In Memoriam: Maya Angelou

Written by Kyle Slagley

Yesterday the world lost one of the most powerful and astute voices in literature. Poet, singer, dancer, and activist Maya Angelou passed away in her North Carolina home at age 86.

Many people are familiar with Angelou at least by name, if not necessarily by having read her work. She is known as a writer whose ability to speak to readers on a deep and personal level is uncanny nearly to the point of being unsettling. Angelou’s struggles as a child in the Jim Crow south would shape her writing in later years. Her signature memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings gave insight to her struggles, having worked as a cook, nightclub dancer, prostitute, and even for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

A spokesperson for women and minority rights, Angelou’s work speaks for any group who has ever faced attempts at being silenced. Perhaps that is because Angelou herself took years to discover her own voice—literally. When she was 8 years old, her mother’s boyfriend assaulted her. When she told her brother what happened, her attacker was convicted but jailed for only one day. Four days after he was released from jail, he was found murdered. When Angelou found out, she didn’t speak again for six years, believing that her voice had killed the man. 

Fortunately for the world, Angelou found her voice and, despite the struggles she endured through the years, used her voice to speak love, acceptance, and peace to anyone who would listen, as evidenced by the fact that her words are seen in books, on billboards, in commercials, and on social media on a daily basis. Her awards, honorary titles, medals, and commendations are too numerous to name here, but I would invite you to visit her Wikipedia page for more information.

Angelou passed away at her home in Winston-Salem, NC. Fittingly, her final tweet read:

Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.
— Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou) May 23, 2014

"Preacher, Don't Send Me"
by Maya Angelou

Preacher, don't send me
when I die
to some big ghetto
in the sky
where rats eat cats
of the leopard type
and Sunday brunch
is grits and tripe.

I"ve known those rats
I've seen them kill
and grits I've had
would make a hill,
or maybe a mountain,
so what I need
from you on sunday
is a different creed.

Preacher, please don't
promise me
streets of gold
and milk for free.
I stopped all milk
at four years old
and once I'm dead
I won't need gold.

I'd call a place
pure paradise
where families are loyal
and strangers are nice,
where the music is jazz
and the season is fall.
Promise me that
or nothing at all.

From The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou
published 1994 by Random House

Hot This Week: May 27

After a long weekend, we find five new titles gracing this week's DVD listing. Six new titles make the music chart, with Akron-based rockers the Black Keys edging out an album of new MJ material for the top spot. Four new titles make the back half of the fiction list, led by Craig Johnson's latest tale of Sheriff Walt Longmire. A new book from the authors of Freakonomics debuts at #2 on the non-fiction list.

DVD

1. Ride Along
2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
3. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
4. The Legend of Hercules
5. I, Frankenstein
6. 47 Ronin
7. The Wolf of Wall Street
8. Frozen
9. That Awkward Moment
10. The Nut Job 

CD

1. The Black Keys, Turn Blue
2. Michael Jackson, Xscape
3. NOW That's What I Call Music 50
4. Frozen Soundtrack
5. Rascal Flatts, Rewind
6. Dolly Parton, Blue Smoke
7. Tori Amos, Unrepentant Geraldines
8. Sarah McLachland, Shine On
9. Hunter Hayes, Storyline
10. Michael W. Smith, Sovereign 

Fiction

1. Unlucky 13, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
2. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
3. Field of Prey, John Sandford
4. The Target, David Baldacci
5. Natchez Burning, Greg Iles
6. Any Other Name, Craig Johnson
7. The Son, Jo Nesbo
8. The Skin Collector, Jeffery Deaver
9. Walking on Water, Richard Paul Evans
10. The Kill Switch, James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

Non-Fiction

1. Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty
2. Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
3. Finding Me, Michelle Knight and Michelle Burford
4. Stress Test, Timothy F. Geithner
5. The Closer, Mariano Rivera and Wayne Coffey
6. Everybody's Got Something, Robin Roberts and Veronica Chambers
7. Flash Boys, Michael Lewis
8. A Fighting Chance, Elizabeth Warren
9. James Madison, Lynne Cheney
10. President Me, Adam Carolla 

Last Comic Standing Returns to NBC

Written by Jon Williams

Do you need a laugh? Of course you do—who doesn’t? Well, you’re in luck, as tomorrow night marks the Season 8 premiere of Last Comic Standing on NBC. The reality series pits a number of up-and-coming standup comedians against each other in challenges and head-to-head competition to see who is the funniest of them all. This will be the show’s first season since 2010.

The first season featured Jay Mohr as host and included appearances from a number of famous comics who served as judges, including Mo’Nique, Colin Quinn, and Phyllis Diller. That season, Dat Phan won the title of Last Comic Standing, winning the audience vote over Ralphie May. In the second season, John Heffron was the winner over Alonzo Bodden and Gary Gulman. Bodden won the third season, which featured the best performers from the first two seasons. Other comics to compete included Kathleen Madigan, Sean Kent, and Ant.

