw that summer blockbuster two years ago went for the robots – the shape-shifting, ass-kicking, totally awesome robots. In this overblown sequel, director MichaelBay wisely keeps the camera on the Autobots and Decepticons for most of the movie, shoving aside what little plot there is to make room for big, explosive set pieces where tons of shit blows up. This time around, the “story” has something to do with a reborn and revenge-minded Megatron returning to Earth to kidnap LaBeouf’s Sam and then take over the planet. But who really cares? It’s all about bigger and badder battles that span Sam’s front yard to the Egyptian desert. At two and a half hours, there’s plenty of time to get to know Revenge of the Fallen’s bots, but Bay is more focused on big bangs, cheap laughs and having his metal heroes call opponents “punk-ass Decepticons.” LaBeouf and Fox are back (our first glimpse of her is a slow-mo shot of her cut-offs-clad ass); so are Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and a bunch of little Gremlin-like Transformers. Sam is in college now, giving Bay the opportunity to cause some major property damage on campus. He also introduces a horny coed who’s a literal man-eater. It all spills over into one of the movie’s best scenes. But too much of Revenge of the Fallen is loud, plodding (does it really need to be two and a half hours?) and totally obnoxious. There’s also an ages-old alien conspiracy thrown into the mix, just in case all the other noisy stuff happening onscreen isn’t enough to wear you out.--Michael Gallucci
Ah, summer. Time for barbecues, beaches, baseball and, if you’re a music fan, making Top 10 lists of the best albums released during the first half of the year. We already looked at the best albums that came out the first three months of 2009 in April. Here’s how the second quarter of ’09 stacks up.
Bob Dylan
Together Through Life
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
Dylan doesn’t even sound like he’s trying here. But not in a bad way. The 10 songs come out so natural, you can imagine Dylan writing, recording and forgetting about them before he even had his morning cup of coffee.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
Unlike Dylan’s other two drooled-over albums of the decade, Together Through LifeAmerica’s past. It’s a roots record that finds comfort in the present, not in days gone by. There’s still some reminiscing here, but he’s living for the moment most of the time. doesn’t pitch a tent in
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
85 percent. It’s Bob Dylan. Critics pretty much revere everything he does, even some of those crappy records he made in the ’80s.
Green Day
21st Century Breakdown
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
Five years after they revived the rock opera, reignited political rock and resurrected their career, Green Day return with another concept album that’s bigger, badder and bolder than American Idiot.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
Despite his often heavy-handed symbolism, this is Billie Joe Armstrong’s best batch of songs since Dookie -- surveying the state of religion, welfare and various other collapses. They’re tons more ambitious than the masturbating teens he sang about 15 years ago.
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
80 percent. Green Day worked this formula before on American Idiot, but rock-crit types adore political concept records that swing with their beliefs.
Conor Oberst and the MysticValley Band
Outer South
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
Oberst’s new band sprung from last year’s group tour in support of his self-titled solo album, the first record released under the Bright Eyes frontman’s own name.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
The Mystic Valley Band strains to be a group project. Everyone who wants to write and sing gets a chance. Oberst’s songs (which make up the bulk of Outer South) continue his growth as one of the decade’s top singer-songwriters.
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
40 percent. We love Oberst’s songs. The rest of the band’s contributions? Not so much.
Passion Pit
Manners
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
This synth-pop combo from New England piles on everything from 1984 beats to a children’s choir on its super-fun debut. Plus, frontman Michael Angelakoswields the gayest heterosexual falsetto since Barry Gibb’s.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
You won’t find a better collection of songs this season to get both your feet and brain moving. And like all great records, your favorite song will change after each listen. Right now, I’m torn between “Make Light” and “Sleepyhead.” Or maybe “The Reeling.”
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
70 percent. Manners might prove to be too ephemeral by December. But it’s the best album this summer.
