Read it!

 Sinatra
Richard Havers
DK Publishing

Ol' blue eyes lived the American dream, going from poverty to power, from Hoboken to Hollywood. Frank Sinatra's meteoric rise as a pop idol, his decline and his spectacular return, are all covered in Sinatra. More than 1,000 photographs accompany this chronicling of his albums, films, rat pack days and romances.



Chronicles: 
Volume One
Bob Dylan
Simon Schuster Inc.

Candid revelations and stories of the early years in Greenwich Village, New Orleans and points west, fill the pages of Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One, a beguiling and literate memoir written in the great songwriter's own voice.

Legends 2: Women Who
Have Changed the World
John and Kirsten Miller
New World Library

This elegant follow up to the best-selling photo book Legends features famous women writers paying tribute to some of the most influential women of the late
20th century, including Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange and Halle Berry.

Cinema Year by Year 1894-2004
David Thomson
DK Publishing

This absorbing book is packed with key movie events, facts and figures as well as movie stills, studio portraits and behind-the-scenes photographs. Special features examine the silent era, the studio system, the story of the Oscars and the rise of independent film. One for the serious movie fan.


Watch it!
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Platinum series special extended 
DVD edition

The final installment of the sweeping trilogy lands in DVD shops -- and stockings everywhere -- this month. The special expanded edition of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King contains four discs with a load of extras, including
50 minutes of never-before-seen footage, audio commentaries by the director and writers, the design and production teams and the cast (even a dialogue between split-personality Gollum and Smeagol). Original content includes multiple making, of documentaries and design and photo galleries with thousands of images.

  Hear it!
Ray
(Atlantic)
The buzz is that Jamie Foxx is headed for Oscar hardware thanks to his portrayal of late musical legend Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford's biopic.
It would be fitting, since Charles himself was decorated many times over for his incredible achievements. The 17 classics on this disc reveal the heart and soul of the boy who went blind at age 7 but refused to accept it as a handicap. Ray was the only artist in history to score Top 10 hits on the rock, jazz, country, pop and R&B charts, and that sweeping talent and appeal is obvious on tracks like "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Drown In My Own Tears," "What'd I Say," "Georgia On My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You."

Team America:
World Police
(Atlantic)
If it weren't for the caustic,
X-rated and tongue-through-cheek lyrics, this soundtrack would still be damn funny for its precision skewering of stereotypical movie and stage music. It's like a rousing game of spot the reference, from the high-energy Top Gun-esque rocker ("America: F*** Yeah!") to the Star Wars cantina/terrorist bazaar score. The lyrical content may induce laughter (against your better judgment) at heretofore taboo subjects like slavery, AIDS and misogyny disguised as a declaration of true love. The songs also take hilarious shots at Michael Bay's directing and Ben Affleck's acting abilities,
confused redneck pride, sundry blights on America's past and shortcuts every filmmaker takes-because hey, "even Rocky had a montage."

Alfie
(Virgin)
Alfie is an update in every sense. The 1966 film starred Michael Caine as a contemptible ladies man utterly devoid of redeeming qualities. In the 2004 version, Jude Law injects some pathos to create an equally roguish yet sympathetic character. Likewise, the music is
a soulful evolution-where the original relied on sax god Sonny Rollins to set the mood, the remake turns to David A. Stewart (Eurythmics) and Sir Mick Jagger to lay down songs that offer a glimpse into the antagonistic protagonist's psyche. "Old Habits Die Hard," "Let's Make It Up" and "Standing In The Rain" are all bluesy, understated gems whose lyrics sound like pages torn from Alfie's memoirs.


-  Mike McCann