Welcome to another edition of the Playlist, our regularly scheduled music column! This week all eyes are on Mariah Carey as the diva prepares to release her 11th studio album, E=MC2 next week! Check out our review of the album…

In 2005, Mariah (or should we say Mimi?) was emancipated and now, the world’s biggest selling female artist is unleashing another 14 tracks of fun, bliss and emotion on her “lambs.” E=MC2 is the 11th studio album from the one and only Mariah Carey, whose storied career has spanned nearly 15 years. Still, the diva continues to remain relevant in music today – after all her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi was the biggest selling album of the year, spawning the #1 smash hit We Belong Together which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks. Mariah described her latest offering as the dessert to the main course that was Mimi… and she couldn’t be more right! Though this offering doesn’t quite match her comeback album, Mariah still has it and puts the other rising female artists in their places with a knockout album.

Already the album has made history, it’s lead single Touch My Body became Mariah’s 18th #1 hit in the United States making her second only to the Beatles in terms of artists with the most #1s (the Beatles have 20). But having listened to this album, I can almost guarantee that Mariah will be able to match, if not surpass, the legendary British band. It’s fair to say that every song on the album has single potential, yet all the songs are an eclectic mix.

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Welcome to the Box Office! In this weekly feature, I’ll look at each week’s wide releases, summarize their plots (i.e. pasting from imdb.com), and give my opinion of whether or not they’re worth your 8 dollars (or whatever godawful price they’re charging these days).This week has a few new releases, each appealing to a different set of moviegoers:

“Leatherheads” – starring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, & John Krasinski
Plot summary – A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America’s nascent pro-football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton aims to prove that’s the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter’s war story. As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.
My take – I saw this movie yesterday, but I’ll spare you from a review. Let me just say that the period aspect of the movie (it’s set in the late 1920s) certainly adds to its appeal to me. I like the vintage styles and the classic look at football that we usually don’t get to see this side of ESPN Classic.

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