TOP PICK
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
(Cartoon Network)
The second season of the CG-animated TV hit kicks off with a
one-hour, two-episode story at 8 p.m. Friday. Anakin, Obi-Wan and R2-D2
return, but it’s all about the bounty hunters (including a cowboy
hat-wearing blue dude named Cad Bane) this season. Can we request a
Boba Fett appearance sometime in the near future, please?
MUSIC
The Feelies reissues
(Bar/None)
These New Jersey rockers are a critical link between the Velvet
Underground and R.E.M. Their 1980 debut, Crazy Rhythms, is the
undisputed classic, but the follow-up — 1986’s The Good
Earth — deserves to be re-evaluated. These expanded reissues
tag on demos and live songs, including Beatles and Neil Young
covers.
VIDEOGAME
Metroid Prime: Trilogy
(Nintendo)
All three Metroid Prime games are collected in this cool
package, which tweaks the games for the Wii. Basic gameplay remains
mostly the same (it’s a first-person shooter with lots of shit to
destroy, after all). But the games have never been more fun to play,
especially since point-and-shoot action is super-smooth now.
VIDEO
Requiem for a Dream
(Lionsgate)
One of the best movies of the decade finally comes to Blu-ray with
deleted scenes, a making-of doc and commentary by director Darren
Aronofsky (who helmed the equally excellent The Wrestler last year). The HD makes the story — about four people battling
different forms of addiction — all the more harrowing.
VIDEOGAME
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
(Namco Bandai)
After last year’s Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 outing featuring
Star Wars characters, this great fighter gets back to its roots
on this PSP game — the series’ first appearance on a handheld
platform. The action is still pretty intense, especially in the
Gauntlet tutorial — one of the best we’ve seen. Plus, look for
God of War’s Kratos, a major ass-kicker in any arena.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2009.