Graphic
Media Mix
A Quick Take on New Releases for Sunday, June 11, 2006
 TITLE | BASIC STORY | SAMPLE GRAB | WHAT YOU'LL LOVE | WHAT YOU WON'T | GRADE | |||||||||||||||||||
 | Baby Proof By Emily Giffin St. Martins Press $23.95 | The best-selling author of "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" crafts a tale about a woman determined not to have children, despite what society (and her husband) have to say on the matter. | "I want him to kneel before me, take everything back, tell me how much he loves me. Just as I am. Instead he says, cold as ice, 'Good-bye, Claudia.' " The protagonist and her husband have their first major blowout over her antipathy toward starting a family | The writing isn't quite as cutesy as that of chick lit's worst offenders. | The one-note conceit isn't nearly enough to carry an entire book, and the flat writing and predictable plot make for an overlong slog. Reviewed by Sara Cardace |  | ||||||||||||||||||
| That Summer in Paris By Abha Dawesar Nan A. Talese/Doubleday $23.95 | At age 75, Nobel laureate Prem Rustum meets Maya, an aspiring author one-third his age; the two tumble into a voluptuous, yet largely platonic, intimacy. | "Prem felt a force field emanating from Maya that resisted him and pulled him in at the same time. She was like a hot glowing metal about to melt." | Dawesar convincingly portrays the emotional tempests of both a young woman wrestling with her creative voice and an old man ablaze with longing. | Wince-inducing sexual metaphors and unrealistic, mannered dialogue sometimes border on a bad Anais Nin parody. Carolyn Juris |  | ||||||||||||||||||
 | The Big Bang Busta Rhymes Aftermath $13.98 | Working with producer Dr. Dre, the rapper (best known for his 1996 hit "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check") delivers a dirty, party-ready album just in time for summer. | "My soldiers on the block, get on it / If you got it if you flaunt it we will take it if we want it / See coming from the ghetto got a different state of mind / With a different kind of hustle and we're illing with the grind" "In the Ghetto" (featuring Rick James) | The herky-jerky beats and well-chosen guest spots (Kelis, Stevie Wonder and Nas, to name a few) create an infectious backdrop for Busta's growly raps. | The album is marred by a couple of non-starters that should have ended up in the outtake pile. S.C. |  | ||||||||||||||||||
| Getting Somewhere Allison Moorer Sugarhill $18.98 | The singer-songwriter (and sister of best-selling performer Shelby Lynne) teams up with husband Steve Earle for a rootsy album of catchy country songs. | "What I feel inside / I don't want to hide / The things I need to tell you / I stumble so, heart in my throat / It all remains untold / So I guess you'll never know" "You'll Never Know" | The album features unexpected flourishes fuzzed-out garage-rock guitars, orchestral accompaniment and uses them to great effect. | Moorer's sound here is more Southern rock than country, so devotees of the latter may be put off by certain songs. S.C. |  | ||||||||||||||||||
| News and Tributes The Futureheads Vagrant $13.98 | One of the more popular British indie bands to emerge in recent years returns with a sophomore album of punky, guitar-driven rock. | "Got burnt, third degree / Never learned my lesson, but forgive me please / Nothing lasts forever and nothing is free / Please remember to let me down gently." | Angular guitars and playful vocals recall classic bands such as Dexy's Midnight Runners and Squeeze. | The band eschews the rock-appella harmonies of its first album for a harder, edgier sound that loses something in translation. S.C. |  | ||||||||||||||||||
 | The Lost Colony By Grady Klein First Second $25 | On a mysterious 19th-century island, chaos follows the arrival of a slave boy purchased by Birdy Snodgrass to do the lazy, spoiled girl's chores. | "Miss Birdy, you are not allowed to bring slaves onto the island!" Snake-oil scientist Pepe Wong reminds the little rich girl of the island's rules | "Colony" blends the historical and the fantastic into a madcap romp framed by serious ethical questions. | The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink climax feels rushed and leaves too many questions unanswered. Evan Narcisse | | ||||||||||||||||||
 | End of the Spear Rated PG-13 Twentieth Century Fox $29.99 | In this fictionalized account of true events, five young Christian missionaries are killed by an indigenous tribe in Ecuador in 1956. Their families reconcile with the tribesmen, changing the fortunes of both groups. | "No one took my father's life. He gave it." Steve Saint (Chad Allen) pardons Mincayani, his father's killer | The film's unquestioning pro-missionary stance will appeal to those who aren't looking for a secular perspective; a few minutes of documentary footage of the real Steve Saint at the end carries more emotional impact than the rest of the film. | The choppy production doesn't help the made-for-MTV cast; the music is so melodramatic and overly sentimental that it fully undermines the film's potentially effective moments. Justin Rude | | ||||||||||||||||||
 | Magnetica Nintendo DS Rated Everyone Nintendo $29.99 | Your mission: Stop a train of marbles from reaching the end of a long spiral chute. Your tactic: Flick the orbs around to line up three of the same color and make them go bye-bye. | You can use clocks to slow the marbles down or make them travel backward. | Tetris fans will find this new twist on the puzzle genre equally addictive and more well-rounded (literally and figuratively). | Thanks to an inadequate tutorial mode, figuring out gameplay specifics takes some trial and error. Christopher Healy |  |
PHOTOS: Courtesy
Adapted from version orginally published in The Washington Post
