Hot This Week: November 30

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The last movie list of November is taken over by the ferocious dinosaurs of Jurassic World, the hottest blockbuster of the summer. The music chart is dominated by new titles, with only two holdovers remaining from last week. It's not much different in fiction, with five new titles making the list, including the top two. Non-fiction, on the other hand, sees only the return of a few familiar favorites.

DVD

1. Jurassic World
2. Inside Out
3. Terminator Genisys
4. San Andreas
5. Paper Towns
6. Pixels
7. Spy
8. Southpaw
9. The Gift
10. Magic Mike XXL

CD

1. Justin Bieber, Purpose
2. One Direction, Made in the A.M.
3. Logic, The Incredible True Story
4. Jeezy, Church in These Streets
5. Chris Young, I'm Comin' Over
6. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
7. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Letters from the Labyrinth
8. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
9. Alessia Cara, Know It All
10. Kirk Franklin, Losing My Religion 

Fiction

1. Tricky Twenty-Two, Janet Evanovich
   
2. The Guilty, David Baldacci
3. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
4. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King
5. See Me, Nicholas Sparks
6. The Crossing, Michael Connelly
7. All Dressed in White, Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
8. The Pharaoh's Secret, Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
9. The Mistletoe Inn, Richard Paul Evans
10. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, Mitch Albom

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager
3. Destiny and Power, Jon Meacham
4. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. The Witches, Stacy Schiff
6. M Train, Patti Smith
7. Lights Out, Ted Keppel
8. Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
9. Binge, Tyler Oakley
10. Crippled America, Donald Trump

Hot This Week: November 23

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nicolas Cage bring new movies to this week's list, while the titles around them remain the same. In music, Chris Stapleton and Eric Church hold onto their momentum from the CMAs, and a rerelease of a hits compilation puts the Fab Four back on the charts as well. In fiction, a new novel from Mitch Albom leads a slate of four new titles, while in non-fiction, Jon Meacham's biography of the elder President Bush takes the top spot.

DVD

1. Terminator Genisys
2. Inside Out
3. San Andreas
4. Pixels
5. Spy
6. The Gift
7. Southpaw
8. Magic Mike XXL
9. Pay the Ghost
10. Pitch Perfect 2

CD

1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
2. Eric Church, Mr. Misunderstood
3. Ellie Goulding, Delirium
4. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
5. Tim McGraw, Damn Country Music
6. The Beatles, 1
7. NOW That's What I Call Music 56
8. Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap
9. Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
10. Sara Bareilles, What's Inside: Songs from Waitress

Fiction

1. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
2. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King
3. The Crossing, Michael Connelly
4. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, Mitch Albom
5. See Me, Nicholas Sparks
6. Crimson Shore, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
7. The Promise, Robert Crais
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The Japanese Lover, Isabel Allende
10. Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith

Non-Fiction

1. Destiny and Power, Jon Meacham
2. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager
3. Killing Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
4. The Witches, Stacy Schiff
5. Crippled America, Donald Trump 
6. My Life on the Road, Gloria Steinem
7. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
8. A More Perfect Union, Ben and Candy Carson
9. Binge, Tyler Oakley
10. Wildflower, Drew Barrymore

A New TV Special from Jim Henson

Written by Jon Williams

Jim Henson was a pioneering figure in the world of puppetry, bringing it to the forefront of entertainment, particularly for children. His sudden passing in 1990 at the young age of 53 left an enormous void. Although his companies and his beloved creations have carried on, Henson’s voice (both literal and figurative) has been sadly missing these last 25 years.

Thanks to a chance discovery, that’s about to change, at least for one more TV special. In 2009, a new partnership sent Lisa Henson into her father’s archives, where she found a treatment for an unproduced feature themed for Thanksgiving. Jim Henson had gone so far as to put some puppets together, and then the project was apparently abandoned for some reason. Looking it over, she knew it was something that should see the light of day—and now it will. This Saturday, November 21, Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow will air on Lifetime, and it will be available on DVD the following Tuesday. This will follow the graphic novel version (available on hoopla) that was made last year.

The original treatment for the show dates back to the late 1960s, and Lisa suspects it got shelved when her father got involved with Sesame Street. As his previous experience had been with a local show in the Washington, D.C. area, the wildly popular children’s educational show was the rest of the world’s introduction to Henson and his style of puppetry. Most of the iconic puppets that did so much to draw children’s interest to the show were designed by Henson—including Kermit the Frog, arguably his most famous creation.

Not wanting to known as a purveyor only of entertainment for children, Henson then began developing The Muppet Show, which, after struggling to find a TV home in the United States, made its debut in Great Britain in 1976. While the show’s humor may have been aimed at a more grown-up audience than Sesame Street, obviously, its colorful and lovable Muppet characters (such as Kermit) ensured that the show would appeal to children as well (as I can attest from personal experience). And he never stepped fully away from the world of children’s entertainment, bringing Fraggle Rock to life in 1983, among others.

