Avatar on DVD (again)

James Cameron’s Avatar, whether you like it or not, certainly made an impression. 3D movies are all the rage now—unfortunately—and those of us who are sick of paying a premium for the sometimes shoddy experience just have to wait it out. While Avatar is sometimes fun to watch, there’s almost too much here to see, with the entire world of the film realized down to the shape of the dew on blades of grass. When did “less is more” fall by the wayside? The new 3-DVD Extended Collector’s Edition set includes three versions of the film, with three hours of extras that take you behind the scenes and show you over 45 minutes of deleted scenes. The three editions are the theatrical version, the special edition re-release, and the extended cut which includes 16 extra minutes. Now, to seems, Cameron is king of the 3D world. Though he certainly pushes the envelope, one does wish he would go back to simply making movies. You know, on occasion.

Tangled on CD

Tangled, the new Disney movie, is their take on the Rapunzel story. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought the trailer was funny, but sometimes trailers lie. This time, though, the trailer set up the film perfectly—and it turns out that Tangled is a thoughtful, even provocative, story that deserves a spot on the shelf next to Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, and The Little Mermaid. The music and songs, by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, are terrific, and they carry the film along on a bed of wonderful songs. What they lack in depth, perhaps, they make up for in enthusiasm. While not, perhaps, as good as those in Pocahontas, which to me is a real standout, they do work well. It’s great fun to hear Broadway star Donna Murphy stretch her “evil” muscles in the role of the mother. Her performance of “Mother Knows Best” is like every evil stepmother’s fantasy come to life. Snd Mandy Moore and  Zacahry Levi’s “I See the Light” is just amazing. The new CD captures of all this, as well as a good bit of Menken’s score. I do wish the CD’s tracks were arranged in film order; to separate the songs from the score is needlessly jarring. Still, it’s a terrfic soundtrack for a terrific movie.

Modern Family on DVD

Glee isn’t the only breakout show in its second season. Modern Family is an altogether different experience, but just as fun—and even more irreverent. The sitcom involves three families: that of the patriarch, played by Ed O’Neill, and those of his two adult kids, played by Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. There are young kids in each family, and the show flies on the relationships between the various parents and kids, across the three generations. Some of the best moments are best viewed when not eating; I learned that lesson early. Truly, the comedy is overwhelming…and the laughter unstoppable. The first season of Modern Family is on DVD now in a 4-disc set. It includes deleted, extended, and alternate scenes; behind-the-scenes documentaries, and more.

Tis the Season to be Gleeful

As it was last year, Glee is the hit of the television season. The little show that could has surpassed what everyone thought it could do and is now nothing less than a media juggernaut. There’s truly something for everyone—take your pick from a constant stream of iTunes downloads, CDs, books, merchandise of every description, special issues of entertainment magazines, and of course DVDs.

The Season 1 DVD set, which was released in the fall, will make th eperfect holiday gift for someone who’s of the mind to see how it all started. The 7-disc set includes all 22 episodes, of course, plus sing-along karaoke, a jukebox, audition footage, and other behind-the-scenes goodies. All in all, pretty spectacular.

The music, which is available for download the day the shows are broadcast, has proven to be unstoppable. The single “Teenage Dream,” sung by new cast member Darren Criss, quickly became the series top seller—and it’s included on the “Volume 4," which is probably sitting on shelves next to the “Glee Christmas Album.” Both are wonderful collections for any “Gleek.”

If you’re like me, you can’t wait to see the surprises in-store for the second half of season 2.

The Best Music Writing of the Year!

One of my personal treats around this time every year is a copy of Best Music Writing of the year, published annually by Da Capo. It’s a particularly well produced and thought out book. It’s not a beauty contest (although it easily could be). And it’s not about the biggest artists or the most envied mastheads or anything like that. Rather it does exactly what it promises: it collects the very best writing about music from the year that was. You end up with a beautifully rendered portrait of that year: the highest highs, the lowest lows and just the heartbeat of that moment; technologically, stylistically and, to a certain extent, even politically. This year the book is comprised of 36 terrific and far-ranging pieces. I loved every second.

Ann Powers is guest editor of this 10th edition of Da Capo’s Best Music Writing. She is the chief pop critic of the Los Angeles Times and the author of Weird Like Us, Rock She Wore and several other books.

“Music itself is a call that invites response,” she tells us in the opening to Best Music Writing 2010. “It organized desire, sorrow, and joy into a form both primal ... and intensely communal; in every know culture, some sort of music has been in a constant in every day life.” It is, once again, celebrated here. ◊


Lincoln Cho is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in the Chicago area, where he works in the high-tech industry. He is currently working on a his first novel, a science-fiction thriller set in the world of telecommunications.