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Media Mix

A Quick Take on New Releases for Sunday, July 30, 2006

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WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

WHAT YOU WON'T

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The Keep By Jennifer Egan Knopf $23.95

The premise involves the reunion of two estranged cousins who share a dark childhood secret and the abandoned medieval castle one of them hopes to renovate.

"I've put my marriage on the line, dragged all these people over here. Everything I have is wrapped up in this castle. So it has to work. It has to work." — Castle owner Howard explains his predicament to recently arrived cousin Danny

Egan is an exceptionally intelligent writer whose joy at appropriating and subverting genres and cliches — from prison memoir to Gothic ghost story — is evident on every dizzyingly inventive page.

Sometimes dizzying invention makes you, well, dizzy. The author's Russian doll-style tale-within-a-tale requires multiple suspensions of disbelief. — Reviewed by Adriana Leshko

Pound for Pound By F.X. Toole Ecco $25.95

The author, who died in 2002, penned the story that inspired "Million Dollar Baby." This, his debut novel, is a similarly tragic story of personal redemption set in the world of amateur boxing.

"Earl saw Dan's eyes. Nothing was in there.... The brightness of life, the flame of the human pilot light, was burning dangerously low." — The protagonist's longtime training partner watches as his friend suffers a tragedy that may well push him over the brink

Toole has an undeniable knack for crafting instantly believable characters, and you can practically feel the sweat — and punches — that fly during his accounts of battles in the ring.

Those who aren't fight fans may find their attention wandering, especially during the sluggish middle third of the book. — Sara Cardace

No Place Like Bklyn Jeannie Ortega Hollywood Records $18.98

The 19-year-old singer has J-Lo-size ambitions, but her pedestrian tunes earn her a seat at pop music's kiddie table between Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan.

"All freshed up / Ready for touching / I'm your little chula / Straight outta' Brooklyn" — "Can U?"

Ortega's raspy voice has tons of character; it gives some much-needed sizzle to the reggaeton-lite of "Let It Go" and "It's R Time."

She name drops her native Brooklyn at every opportunity, but these songs sound tailor-made for play at the mall in Anytown, U.S.A. — Chris Richards

Year of the Dog...Again DMX Sony $18.98

Gunning for the top of the charts, the petulant rap veteran sticks so closely to the script, he sounds like a parody of himself. (He's still veddy, veddy angry).

"Six number-one albums / Imagine that / Cats is sick / The dog got his swagger back" — "We in Here"

At times, Swizz Beatz's unhinged production is forceful enough to distract you from the ill-tempered fellow barking in your ear.

After slinging trite hate-anthems at his competition, his critics and his "Baby Motha," DMX hits new lows with the insufferable rapmetal gripe "Wrong or Right (I'm Tired)." Tired, indeed. — C.R.

The Shaggy Dog Rated PG Walt Disney $29.99

A mystical 300-year-old Tibetan pooch bites a self-involved attorney (Tim Allen), transforming him into a sheepdog.

— "Have you ever heard of a man turning into a dog?" — "Well they all do, eventually, don't they?" — Bone-tired back-and-forth between Dave (Allen) and his assistant (Rhea Seehorn)

At the very least, fans of the 1959 original will have plenty of reasons to argue that this unfunny remake was unnecessary.

Kids will have a tough time keeping track of the horribly convoluted plot; adults will wonder how one film can so completely misuse the talents of Danny Glover, Robert Downey Jr., Kristin Davis, Jane Curtin and Philip Baker Hall. — Greg Zinman

V for Vendetta: Two-Disc Special Edition Rated R Warner Bros. $34.98

In this adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel by the "Matrix" team, England is a fascist state under attack by a masked, super-powered revolutionary (Hugo Weaving) who recruits a girl (Natalie Portman) on the run.

"Where once you had the freedom to object, think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission." — V (Weaving) gets the word out

You have to credit the filmmaker's audacity — making an idea-filled action movie with an anarchic terrorist hero is a pretty nervy move; a wealth of extras fills in every imaginable detail about the film's history and source material.

Though Weaving tries, having to act behind a mask is unrewarding to thespian and audience alike; the dialogue tends to veer toward the bombastic. — G.Z.

Monster House Multi-platform Rated Everyone 10+ THQ $39.99

Just as in the Sony film, three neighborhood children go toe-to-doorstop with a living house that likes to gobble up overly curious kiddies.

After the friends get separated inside the demonic edifice, you'll have a chance to play as each kid — armed with weapons such as water guns and balloons.

On some platforms, the graphic quality is remarkably close to that of the CGI movie, making for nice continuity between the two.

It's basically a G-rated "Resident Evil," which may not be a real draw for adult players. — Christopher Healy

Tekken: Dark Resurrection PSP Rated Teen Namco $39.99

The martial arts fighting franchise makes its debut on Sony's handheld, introducing two new characters: brooding military operative Dragunov and pampered debutante Lili.

Wireless connectivity and game-sharing mean that two players with separate PSPs can brawl with one disc.

The speed, ease of play and extra features stand as a shining example of how to translate a game from home console to handheld.

Because of the PSP's display shortcomings, the graphics occasionally hiccup. — Evan Narcisse

PHOTOS: Courtesy
Adapted from version orginally published in The Washington Post