Read it!It's Only A Movie: Alfred Hitchcock- A Personal Biography
Charlotte Chandler
Simon and Schuster
Even among his most intimate inner circle
of friends and colleagues, iconic director Alfred Hitchcock was never open
about himself. He was, however, unafraid to share his eerie fantasies with
us in many of his films, such as The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes,
Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Strangers
on a Train, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too 
Much,
To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Psycho
and The Birds. Drawing from personal conversations with Hitchcock,
author Charlotte Chandler reveals amazing never-before-told facts about
his life and career. Chandler also spoke with his wife, Alma, and
daughter, Pat, and many screen legends who starred in his films, including
Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck,
Henry Fonda, Tippi Hedren, Anthony Perkins, and Janet Leigh, to create one
of the most intimate portraits ever written of this legendary director.
Play it!
Star Wars Trivial
Pursuit and Star Wars Monopoly
Hasbro
Star
Wars fans can get more than their fill of trivia and gaming with the
release of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly home games. The
Trivial Pursuit game features two DVDs with 700 video questions, including
21 read by fans selected at last year's International Comic-Con in San
Diego, 1,800 card questions and four new metallic pawns. Questions are
suitable for a range of players from beginner to �ber-expert and cover
all six movies in 
six
categories. The Star Wars Monopoly Original Trilogy Edition comes
with eight collectible sculpted tokens and Rebel and Imperial cards that
could send you to the planet of Tatooine and offer the chance to claim
other planets and spaceports in the Star Wars realm. Star Wars
Monopoly, $49.99; Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, $69.99. Both available
at Toys R Us, Walmart and Zellers.
Miss
Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous(Warner)
This curious mixture of vibrant modern artists, Motown greats and glitzy show tunes is intended to reflect the oddly anachronistic diversity of Vegas, but it's still disorienting to hear Pink, Paul Anka and Patti Labelle within moments of each other. And how to explain the presence of Australia's criminally underrated Spiderbait? Must be the fact that their take on the classic "Black Betty" is so damn fun to sing along to. Which brings us to Esthero: she leads this collection off with "Wikked Lil' Grrrls," it's jazzy, playful vibe uncoiling like a most-welcome collaboration between The Cab Calloway Orchestra and Deee-Lite.
Be
Cool
(TVT/Universal)
Lots of smooth jams and funky stuff here, including big hits from Kool and
the Gang, James Brown and Earth, Wind & Fire. Black Eyed Peas are
represented by the aptly named "Sexy" from their breakthrough
album Elephunk, and even Sonny and Cher get down with "A
Cowboy's Work Is Never Done." Christina Milian-who convincingly plays
starlet Linda Moon in the film-performs two songs penned by Alicia Keys,
John Legend and will.i.am (from the aforementioned Peas). Those of you who
have seen the movie will be pleased to know that The Rock's gender-bending
rendition of the Loretta Lynn standard "You Ain't Woman Enough"
is here in all its campy glory.
Ice
Princess
(Walt Disney Records)
Figure skaters spend hours developing their routines-more time than was
spent assembling this oh-so-routine soundtrack. Full of over-produced
power-pop aimed at the hearts and wallets of the film's target audience,
there's only a few sparkling moments to speak of. Those bright spots are
Lucy Woodward's faithfully fun, breathy cover of Bjork's Broadway-ready
"It's Oh So Quiet" and the surprisingly mature "No
One" by gifted sisters Aly & A.J. Raven-Symon�'s
"Bump" is catchy enough, but a 19-year-old TV star singing about
an 808 just doesn't ring true. Finally, Jesse McCartney's "Get Your
Shine On" sounds like Hanson covering Michael Jackson's "Wanna
Be Startin' Somethin'." You decide if that's a good thing or not.
- Mike McCann