Taylor Swift, RED (deluxe version)

So, is Taylor Swift still a country artist? On her new album Red (deluxe version), she eschews most sounds of country music to create an almost pure-pop album. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that...

Red (deluxe version) has Swift singing mostly about her favorite topics: love and boys. She can be quite optimistic about love, whether it's the teen fantasy night of "Starlight," the goofy romance of "Stay Stay Stay" or the hopeful new romance of "Begin Again." Conversely, Swift has plenty to say/sing about her exes, from bashing an ex in the first single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to old loves in "All Too Well" and "Sad Beautiful Tragic." She veers off romance a few times -- the we're-young-and-partying "22" and thr fame-is-rough "The Lucky One" -- but Red (deluxe version) is all abour romance, whether it's finding it or remembering it.

While Swift sings as well as ever, the writing here suffers from repetition.  Swift has an annoying habit of either "stuttering" part of a word over and over in the chorus, or using the same word several times in a row; this happening so often in "Stay Stay Stay" doesn't help.  As for the music behind the vocals, Red (deluxe version) sounds a bit less distinct from standard top 40 pop on the faster songs.  When Swift slows down for the ballads, she can be genuinely moving.  And the deluxe version of Red, from Target (disclaimer: I work for Target -- but I play for keeps!) has demo and acoustic versions of the first three songs on the album, plus three new songs.

Red (deluxe version) isn't a bad album, but it lacks the memorable sounds and variety of Swift's last album, Speak Now.  This time around Swift feels like she's doing more crowd-pleasing music than challenging or growing.  I hope that Swift tries for more country in her next release.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

 

RED

While some movies promote ageism in a world of hot, athletic stars in their 20s and 30s, Red goes the opposite way: an action flick where the people who are old enough to retire (and have done so) consistently shoot, blow up, or beat up the folks in their 20s and 30s. Otherwise, it's more or less the same old.

In the very quick opening, we see Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) living alone in his home. His life seems quiet, and his main occupation seems to be ripping up his social security check so he can talk about it with Sarah Ross (Mary Louise-Parker), a government underling who likes trashy romance novels and chatting with Frank. When a covert assassination squad shows up at Frank's home with machine guns, it's no contest: Frank kills them with ease! It turns out that Frank was one of the best secret agents ever. He realizes he's been under surveillance, so he visits and kidnaps Sarah to keep her safe.

The rest of Red has Frank trying to figure out why someone is out to kill him now. This involves his linking up with old (figuratively and literally) allies: steadfast friend Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), crazed conspiracy theorist Marvin Boggs (Jon Malkovich), and elegant killer Victoria (Helen Mirren). Chasing these retired agents are government hotshot William Cooper (Karl Urban) and his boss Cunthia Wilkes (Rebecca Pidgeon). There are also cameos by Brian Cox (as a Russian agent), Ernest Borgnine (as a keeper of secret records), and William Dreyfuss (as a corrupt businessman).

Red is based on a comic book (which I haven't read), and while the movie has no superpowers, it might as well: The stars can shoot missiles out of the air, beat up numerous people with ease, and apparently walk away from any area no matter how many opponents are swarming about. And that's the problem: While both the movie and the stars approach this more as a joke than a serious action movie (the title, for example, is an acronym for "Retired, extremely dangerous"), the over-the-top action and slowly unraveling conspiracy has been done plenty of times before. Red has more chuckles than excitement, and when you get past the fact that it's the older folks kicking ass, what's left is another deliberately ridiculous action movie.

Overall grade: C+
Reviewed by James Lynch