TOP PICK
Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique:
20th Anniversary Edition
(Capitol)
One of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, and one of the best uses ever of the studio as playground, celebrates 20 years with a remastered CD. Nothing new here, but every old-school TV, funk and soul sample rings out with needle-on-the-record clarity. Get ready to get down to "Hey Ladies," "Shake Your Rump" and "Shadrach" all over again.
TV
The Chris Isaak Hour
(Bio)
Singer-songwriter Isaak is a natural smartass. He's also super-smooth onscreen (check out his small role in Silence of the Lambs or his "Wicked Game" video, where he gets busy with a hottie on a beach). His new weekly series - premiering at 10 p.m. Thursday - is part interview and part performance, as musical guests sit, chat and sing with the affable star.
DVD
Clint Eastwood: American Icon Collection
(Universal)
The four movies in this box aren't Eastwood's best, but they come pretty close to summing up both the actor and director. In The Eiger Sanction and Coogan's Bluff, he plays vengeful gunmen working outside of the law (paging Harry Callahan!). Better is the Civil War-set, The Beguiled and Play Misty for Me, about a DJ and his psychotic fan.
CD
Buddy Holly: Memorial Collection
(Geffen/Decca/UME)
Holly died 50 years ago this month. This three-disc, 60-song set underscores the tragedy. The Texas songwriter and guitarist was a rawer singer than Elvis, messed around with studio gadgets years before anyone else did and left a ton of great songs ("That'll Be the Day," "Not Fade Away," "Oh Boy!" - all included here) as a legacy. Rave on, indeed.
DVD
Little Miss Sunshine
(20th Century Fox)
The 2006 Oscar winner comes to Blu-ray, and it holds up - especially Toni Collette as a mom keeping her family together during a cross-country road trip to a beauty pageant. Steve Carell has his most subtle role, and Alan Arkin - as a heroin-snorting, porn-loving grandpa - has his most showy. Plus, the crazy kid from There Will Be Blood gets all gloomy and mute.