Silversun Pickups
Swoon
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
Their 2006 debut had one good song, “Lazy Eye.” This follow-up pretty much takes the best parts of “Lazy Eye” – the Smashing Pumpkins-like push-pull between verse and chorus, a hook – and applies them to 10 songs.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
Frontman Brian Aubert builds Swoon’s tracks layer by layer until everything erupts in a blast of amp-shredding distortion. Just like the Pumpkins used to do. But it’s way better than anything Billy Corgan made after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
35 percent. By the end of the year, most of us will forget how much we liked this in April.
Sonic Youth
The Eternal
WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
For their 16th album, indie-rock pioneers Sonic Youth head back into indieville (via Matador Records) for the first time since 1988’s landmark Daydream Nation.
BELIEVE THE HYPE?
Swapping the four-minutes-and-outta-there structure of the band’s past few records for a less-ordered approach, these songs stretch into five-, six- and even nine-minute walls of choking guitar spurts. Sonic Youth haven’t sounded this inspired in years.
CHANCES IT’LL MAKE IT ON YEAR-END TOP 10 LISTS:
85 percent. Critics worship Sonic Youth. This is their most Sonic Youth-y album in years. --Michael Gallucci
On last year’s A Little Bit Longer, the Jonas Brothers sang about crushes, falling in love and other things teens typically fret over. On the follow-up, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, they’re all grown up, bitching about broken hearts and how miserable girls make them. Welcome to the real world, fellas. The album starts with a blast of circa-’85 synth horns on “World War III,” which is about relationship turmoil, not a nuclear-weapon crisis in North Korea. It’s all “love sucks” from there. Specifically, brother Joe takes swipes at Taylor Swift, who he dated for about 15 minutes last year: “I’m done with superstars and all the tears on her guitar,” he sings on “Much Better.” He also compares her to poison ivy in a song. Through it all, Nick, Joe and Kevin pile on the hooks, loading Lines, Vines and Trying Times with enough radio-ready super-pop to power their own teen franchise (their new Disney Channel show premiered last month. Are you watching?). It’s a bigger and better record than A Little Bit Longer, with horns, strings, fiddles and a Miley Cyrus duet bringing some variety to the Jonas Brothers’ glittering pop. Let the healing begin. --Michael Gallucci
This boxing videogame series has been around forever, but it’s never been as good or as fun as it is for the Wii. Grab your remote and Nunchuk and pound away on a bunch of opponents. The single-person career mode is involving (I especially like knocking out the French fighter, who spills baguettes as he falls), but the multiplayer kicks major ass.
TV
Destroy Build Destroy
(Cartoon)
I’m still perplexed by Cartoon Network’s new slate of live-action shows, but I like them (especially BrainRush, in which contestants answer questions while riding roller coasters), even if they’re not, you know, cartoons. Best is this explosives-heavy series (which premieres at 8:30 p.m. Saturday) hosted by rocker Andrew W.K. Teams build things, then blow ’em up real good.
VIDEO
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(MGM)
One of the best movies ever made finally comes to Blu-ray in a disc that makes you taste the grit in Sergio Leone’s dusty landscape. It’s the extended cut of the film that came out on DVD a few years ago, so that’s cool. It also includes most of that set’s extras, including the deleted scenes. Ennio Morricone’s famous soundtrack has never sounded better either.
DVD
The Jetsons: Season 2, Volume 1
(Warner)
The 21 cartoons on this three-disc set aren’t the 1960s classics (there were only 24 original episodes, and they’re already available on DVD). These toons were made in the ’80s and aren’t as bad as you think. While they still cling to the Flintstones in Outer Space concept, ’80s-era references update the jokes for the post-space age.
