By James Baggett
GO SEE "Into the Wild" starring Emile Hirsch and directed by Sean Penn. When Chris McCandless (Hirsch) graduates with honors from Emory University, he decides that the monotony of the suburban lifestyle is not for him. He donates his $24,000 graduate school fund to charity and leaves his world behind. He roams the country, doing odd jobs and meeting interesting characters, the whole time yearning to go live off the land in Alaska.
Penn cleverly unfolds the story in pieces, so it is never dull, even if it is lengthy, at 140 minutes. The screenplay is based on the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer, writer of the popular account of Mt. Everest, "Into Thin Air."
WATCH "American Gangster" starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and based on real people and events. Washington, as drug kingpin Frank Lucas, evades NYPD detective Richie Roberts (Crowe). It's 1970s Manhattan, and Lucas's shrewd and masterful business policies launch his heroin business to enormous multinational proportions. He's paid off the police and anyone else who might stand in his way. But one cop, Roberts, refuses to let the scent of easy cash stray him from the trail of justice.
In this cat-and-mouse mobster flick, director Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down," "Gladiator") strays from the bloody murderfest typical of mob movies. Instead, the battle is more psychological, which separates "American Gangster" from other movies in its genre.
READ "Playing for Pizza" by John Grisham. Grisham's latest novel starts when an NFL third-string quarterback is put in a hospital bed after a concussion from a game in which he botches a lead in his first on-field appearance. His oily agent finds him a new team to play for. But it's in Parma, Italy - that hotbed of American football. A fish out of water, the quarterback melds into the Italian culture. He drives a Fiat, goes to an opera, and lets himself to the mercy of a female American college student studying abroad, who drags him throughout various tourist spots.
This isn't a football novel, and it's not typical Grisham. It's a light read, short and worth a look.
LISTEN TO Shooter Jennings' new album, "The Wolf." This heir to outlaw country released his third album this week. Jennings keeps it light this time, moving away from the heavy metal influences of his last album, "Electric Radio," and sticking closer to southern rock and Texas-country-influenced sounds.
Most of the songs relate to Jennings' life of touring, the party lifestyle and the hardships that come with it. He covers Dire Straits' "Walk of Life," with a country edge. On the song "This Ol' Wheel," Jennings flows in a countrified rap style to a tough, hard, fast beat with a fiddle prominent in the assortment of sounds.