The success of The Muppet Show allowed Henson to take his talents to the big screen. He began, naturally enough, with movies about those same Muppets. The Muppet Movie came out in 1979, and was followed by The Great Muppet Caper in 1981 and The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. It was during this time that Henson was consulted by George Lucas for assistance with creating the character of Yoda for The Empire Strikes Back. Henson also took his own dive into fantasy, with features like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

Needless to say, Jim Henson created a vast wealth of imaginary worlds that have captured the imagination of generations. And the thirst for his characters and his brand of entertainment didn’t stop with his passing. Five more Muppet movies have been made since 1990, including the recent iterations (The Muppets in 2011 and Muppets Most Wanted in 2014) that led to the new Muppets TV show that’s currently airing. There’s also a new Fraggle Rock movie in development, to star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Obviously, interest in Mr. Henson’s work remains high, even more than 25 years later. SmartBrowse his name on our website for plenty more material both from and about this wonderful entertainer.

Hot This Week: November 16

There are four new movies on this week's list, led by the disaster film San Andreas. A big night at the CMAs helped to propel Chris Stapleton to the top of this week's music chart, followed at #3 by the new surprise album from fellow country music star Eric Church. Stephen King's new collection of short stories tops the fiction list, while in non-fiction, a new book exploring Thomas Jefferson's presidency leads four newcomers.

DVD

1. San Andreas
2. Pixels
3. Spy
4. The Gift
5. Inside Out
6. Southpaw
7. Magic Mike XXL
8. Pitch Perfect 2
9. Tomorrowland
10. Furious 7

CD

1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
2. Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
3. Eric Church, Mr. Misunderstood
4. NOW That's What I Call Music 56
5. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
6. Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap
7. 5 Seconds of Summer, Sounds Good Feels Good
8. We Love Disney
9. Def Leppard, Def Leppard
10. Taylor Swift, 1989

Fiction

1. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King
2. The Crossing, Michael Connelly
3. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
4. See Me, Nicholas Sparks
5. Avenue of Mysteries, John Irving
6. Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
7. Depraved Heart, Patricia Cornwell
8. The Survivor, Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills
9. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
10. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, George R.R. Martin

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager
3. A More Perfect Union, Ben and Candy Carson
4. Crippled America, Donald Trump
5. The Witches, Stacy Schiff
6. Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
7. Lights Out, Ted Koppel
8. My Life on the Road, Gloria Steinem
9. Government Zero, Michael Savage
10. Binge, Tyler Oakley

Hot This Week: November 9

If your patrons like new movies (and who doesn't?), they'll love this week's list, whose five new titles include something for just about everyone. It's much the same on the music chart, where you'll find four new CDs, and where excitement about her new single and upcoming album has pushed Adele's 21 back into prominence. In fiction, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks hold onto the top two spots while Patricia Cornwell, Elizabeth George, and Alexander McCall Smith debut new novels. There are even five new titles on the non-fiction list, including a look at the Salem Witch Trials and a memoir from Drew Barrymore.

DVD

1. Spy
2. Pixels
3. Southpaw
4. Poltergeist
5. Pitch Perfect 2
6. Tomorrowland
7. Furious 7
8. Entourage
9. Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Insidious: Chapter 3

CD

1. 5 Seconds of Summer, Sounds Good Feels Good
2. Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
3. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
4. Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap
5. Blake Shelton, Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits
6. Taylor Swift, 1989
7. Pentatonix, Pentatonix
8. Selena Gomez, Revival
9. Andrea Bocelli, Cinema
10. Adele, 21

Fiction

1. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
2. See Me, Nicholas Sparks
3. Depraved Heart, Patricia Cornwell
4. A Banquet of Consequences, Elizabeth George
5. The Survivor, Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills
6. Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
7. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine, Alexander McCall Smith
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, George R.R. Martin
10. The Murder House, James Patterson and David Ellis

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. The Witches, Stacy Schiff 
3. Government Zero, Michael Savage
4. Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
5. A More Perfect Union, Ben and Candy Carson
6. Binge, Tyler Oakley
7. Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
8. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
9. Wildflower, Drew Barrymore 
10. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein

Hot This Week: November 2

The weather may be cooling down, but the Barden Bellas are hot as the a cappella hit Pitch Perfect 2 leaps atop the week's movie list. And that style carries over onto the music charts as well, with The Sing-Off winners Pentatonix scoring the #1 spot with their first full-length album. Four new titles grace the fiction list, led by John Grisham and the latest Cormoran Strike novel from Robert Galbraith. In non-fiction, a collection of essays from a YouTube star and a book on leadership from two Navy SEALs make their debuts.

DVD

1. Pitch Perfect 2
2. Tomorrowland
3. Furious 7
4. Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. Insidious: Chapter 3
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
7. Cinderella
8. Home
9. Get Hard
10. The Age of Adaline

CD

1. Pentatonix, Pentatonix
2. Demi Lovato, Confident
3. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
4. Machine Gun Kelly, General Admission
5. Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap
6. The Game, Documentary 2.5
7. Selena Gomez, Revival
8. Taylor Swift, 1989
9. Coheed and Cambria, The Color Before the Sun
10. The Game, Documentary 2

Fiction

1. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
2. See Me, Nicholas Sparks
3. Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
4. Welcome to Night Vale, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
5. The Survivor, Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills
6. The Lake House, Kate Morton
7. The Murder House, James Patterson and David Ellis
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The Girl in the Spider's Web, David Lagercrantz
10. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, George R.R. Martin

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. Binge, Tyler Oakley
3. A More Perfect Union, Ben and Candy Carson
4. M Train, Patti Smith
5. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
6. Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink, Elvis Costello
7. Why Not Me?, Mindy Kaling
8. Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
9. The Last of the President's Men, Bob Woodward
10. A Common Struggle, Patrick J. Kennedy