CD Review: Dirty Diamonds by Alice Cooper

As Alice Cooper nears 60 years old, he's showing no signs of slowing down. What he started with The Eyes of Alice Cooper, he continues here, going back to old school rock and roll. A few of the songs on this disc sound as if they were recorded back with Billion Dollar Babies or School's Out. Even as he ages, his voice is as good as ever. So many times watching bands like The Who or Pink Floyd recently at the "One" Concert, you ask yourselves "They still sound good, so why aren't they putting new music out?". Someone usually answers "They can't write stuff like that anymore.". Well Alice is proving them wrong again as this disc is very old style sounding (except " Stand"). If you liked Eyes, there's more where that came from here. It gets **** out of *****.

Movie Review: The Fantastic Four

The summer's second big superhero movie made a huge payday on opening weekend but sadly, wasn't as fantastic as everyone was saying. Not that it wasn't entertaining. It's just that in today's day and age, previews ruin movies. If you've seen the previews, you've seen the movie. There were very few action sequences that weren't in the trailer. Dr. Doom (as the hooded and masked Dr. Doom) is in the film only at the end. I know that this is the first of what should be many, but I felt a little cheated. The effects were good but my cineplex put the film in a theater with lousy sound so that didn't help matters. The acting was pretty good throughout the movie and the makeup on The Thing was really good, alot better than the CGI Hulk. Here's hoping the crew returns for the sequel and that it's a little more action packed. As for me, I liked Batman Begins better but I still give Fantastic Four ***1/2 out of *****.

Book Review: Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell

The Chin's second foray into the publishing world is just as an entertaining read as his debut, If Chins Could Kill, Confessions of a B-Movie Actor. Long held in my heart as one of my favorite actors, Bruce puts on display his unending wit and humor as he describes his misadventures trying to become a part of a big league "A" list movie starring Richard Gere and Renee' Zellweger. As the movie unwinds around him and blame is cast upon the "B" movie actor, Bruce takes to some desperate measures to clear his name and save his reputation. Filled with laugh-out-loud pictures and action sequences as only The Chin could write, this is a must read for any genre fan or any fan of humorous stories. Even better than his first, this book gets ***** out of *****. Noboby can pile it on like Bruce Campbell.

CD of the Month (July): Once by Nightwish

Each new Nightwish release gets bigger and better than the last one. Once is their best so far. The sound is HUGE on this album and it's easily one of the best produced albums of the year. Seriously, every track hits it's mark. The musicianship is unbelievable and Tarja's vocals are as powerful as ever. "Dark Chest of Wonders" starts the CD off with a great guitar riff and the songs have an almost cinematic feel to them. There are eleven songs on the album and every one is fantastic, even if one is sung in Finnish (Kuolema Tekke Taiteilijan). I don't know, it must be something in the water over in Finland, Once is the second CD of the Month from a Finnish band so far this year. Viva' La Finland! The disc gets ***** out of *****. Perfect.