Hip hop/pop hybrid Nicki Minaj’s much awaited sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, may have many moments of musical glory, but the songs in between are likely to leave you feeling like you’ve just glimpsed into Judy Garland’s mind after a handful of Seconal. Minaj’s prestige and elevation to fame after the ascendancy of the first Pink Friday may have gone to her head just a bit. Otherwise, I doubt the majority of Roman Reloaded would be characterized by shrieks and unintelligible yelling. But then, I suppose only Roman can be blamed for that.

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With “Roman Holiday,” an opener that will make you feel like you’re in a demented version of the Audrey Hepburn movie of the same name, Minaj reprises her role as Roman’s mother, Martha Zolanski, urging, “Take your medication Roman, take a short vacation Roman. You’ll be okay.” The most horrifying clincher is when Minaj digresses into a sinister version of “Come All Ye Faithful.” Then there is, hands down, the worst track on the album, “Come On A Cone,” in which Minaj tells us all about a “dick in your face.”

Nicki Minaj, you know, levitating at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Thankfully, the third song, “I Am Your Leader” featuring Cam’ron and Rick Ross, begins to steer the album in a more bearable direction. It may actually be Cam’ron’s best musical effort since “Hey Ma.” As Minaj chants, “I am your leader,” you quickly start to believe it’s true. She then forces you to realize, “I’m a brand bitch, I’m a brand.” At least she owns up to that fact. “Beez in the Trap” featuring 2 Chainz follows, faintly smacking of Fergie as Minaj raps, “Bitches say shit and they ain’t say nothin,” which sounds an awful lot like, “Fergalicious definition: make them boys go loco.”

“HOV Lane” opens with a futuristic beat and segues into one of Minaj as Roman’s more harder-edged raps as she asserts, “I’m in my own lane, you ain’t in my categor. You like a RAV-4, I’m like the Inventador” (yes, that’s a car name she made up). The other noticeable track with “hit appeal” is the title track featuring Lil’ Wayne, “Roman Reloaded.” With an aggravated backbeat and an addictive chorus (“Bang, my shit bang, it bang bang”), this is the most ear-catching song next to “Stupid Hoe.” Minaj even references her controversial Grammy performance, questioning,  ”Is it me or did I put these rap bitches on the map again?/You mad ’cause I’m at the Grammys with the Vatican.”

Nicki Minaj's most memorable collaboration on Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is with Lil' Wayne.

Another remarkable collaboration comes in the form of “Champion” featuring Nas, Drake (no stranger to the Minaj fold), and Young Jeezy. The emphasis of the track is contingent upon the contention: “Came back to Queens to head up a new state.” As someone who proudly recognizes where she is from (Jamaica! Queens, that is), Minaj also comprehends her responsibility to make it a better place now that she has the means and resources to do so (“This is for the hood, this is for the kids”). Chris Brown makes a cameo on the subsequent upbeat anthem, “Right By My Side.” Ironically, Minaj delivers her most Rihanna-like tone as she sings, “I’m pourin’ my heart out.”

Rick Ross is just one of numerous guest vocalists on Roman Reloaded.

“Sex in the Lounge” featuring (yet again) Lil’ Wayne and Bobby V. is perhaps an homage to Minaj’s occasional boyfriend/promotional guru, Safaree “SB” Samuels, considering her observation,  ”He addicted to hustle, I’m addicted to fame.” The Billboard chart-topping song, “Starships,” in which Minaj will vocally resemble Katy Perry as much as she ever will, is another album highlight, if not slightly on the superficial side. “Pound the Alarm,” one of the rare instances where Minaj sings unaccompanied, is another feel-good track in the vein of “Starships.” Once again, Minaj affirms her superiority over other females in her genre: “What I gotta do to show these girls that I own them?/Some call me Nicki, some call me Roman.”

She won't stand for your bull shit.

In a nod to Devo, “Whip It” bolsters the dance rhythm of  Roman Reloaded, evocative of a party that might take place in Ibiza or India as Minaj shouts, “Hey stranger over there, I really like the way you whip it” (insert whip-cracking sound effect here). “Automatic” mimics the inflection of Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” continuing to propel the more buoyant side of Roman. “Beautiful Sinner” (coincidentally a similar title to Madonna’s “Beautiful Killer” from the recently released MDNA, on which Minaj collaborates with M.I.A. for “Give Me All Your Luvin’”) is Minaj’s love letter to Trinidad, allowing her to tout, “South Africa is where I am from/Get me my banjo, get me my drum” and “Trinidad, Trinidad/My island.”