Last Comic Standing was cancelled after the third season, but came back after a one-year hiatus for a fourth in 2006. That year Josh Blue, one of the most memorable contestants due to his cerebral palsy, beat out a field that included Gabriel Iglesias, among others. The fifth season was hosted by Bill Bellamy and featured a fantastic cast that included international comics for the first time. Jon Reep took out Lavell Crawford for the win; other notable names from that season include Doug Benson and Amy Schumer, currently starring in the very popular Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer.

The sixth season brought Bellamy back as host. History was made that season, as Iliza Shlesinger became the first female comic to win the title. The seventh season featured Craig Robinson as host with Greg Giraldo, Natasha Leggero, and Andy Kindler serving as judges; Felipe Esparza won the competition. The new season that begins tomorrow night will be hosted by JB Smoove and judged by comedy legends Roseanne Barr, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and Russell Peters.

So give your patrons a laugh! Check out the comedy specials above, or SmartBrowse any of these names for even more standup specials, CDs, movies, and audiobooks from these very funny performers.

Hot This Week: May 19

The continuing journey of Bilbo Baggins was this week's movie of choice, as the second chapter in the Hobbit saga debuts at the top of the movie list. On the music chart, the news of the week is that the 50th NOW installment finally dislodges the Frozen soundtrack from its stranglehold on the #1 spot. The latest thriller from James Patterson and Maxine Paetro takes over the fiction list, while a big week in non-fiction sees five new titles, including the top three.

DVD

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2. The Legend of Hercules
3. 47 Ronin
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Frozen
6. Labor Day
7. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
8. 12 Years a Slave
9. Homefront
10. Gravity

CD

1. NOW That's What I Call Music 50
2. Frozen Soundtrack
3. Hunter Hayes, Storyline
4. Sarah McLachland, Shine On
5. Tech N9ne Collabos, Strangeulation
6. Pharrell Williams, G  I  R  L
7. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
8. Atmosphere, Southsiders
9. Santana, Corazon
10. Lorde, Pure Heroine

Fiction

1. Unlucky 13, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
2. Field of Prey, John Sandford
3. Walking on Water, Richard Paul Evans
4. The Target, David Baldacci
5. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
6. Natchez Burning, Greg Iles
7. The Collector, Nora Roberts
8. Chestnut Street, Maeve Binchy
9. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
10. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr 

Non-Fiction

1. Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty
2. Finding Me, Michelle Knight and Michelle Burford
3. The Closer, Mariano Rivera and Wayne Coffey
4. Everybody's Got Something, Robin Roberts and Veronica Chambers
5. A Fighting Chance, Elizabeth Warren
6. Good Call, Jace Robertson and Mark Schlabach
7. Flash Boys, Michael Lewis
8. Thrive, Arianna Huffington
9. James Madison, Lynne Cheney
10. Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty, Diane Keaton

Happy (Belated) Birthday to the Piano Man!

Written by Jon Williams

Last Friday, legendary pop-rocker Billy Joel turned 65 years old. Although the Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer hasn’t put out an album of original pop material in over twenty years, he remains a popular draw all around the world as a concert entertainer.

Joel got an early start in the music business, and his first album, Cold Spring Harbor, was released in 1971. However, Joel was unhappy with its production, and album sales languished. (The album has since been remastered, and the production mistakes fixed.) While he tried to get out of his recording contract so he could sign with another label, he went incognito, taking a job playing at a piano bar in Los Angeles. He used his experiences there as the inspiration for the song “Piano Man,” a song that would become his first hit and his signature tune.

He was successful in switching labels, signing with Columbia Records, and his second album, Piano Man (bearing the eponymous single), was released in 1973. He followed it up the next year with Streetlife Serenade, and in 1976 with Turnstiles. Although these three albums contained notable Joel tracks like “Captain Jack,” “The Entertainer,” and “New York State of Mind,” they did not initially reach the level of commercial success Joel would come to enjoy (although they were all eventually certified platinum by the RIAA, Piano Man four times over).

That success came with 1977’s The Stranger. Produced by Phil Ramone, the song jumped to #2 on the Billboard chart (kept out of the top spot primarily by Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours), and four of its nine songs charted as singles. It also earned Joel the first two of his six Grammy Awards, Song and Record of the Year for the song “Just the Way You Are.” In 1978, Joel released the album 52nd Street. Propelled by hits like “My Life” and “Big Shot,” it became Joel’s first #1 album, and also garnered him two more Grammy Awards (Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album of the Year). Interestingly, in 1982, 52nd Street became the first album to be released on the compact disc format.

