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REVIEWS >
Look & Listen
movies
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White Oleander
Based on Janet Fitch's novel, this melodrama sees Michelle
Pfieffer as an artistic mother who is convicted of murdering
her boyfriend and who spends her prison visiting hours attempting
to manipulate the life of her just-as-talented artist daughter.
The performances have a credible resonance that is missing
in some of the dialogue. |
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Phone Booth
Stu Shepherd (Colin Farrell) is a hot-shot publicist who becomes
trapped in a vestigial Manhattan phone booth by a sadistic
sniper (Kiefer Sutherland) who's versed in every detail
of Stu's complex and sometimes shady life. Soon there's
a corpse in the street, SWAT teams on every ledge, and
Stu can't hang up - or else.
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Johnny English
Rowan Atkinson comes along to do the James Bond spoof all over
again, as if no one ever had. A Mr. Bean-like British secret
agent, Atkinson confronts a French tycoon who is out to usurp
the British throne. All hints at EU paranoia aside, the question
is: Is it funny? Answer: Not especially. |
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Once Upon a Time in the West
Sergio Leone's sprawling epic Western goes in for slow buildups,
for prolonged and perspiring agonies, for grizzle and grime,
for cynicism about the larceny in the hearts of men, and
for unparalleled villainy in the person of duster-dressed,
tobacco-spitting Henry Fonda. Also with Charles Bronson,
Jason Robards, and Claudia Cardinale. |
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music
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Cody Chestnutt - The Headphone
Masterpieces
Known best for his stints with The Roots, this sex-obsessed,
spaced-out, spiritual musician delivers a lo-fi stew made of
smooth funk, forceful rock, and gritty hip-hop, all topped
off by the sweet-crooning voice of a great soul singer. Across
an ambitious opening salvo of two discs and 36 tracks, Chestnutt
invites you into his psyche. |
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Kingsbury Manx - Aztec Discipline
In their third album, this North Carolina-spawned quartet effortlessly
delivers another lonesome, whimsical collection of folksy
chamber-pop nuggets, that manages to be nondescript and captivating
at the same time. Aztec Discipline is a pastoral work for
the ages; cultivating indie musical archetypes in a solitary,
somehow uniquely timeless collage. |
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Les Négresses Vertes
- Acoustic Clubbing
Blending flamenco guitars with ska horns, rai rhythms with
vocals drawn straight from the French Cabaret tradition, Les
Négresses Vertes is always perfectly Parisian, and always big
fun. Don't worry if you don't understand the lyrics, the band's
trademark is silly, almost nonsensical songs with hilariously
bad puns. |
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Sigur Ros
Iceland's progressive rock harbinger continues to mix the most
interesting aspects of several indie art-bands, while not
sounding like anyone else on the planet. Eight untitled tracks
meander with cascades of moaning, bowed guitars that collide
with low-end keyboards, while the lovely, alien-registered
vocals of singer Jónsi float on top. |
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CDs and DVDs available at www.bontonland.cz
and www.dvdexpress.cz.
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