Relishing her moment in the spotlight.

Yet another connection to her fraternization with Madonna as a dancing Marilyn Monroe in the video for “Give Me All Your Luvin’” is the track named for said blonde bombshell. In it, Minaj laments, “Sometimes I feel like Marilyn Monroe: I’m insecure, I make mistakes.” As the pace of the album continues to slow down, “Young Forever” (in keeping with the Marilyn Monroe theme) signals the third act, so to speak, of Roman Reloaded. Singing some of her more maudlin lyrics, Minaj croons, “Frozen in time, always be mine/Baby boy, you’ll be young forever.”

Performing "Give Me All Your Luvin'" at the Super Bowl with Madonna.

The somewhat obviously titled “Fire Burns” bolsters the vulnerable side of Minaj, allowing her to vent about love lost as she bemoans, “This is a sickening joke that you play with my emotions.” “Gun Shot” featuring Beenie Man is the perfect transition from “Fire Burns,” with its moderate rhythm and the smooth vocals of Beenie Man to complement Minaj’s narrative. “Stupid Hoe” changes up the stride of the slow jam trilogy with the infectious accusation, “You a stupid hoe.”

Owning her Barbie look.

Those with the bonus track edition of Roman Reloaded are also subject to the David Guetta/Nicki Minaj dance-suffused partnership, “Turn Me On,” the ultra-80s sounding “Va Va Voom,” the equal part rap, equal part pop “Masquerade,” and a twenty-one minute interview entitled “Press Conference” with Minaj’s main squeezes Charlemagne and Safaree “SB” Samuels. When asked about if she feels she gets enough love from New York, she vehemently denies being appreciated in spite of how hard she worked to rise to her current stature. She even recalls, “I was sellin’ my fuckin’ mix tape outta my muthafuckin’ BMW on Jamaica fuckin’ Avenue.” Enough said.

It’s been almost exactly four years since Madonna came out with her last album, Hard Candy (released in April of 2008). In that time, she has opened a chain of gyms of the same name, created a clothing line with her daughter, Lourdes Leon, written and directed a film, and negotiated a new recording contract with Interscope Records (incidentally, the same label Lady Gaga is on). Not to mention continue to piss people off over her mere existence. But, if you haven’t guessed by now, Madonna really doesn’t give a fuck. There’s even a song on MDNA called “I Don’t Give A.” So what can you expect from the indestructible tour de force’s twelfth studio album?: Dance music at its purest and finest. Hence the title, MDNA.

Left: Deluxe edition album cover, right: Standard edition album cover

The second single from the album, entitled “Girl Gone Wild,” is also the song that kicks off the record. The track opens with a confessional apology extracted from the Catholic prayer, “Act of Contrition” (the title of a song that also appeared as the closer to Madonna’s seminal 1989 album, Like A Prayer): “Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pain of hell. But most of all because I love thee and I want so badly to be good.” It is, in essence, a sentiment that sums up all of Madonna’s actions throughout her career. But you can’t keep a bad girl down as the Queen of Pop dives into an electronically suffused beat that champions the cause of every “good girl gone wild.”

Always playing the fallen angel.

In an ideal world, “Gang Bang” will reverberate throughout every gay club in New York City. Or perhaps someday be featured as a lip synch for your life song on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Madonna oozes vengeance as she sings, “Bang bang, shot you dead/Bitch out of water, bat out of hell/Fish out of water, I’m scared, can’t you tell?” It makes so much sense that Mika is a producer on the song. Continuing with the MDMA motif, the next track is called “I’m Addicted.” Barring the similarity in lyrical rhymes to “Like A Prayer,” this is another standout song on the album in which Madonna reveals, “Something happens to me when I hear your voice/Something happens to me and I have no choice/I need to hear your name/Everything feels so strange/I’m ready to take this chance.” The beat then segues into something that only Benny Benassi could create as Madonna laments, “Fame’s like a drug and I can’t get enough.”

Martin Solveig, who also produced the first single from MDNA, “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, infects “Turn Up The Radio” with his usual brand of European house sensibilities. It is by far one of the most simplistic songs on the album, designed as more of a summer anthem as Madonna chants, “Turn up the radio” repeatedly, the only divergent lyrics being, “Don’t ask me where I wanna go/We gotta turn up the radio.”

