Content area
Full text
WEEKEND MAG
"Vanilla Sky" Soundtrack
(Reprise) 3 Stars
As movies go, I worship "Almost Famous." And I haven't seen "Vanilla Sky," the latest from the mind of Cameron Crowe. But this is easily the better soundtrack, kicking off with R.E.M. in rock mode (which, for R.E.M., is not the same as, say, the White Stripes) on the unreleased (until now) "All the Right Friends" and featuring some of the better tunes a tuned-in person over 30 (Tom Cruise, after all, is no Freddie Prinze Jr.) might enjoy -- "Everything in Its Right Place" by Radiohead, the gorgeous but really annoying to have to spell "Svefn-G-Englar" by Sigur Ros, the Chemical Brothers' "Where Do I Begin" and more.
The title cut is all-new Paul McCartney, who's tapping his foot like a blackbird that's taken its broken wings and learned to fly. Completing the mood are some classic oldies -- Peter Gabriel's "Solisbury Hill," Todd Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends," Bob Dylan's "Fourth Time Around" and my personal vote for most inspired choice, the Monkees' "Porpoise Song" from "Head."
"The Royal Tenenbaums" Soundtrack
(Hollywood) 3 Stars
I hadn't seen Wes Anderson's first film since "Rushmore" yet as I was writing this (although I may have seen it by the time you read this), but the soundtrack is a little disappointing after "Rushmore." And it goes beyond the glaring lack of Kinks. Mark Mothersbaugh's score...