Ready for More Soul Girls: Wine-not?
October 28, 2008 by towerblog
Although Miss Amy Winehouse has caused quite a stir over the past few years with her less than ‘lady like’ behavior, there is no doubt in my mind that she is more than capable of belting out some serious soul. She proved this with her album ‘Frank’. Amy has unintentionally put the focus on the UK, allowing the spotlight to shine on female singer-songwriters from her stomping grounds and surrounding areas.
Like artists such as Amy MacDonald age 21 from New Glasgow. Although she is a Scottish lassie, she sings oddly enough with an unmistakably Irish sounding brogue.
Be sure to check out MacDonald’s album ‘This Is The Life’.
24-year-old Duffy has also stepped full tilt into the spotlight with her hit song ‘Mercy’ from her album ‘Rockferry’, which went straight to number one. This made Duffy the first Welsh female to achieve a number one pop single in the past 25 years.
Last but most certainly not least is Tottenham native Adele, who has taken the United Kingdom by storm with her album ‘19’. With an amazing voice like hers, I suspect we will be hearing from this young soul singer for many years to come.
So check them out and judge for yourselves whether they deserve the fame, or whether they are destined for a short-lived ride on the controversial coattails of Winehouse.
Hur-ray! Hur-ray! It’s Blu-ray Day: Crime Edition
October 16, 2008 by Danny
Here at Tower.com there is no denying: Blu-ray release day gets more and more exciting now that more and more titles are finally gettin’ the Blu-ray treatment. For those who don’t already know, Blu-ray day comes every Tuesday and every week we’ll recap the biggest and brightest titles of the week. In this Blu-ray review, check out these 3 gangster films:
This classic gangster flick is a must-have in every good collection. Set in Harlem 1968, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is a quiet and shy driver for a big New York City crime boss. When his boss is suddenly murdered, Lucas steps in to this role and quickly builds an inner-city drug empire. All is well until NYPD cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) suspects Lucas and his crew are starting to mingle with the Mafia and start to take over the underground drug scene. Both cop and gangster are more alike than they might suspect, and watch as this unique American tale unfolds.
Seems to me there’s a bit of a theme with the Blu-ray’s released today. David Cronenberg directs Eastern Promises, a story of London chauffeur for the Russian Mafia. This chauffuer named Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) works specifically for powerful Mafia man Semyon and his power-hungry son. When Nikolai meets midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) she is trying to solve the mystery a ‘connected’ teenager who died during childbirth. Nikolai and Anna find themselves in grave danger as they learn the truth, and the harsh realities of the underground criminal world are showcased.
What do you get when you mix three of Hollywood’s most talented Italians? If it’s up to Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, get ready for a fantastic film about a Mafiso family living in Las Vegas in the 1970s. Based on a true story, this film follows Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro) a Jewish front man who works with Nicky Santoro (Pesci) in operating a very successful casino operation. Add a slice of femme fatale, played by Sharon Stone, and you’re in for a bumpy ride! This flick has it all — gambling, women and crime!
** UPDATE ** It has come to our attention that in coincidental timing of the film’s release, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the real-life Sam “Ace” Rothstein and inspiration for the film, passed away Monday from a heart attack at his home. He was 79. How strange that he died a day before the film inspired by his life was to be released on Blu-ray.
SpongeBob What? Squarepants Who? Bob What? Pants? Who?
October 14, 2008 by towerblog
Oops. Did I just make the new SpongeBob Squarepant’s DVD title even MORE confusing in the title of this blog? Maybe. The real title is Who Bob? What Pants? is being released! If you were lucky enough to catch Nickelodeon tonight, you would have seen the premiere of this DVD featuring the voices of Tom Kenny, Doug Lawrence and Ray Liotta.This DVD includes 6 SpongeBob Squarepant’s shorts: Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?, Goo Goo Gas, The Two Faces of Squidward, SpongeHenge, Banned In Bikini Bottom and finally, Stanley S. Squarepants.
Some SpongeBob fans aren’t overly impressed with the new release, while other suggest that no matter what — this set of SpongeBob shorts will entertain and enlighten younger people (and that certainly includes the young at heart).
Here’s the Story of A Not-So-Lovely Girl
October 13, 2008 by Romy
If there’s one thing I love, it’s celebrity tell-all books. Earlier this year, Madonna’s brother released Life with My Sister Madonna the scandalous tell-all that revealed all the nitty-gritty details of life as the less famous Ciccone. Of course, I thought that the title of the book should have been “Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!” said in the same Jan Brady voice when she was whining about her sister Marcia.
Well, speaking of Marcia, Marcia, Marcia - guess who also released a book this month? Yes –You guessed it! Ms. Maureen “Marcia Brady” McCormick and this is one read you do not want to overlook. Although Marcia may have played a good-two-shoes on The Brady Bunch, let me tell you (rather, let Maureen McCormick tell you) she was everything but. In her new book Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice , Marcia, oopsy I mean Maureen, reveals the darker side of this lovely girl. Like what you ask?
Maureen tells stories about drugs, sex and rock and roll. There were the drug binges at the Playboy Mansion or at Sammy Davis Jr.’s house. Trading sex for drugs, becoming addicted to various illicit substances like cocaine and Quaaludes (how very Seventies), unwanted pregnancies, romances with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin, and much, much more!
She’s sober now (and has been since she married in 1985), won VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club challenge in 2007 and had a family negotiation with her brother on national television (thank you Dr. Phil). So, like the Brady Bunch, this story has a fairly happy ending – Maureen McCormick survived life as a child celebrity and lives to tell the tales.
…Oh great, now I have the Brady Bunch theme song stuck in my head…
History Lesson 101: Columbus Day
October 13, 2008 by Bob
If you work for the US Post Office, or a bank, you know that today is Columbus Day because you probably have the day off from work! For the rest of us, Columbus Day is a holiday that shows up on our office calendar, but means not a whole lot else.
Today, I’m putting together a little history lesson to help me (and you?) learn about this holiday that dates all the way back to 1792, 300 years after Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of North America. But did you know that Columbus Day didn’t actually become a federal holiday until 1971?
In Elaine Landau’s book Columbus Day she looks at the history of Christopher Columbus and the “discovery” of the New World, as well as the ways that the holiday is celebrated differently across the country. Or try reading Columbus in the Americas which uses actual logbooks from the first voyages to the Americas to understand the experiences and perspectives of these explorers.
It should also be noted that Columbus Day is most likely one of the most controversial of our holidays. In Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States, Zinn writes about how we must remember that Christopher Columbus and his explorers killed Native Peoples in order to start the “New World” — a part of history that should not be forgotten. In fact, in South Dakota, the holiday is actually known as “Native American Day.”
Here at Tower.com there are hundreds and hundreds of books on Christopher Columbus and some DVDs too. Check out A&E’s Biography on Christopher Columbus which provides interesting accounts of this explorer’s life and legacy, and The Great Adventurer’s Series Christopher Columbus and The New World. Hmmm… it seems to me there is yet to be a major Hollywood picture depicting Christopher Columbus and his exploration. I can see it now: Colin Farrell playing the role of Columbus…but wait…he already played the role of John Smith in The New World which is the story of the Americas in the 1600s. Anyone have any ideas on who could play Columbus? Maybe Jeremy Piven with longer hair — I imagine Columbus would have run his ship a lot like Ari Gold…