“Give Me All Your Luvin’” succeeds “Turn Up The Radio” in a seamless transition of Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. chanting, “L.U.V., Madonna!/Y.O.U., you wanna!?” The video for the song, directed by MegaForce, coincided with Madonna’s performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, thus the football player/cheerleader motif throughout (with a Marilyn Monroe homage thrown in for good measure). The beat and rhythm of the following song, “Some Girls,” sets a new tone for the second half of the album, exuding a very reminiscent vibe to Goldfrapp’s 2003 hit, “Strict Machine.” It is also one of the triumphant auditory reunions between Madonna and Ray of Light collaborator, William Orbit.

In the studio with M.I.A.

And, speaking of collaborations, Madonna also enlists the backing vocals of her daughter on “Superstar.” Evocative of “Superpop,” a bonus track from 2005′s Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna uses famous names from history to create analogies on “Superstar”: “You’re like Caesar stepping onto the throne/You’re Abe Lincoln, ’cause you fight for what’s right.” Not one to pass up another opportunity to work with Minaj, Madonna appropriately features the Trinidadian goddess on “I Don’t Give A.” Although it is perhaps the most awkward song in terms of what fits in with Madonna’s musical style, it is definitely noteworthy for how personal the lyrics– undeniably directed at Guy Ritchie–are:

“I tried to be a good girl, I tried to be your wife/Diminish myself and I swallowed my light/I tried to become all that you expect of me/And if it was a failure, I don’t give a…”

Single cover for "Girl Gone Wild"

“I’m A Sinner,” yet another one of Madonna’s theme songs in terms of telling her detractors to fuck off, is the most overt sounding Orbit track on MDNA. Moreover, what would a Madonna song about sinning be without name dropping a few of her favorite religious figures, including Jesus and the Virgin Mary? “Love Spent,” the third of four tracks with Orbit’s signature on it, once again mirrors an unofficially released Madonna song: “Liquid Love” from, you guessed it, the Ray of Light era.

Performing with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj at the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

As the album draws to a close, Madonna chooses to slow down the tempo with her Golden Globe-winning song, “Masterpiece,” featured on the soundtrack for W.E. “Falling Free” consummates the standard edition of MDNA. The influence of Joe Henry, country guru and Madonna’s brother-in-law, is evident on the laidback, twangy vocals.

Performing "Like A Prayer" with Cee-Lo at the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

For those with the sense to buy the deluxe edition, your ears will also be bestowed with “Beautiful Killer” (a song about French movie star Alain Delon), “I Fucked Up” (a relaxed mea culpa with a message that is the antithesis of “I Don’t Give A”), “B-Day Song” (another fast-paced collaboration with M.I.A.–because this was before M was upset with her over the middle finger debacle), “Best Friend” (in which M probes the demise of a relationship that reiteratively seems to be about Guy Ritchie: “You said you wanted more than just a pretty girl/Maybe I challenge you a little bit too much”), and, finally, the LMFAO “Party Rock” remix of “Give Me All Your Luvin’”. So, if you aren’t inclined toward dancing, having a good time, or escaping into the aural assuagement that only Madonna can provide, then MDNA may not be for you. And MDMA probably isn’t either.

W.E. begins without revealing credits. There is nothing to tell us that this is a movie written and directed by Madonna, yet she infuses every foot of the film reel with her uncanny eye for the minutiae of stylistic detail. Blending historical accuracy with her own artistic interpretation of how Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII’s romance played out, Madonna successfully manages to tell one of the most controversial stories of the twentieth century. With such pressure to diplomatically portray Wallis and Edward, W.E. is very much a reflection of how far the pop star has come since her first feature in 2008, entitled Filth and Wisdom.

Madonna: Very much at home in the role of director.

Deliberately constructed as a parallel between Wallis (Andrea Riseborough) and a reluctant modern day housewife named Wally (Abbie Cornish), Madonna and co-writer Alek Keshishian (famed for directing Madonna’s 1991 rockumentary, Truth or Dare) set one aspect of the story in 1998 Manhattan while alternating back and forth between the romantic plights of both women. The concept is a unique approach to the conventional biopic in its two-pronged affectation. Wally’s strong connection to and obsession with Wallis is not coincidental as her mother and grandmother both had a similar fascination (hence her very similar name to Wallis’). But Wally finds increasing comfort in Edward and Wallis’ story as her marriage to a callous Upper East Side psychiatrist deteriorates.

The stately couple.