VIDEOGAME
Terminator Salvation – The Videogame
(Warner Bros. Interactive/Equity/Evolved)
The movie kinda sucks. But that’s not the robots’ fault (you can blame Christian “I’m Whispering, Now I’m Screaming!” Bale). Thankfully, this game (for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC) keeps it all about the robots. As John Connor, you’re armed with enough big-ass weapons to take out skyscraper-sized baddies. Come on! --Michael Gallucci
This artsy NYC collective juggles genres almost as skillfully as it juggles members. Spearheaded by a pair of former club DJs, the Phenomenal Handclap Band run through a dizzying display of sounds on their self-titled debut album. Opener “Journey to Serra da Estrela” starts as a lazy-day psych trip before zooming off into a space-age-synth-and-’70s-organ funktopia. “All of the Above” assimilates LCD Soundsystem’s hipster shakes. And “Testimony” could be the house soundtrack at an upscale martini bar. These are just the first three songs. By the time the nine-minute “The Circle Is Broken” wraps the record and heads to the afterparty, Lady Tigra, Jon Spencer and TV on the Radio’s Jaleel Bunton have dropped by for some old-school hip-hop, tranquil chill, horn-speckled R&B and straight-up rock. The Phenomenal Handclap Band is like iTunes’ shuffle come to life. --Michael Gallucci
Dinosaur Jr. aren’t throwing any curveballs this late in the game. So you pretty much know what to expect on their second album since 2005’s comeback and the fifth by the original trio of guitarist J. Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph: hooky songs that split the difference between indie and classic rock, the loudest wall of sound ever constructed by just three guys, and plenty of amp-rattling and ear-shattering solos. Like 2007’s Beyond, Farm sounds very late ’80s, right down to a couple of duds. It’s also way better than most reunion albums. Mascis marble-mouths his way through some killer songs here – “Pieces,” “I Want You to Know” and “Over It,” especially – firing off one blistering solo after another. The one-two punch of Beyond and Farm manages to do something Dino Jr. barely accomplished the first time around: two good albums in a row. --Michael Gallucci
Last year’s original Boom Blox is one of the Wii’s best games. This follow-up is even better. The gameplay remains pretty much the same: You hurl balls, bombs and other things at a bunch of boxes, knocking them down for trophies. But this time the action includes cannons, slingshots and a bunch of new characters in space and on pirate ships. Aaargh!
BOOK
33 1/3: Elliott Smith’s XO
(Continuum)
Matthew LeMay’s outing in the terrific 33 1/3 series dissects Smith’s cheeriest album, a mix of Sgt. Pepper carnival sounds and mopey singer-songwriter confessions. XO, from 1998, was Smith’s major-label debut; he killed himself five years later. LeMay steers away from Smith’s sad-o reputation, focusing instead on the art of record-making.
VIDEO
Fargo
(MGM)
The Cohen brothers’ most Cohen-like film and one of the best movies of the ’90s finally makes its Blu-ray debut. Extras include the usual trailers, features and photos. Best is commentary by cinematographer Roger Deakins, who painted a brutal and evocative Minnesota wasteland with his camera. His brilliant work is even more evident on this stunning HD disc.
CD
Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison
(Capitol/EMI)
The most underappreciated Beatle racked up quite a few classics during his solo career. This 19-song collection is the first to gather them on a single album. His biggest hits – “My Sweet Lord,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” “Got My Mind Set on You” – are here. So are a number of Beatles-era tunes (“Something,” “Here Comes the Sun”) recorded live.
DVD
Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music -- The Director’s Cut: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
(Warner)
The hippie fest included tons of crappy bands (Country Joe and the Fish, Sha-Na-Na), but there were also plenty of great ones. This nearly four-hour version of the Oscar-winning 1970 movie adds performances by the Who, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone. The set also features a disc of previously unreleased songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Santana. --Michael Gallucci
This 17-year-old bluegrass prodigy strums and picks all the right instruments: guitar, banjo, mandolin. She also possesses a deep-in-the-hollows croon that’s part native Texas, part ages-old Americana. And on her debut album, she writes and sings about laying her soul on the line and leaving home. Song Up in Her Head is an authentic-sounding record that’s wise beyond Jarosz’s young age – “Edge of a Dream” is written, played and sung with more maturity than what’s typically found in a recent high-school graduate. But she occasionally gets in over her head. Vocally, she strains aiming for adulthood on some songs, and a cover of the Decemberists’ “Shankill Butchers” is even more plodding than the original version. (She fares better on her other cover, Tom Waits’ “Come on Up to the House.”) But when everything comes together – like on the ballads “I Can’t Love You Now” and “Can’t Hide” – the songs up in Jarosz’s head are gorgeous ones indeed. --Michael Gallucci
In 1994, a couple of years before he began writing the Drive-By Truckers’ breakthrough album, Southern Rock Opera, Patterson Hood recorded a bunch of songs on a boom box in a friend’s bedroom. The album was shelved for more than 10 years before Hood revisited the songs and re-recorded them with many of his Trucker bandmates and other assorted pals. Then it sat on the shelf for another four years. Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) has had a long and thorny path to release, but anyone familiar with Hood’s prolific output over the past decade will recognize traces of the Truckers’ more rambling and story-based songs in this set. A few of the tracks – like “Pollyanna” and “Screwtopia” – blend some hooks into the guitar workouts. But most of the songs sound like blueprints to the Truckers’ meaty slabs of rock ‘n’ roll folklore. --Michael Gallucci
In 1974’s underrated The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Walter Matthau plays a frustrated N.Y.C. transit cop negotiating the release of subway-car hostages. In the zippy but less sharp remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Denzel Washington plays a dispatcher named Walter, in tribute to the original’s star. That’s one of the new twists in director Tony Scott’s fast and occasionally funny update.