The partnership with Ramone was obviously working, and the pair would work together on four more albums: 1980’s Glass Houses, 1982’s The Nylon Curtain, 1983’s An Innocent Man, and 1986’s The Bridge. They contained a string of hits, and all have been certified multiplatinum. In October of 1986, after the release of The Bridge, Joel made a series of performances in the Soviet Union, one of the first American rockers to do so. A recording of his Leningrad performance was eventually released on CD as KOHUEPT (Russian for “concert”); next week an expanded collection of his performances comes out as A Matter of Trust, in a standard 2-disc version (that includes KOHUEPT) and a deluxe edition that also includes a Blu-ray featuring concert footage and a documentary on the trip.

In 1989, Joel released the album Storm Front, his first album to reach #1 since Glass Houses. It contained the smash-hit single “We Didn’t Start the Fire” as well as the song “Shameless,” perhaps more popular as a hit for country superstar Garth Brooks. It was followed in 1993 by River of Dreams, which also reached #1, and is the last album Joel has released.

Still, more than twenty years later, Joel continues to sell out stadiums and arenas filled with legions of fans who come to hear him perform his hits for hours. In addition to touring, he also has a residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City, performing one show there per month. So, despite such a length of time with no new material, interest in Billy Joel’s music remains strong. SmartBrowse his name on our website for all of these albums, as well as plenty of compilation and live albums, concert and video collections, and the biography from Fred Schruers scheduled for release in November.

Hot This Week: May 12

Two fantasy action movies join this week's movie list, with 47 Ronin coming in at the top and The Legend of Hercules at #4. Five new titles leap onto the music chart, but none of them are able to dethrone Frozen's long reign at #1. David Baldacci keeps the top fiction spot for a second week, with a debut from Greg Iles hot on his heels. In non-fiction, a new memoir from actress Diane Keaton is this week's only new title.

DVD

1. 47 Ronin
2. Homefront
3. The Wolf of Wall Street
4. The Legend of Hercules
5. Frozen
6. 12 Years a Slave
7. Gravity
8. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
9. American Hustle
10. Grudge Match

CD

1. Frozen Soundtrack
2. Lindsey Stirling, Shatter Me
3. Ray LaMontagne, Supernova
4. Passion, Passion: Take It All
5. Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
6. Pharrell Williams, G  I  R  L
7. Future, Honest
8. Timeflies, After Hours
9. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
10. Whitechapel, Our Endless War 

Fiction

1. The Target, David Baldacci
2. Natchez Burning, Greg Iles
3. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
4. The Collector, Nora Roberts
5. Chestnut Street, Maeve Binchy
6. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
7. I've Got You Under My Skin, Mary Higgins Clark
8. The Serpent of Venice, Christopher Moore
9. Keep Quiet, Lisa Scottoline
10. NYPD Red 2, James Patterson and Marshall Karp

Non-Fiction

1. A Fighting Chance, Elizabeth Warren
2. Flash Boys, Michael Lewis
3. Everybody's Got Something, Robin Roberts and Veronica Chambers 
4. Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty, Diane Keaton
5. Thrive, Arianna Huffington
6. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
7. David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell
8. Killing Jesus, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
9. 10% Happier, Dan Harris
10. Confidence Code, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

Power Rangers Movie in the Works

Written by Jon Williams

“It’s morphin’ time!” Today Lionsgate and Saban Entertainment announced that they would be producing a feature film that will bring the Power Rangers back to the big screen.

The series revolves around a group of teenagers invested with the ability to morph into a team with special skills and powers that must use said ability to fight off the forces of aliens and other evildoers. Originally based on the Japanese series Super Sentai, the franchise kicked off as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series in 1993. In one form or another it has been in production ever since, entertaining legions of young adults and spawning a popular line of toys and video games. The current incarnation, starting in 2013, is known as Power Rangers Megaforce.

This will not be the Power Rangers’ first foray into theaters; two previous feature films have been made. The first, spurred by the popularity of the original television series, was produced in 1995. In it, the Rangers must battle an ancient alien shape-shifter brought to Earth by their archenemies. In the second, the heroes must protect a wizard from an intergalactic pirate and a demon. This movie, released in 1997, came on the heels of the Power Rangers Zeo series and led into Power Rangers Turbo.

Lionsgate has had great success lately bringing to the screen action movies aimed primarily at the young adult set, beginning with the first two Hunger Games films and the adaptation of the first book from the Divergent trilogy. Certainly they’ll carry that same energy into the upcoming Power Rangers film, which as of now does not have a target release date. In the meantime, though, there is plenty of material to keep young fans entertained. SmartBrowse ‘Power Rangers’ on our website for the full line of TV series and movies in this popular franchise.

