BANTER!
What's the best part of the Marvel movies? The intricately choreographed action scenes? The riveting sexual tension? The raw explorations of the frailty of the human condition? No, silly, it's the funny banter of course. So the one thing — maybe the only thing — the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY video game needed to do was to get that banter right. And it actually succeeds marvelously, with the non-celebrity voice actors matching — and even surpassing — the performances of their big screen counterparts. Sure, there are few too many repeated lines, but the timing of the delivery — which has weighed down far too many funny computer games — is essentially perfect. (DANIEL WALTERS)
WORKPLACE WHODUNIT
Zakiya Dalila Harris's debut novel, THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, is an ambitious yarn that bites off a lot. It's a satire of sorts, pointedly mocking the characters in a lily-white publishing house where the protagonist Nella, the only black employee, works in New York City as an editor's assistant. It's a thriller, too, thanks to mysterious threatening notes that start to land on Nella's desk at the office. And it's a stirring look at race as Nella works to address some blatantly offensive passages in the latest book of her boss's best-selling author. Harris' prose propels you forward, pushing you to keep reading thanks to a series of cliffhangers that beg for resolution before you can set the book aside. (DAN NAILEN)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online April 15:
KURT VILE, (WATCH MY MOVES). Does every slow, mumbly guitar-rock song from Kurt Vile sound exactly the same? Yes. Do people seem to mind? Apparently not!
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA, PARADISE AGAIN. The influential house music supergroup that paved the way for the EDM boom reunites to put out its first new music in a decade.
TIM KASHER, MIDDLING AGE. The Cursive frontman cuts deep with his witty and heartbreaking observations about growing old, growing lonely and falling apart. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