Walter’s having a typical day at his job – bullshitting with coworkers, maneuvering subway trains throughout the city – when a group of machine-gun-toting bad guys (led by a mustachioed John Travolta) takes over one of the cars. They stop the train (the Pelham 1 2 3 of the title) on the tracks, in the middle of a tunnel, and demand $10 million in exchange for 19 hostages. Travolta’s Ryder gives authorities one hour to deliver the ransom (in small bills, of course). If he doesn’t receive it, he’ll kill one passenger for every minute it’s delayed – “late fees,” he says.
Unfortunately, family guy Walter takes the hijackers’ call and becomes Ryder’s go-to man. Even though a beleaguered mayor (Sopranos don James Gandolfini) and an NYPD hostage negotiator (John Turturro) get involved, Ryder wants to deal only with Walter, who comes with his own baggage: He used to be a bigwig with the Metro Transportation Authority until he was demoted for some shady business practices overseas.
Then there’s the mystery of how the hijackers plan to get away, since cops will be blocking the tunnel’s escape routes. Plus, why does Travolta keep checking stock prices on his laptop and referring to the hostages as “commodities”? And did Walter really take a bribe when he was in Japan?
Washington brings his usual stately cool to Walter, slowly transforming him from a downgraded desk jockey to a button-down-shirt-and-tie-wearing action hero. Meanwhile, Travolta gives his most intense and showy performance in years as the foulmouthed and tattooed Ryder.
Scott isn’t known for his subtlety (he directed Top Gun and The Last Boy Scott), but he stages scenes where Walter and Ryder feel each other out – over the phone from their respective HQs -- with finesse. The first two-thirds of Pelham is a genuinely suspenseful film, slowly simmering as the clock ticks down. Then he piles on the action-movie clichés: loud guns, even louder techno and hip-hop beats, jump-cuts, cars zooming through the city, cars crashing in the city. It all culminates in an underground-to-street showdown – Scott finally unleashed and working in his gaudy element. Until then, it’s a helluva thrilling ride. --Michael Gallucci
Just because he played with the dude, it doesn’t give Nils Lofgren the right to turn Neil Young’s songs into such snoozers. On The Loner – Nils Sings Neil, E Street Band guitarist Lofgren covers 15 of Young’s famous (“I Am a Child,” “Like a Hurricane”) and not-so-famous (“Don’t Be Denied,” “World on a String”) compositions. And he handles almost all of them like they’re just another part of a Thursday-night coffeehouse gig with the scones and double mocha latte. Lofgren, accompanying himself on guitar and piano, doesn’t bring much to what’s already there. He even mimics Young’s soft, trembling tone on many of the songs. As Young proves on his recent Archives box, his tunes can sound great with just voice and acoustic guitar. But a little personality helps too. --Michael Gallucci
This cobbled-together collection of mostly solo demos recorded between 1968 and 1971 includes stripped-down and acoustic versions of songs that ended up on CSN’s (and sometimes Y’s) first two albums. Since those records weren’t exactly plugged-in and electric, the dozen tracks on Demos don’t reveal much. In fact, they reveal nothing at all (except that David Crosby is as annoying a scatter as he is a human being). Only “Marrakesh Express” features all three singer-songwriters; a couple other tunes (“Music Is Love,” “Long Time Gone”) include some variation on the trio (plus a Neil Young cameo). And only Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With” is as good as the version you already know. --Michael Gallucci
The veteran folkie recently celebrated his 90th birthday. What better way to celebrate than with this terrific five-CD set, which includes more than 125 songs Seeger recorded in the ’50s and ’60s. You’ll recognize many of the tunes (“She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” “Goodnight, Irene,” “This Land Is Your Land”) – they’re the heart of modern folk songs.