Hot This Week: May 5

Happy Cinco de Mayo! The Wolf of Wall Street jumps to #1 and pushes Frozen to #4, with Delivery Man making the list for the first time at #9. The Frozen soundtrack, on the other hand, continues its unprecedented run at the top of the music chart. The latest from David Baldacci tops this week's fiction list, with new titles from Maeve Binchy, Christopher Moore, and Amanda Quick also making the grade. In non-fiction, new memoirs from Elizabeth Warren and Robin Roberts debut.

DVD

1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Homefront
3. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
4. Frozen
5. American Hustle
6. Grudge Match
7. Gravity
8. 12 Years a Slave
9. Delivery Man
10. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

CD

1. Frozen Soundtrack
2. Future, Honest
3. Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
4. Pharrell Williams, G  I  R  L
5. August Alsina, Testimony
6. Neon Trees, Pop Psychology
7. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
8. Lorde, Pure Heroine
9. Shakira, Shakira.
10. 5 Seconds of Summer, She Looks So Perfect (EP)

Fiction

1. The Target, David Baldacci
2. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
3. Chestnut Street, Maeve Binchy
4. The Collector, Nora Roberts
5. The Serpent of Venice, Christopher Moore
6. Otherwise Engaged, Amanda Quick
7. I've Got You Under My Skin, Mary Higgins Clark
8. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
9. NYPD Red 2, James Patterson and Marshall Karp
10. Missing You, Harlan Coben

Non-Fiction

1. Flash Boys, Michael Lewis
2. A Fighting Chance, Elizabeth Warren
3. Everybody's Got Something, Robin Roberts and Veronica Chambers
4. Thrive, Arianna Huffington
5. 10% Happier, Dan Harris
6. Killing Jesus, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
7. The Opposite of Loneliness, Marina Keegan
8. Confidence Code, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
9. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
10. David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell

Tony Award Noms Snub Hollywood Actors

Written by Kyle Slagley

Tuesday afternoon, the nominees for the 68^th Annual Tony Awards were announced, recognizing the best of the best among Broadway’s ranks. I must say that this set of awards is one of the most interesting to watch, mainly because the nominees often consist of both well-known stage actors and famous movie and TV actors.

Screen actors who try their hand at stage acting have become a very common occurrence in recent years. It wasn’t too long ago that we saw the likes of Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Andrew Garfield, and Scarlett Johansson in the headlines of Playbill.

This year, there were also plenty of big-screen actors on the stage, but a few who were thought to be shoo-ins – at least for the nomination round – were snubbed, most notably Daniel Radcliffe for The Cripple of Inishmaan, Denzel Washington for A Raisin in the Sun, and Sirs Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen for No Man’s Land and Waiting For Godot. What makes it strange is that all of these actors have received such glowing reviews in recent weeks, the snubs are almost blindsiding. Throw in the fact that Michelle Williams was overlooked for her fantastic performance in the revival of Cabaret, and it’s clear that Hollywood simply wasn’t invited to the party this year.

One screen actor who was not overlooked was Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, whose performance as Lyndon B. Johnson in the play All The Way earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play. Cranston’s nomination is definitely deserved, but even still it is a bit unusual in that All The Way is his very first foray into Broadway theatre. The same is true for Chris O’Dowd, who received a nod in the same category for his performance as Lennie in Of Mice and Men. O’Dowd is still an up-and-coming name in Hollywood, but is well known in Britain for his role as Roy in the BBC Series The IT Crowd.

The nomination that excites me the most though, Neil Patrick Harris’s nod for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Though I haven’t seen Harris perform as Hedwig (pronounced Head-vig), I’ve read quite a few of the reviews and have yet to read a negative word about his performance. What’s so exciting is that Harris has been a Broadway star for over a decade, and was famously snubbed by the Tonys about ten years ago when he rose to Broadway stardom playing Lee Harvey Oswald in Assassins. Since that time, Harris has all but taken over Hollywood as everyone’s favorite womanizer Barney Stinson. Having hosted the Tony Awards four times without actually having won one, I’d say it’s about time he was recognized for his talent. If you don’t believe me, watch last year's opening sequence for the 2013 Tony Awards.

Yes, as USA Today said, the Tony Awards really took care of their own this year, giving nods to regulars like Idina Menzel for If/Then, Sutton Foster for Violet, Audra McDonald for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, and in the process left most of Hollywood on the sidelines..

Though it’ll be hard to top last year’s opening sequence, if anyone can do it, this year’s host and Broadway veteran Hugh Jackman is the man who can. Having hosted the Tonys three times and the Oscars once, Jackman is an experienced emcee himself. If there isn’t another walk-on bit between Jackman and Harris about who hosted the show better, I’ll be floored.

The Tony Awards show takes place at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 8 at 8pm EDT, and will be aired live on CBS.