Category Archives: Pop Culture

Oct 04 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

The Dependable Villain

New collection celebrates the dastardly talents of Vincent Price

VincentPriceCollection2The Vincent Price Collection

Blu-ray ($79.97, Scream Factory)

In the 1960s, Vincent Price became lionized as one of Hollywood most dependably deplorable villains, especially in a string of low-budget flicks in which he played an assortment of madmen, zealots and other horribly unhinged offshoots of humanity. This deluxe collection of six of his movies from that era (Fall of the House of Usher, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death, Pit and the Pendulum, Witchfinder General and The Abominable Dr. Phibes) comes with an assortment of top-notch bonus content, including interviews with schlock-king director Roger Corman, who worked with Price on many of his films; commentaries; still photos; and a 24-page booklet.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 04 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Willie & The Women

A ride around the singing corral with a bevy of female partners

WillieNelson_ToAllTheGirlsWillie Nelson: To All the Girls…

CD $11.98 (Legacy)

He’s 80 years old, but still churning out the tunes—and roping in the ladies. Taking the name for his latest CD from half of the title of his 1984 duet with Julio Iglesias (the missing part is “…I’ve Loved Before”), the venerable crooning cowboy saddles up with a bevy of female singing partners, including Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Loretta Lynn, Brandi Carlile, Miranda Lambert, Mavis Staples and Norah Jones, for this jaunt around the musical corral. The 18 tunes include a wide-ranging selection of Nelson originals, standards from the American songbook, and other gems from Bruce Springsteen, Waylon Jennings, Bill Withers and Merle Haggard.

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Oct 04 2013
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Books, Pop Culture

Slices of the Big Apple

A sweeping photo tapestry of New Yorkers going about life

HumansOfNewYorkHumans of New York

By Brandon Stanton

Hardcover, 304 pages ($24.99, St. Martin’s Press)

Based on the popular blog with the same name, Stanton’s sweeping photographic “census” of the Big Apple captures some four hundred New Yorkers going about the activities of their ordinary lives, creating an extraordinary interwoven tapestry of color, life and humanity in one of the world’s most uniquely iconic urban environments. “New York represents America for a lot of people,” says Stanton, who lives in an apartment in Brooklyn. “There are 8 million people in the city. People are so different here that [they] feel free to be…themselves.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Oct 01 2013
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DVDs, Music, Pop Culture

Stamp of Approval

Coming soon to a mailbox near you: Ray Charles!

Ray_Charles_Forever_Cover2Ray Charles Forever

CD/DVD ($18.98, Concord Records)

Why does this new Ray Charles CD/DVD combo look like a postage stamp? Because it’s part of the celebration around the recent release of the U.S. Postal Service Icons Forever Stamp honoring the enduring rhythm and blues singer. With 12 re-mastered studio tracks (including “Song For You,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Till There Was You,” “Imagine” and “America The Beautiful”), a DVD of live performances and interview segments, it’s a multimedia reminder of a performer whose decade-spanning career has generated more than 100 albums, made him one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, spawned an Academy Award-winning movie—and now put him in the mailbox! (It’s on sale at major Post Office locations, an online at usps.com.)

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

Brad Vs. The Zombies

It’s the end of the world, but Mr. Pitt’s on the job

WorldWarZ_BWorld War Z

Blu-ray $39.99, DVD $29.99 (Paramount Home Media)

It’s a global zombie apocalypse, but don’t worry: Brad Pitt’s on the job! The world’s hunkiest United Nations crisis-control specialist gets called into action for the assignment of his life when a sweeping pandemic begins turning entire countries into rampaging armies of the undead. Can he save his own family, let alone the whole world? Bonus features include documentaries on how the bestselling novel on which the film was based made the transition from page to screen; the scientific realities of “zombie” behavior in nature; and several behind-the-scenes looks at the international massive production on location in Philadelphia, South Korea and Jerusalem.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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Books, Pop Culture

Born To Be Wild

Centennial celebration of Harleys a Garden of Eden for gearheads

UltimateHarleyDavidsonBUltimate Harley Davidson

By Hugo Wilson

Hardcover, 216 pages ($25, DK Publishing)

Originally published in 2003, this new edition includes an updated, decade-by-decade rundown of the venerable motorbike company, hundreds of photos, and full-color spreads of 70 of the most beautiful, collectible and legendary Harleys of all time. Full of facts, specs and other info on a century of bikes, it’s a gearhead’s Garden of Eden, and the turn of each page leaves behind fumes of nostalgia, history, horsepower, the freedom of the open road and American-made pride.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Last Stand in Memphis

SONY DSCRe-released recordings show Elvis at final creative peak

Elvis At Stax

CD $24.89 (RCA/Legacy)

In a 12-day burst of creative steam, Presley hit the Stax studios in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., for two sessions in 1973, yielding his final string of Top 40 singles (including “Promised Land,” “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby” and “If You Talk In Your Sleep”) and more than two dozen other tunes that let him stretch his style across the a spectrum of rock, country and gospel. This affordably priced, 40th anniversary 3-CD commemorative set includes them all, and also 27 outtake tracks, plus and a photo-packed booklet with extensive notes about the songs and the sessions.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Sep 24 2013
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Books, Pop Culture, Television

Understanding the ‘Superstooge’

New bio gets inside the zany bald head of Curly

CurlyCurly: An Illustrated Biography of the Superstooge

By Joan Howard Maurer

Softcover, 400 pages ($19.95, Chicago Review Press)

Three Stooges fans will flip over this official biography of Jerome “Curly” Howard, the zaniest member of the slapstick trio whose high-pitched voice, shaven head and “nyuk-nyuk-nyuks” made him a comedy icon. Written by his niece (the daughter of head Stooge Moe Howard) and packed with more than 300 photos, it’s a treasure trove of rare information and insight into the career, family life and psychology of one of the most enduringly popular “knuckleheads” to ever stand in the Stooge spotlight.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 24 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

‘Kings’ Rule a Glowing, Golden Summer

A modern-day indie-flick Huck Finn tale

TheKingsofSummerThe Kings of Summer

Blu-ray $35.99, DVD $30.99 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

This film festival coming-of-age charmer, popular enough to break out into the mainstream sunlight in some movie markets, tells the tale of three teenage buddies who, in a bold act of summer independence, run away from their suburban homes to build their own house in the woods and live off the land. With young stars Nick Robinson (from TV’s Melissa and Joey), Gabriel Basso (the movie Super 8) and Moises Arias (from TV’s Hannah Montana) joined by familiar TV players Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Alison Brie (Community) and Megan Mullally (Will and Grace), it’s a modern-day Huck Finn fable about families, friendships and young hearts on the glowing, golden cusp between childhood and maturity.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 24 2013
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Books, Pop Culture

Down The Aisle, Day By Day

How a year’s worth of famous couples tied the knot

*00COVERwedding0313.inddWeddings/365

By Harvey Solomon

Softcover, 265 pages

($19.95, 365 Edge Publishing)

Find out how a whole year’s worth of famous couples tied the knot in this run-through of some of the most all-time memorable celebrity weddings of all time. Which Beatle met his future bride on the set of one of the band’s movies? What famous acting couple exchanged vows in an abandoned, candle-lit Manhattan apartment building? Who was the singing duo that said their “I dos” in their bathroom? Pop culture junkies will enjoy the hundreds of photos, and everyone will enjoy finding out the day-by-day, down-the-aisle details for stars of all seasons.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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