When Sotheby’s announces its auction of the Duke and Duchess’ personal possessions, Wally finds herself visiting the collection each day. It is there that she strikes up a friendship with a Russian security guard named Evgeni (Drive‘s Oscar Isaac). As the two grow closer, Wally becomes even more aware of the pronounced disparateness between her and her husband, William (Richard Coyle). His unwillingness to spend time with her, his blatant flirtations with other women, and his hesitancy to have a child send Wally into a deep depression that only Wallis can seem to assuage.

"The romance of the century."

While W.E. has its emotional moments, there are times when that emotion can border on the bathetic side, but Madonna always reins it in with a comical or visually stunning moment to temper her occasional Lifetime leanings. For those who take issue with the surreal, the appearance of Wallis in Wally’s apartment and on a park bench in Central Park might cause balking, but when considering the full-fledged fixation Wally has with the Duchess of Windsor, these particular scenes don’t seem all that shocking.

The chicest exiles in all of Europe.

Madonna’s intensive research of the part royal, part socialite couple pays off tangibly in the film in that Wallis is conveyed as a charming and sympathetic character. During her lifetime, however, she was vilified and even accused of witchery (how else could she have gotten Edward to abdicate his throne?). The topic of Edward and Wallis’ alleged ties to the Nazi party is another aspect that Madonna was unafraid to tackle, addressing it several times throughout the movie, including their tour of Germany and meeting with Adolf Hitler.

Devotion.

The main problematic issue with W.E. occurs toward its conclusion. The third act feels slow and uncertain of a direction as Wally travels to Paris to read Wallis’ private letters from the collection of Mohamed Al-Fayed. After a bit of teeth-pulling, Wally is allowed access to them. One tormented line from Wallis especially stands out in this scene: “You have no idea how hard it is to live out the greatest romance of the century.” Because of the sacrifice Edward made for her, Wallis is, to paraphrase, incarcerated in a prison that used to be occupied by Edward when he felt the pressure of being king without her by his side.

Holiday.

In addition to the serious tone that persists for most of the film, Madonna also shows a playful side to the maligned couple. Taking a page from Sofia Coppola’s directorial handbook, Madonna uses the anachronistic technique of playing The Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant” after Edward laces all of their guests’ drinks with Benzedrine and then asks Wallis to dance for them. This scene comes full circle when the story jumps ahead to 1972–the year of Edward’s death–and Wallis is asked to dance for him again (only this time to the already in existence song, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker).

Madonna at the New York premiere of W.E.

Regardless of some of the film’s weaker points, it is evident that Madonna has talent as a director (was it all those years spent married to Guy Ritchie?). And so, even if the box office revenue does not reflect it, Madonna does have a place in the film industry. To borrow a line from the movie in which Wally explains her enthrallment with Wallis: “The whole world turned against her, but she never backed down.” It’s an utterance that could have been extracted from Madonna’s own biography.

M.I.A., Britain’s finest honorary citizen, has re-emerged with a single called “Bad Girls” (you thought it was going to spelled with a “z” didn’t you?). With a bhangra-esque beat that M.I.A. is no stranger to wielding, the track is part of M.I.A.’s months early promotion of her fourth studio album (the title of which has yet to be revealed). The sound of the track mirrors what we heard on Kala, the album that launched M.I.A. into the forefront of mass public consciousness.

M.I.A. channels an Indian princess on the sound of her latest single.

Chanting what is perhaps M.I.A.’s own personal mantra, “Live fast, die young/Bad girls do it well,” this is a song with a chorus ideal for dance floors and the interiors of cars across America. M.I.A. is also teaming up with Romain Gavras (who directed the video for “Born Free”) again for the “Bad Girls” video, set to debut on February 3rd, the same day, incidentally, that “Gimme All Your Luvin’”, the song she collaborated on with Madonna and Nicki Minaj, is to be released. So look out 2012, M.I.A. is back with a vengeance.

No one has ever questioned the brilliance of Meryl Streep, nor her chameleon-like ability to play practically any character. In Phyllida Lloyd’s (who also directed Streep in Mamma Mia!) The Iron Lady, however, it is unfortunate that Streep is given the entire burden of making the story of one of Britain’s most infamous prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher, seem cohesive. Told from a nonlinear, fragmented series of flashbacks based on Abi Morgan’s, to borrow a word from Madonna, “reductive” script, we come away with an understanding of Thatcher’s love for her husband, but not of much else. In trying to cover as much ground as possible, with an emphasis on Thatcher’s degenerative mental state in her golden years (Thatcher is currently 86), Morgan ultimately does the Iron Lady, both film and person, a disservice.

