Tag: movies-music

The sampled drums on Toontrack EZXpansion Nashville feature the drumming of Harry Stinson and Chuck Ainlay. Stinson and Ainlay may not be the most recognizable names to country fans, but the Grammy Award winners' resumes are filled with names that are.

Alternately fascinating and frustrating--and no doubt deliberately so on both counts--this controversial Twin Peaks installment (it was roundly booed by mystified audiences at the Cannes Film Festival) appeared in theaters after the series was canceled, serving as both prequel and coda to the whole remarkable Twin Peaks phenomenon.

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In the vastly overrated 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific movie, which Jaws definitely is.

Unforgiving. Uncompromising. Unmerciful. Unrated. The original version was reviled, condemned, and banned around the world for its on-screen depictions of depravity and violence. Now experience the acclaimed remake that dares to go even further: Jennifer Hills (a fearless performance by Sarah Butler) is a big-city novelist who rents an isolated country cabin to write her new book.

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the story revolves around the doctor who creates human life--not the hunchback assistant who helps him pull off the feat. In this computer-animated reinvention, John Cusack's Igor doesn't just take center stage; he stands in for an entire class of underappreciated workers.

Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors.

Readying oneself to watch a film that highlights poverty and sexism in Zagreb may be a daunting task, but Fine Dead Girls is well worth the effort. It is astounding how director Dalibor Matanic has managed to bring some initial absurdist humor into this disturbing Croatian tale about a lesbian couple, Iva (Olga Pakalovic) and Marija (Nina Violic), who rent a room in what they hope will be a peaceful apartment complex.

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Newcomer Edward Norton became an instant movie star in 1996 with three amazing performances in Primal Fear, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and Everyone Says I Love You. Make that four amazing performances, because in Primal Fear he plays a young man named Aaron Stampler whose personality seems to be divided in two: one tough and cynical, the other shy and fearful.

As far as superheroes go, Green Lantern may lack the clean, iconic lines of his more respectable DC counterparts Superman and Batman, but the very wonkiness of the premise (earthling joins elite force of space cops) lends itself to a pulpy, operatic, not-entirely-serious approach.

The destinies of Arusu, Sheila, and Eva have reached their individual conclusions, but many of their adventures in the Magical Realm still remain untold. Rejoin the trio of apprentice witches in wonderland as they experiment with ancient spells, face a powerful witch and her looking-glass self, and find a legendary fairy.

Judge Dredd is one of those movies that doesn't have a brain of its own, so it can only rip off a lot of ingredients from other, better movies. It's a mishmash of Blade Runner, Total Recall, and The Road Warrior, with a dash of Star Wars tossed in for good measure.

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end.

Get ready for "five times the action, excitement and fun" (Shawn Edwards, FOX-TV) as Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed. Fugitive Dom Toretto (Diesel) partners with former cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) on the opposite side of the law in exotic Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sometimes, change is good, as evidenced by Matt Smith's assumption of the mantle of Britain's beloved science-fiction hero, Doctor Who, in this stellar series. Replacing David Tennant, who was arguably the most popular incarnation of the Time Lord since Tom Baker, was an unenviable task for any actor.

Sometimes, change is good, as evidenced by Matt Smith's assumption of the mantle of Britain's beloved science-fiction hero, Doctor Who, in this stellar series. Replacing David Tennant, who was arguably the most popular incarnation of the Time Lord since Tom Baker, was an unenviable task for any actor.

This 1995 family film tries to put a fun spin on the story of a paranormalist and widower (Bill Pullman) who moves into a new house with his daughter (Christina Ricci) and meets up with the ghost of a dead little boy. Based on the comic book about Casper the friendly ghost, the film is a dreary series of awkward interactions between live actors and computer effects, and you can almost see Pullman and Ricci reconsidering the project while on camera.

Celtic Woman: Believe

Doctor Who: The David Tennant Years

This dramatization of the tangled history of Apple Computer and Microsoft, based on a book by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, hits enough of the right notes to make its failures all the more frustrating.

More is less is generally the case with blockbuster sequels these days, with budgetary bloat often overshadowing the qualities that made the original film click with audiences. The Fast and the Furious movies, however, somehow manage to spin doughnuts around this concept of diminishing returns, with each installment becoming more ridiculously entertaining.

essential video Kathy Bates stars as an unhappy wife trying to get her husband's attention in this amusing and moving 1991 screen adaptation of Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. After befriending a lonely old woman (Jessica Tandy), Bates hears the story of a lifelong friendship between two other women (Mary Stuary Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker, seen in flashback) who once ran a cafe in town against many personal odds.

Nettwerk Fall Music Sampler 2011 (Free on 10/18)