Selena Gomez, REVIVAL (TARGET EXCLUSIVE)

"What I've learned is so vital/more than just survival/this is my revival/this is a revival" sings Selena Gomez in the opening song of her newest album Revival (Target Exclusive).  She may be a bit ambitious in imagining that this represents a revival or re-imagining of herself and her music.

Revival is, like Selena's previous albums, primarily about being in love and out of love.  The new element could be that many songs here have a far greater element of sexuality, in songs like "Good for You," "Body Heat," and "Cologne."  (She also curses on this album, which is new but hardly denotes maturity.)  There are the bad boyfriend/break-up songs "Same Old Love," "Sober" and "Nobody."  There are songs about dancing and having a good time ("Me and The Rhythm," "Me & My Girls") and the self-empowering, uplifting tracks ("Revival," Rise").

There's a certain mellowness to Revival that keeps it from being a really fun pop album.  While certain weak lyrics can be forgiven (the shameless sappiness of "Kill Em with Kindness," lines like "Cuz all of downs and the uppers/keep making love to each other"), most of the would-be dance tracks don't really cut loose, either musically or vocally.  There are some good songs scattered throughout the album: the sultry wishfulness of "Good for You," the surprisingly strong "Sober" (about a boyfriend who'd only romantic when drunk), the simple-but-effective "Same Old Love," and the bonus track "Outta My Hands (Loco)."  But much as I applaud Selena Gomez for embracing her sexuality more with this album, Revival isn't that different from her previous albums, including their unevenness.

(The Deluxe Edition of Revival has three bonus songs, and the Target Exclusive version (disclaimer: I work for Target -- even though I'm out on medical leave right now) has two more songs as well.  The bonus songs are pretty good -- somewhat better than much of the regular album, in fact!)

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA dvd

What if monsters were actually lovable, harmless, and fun?  You'd have Hotel Transylvania, a movie with classic monsters aimed squarely at little kids.

Dracula (Adam Sandler, doing a continual Bela Lugosi imitation) built the Hotel Transylvania as a refuge for monsters to come out of the darkness, relax, and hang out.  He also built it keep his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) safe, after her mother was killed by humans.  Mavis wants to explore the world, but Dracula wants to keep her safe from humans; he even creates a fake village to scare her from leaving.

To celebrate Mavis' 118th birthday (the monster equivalent of turning 18, apparently), Dracula has all of their monster friends over to celebrate: Frankenstein and his wife Eunice (Kevin James and Fran Drescher), the wolfman Wayne and his wife Wanda (Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon), Murray the mummy (CeeLo Green), and Griffin the invisible man (David Spade).

Then there's the uninvited guest: Jonathan (Andy Samberg), a young man who loves to travel and who stumbled across the hotel by accident.  Dracula wants him gone, both to keep him from scaring the monstrous guests and for his safety ("Are these monsters gonna kill me?"  "Not as long as they think you're a monster."  "That's kinda racist.") but every time Johnathan tries to leave, something brings him back.  He also has an instant romantic connection with Mavis, and everyone but Dracula love his free-spirited approach to holding a party.

With all these classic movie monsters, I wish Hotel Transylvania had a bit more humor for adults.  There are some jabs at Twilight and a few jokes blue enough to move the movie from G to PG, but the monsters are basically silly, probably to keep from scaring the kids.  The actors all do decently with their voices (though Samberg stands out as the surfer dude-type who just wants to have fun), but the story is a pretty straightforward one about a parent learning to stop controlling/protecting his daughter.  There are plenty of cute moments through the movie -- and a creative chase involving flying tables -- but this doesn't succeed in appealing to grown-ups as much as to the kids.  (Dvd extras include a mini-movie, some storyboards of deleted scenes, and interviews).

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

Selena Gomez, STARS DANCE (Target Version)

Selena Gomez returns to the music scene (but without her band, The Scene) with her latest album, Stars Dance.

"Birthday," the opening song on Stars Dance, is a mix of  youngish elements (a sing-song delivery combined with hand claps) and some very sexual moaning -- and that's the balance Selena goes for through the whole album.  Unlike her last album, When the Stars Go Down, the singer wants to shed her G-rated Disney persona -- but she doesn't want to scare off the parents of her young fans (or cause enough controversy to get booted from the radio).  So there are some risque lyrics ("'cause we fit/perfectly/when you lay/over me") and talk of staying together all night and into the day -- but nothing too overtly sexual.

The feel of the music is much simpler: party!  The songs all have a upbeat tempo (even the breakup songs "Forget Forever" and "Love Will Remember"), and there's plenty of remixing and synthesizers going on here (which explains why her former band is effectively gone).  There are touches of different styles of music scattered through the album -- Middle Eastern on "Come & Get It," dubstep on "Slow Down," even a little Jamaican for "Like a Champion" -- but this is radio-friendly music for listeners who want to party with friends at a club while feeling older for staying up late.

