Hi there, I’m Kimber Myers, the new Content Editor at GetGlue. We know you’re as passionate about pop culture as we are, and we’re excited to introduce another way for you to find your next favorite movie, book, album, and video game: a weekly blog on the top new releases in each category. Want updates? Follow @GetGlue on Twitter.
We’ll be sure to include the week’s heavy hitters, like blockbusters-to-be, chart-topping albums, and bestsellers-in-waiting, but we hope you’ll also be pointed to the next cult hit, deep track you can’t get out of your head, or the book you can’t wait to share with your friends. Our weekly blog will also highlight one notable title from each of our six new release categories:
Books: Fiction, Books: Nonfiction, Movies in Theaters, Music, New on DVD, and Video Games
We’re excited about this new feature, and we can’t wait to hear what you think.
Fiction: Point Omega by Don DeLillo
At just 128 pages, Don DeLillo’s new book may be small in terms of its mass, but it’s unlikely that it’s qualifies as light reading. The White Noise author is known for his piercing prose that illuminates the complexities of postmodern life, and Omega Point is no exception.
The novella centers on Richard Elster, a man who has just left his position on the Bush-Cheney Iraq War council, and the solitude of the desert beckons. His isolation is interrupted by the arrival of a curious filmmaker and his own daughter with unexpected results in this story that melds recent history with fiction.
Also new in fiction books this week: Worst Case by James Patterson, Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton, and more. See them all at Fiction New Releases.
Nonfiction: Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard
It seems almost impossibly cruel to publish a book with a chapter entitled “Fig Fest 2002″ in February, a month still ages away from the luscious warmth of fresh fig season. But American journalist Elizabeth Bard’s food-filled memoir isn’t about cruelty; it’s about her romance with both food and her French husband.
Sure to appeal to fans of Julie & Julia, Lunch in Paris peppers Bard’s rose-colored life in the world’s most romantic city with recipes (such as summer ratatouille and melty chocolate cake) that make France seem a little bit closer.
Also new in nonfiction books this week: On the Brink by Henry M. Paulson Jr., Yalta by S.M. Plokhy, and more. See them all at Nonfiction New Releases.
Movies in Theaters: From Paris with Love
Despite its lovey-dovey title and pre-Valentine’s release, From Paris With Love is a stylish action-thriller that’s more likely to feature heavy artillery than amour. This film has Irishman Jonathan Rhys-Meyers employing an American accent to play an CIA agent in France, while John Travolta looks like he is in Face Off mode as the agent’s excitement-loving partner.
Pierre Morel, the director of last year’s surprise hit Taken, reigns over the excitement-driven proceedings. Oddly, the sequel to Morel’s French fave District B13, Patrick Allesandrin’s District B13: Ultimatum, is getting a limited release this weekend.
Also new in theaters this week: Dear John, Frozen, and more. See them all at Movies in Theaters.
Music: Rebirth by Lil Wayne
It wasn’t a surprise when Lil Wayne’s last album , Tha Carter III, was a hit with hip-hop fans, but the album found almost unprecedented success with the indie rock kids (including the notoriously picky Pitchfork). So it shouldn’t be too much of a shocker that for his new album, the appropriately titled Rebirth, Lil Wayne would stir up rap and rock into a delicious Southern stew.
Only time will tell if new singles like “On Fire” and “Drop the World” can match the ubiquity of Tha Carter III’s “A Milli” and “Lollipop,” but it’s safe to say that more people will be listening than ever.
Also new in music this week: Hellbilly Deluxe 2 by Rob Zombie, The Courage of Others by Midlake, and more. See them all at Music New Releases.
New on DVD: Zombieland
Though it offers a similarly bleak outlook on humanity’s future as other recent post-apocalyptic films The Road and The Book of Eli, Zombieland is far closer in spirit to neo-classic zom-coms such as Shaun of the Dead. Woody Harrelson and and Jesse Eisenberg star as survivors who are joined by the pretty pair of Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone, and the group attempts to make their way cross country, questing for both Zombie Kill of the Week and the world’s only remaining perfect food: the Twinkie.
While other films might have started to lag in their second act, Zombieland received an energetic injection from one of cinema’s best celebrity cameos (that we’ll be kind enough not to spoil here). With comedy this hilarious, it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel far better than fine.
Also new on DVD this week: Love Happens, More Than a Game, and more. See them all at New on DVD.
Video Games: Star Trek Online
After last year’s Star Trek reboot, it’s almost cool again to flash the “Live Long and Prosper” sign, and this MMO game for PCs should only increase the franchise’s popularity. Set in 2409, Star Trek Online warps three decades after Star Trek: Nemesis, meaning that Trekkers have the opportunity to create their own future without interfering with canon (just like J.J. Abrams film brilliantly entertaining film did). In this timeline, the Federation and the Klingon Empire are at odds, and players can choose to be a starship captain or a Klingon warlord, and Star Trek Online allows gamers to control adventures in space and on planets.
And don’t worry: just because you’re captain doesn’t mean you have to sit out on away missions like Captain Picard. There’s a monthly fee to join gameplay, but a special feature of the lifetime membership — the ability to play a Borg — is pretty tempting. Resistance is futile.
Also new in video games this week: White Knight Chronicles, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, and more. See them all at Video Game New Releases.
