Top Picks: 鈥楥an You Ever Forgive Me?,鈥� Karen O鈥檚 鈥楲ux Prima,鈥� and more
Yannis Philippakis鈥� voice is immaculate on Foals鈥� fifth album 鈥楨verything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Part 1,鈥� there's a new version of 鈥楲es Mis茅rables,鈥� and more top picks.
Yannis Philippakis鈥� voice is immaculate on Foals鈥� fifth album 鈥楨verything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Part 1,鈥� there's a new version of 鈥楲es Mis茅rables,鈥� and more top picks.
New 鈥楲es Mis鈥�
A new take on Victor Hugo鈥檚 famous novel聽Les Mis茅rables聽arrives on PBS April 14, with the first episode of a miniseries based on Hugo鈥檚 work airing at聽9 p.m. Dominic West stars as Jean Valjean, a former convict treated unjustly by the world. David Oyelowo and Lily Collins co-star.
Arena-ready anthems
Pity the British Olympic diving team for not having Yannis Philippakis among its ranks. As the singer of the band Foals, Philippakis famously clambers up stacks of speakers on stage and dives into audiences. His form is immaculate. So is his voice on Foals鈥� fifth album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Part 1. The band鈥檚 muscular funk rock locates the missing link between the Talking Heads and Red Hot Chili Peppers on 鈥淓xits鈥� and 鈥淚n Degrees.鈥� Foals鈥� springboard plunge into arena-ready anthems merits a score of 9 out of 10.
Forgiveness and forgery
In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which is available on DVD and Blu-ray, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, an author who begins forging letters from famous figures. Monitor film critic Peter Rainer calls the film 鈥渕arvelous鈥� and praises 鈥渢he subtlety and fullness of [McCarthy鈥檚] performance.鈥�
Surprising music
Yeah Yeah Yeahs fiery frontwoman Karen O has teamed up with Danger Mouse (actually drummer/producer extraordinaire Brian Burton) to create an unexpectedly beautiful noise called Lux Prima (meaning 鈥渇irst light鈥�). The resulting sound is at once lush and massive, spare and intimate, and constantly surprising. Burton鈥檚 wildly creative and compelling drumming is as much at the forefront of this music鈥檚 heady mix as O鈥檚 arresting vocals. The cinematic title song and dreamy final tune 鈥淣ox Lumina鈥� make perfect bookends for an album that continues to offer up sonic delights at every turn.
Bite-sized physics
What exactly is gravity, anyway? Find the answer to this and other mind-bending physics questions on the MinutePhysics YouTube channel. The videos are short and fast-paced but surprisingly understandable, thanks to whiteboard animations. Find it at www.YouTube.com/user/minutephysics.聽