Here are the week's best releases from the pop-culture universe:

Culture Jamming
CD -- A Piano: The Collection: This five-disc box gathers 86 songs by Tori Amos -- from her 1992 debut, Little Earthquakes, to last year's The Beekeeper. A horde of B-sides, remixes, alternate takes, and previously unreleased tracks are included among the familiar favorites. It's a fascinating set -- housed in super-cool packaging that resembles a piano -- that charts Amos' path from fragile singer-songwriter to kooky diva.

CD -- Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine: Before he sang in Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo was an oddball rapper in Goodie Mob. He also released a pair of critically acclaimed but commercially ignored solo albums. This 17-track compilation is the best of that period. Collaborations with Ludacris, Pharrell, and Timbaland bring the grooves, while Cee-Lo -- on hyperactive cuts like "I'll Be Around" and "Cell Therapy" -- brings the crazy.

DVD -- Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection: These three double-feature discs make perfect Halloween viewing. The atmospheric chillers from the golden age of horror star spooky icons Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Fay Wray. But it's the dread-soaked direction by pioneering filmmakers, experimenting with camera tricks and cobweb-strewn sets, that stands out. Mark of the Vampire, Doctor X, and The Devil Doll are the best, and don't miss Humphrey Bogart playing a zombie in The Return of Doctor X. Here's sucking on you, kid.

BOOK -- Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2007: The world's most indispensable and massive film-reference book adds more than 300 new entries this year. Handy star ratings and bloat-free capsule reviews let readers know in less than 10 seconds whether or not that Sarah Michelle Gellar curio is worth renting.

PRODUCT -- Lost, Mystery of the Island Jigsaw Puzzles: As if the TV program weren't perplexing enough, four different 1,000-piece puzzles focus on the most intriguing aspects of our favorite show: the hatch, the numbers, the Others, and the characters' lives before the fateful plane crash. Bonus: Each puzzle offers clues to the Lost mystery. Finally, obsessive fans will have something to keep them busy between episodes.

VIDEOGAME -- NBA 2K7: Thanks to incredibly lifelike action, this year's best hoops sim shreds the competition. The Signature Style feature -- which accurately replicates the moves, shots, and taunts of NBA stars -- is pretty cool, but we really love the Legends mode, featuring Dr. J.

COURTESY FLUSH, PLEASE -- Monty Python and the Holy Grail: The Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition: We get it. This is a great film; one of the all-time funniest, in fact. But how many different ways can it be recycled? This, the fourth repackaging in five years, adds the soundtrack CD and an interactive quiz. We fart in its general direction.

Like this story?
SCENE Supporters make it possible to tell the Cleveland stories you won’t find elsewhere.
Become a supporter today.
Scroll to read more Local Music articles

Join Cleveland Scene Newsletters

Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox.