About to Drop - Music, Games, Film ... Eric Shapiro - Skidmore News 2-26-10
About to drop is a weekly feature that takes a look at what is upcoming in the world of entertainment.
Pavement - "Quarantine the Past" - March 29
What better time for Pavement to release a greatest hits album than a few short months before their eagerly anticipated reunion? Granted, anyone who cares enough about the 1990's indie rock darlings to buy tickets to one of their summer shows probably owns all their albums anyway, but since when has something like that stopped a record company from skimming a little bit more green off of fans who either have fat wallets or haven't yet discovered or approved of bittorent? Them CDs only cost a few pennies to manufacture these days, so why not? On the bright side, quite an interesting title.
"God of War III" - Santa Monica Studio - March 29
At long last, Kratos, every gamer's favorite Spartan warrior is poised to make his transition into the current generation of game systems. Far more devastating than any Greek tragedy is the fact that "God of War 3" will only be released on the Playstation 3, but that's not a hug surprise. The latest entry in the series has everything that fans could possibly want: brutal weapons, stunning stylized graphic and epic boss battles. One new addition to Kratos' arsenal is the Cestus, a pair of lion-shaped gauntlets that are far deadlier than the animal they resemble. "God of War III" goes a long way toward proving wrong all those naysayers who were so quick to count Sony out of the console war early on.
Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach" - March 9
Grumble grumble grumble. Why can't Damon Albarn devote more time to Blur and less time to side projects and guest appearances? As a former 1990s Brit Pop super star with an enormous cult following, I guess he's earned the right to do what he wants. This time around, Albarn has called in a few favors. An eclectic group of guest stars have lent their talents to "Plastic Beach," including Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, Paul Simonon, De La Soul, Mos Def and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. Albarn calls the upcoming Gorillaz LP his most poppy album so far. Given his proven ability to write insanely catchy pop songs, this is a hopeful sign.
Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone"
The director of the critically acclaimed 2006 film "United 93" is once again dipping his toe into topical waters with "Green Zone." This time, he's tackling the Iraq War, drawing heavy inspiration from Rajiv Chandrasekarans' award-winning non-fiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Life in Iraq's Green," which focuses on events in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein and before the surge that seemingly brought stability to the country. Matt Damon stars as a warrant officer assisting the CIA in finding weapons of mass destruction.
Pavement - "Quarantine the Past" - March 29
What better time for Pavement to release a greatest hits album than a few short months before their eagerly anticipated reunion? Granted, anyone who cares enough about the 1990's indie rock darlings to buy tickets to one of their summer shows probably owns all their albums anyway, but since when has something like that stopped a record company from skimming a little bit more green off of fans who either have fat wallets or haven't yet discovered or approved of bittorent? Them CDs only cost a few pennies to manufacture these days, so why not? On the bright side, quite an interesting title.
"God of War III" - Santa Monica Studio - March 29
At long last, Kratos, every gamer's favorite Spartan warrior is poised to make his transition into the current generation of game systems. Far more devastating than any Greek tragedy is the fact that "God of War 3" will only be released on the Playstation 3, but that's not a hug surprise. The latest entry in the series has everything that fans could possibly want: brutal weapons, stunning stylized graphic and epic boss battles. One new addition to Kratos' arsenal is the Cestus, a pair of lion-shaped gauntlets that are far deadlier than the animal they resemble. "God of War III" goes a long way toward proving wrong all those naysayers who were so quick to count Sony out of the console war early on.
Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach" - March 9
Grumble grumble grumble. Why can't Damon Albarn devote more time to Blur and less time to side projects and guest appearances? As a former 1990s Brit Pop super star with an enormous cult following, I guess he's earned the right to do what he wants. This time around, Albarn has called in a few favors. An eclectic group of guest stars have lent their talents to "Plastic Beach," including Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, Paul Simonon, De La Soul, Mos Def and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. Albarn calls the upcoming Gorillaz LP his most poppy album so far. Given his proven ability to write insanely catchy pop songs, this is a hopeful sign.
Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone"
The director of the critically acclaimed 2006 film "United 93" is once again dipping his toe into topical waters with "Green Zone." This time, he's tackling the Iraq War, drawing heavy inspiration from Rajiv Chandrasekarans' award-winning non-fiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Life in Iraq's Green," which focuses on events in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein and before the surge that seemingly brought stability to the country. Matt Damon stars as a warrant officer assisting the CIA in finding weapons of mass destruction.