Norah JonesCome Away With MeBlue NoteNorah Jones is a combination of some great female singers - Carol King, Patsy Kline, and Diana Krall all rolled into one. She has the pop/folk feel of King, the country beauty of Kline, and the contemporary jazz sound of Krall. Ms. Jones has a voice that is not just good but is truly wonderful. This disc starts off right with the tune, "Don't Know Why." It's one of those songs that is easy on the ears and very catchy. On "Turn Me On," Norah changes gears to a throaty blues number that you can feel, really showing off the diversity in her singing ability. The disc is full of surprises in the way the music is changed up; in vocal variety and range, subtle musical nuances, and recording quality. If you like Diana Krall, you will definitely like Norah Jones - they both have the kind of smooth, smoldering voice that takes you away to a dark, small, quiet corner in a piano bar. You get the feeling they are playing just for you. This is a disc that you will keep and repeat. -Schweitzer
Dvd ReviewAmelieDvdMiramaxYou're probably saying to yourself, "What the hell is CA&E doing reviewing this chick film?" Good question. First off, Amelie is a great film, chick flick or not. It's the clever story of a young woman in Paris that somehow transcends convention into a kind of adult fairy tale. It was made by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the visionary behind City of Lost Children, so you know it's good. Most importantly, however, it'll really impress your girl. Check it: by now your woman has probably had it with your car and all the attention you lavish upon it. She probably wishes you'd lavish some of that attention on her. Now you can do both. Grab a copy of Amelie and pop it in your vehicle's DVD player. Be sure to hide some wine (properly chilled, of course) and cheese in the back seat. Finally, spread some flowers out on the dash. Get your girl out to the car and tell her you want to show her something. Surprise! Great movie, a little wine and cheese, some nice flowers, and you're the man all over again. Best of all, she'll never think of your car the same way again. No need to thank us - it's what we do. -Douglas Adams
Game ReviewSocom: U.S. Navy SealsGreat First-Person Shooter For Ps2Socom drops you into action in an intense first-person shooter where you assume the duties of an elite Navy SEAL commander through multiple challenging missions. Objectives range from rescuing hostages to securing military compounds and retrieving sensitive intelligence in various locations and climates around the world, all carried out in highly detailed, free-roaming 3D environments. uSOCOM is positioned as a launch title for Sony's new broadband gaming network and ships with a headset for communicating with online players in multiplayer games or controlling AI counterparts via voice recognition in single-player mode. You can play at your own speed and approach, whether charging commando-style into the heat of battle or using stealth to your advantage, but objectives seem to lean towards using brains over brawn. Although a limit is placed on what you can carry, your arsenal includes a plethora of deadly weapons to choose from (as well as others to pick up off defeated opponents along the way). The game has superb sniper action with many of the weapons allowing you to sneak up on the enemy and get the drop on them from far away without detection. uThe gameplay learning curve is somewhat steep due to the many controls and weapons available, but a little practice is nothing to gripe about for gameplay immersion of this scale. An odd component of the game is the ability to pick up dead enemy players, an option that generally bogs down play as time is spent distinguishing between picking up bodies and picking up the booty around the corpses. The game also provides a radar/compass in the top right corner of the screen, but objectives and enemies are not too clearly defined so it's rendered relatively useless. Aside from these minor issues, the gameplay is remarkably smooth, the graphics are highly realistic, and the missions are varied enough to keep things interesting. SOCOM is a fun combat simulation with some flaws that don't detract too terribly from a great gaming experience. -Steve Geise