US – Saturday, March 13
The Grid
The week's releases
Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.
 
Music
Run this town
No living man but Jay-Z could get a sold out Boston arena so excited about New York City. But for two hours last night, the sold out crowd at the Garden was in an Empire State of Mind, as “The Blueprint 3” tour rolled into town.
 
My Television
Back in the trenches
Steven Spielberg makes strikingly vivid, breathtakingly poetic movies about some of the most terrifying conflicts in the history of man. The filmmaking aesthetic he pioneered with “Saving Private Ryan” — and continues to perfect in HBO’s new WWII miniseries, “The Pacific” — was born out of a desire to translate as honestly as possible his conversations with veterans on their combat experience.
 
The Word
Is nothing in her life real anymore?
When we first read that Heidi Pratt was firing husband Spencer Pratt as her manager, we thought, “Yay! Heidi’s new face is finally doing something right!” But then we found out that although she did fire Spencer, it seems like she’s replacing him with psychic Aiden Chase to take the reigns on her “career” — and then we got scared.
 
Movies
Pattinson: A vampire in Brooklyn
Robert Pattinson has been playing Americans so often that he has forgotten how to talk like a Brit. In his latest, “Remember Me,” the “Twilight” heartthrob stars as a soulful young New Yorker attending NYU, but he insists he didn’t need any help sounding like a native. “I’ve never had a dialect coach or anything,” Pattinson says. “Ironically, I’ve only had a dialect coach for this film I’m doing now, which I’m doing in an English accent. I guess I’ve forgotten how to do an English accent.”
 
Updated 21:23, July the 17th, 2008
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Donovan as Manson Family matriarch Squeaky Fromme and the cast of “Assassins”Donovan as Manson Family matriarch Squeaky Fromme and the cast of “Assassins”
 

A real killer play

 There’s been grumbling about the timing of Company One’s staging of “Assassins,” Stephen Sondheim’s creepy musical about people who have shot presidents.

Some argue that given the current political climate and the upcoming election, the show might be seen as a glorification of the actions of these world-changing killers.

The likelihood of anyone taking a shot at a president after seeing Company One’s impressive production is about as great as somebody painting themselves blue after seeing “Blue Man Group.” It’s a musical; a really strange, weird, wonderful musical that attempts to find a reason behind these murderous efforts.

Director Shawn LeCount has assembled a stellar ensemble to bring everyone from John Wilkes Booth to John Hinckley Jr. to the stage for a brief yet intense look at the inner-workings of the minds of assassins.

Elizabeth Rimar (Sara Jane Moore) and McCaela Donovan (Squeaky Fromme) mine every bit of humor from their characters’ failed attempt to assassinate President Ford, and Nathaniel Shea is so good as John Hinckley even Jodie Foster would be impressed. Not only does he capture the frightening insanity of Reagan’s would-be assassin, he also turns in the finest musical performance, “Unworthy of Your Love,” which, of course, is a  duet with Donovan about their undying love for Foster and Manson.

‘Assassins’
Through August 9
BCA Plaza Theatre
MBTA: Orange Line to Back Bay
$15-$38, 617-933-8600
www.bostontheatrescene.com

 
 
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Music
MMMpod
The March MMMpod features conversation and music from Surfer Blood and The Allman Brothers Band (There's a double-bill you're not too likely to see. However, Gregg Allman does mention Hannah Montana!). We also speak with Vampire Weekend and the Dropkick Murphys.
 
 
 
Metro Life Panel
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