Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Every Tuesday, all the latest video games, DVDs and CDs are released, taunting you with their entertainment possibilities. In order that we might entice you further into wasting your hard-earned money on fancy gewgaws, here's a run-down of what's out today.
MUSIC
Gaelic Storm, Cabbage
Though this is technically breaking the only (unwritten) law of the This Just Out posts — only talk about things released this week — I don't play by your fascist rules, man. Cabbage (which dropped Aug. 3) is too good to ignore. Despite lacking a nice rowdy track like "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe" from What's The Rumpus?, Cabbage is still enjoyable. It seems to dip more into the traditional Gaelic for the melodies, though the lyrics (as is the case with "Space Race," which laments Ireland's non-entry into the race to reach the stars) are definitely modern. But fear not, rock fans! Some tracks, like "Green Eyes, Red Hair," have a decidedly rock-y edge to them. The album is a "must" for all Celtic music fans, and a "should' for the rest of youse.
DVD
Date Night
It's probably not as funny as you'd expect a movie starring the king and queen of comedy (I crowned them myself in a lovely ceremony yesterday evening), but that's probably just because you have unrealistic expectations. Sure it's not hilarious with a capital Funny, but this movie just as easily could have devolved into traditional rom-com awfulness (see: The Ugly Truth). What you get is an actual date movie (not Date Movie, thank god) that normal people of both sexes can enjoy. (Read Carey Jackson's review for an actual critical appraisal.)
VIDEO GAMES
Madden 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, iPhone, iPad)
This game gets the nod for sheer obstinacy, being in its 24th (!) incarnation. Like an octogenarian popping Viagra, Madden arises every year in steadfast defiance of all that is holy and good in the world. For all those who complain Madden doesn't ever change: First of all, stop it, you're making Art Director Matt Young cry (about 2/3 of the way down the page). Second, it does so change. For example, in this iteration, Brett Favre won't* be playing. But what Madden always delivers is to attention to detail — apparently, they spent four days just modeling Drew Brees' head. Which seems like a super-productive use of time, given that football is the only professional sport where you CAN'T SEE THE PLAYERS' FACES. And yet last year still saw no referees on the field or players on the sidelines.
*Just kidding. It's only Week One of the preseason. God knows he'll be starting by Week Three.
Tags: this just out , Arts