Bright Lights Big City (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In 1988, Michael J. Fox took the lead role in the adaptation of a Jay McInerney novel Bright Lights, Big City. Fox played a New York City magazine fact-checker with a cocaine habit that was slowly ruining his life. This very engaging drama also starred Phoebe Cates as the ex-wife and Kiefer Sutherland as the enabling best friend. The film is pretty good and the novel is a great read.

The soundtrack album that accompanied the film has a rather interesting mix to it. The contributions range from big name acts to some much lesser known ones. I think the end result is a good one.

Comic Books - Flashpoint week 1 (6/1/11)

This was the first full blown week of the Flashpoint event. I picked up the first issues of three of the four tie-in minis. My thoughts:

Flashpoint: Abin Sur - the Green Lantern #1 (of 3) - I found this one rather interesting. There seemed to be a lot of elements of the typical Green Lantern line (enemies, allies, etc.) with, of course, the notable difference of Abin Sur still being the Green Lantern of sector 2814. It isn't clear yet how the change occurred but that's okay for now. What is intriguing is what Atrocitus might now about "the Prophecy of the Flashpoint". We should find out more next issue.

Flashpoint: Secret Seven #1 (of 3) - I was sold on this one as soon as I saw that George Perez was doing the art. He is one of my all-time favorite artists. The man can draw everybody well. This story too seems to be standing on its own so far. We have Shade the Changing Man and the Enchantress, plus a whole lot of craziness and mystery. How does it tie into the main event? No clue but I enjoyed it a lot. Bring on next month!

the World of Flashpoint #1 (of 3) - even though we get a nice idea of what is going on with the Earth in this altered reality, the true star of the book is Traci Thirteen. We're getting another interesting character driven story set in the middle of this big event. Of the three books so far, this is one tie-in I think that most readers of the main five-issue mini will want to pick up. It gives good supplemental material to what else is going on.

Flashpoint #2 (of 5) - the opening six pages gives us a look at a lot of characters on this new world, including Deathstroke and Aquaman. It was a nice teaser to the minis starring them coming up soon. We then get eight pages picking up where last issue ended - with Barry Allen trying to explain what is "wrong" to this reality's Batman. Some good stuff. Next is a nice four-page intro to two more of the upcoming minis, the ones starring Wonder Woman and Lois Lane. Lastly, back to Barry and what the cover promises - an attempt to get his speed powers back. These page and the earlier eight really give a testament to Barry's character, what made him a great hero. He doesn't lie down quietly and accept things; he fights with whatever he can and is willing to pay the price to succeed. Did he this time? We'll find out next issue! The last seven pages are devoted to a world map (a nice two page spread that ties into the World of Flashpoitn well), and five sketchbook pages by artist Andy Kubert. I love things like this a lot (worth the extra buck on the cover price for this mini).

Carole King - Tapestry

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

1971 began with the release of Carole King’s landmark album Tapestry (on February 10th of that year). Through out the 60’s, she had worked as a songwriter, penning tunes for other artists to turn into hits. She decided in the 70’s to start recording her songs herself; this would be her second studio release.

Comic Books of the Week (6/1/11) part 1

With Flashpoint kicking in this week for the summer, I'm going to break my weekly reviews between those in the regular line and those in that alternate reality. On to the regular stuff:

Adventure Comics #527 - this issue spotlights Comet Queen with her telling her origin story. Paul Levitz does a brilliant job on this issue, adding layers to a classic character. I love that she's got a thing for Bouncing Boy, I love her "irrational" thought process, I love that she has a heart, and I love how it is explained why she's back at the Legion Academy. The art by Geraldo Borges and Marlo Alquiza is solid too. A great companion to the regular Legion book. I will miss this one when the series ends its run.

Secret Six #34 - another fantastic issue from Gail Simone and J. Calafiore. I love how the team handles the scumbag who kidnapped Scandal's new love. I love how Bane's date played out. This creative team shows how far these dark characters will go to protect the ones they care about. I really like to see when "villainous" characters are shown to have so many facets to them. Well done indeed. I really hope this book and this creative team survives intact come September's relaunch of books. It is perfect the way it is and does not need any retooling.

Paul Simon - Graceland

During the 1960’s, Paul Simon partnered with Art Garfunkel for five albums. Afterwards, he went solo for the 70’s and 80’s In 1986, he released Graceland, his seventh studio album, but this time he had a little bit of help - some very talented South African musicians including the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Graceland won the 1986 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Rolling Stone ranked it number five on its list of 100 Greatest Albums of the 80’s and number 81 on its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time. It also sold over 10 million copies world-wide.

It went to number 46 in Japan, number 15 in Spain, number 13 in Norway and Sweden, number 4 in Italy, number 3 on the US Billboard Album chart, and number 1 in Australia, Canada, France, Switzerland and the UK.

Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

In 1986, the New Jersey born rockers of Bon Jovi released their third studio album. It was a best-seller record (over 12 million copies in the US and 28 million worldwide). It spent eight weeks at the number one spot and 38 weeks in the top five on the Billboard album charts; it was also the top selling album of 1987.

Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill

Starting out as a hardcore rock band in 1979, the New York City based trio who would become known the world over as the Beastie Boys eventually transitioned into the growing genre of hip-hop. DJ-producer Rick Rubin gets a lot of credit as well for his part in putting this debut together.
In 1986, they released their debut album Licensed To Ill which became the first album of the genre to reach number 1 on the Billboard album charts. It was also the record label’s fastest selling debut record, selling over 9 million copies.