CD/DVD
Jeff Buckley: Grace Around the World: Deluxe Edition
(Columbia/Legacy)
Just in time for the 15th anniversary of Buckley’s debut, this two-DVD, one-CD collection gathers various TV performances by the late singer-songwriter. He traveled to Germany, Japan and France promoting the album, so many of the songs are repeated from country to country (hope you like “So Real”). A fitting document of an artist’s too-brief career.
VIDEO
Children of Men
(Universal)
This futuristic thriller from 2006 finally comes to Blu-ray, and Alfonso Cuarón’s terrifying vision has never looked more menacing. Clive Owen has one of his best roles as an emotionally scarred political activist trying to save a pregnant woman in an Orwellian world without any babies. One of the best movies of the decade now looks even better.
DVD
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Paramount Centennial Collection
(Paramount)
One of John Ford’s last great westerns has only gotten better over the years. Jimmy Stewart stars as an idealistic lawyer who rolls into town hoping to run out baddie Lee Marvin. He gets more than he bargained for. Luckily, John Wayne is there to save the day. Critical and historical commentaries, behind-the-scenes features and a tribute to Wayne round out the extras.
VIDEOGAME
Patapon 2
(Sony)
Last year’s beat-driven Patapon is one of the best games ever made for the PSP. This follow-up is almost as much fun. You still play as a tribe of one-eyed warriors, but this time the adventures are deeper and tougher. Best of all, the new multiplayer mode allows four players to customize Patapons who must then drum and march their way across hostile battlefields. --Michael Gallucci
There’s nothing as vividly caustic as “Fuck Was I,” Youngs’ 2007 breakthrough song, on her second album of smart singer-songwriter pop. But there’s plenty of self-reflection (the first tune, a barely minute-long acoustic ditty, is called “First Person”) and big, fat arrangements. Unlike Youngs’ sparse debut, Batten the Hatches, Transmitter Failure piles on strings, horns, electronic drums, and glockenspiel for a more immediately hooky record. Full-bodied songs like “What Beats Within” and “Last Person” boost Youngs’ often fragile voice, while she spills her equally fragile heart all over the studio floor. --Michael Gallucci
Nearly two decades in the making, the first volume of Young’s massive Archives series (this one clocking in at 10 discs!) finally sees the light of day. And it was definitely worth the wait. Compiling songs from Young’s first 10 years, the box – which is available as bank-account-busting Blu-rays, wallet-lightening DVDs and plain ol’ CDs – includes a mix of outtakes, demos, live cuts and plenty of songs you’ve heard before. Unlike Bob Dylan’s similar Bootleg Series, Archives aims to tell Young’s entire story, not just the leftover pieces. And it’s a monumental task, stretching all the way back to Young’s first band, the Squires, through Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crazy Horse and his solo recordings. It takes a while for things to get rolling -- the first disc is filled with previously unreleased bar-band snoozers – but once it does, you’re in for a time-sucking project unlike any you’ve ever experienced (you’ll find everything from lyrics and old press clips to photos and hidden tracks buried on each disc). You’ll also hear things like you’ve never heard them before, like “Down by the River”’s last blistering guitar solo, which begins as a bunch of twisted, sputtering notes before erupting into a full-on amp assault. These aural achievements are Archives’ greatest moments and the reason we can’t wait for the next volume. --Michael Gallucci
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