Britney Spears
“In the Zone”
By Kevin Brooks, Revelry Writer
Britney Spears spent the last couple of years saying she’s “not a girl, not yet a woman.” She quickly disposes this statement with the release of her fourth CD, “In the Zone.”
The pop queen no longer is a teen, so she traded in her bubble-gum pop music and adopted a more edgy style.
Spears collaborated with some of today’s hottest stars co-writing seven of the 13 songs on the album. R. Kelly wrote and produced “Outrageous” while Moby produced “Early Morning,” a song about late night partying and a one-night stand.
This album is scattered with sexual innuendoes including songs about sex with men, women and herself.
In “Touch of My Hand,” Spears says her body is a beautiful thing “’cause I just discovered imagination’s taking over. Another day without a lover, the more I come to understand the touch of my hand.”
Men, both young and old, will be up late at night playing this song envisioning Spears in their heads.
In her reggae-esque song “Showdown,” Spears describes breaking up so “then we can make it up” by saying “I don’t want to be a tease. Would you undo my zipper please.”
Just like ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake wrote “Cry Me a River” about Spears, she also has a song about him. In “Everytime,” Spears sings about not being able to fly without her wings and she says, “Please forgive me, my weakness caused you pain and this song is my sorry.”
“In the Zone” contains tracks with some catchy beats, but unfortunately Spears’ voice gets lost in those beats. A prime example is “Brave New Girl” where her voices get the “Cher Electronic Voice Alteration,” which doesn’t work well. But the song still has a good dance beat.
A majority of the songs feature a seemingly out of breath Britney, not utilizing the full potential of her voice. Apparently cigarettes have taken a toll on her voice in the recording studio.
Even though much of the lyrics written are sub-par, the stand out track’s are “Me Against the Music” and the remix both featuring Madonna, her first single from this album.
“In the Zone” is the mediocre attempt to bring Spears back to “…Baby One More Time ” status, which sold approximately 13 million copies. Unfortunately, this album only showcases a snippet of Spears’ full potential.
C-
“Master and Commander”
By Matt Grady, Revelry Writer
Oscar-winner Russell Crowe returns to the silver screen after his stellar performance in “A Beautiful Mind” with the historical epic “Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
Crowe plays “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, captain of the British Navy ship HMS Surprise. Aubrey receives orders to intercept the French vessel Acheron, and go on a tireless journey along the coast of Brazil to apprehend its target.
The movie gets right into the action within the first 10 minutes when the Acheron cripples the Surprise with a “surprise” attack. While the beginning is filled with intensity, it quickly planes off as the Surprise scours the Brazilian coast for the French vessel.
Despite several intense action sequences, the film has frequent periods of slow development and dullness. Also, the film lacks the emotion and atmosphere of Crowe’s previous works.
On the up side, writer/producer/director Peter Weir (“The Truman Show”) tells a masterful and historically authentic tale with a great cast including Crowe, Paul Bettany and Billy Boyd.
Still, the movie isn’t a must-see. Moviegoers should be rested up before seeing this film, as they might find themselves dozing off at some points.
B-