US – Sunday, March 14

Best of The Word

The week's releases

Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

Published 00:08, October the 28th, 2009

These faces don’t lie!

These faces don’t lie!

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Can you handle the ‘Brangelina’ truth?

Ian Halperin’s new book, “Brangelina Exposed,” promises to show how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie “have successfully manipulated the public into believing a glamorous fairytale.” Egads! You mean to say that the actors’ media personae are (gasp!) not factually representative? What’s the next stunning reveal? Magazines use Photoshop?

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.