Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson played by Kyra Sedgwick is now married to long-suffering Special Agent Fritz Howard played by Jon Tenney. But I’m sure there will be plenty of murders to investigate and suspects to question in the quest for a confession. I don’t watch much TV, but I do watch this. Underrated.

Five minutes into UP I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. When Carl Fredricksen’s house takes to the air, I felt elation. When the menacing talking dogs attacked Fredricksen and his explorer scout friend, I felt like jumping out of my seat to help them. The chase scenes in and on the dirigible equaled anything in an Indiana Jones movie. Pixar’s 10th film is terrific, the 3-D effects are great, and for moments in the movie I thought I was watching real people not animation. Go see UP and experience that “sense of adventure” again! GRADE: A

If you’re a fan of classical music, particularly piano music, you’ll want to check out the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. No, you don’t have to go to Fort Worth, it’s available for you to watch online at: http://www.cliburn.tv/ This format sets the bar very high for all other competitions.  It’s almost like a reality TV show with unscripted drama and insightful rehearsals.  Highly recommended!

Hugh Kenner, once considered one of the great literary critics (now forgotten), wrote an amazing work on poet Ezra Pound (nearly forgotten). The Pound Era is completely unique. It’s part biography, part intellectual history, and part literary analysis. Readers of this great work learn about the culture of the early 20th Century, the literary scene, and Ezra Pound’s influence on the ethos of the time. Kenner brings his vast knowledge of literature, philosophy, sociology, and psychology to bear on Pound and his era. This classic work is well worth rediscovering, reading, and pondering. I highly recommend all of Hugh Kenner’s works, but The Pound Era is in a class of its own.

Reading Redemption Street reminded me of an old Mike Shayne mystery. Retired cop Moe Prager finds himself pummeled quite a bit in this book, reminiscent of Mike Shayne’s constant beatings. Prager gets involved in an investigation of a decades old fire in a Catskill hotel where 17 people died. Reed Farrel Coleman throws plenty of elements into the mix: a neo-Nazi cult, a colony of Hasidic Jews, an aging comedian, an ambitious politician, a corrupt police force, a mysterious real estate magnate, and crazy brother searching for his missing sister. There are a few sour notes in this story. And there’s one incredibly implausible scene near the book’s conclusion. But, if you can get by those flaws, Redemption Street is a compelling story. GRADE: B

Michala Petri has become the best known recorder performer in the world. This CD features selections Petri chose herself. I liked about half her choices: the Albinoni, the Mozart, and the Vivaldi. I didn’t care for Chen Yi’s “The Ancient Chinese Beauty” or Artem Vassiliev’s “Valere lubere,” but I’m not a fan of 20th Century classical music for the most part so be warned. Much more to my taste is Michala Petri’s Six Vivaldi Concertos. Completely enjoyable.

Barnes & Noble’s ALL BOOKS $3.98 table had the usual crap, but then I caught a glimpse of this treasure amid the dross. Mad for Decades is as thick as a brick and brimming with the wacky humor I read as a kid and, later, an adult kid. The material spans the 1950s to the 1990s. Great stuff, full of fun, and a bargain at this price. Check out your local Barnes & Noble and see if there are any copies left.

You could look at this CD as gem or a rip-off. The argument for this edition of Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain is that it’s been completely remastered and sounds fabulous. So, if you have older copies on record or CD, this new edition will sound better. The argument that this edition is a rip-off is that all the bonus material included–alternate takes of the songs–have all been available on other recordings. It’s nice that it’s all here in one handy package, but the 2CD set will cost you $21 through AMAZON. Last year, the “Legacy Edition” of Kind of Blue was released with remastering and bonus features. You’ll see more and more of this recycling effort by the record companies to make money off their classic titles rather than make expensive investments in developing new talent. GRADE: A

David Mamet wrote and directed this quirky marital arts film. I’ve been a huge fan of Mamet’s work for decades so it’s hard for me to say this film sucks. Mamet is a tricky writer (check out the convoluted plot of The Spanish Prisoner) and there are plenty of twists and turns in Redbelt but the end result is a dud. Marital artist Mike Terry, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, ends up in murky conspiracies with just about every character in this film. Mamet’s plot held my interest, but I kept feeling like things were spinning out of control. Just when I thought Mamet would resolve all the mysteries, he ends the film with a perplexing and corny flourish. Emily Mortimer plays a twitchy lawyer to perfection. Tim Allen, Joe Montegna, Ricky Jay, and the rest of the cast are excellent. But the final product is much less than all the high quality parts. GRADE: C

Maureen Corrigan, book reviewer for NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, gave the Moe Prager mystery series a rave review. I decided to give Reed Farrel Coleman’s work a try by reading the first book in the series, Walking the Perfect Square. Moe Prager is a former New York City policeman who has retired because of a knee injury. He’s asked by a friend to look into the case of a missing son of another cop. Moe conducts his investigation, gets his car torched, and makes a fatal mistake. My problem with the book is that it is incredibly talky. Too much blah, blah, blah. GRADE: C+