*Paula Abdul Shut Up and Dance (Virgin; all formats) Remixes make her hits much more trashy — and much more fun. B- (Greg Sandow) *Ray Anderson What Because (Gramavision; all formats) Raucous trombonist funks it up, then plays pretty. A- (Gary Giddins) *David Baerwald Bed Time Stories (A&M; all formats) Thoughtful, sardonic rock with strong melodies and a solid beat, from one-half of the now-defunct group David+David. B+ (GS) *Adrian Belew Young Lions (Atlantic; all formats) Sometimes weird guitarist finds his own touching-though widely varied-voice. Read More...
While 2011 was all about Ryan Gosling and Tim Tebow, 2012 was a ladies’ game. From Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney to Secretary of State Hillary and, yes, even those Hot Problems hot messes, it was girls who run the world… wide web. Though a few fellows managed to sneak in — and cats of course (this is the Internet, after all). Below, the best and worst of 2012. BEST 5. Read More...
Pssst. Spread the word. It’s going down. Only one movie this holiday season, Office Christmas Party, combines two things people love — Christmas and parties — with one thing they don’t: offices. The raucous Tonight’s the night! ensemble comedy features Jennifer Aniston as Carol, the grinchy interim CEO of a struggling tech company who informs her teddy-bear brother, Clay (Silicon Valley’s T.J. Miller), that bonuses are off, layoffs are on, and the yuletide bash at his Chicago branch is canceled. Read More...
