Music & More

For Record Store Day, Saturday, April 19th, Bruce Springsteen is releasing a new four track EP, American Beauty. The 12" vinyl EP will be released exclusively to record stores in a limited edition pressing of 7,500, the list price is $20.00. The four songs are new originals, all previously unreleased. On Tuesday, April 22nd, American Beauty will be released as an MP3 download at Amazon. There is no information about a CD release. Tracklist: 1. "American Beauty" 2. "Mary Mary" 3. "Hurry Up Sundown" 4. "Hey Blue Eyes" "Springsteen had around 20 songs recorded during the High Hopes session that failed to make the final cut. "American Beauty" and "Hurry Up Sundown" were both leftover demo tracks that he didn't end up recording with producer Brendan O'Brien. The other two songs according to Springsteen, "Mary Mary" and "Hey Blue Eyes", were recorded during the Magic and Working o...

At the 2014 Academy Awards, 12 Years a Slave won the Oscar for Best Picture. During the run-up to the awards ceremony, out of the nine films nominated for Best Picture, three were considered front-runners. 12 Years a Slave was one, and last week I had the opportunity to screen the other two. Gravity (2013) Gravity "was directed, co-written, co-produced and co-edited by Alfonso Cuarón, and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts involved in the mid-orbit destruction of a space shuttle and their attempt to return to Earth" (Wikipedia). Gravity was well made and well acted with beautiful visuals, but the story felt completely contrived and was devoid of drama except for the suspense of the two astronauts being in peril. The dialogue was weak and the casting was unrealistic (even if Sandra Bullock still looks great in whort shorts and tank top). This film was inexplicably over-rated; how it was even nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, let alone being c...