Stars Dance is fluff -- but it's fun fluff.  The writing is trite (all about romance and partying (and the two together)) but Selena has a pleasant voice (even if it gets a lot of remixing here) and the songs are enjoyable and forgettable.  Also, the Target version (disclaimer: I work for Target -- but I play for keeps!) has two bonus songs and two exclusive songs.  Stars Dance is a nice little pop album.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

SPRING BREAKERS

From the opening slow-motion shot of teens partying and drinking in the sun and sand in their swimwear, Spring Breakers might seem like a typical teen party movie -- or, with the women flashing their breasts, a Girls Gone Wild video.  But despite the repeated shots of spring break hedonism, and the notoriety of several ex-Disney stars as sexy bad girls, Spring Breakers proves to be a memorable, surprisingly moving film.

In a dreary unnaned college, everyone is dreaming of spring break.  For religions Faith (Selena Gomez), it's a chance for a change, to see and experience something new.  For her friends Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), and Cotty (Rachel Korine), it seems to be a chance for more of the partying they enjoy in their dorms.  When the women don't have enough money for the trip Candy, Brit and Cotty rob a restaurant with mallets and spray-painted squirt guns.  Then it's on to Florida to party!

At first, spring break seems like a dream come true, from riding mopeds and hanging out to massive drinking and more drugs tna before (now it's not just weed -- it's coke). But a party the girls are at gets busted, and they wind up in jail.

Enter Alien (James Franco, unrecognizable with metal teeth, corn rows and tattoos), who bails the girls out.  Alien is seductive, dangerous presence in the vacation.  With a seductive southern drawl and careers as a rapper, DJ, and drug dealer, he seems to be the thrills and dangers the girls were after.  He describes himself as having the American Dream -- and having broken every law there is to get it.  His home is an extravagant mix of art, cash, drugs, and guns, and he seems to be living in a state of permanent vacation.  (Often through the movie his voiceover proclaims "Spring break... spring break forever.")  He even has a nemesis in Archie (Gucci Mane), a fellow drug dealer and former brother, current enemy.  What does he want with the girls -- and what do they want with him?

Spring Breakers is an unusual movie, with few long shots and many cuts of flashbacks, slow-motion, or other breaks from standard movies (or reality).  While sometimes the scenes are obvious (like the justaposition of teen hedonism with Faith's innocent description to her grandmother), others are original and striking, from the robbery shown from the point-of-view of the getaway car circling the building, to girls in pink ski masks and holding rifles to a piano version of a Britney Spears song.  Writer-director Harmony Korine has a created a vacation world that may appeal to thrill-seeking teens -- and which will terrify their parents.  The women all do well in their roles -- from innocent to wannabe gangsta to truly dangerous -- but Franco steals the show as the serpent in paradise, offering escape and pleasure and peril.

Spring Breakers may look like a typical beach movie at first, but once you get past the bikinis and partying it proves to be an original and pretty powerful movie.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

Selena Gomez & the Scene, WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN (Target version)

Kids grow up so fast -- or do they? Selena Gomez may be nearing the end of her ties with the Disney Channel as she approaches the "old age" of 19, but her new album When the Sun Goes Down is very kid-friendly and fairly cliche.

When the Sun Goes Down is mostly about boys, from the opening tribute to one ("Love You Like a Love Song") to being abandoned by one ("Middle of Nowhere"). There are also songs about staying out late (the title track, plus "We Own the Night") empowerment ("Who Says," the first single off the album), and taking chances in life ("Hit the Lights"). It's fairly standard stuff for a pop album. But how is it executed?

The songs here vary, from average to poor. Gomez does have a nice voice that is quite servicable for pop music. The same can't be said for her bad the Scene, which could easily be replaced by one person who owns a synthesizer. The lyrics are often cliched, trite, and overly repetitive, whether it's a safe version of the bad boy ("You're an outlaw/you're an outlaw/you're an outlaw running from love") or the girl controlling her boyfriend ("That's more like it/Yeah, that's more like it/Make my dinner and bring it to me/ that's more like it... that's more like it"). Gomez may still be young, but with two albums before this one (not to mention various songs on Disney albums) someone should have taught her something about songwriting. Some of the tunes here are a little catchy, but even they aren't that memorable.

It's ironic that the cd booklet has Gomez dressing up in costumes from various times in the past -- 1950s glamour, 1980s new wave, 1960s housewife -- yet the songs are all very typical of pop music today. Time will tell if Selena Gomez follows in the footsteps of former Disney stars (from Britney to Miley) in going beyond the 'tween audience and making music for adults (along with controversy). For now, Selena Gomez may sing about staying out all night, but When the Sun Goes Down is still for kids.

(The Target version (disclaimer: I work for Target; and I'm a Scorpio) has three remixes and a Spanish version of "Ghost of You," none of which are terrible or necessary.)

Overall grade: C-
Reviewed by James Lynch