"The Damnation of Theron Ware" starts out as a quietly damning portrait of small-town piety, but slowly gains momentum until, at the end, it hits you like a sledgehammer. The title character, a naive, self-satisfied young Methodist minister, is a cautionary figure for us all; introduced tentatively to a world of sophistication, he loses faith in all the old verities of his life, with nothing but a few poses and attitudes to replace them. Even at the end, trying to make a new start, his self-delusion is breathtaking. Harold Frederic had the misfortune to die at 42, just as he was starting to hit his stride as a novelist. Had he lived to write even another 10 years, he might be a household name today.

Ute Lemper, perhaps the pre-eminent European cabaret singer of our day, does a brilliant job putting across these songs. While songs such as "I Am a Vamp" come across as snazzy, funny period pieces, others--"It's All a Swindle," "Chuck Out the Men," "The Lavender Song," and "Munchhausen"--have lyrics which are just as pertinent and biting in Y2K America as they were in 1930 Berlin. (That doesn't speak well for today's society, needless to say.) These songs--and Lemper's performances of them--are like brilliant mirrors held up to reveal the hypocrisy of the Weimar Republic. If you can bear the shock of recognizing yourself in them, this CD is for you.

The writers do a terrific job of setting up the premise of a high school so ruled by cliques that it even has a sizable cowboy crowd, and the actors--Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Larry Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and especially Allison Janney as a wisecracking guidance counselor--are as charming as they could possibly be. Unfortunately, the writers--having taken "The Taming of the Shrew" as the template for their story--run out of direct parallels to Shakespeare early on, and they can't replace them with anything except the usual, tiresome teen-movie cliches and leaden, disposable dialogue. Worst of all, Janney--whose presence really enlivens the early scenes--disappears before the movie is half-over. This movie was a big disappointment to me, but I wish nothing but great things for these wonderful actors.

His performances of the French Suite and the Italian Concerto are a revelation--crisp, forceful, even gutsy, all the inner voices coming out strongly and clearly. I like to compare and contrast Say's performance of the Chaconne with those of Jorge Bolet and Awadagin Pratt; it's interesting to see which harmonies each pianist emphasizes, but it's obvious all three are in the same league!

There are a few throwaway cuts here--inevitable when you have a compilation album of previously unreleased tracks--but there are still plenty of great, smart-alecky songs here, showing that Robbie is still crazy after all these years. No one else in popular music--with the possible exception of Nick Lowe--would dare to follow the Hitchcock-creepy "I Just Want to Meet the Man" with the tomfoolery of "The Wedding of the Bugs," or the nudge-nudge, wink-wink salaciousness of "White Man's Bourbon" with the innocent bounciness of "That Bangle Girl." And who else but Robbie Fulks would dare to begin a country album with a straight-on paean to a '30s movie star? (I fully agree, by the way, with Robbie's high opinion of Jean Arthur, and wish he'd follow up with songs in praise of Audrey Hepburn, Lee Remick, and Judy Holliday!) This isn't, perhaps, the best album with which to begin your acquaintanceship with Robbie Fulks--"Country Love Songs" and "South Mouth" are better starting points--but this one will definitely keep the fans satisfied.

If it weren't for the big budget and A-list stars, this would be a prime candidate for "Mystery Science Theater 3000." The special effects may be great, but the editing is horrible; there are long stretches of this movie where I defy you to tell exactly what is happening to whom. The characters are pure, 100-percent cardboard, and their basic character traits change at the whim of the screenwriters and the necessity of the dull, by-the-numbers plot. I would really love to have recorded the private discussions between Ben Affleck and Billy Bob Thornton (both Oscar-winning screenwriters) regarding the script for "Armageddon"; I'm certain their comments would require a very strong Parental Advisory!

I first heard this album (CDs were still a gleam in the eye of their inventor) soon after it first appeared in the late '70s, and became a rabid Pat Metheny fan because of it. More than two decades later, I feel Metheny has never surpassed it. He may have recorded more ambitious albums, but none of them have the sheer spontaneity and sweetness of this one. "Jaco," with its bouncy tune and Mark Egan's throbbing bass, is still my all-time favorite Metheny piece, while "San Lorenzo" and "Phase Dance" still sound like the musical backdrop for the best vacation you ever had.

As the title suggests, Bill Evans and Toots Thielemans really do have an affinity for each other's work. Evans's piano and Thielemans's harmonica are mellow and meditative on this CD, capturing many lovely shades of blue. Whether performing an original like "Sno' Peas" or a cover of one of Paul Simon's more obscure songs, "I Do It For Your Love," Evans and Thielemans create the perfect aural backdrop for watching the rain from your living-room window, a good cup of Moka Java or glass of Merlot in hand.

Only a very few classic farces--such as "Duck Soup" or "Bringing Up Baby"--are in its league. Gene Wilder's performance is a revelation, and for sheer hilarity and daring, the "Springtime for Hitler" production number is equaled only by the "Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich" sequence in "Being John Malkovich." Mel Brooks won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for this movie; in a just world, he would have won the Nobel Prize for Literature!

This movie came out of nowhere in 1979 to win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar and four other nominations. It had no big names in the cast (though two of the actors, Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern, went on to great success), no fanfare, nothing but its own buoyant, joyous spirit to recommend it to viewers. It is a beautiful, funny film, and one with a wholesome moral about the need to persevere in life and to hold fast to your dreams. The language might be a little gamy for the Christian Coalition, but the moral of the film is entirely in line with Middle America. Paul Dooley gives a perfect performance in this film; why he didn't get an Oscar nomination is utterly beyond me, and I wish both he and Dennis Christopher would have had better careers than they did. But they'll always have "Breaking Away," and that in itself is glorious.