Meryl as true thug for life Margaret Thatcher.

Incidentally, Morgan also wrote the superb and controversial screenplay for Steve McQueen’s Shame, a film that showcases her proclivities as a playwright (she won an Olivier Theater Award for her 2001 play, Tender) in terms of its minimalism and focus on thematic elements. Would that Morgan could have saved some of Shame‘s goodness for The Iron Lady. Instead, Morgan gives Lloyd an overzealous structure to work with that tells novices to the Margaret Thatcher scene nothing concrete about her life.

Promotional poster for The Iron Lady

In fact, The Iron Lady appears so concerned with neutrality over one of the most hated and mocked political figures of the 1980s–second only to Ronald Reagan–that its lack of stance is almost more irritating than a flagrant bias. Apart from Londoners goading her from the outside of her car, the only time the audience gets a true sense of how immensely disliked she was is when Michael Heseltine (played by Richard E. Grant, who will never top his role as the Spice Girls’ manager in Spice World) ultimately shames Thatcher into resigning by challenging her party leadership.

With her supportive--though occasionally resentful--husband, Denis.

Even in the face of a dispassionate and ambiguous account of the illustrious prime minister, there is something riveting and surprisingly comical about Streep’s interpretation of Thatcher. In the end, this is what wins out over a nondescript history of the political icon’s life. But, if ever there is another mainstream film about Thatcher, may I please suggest using Morrissey’s “Margaret on the Guillotine” somewhere in the soundtrack? It gives one a genuine portrait of the sentiment felt toward the Iron Lady during her rule over Parliament.

David Fincher’s sensibilities as a director have always been piercing and intuitive, but with this remake of the 2009 Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher pours every ounce of his modus operandi into Stieg Larsson’s story of a troubled and brilliant girl named Lisbeth (Rooney Mara). As an unwilling ward of the state, Lisbeth’s path intertwines with investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) after she performs an elaborate background check on him for a wealthy  Swedish magnate named Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer).

Rooney Mara looking every bit the part of Lisbeth.

Vanger’s wish for Mikael to figure out which member of his family killed his niece, Harriet (Moa Garpendal), comes at an ideal time for Mikael, who has recently been sued and publicly embarrassed for what the media perceives as libelous statements about a billionaire businessman named Wennerstrom (Ulf Friberg). With this new opportunity, Mikael is allowed the chance to hide from the disgrace surrounding him in Stockholm, leaving his co-editor (and adulterous paramour), Erika Berger (Robin Wright, who will never be as good as she was in The Princess Bride), in charge of damage control. Although Mikael doesn’t realize it until he arrives on the island where Henrik lives, he may have been safer from scrutiny in Stockholm.

A duo that knows everything about everyone.

In spite of Fincher constantly being associated with his days as a music video director, he has come a long way from the style of such a brief medium. Plus, his music videos always had an air of the cinematic (specifically his collaborations with Madonna on “Express Yourself,” “Vogue,” “Oh Father,” and “Bad Girl”). But the only trace of the music video director within him is the opening sequence of the film as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ (who also worked with Fincher on The Social Network) musical partnership sets the tone for the sinister air of the film.

Mikael's tireless search for Harriet proves more dangerous than he could have imagined.

The length of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo echoes the thoroughness that David Fincher’s 2007 film, Zodiac, possessed. Of course, screenwriter Steven Zaillian–no stranger to the action genre, as evidenced by a resume that consists of Mission: Impossible, Gangs of New York, and The Interpreter–is also a key ingredient to the final product, as he adapted the novel with a fair amount of faithfulness and precision. What is more, Fincher’s familiarity with directing adaptations (e.g. Fight Club and The Social Network) is an important element of his repertoire in that it has enabled him to conscientiously recreate a story with such a vast and loyal following.

Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s world-famous literary character most assuredly possesses an edge that no other version of Sherlock Holmes has ever had, but this fact may not be able to make up for certain foibles of the auteur’s sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Promotional poster for Sherlock Holmes

With a cerebral, intially action-lacking introduction, we are reintroduced to Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the object of Holmes’ desire in the first film. As he warns her that she is being followed, Irene counters that she is being followed for her own protection, leaving Holmes to fight her trio of bodyguards–after they’ve made dinner plans for later. This fight scene establishes the norm for the rest of Sherlock Holmes: Slowed down and speeded up editing techniques that are, at times, too manufactured. It’s almost as though Ritchie and his editor, James Herbert (who also collaborated with Ritchie on Revolver, RocknRolla, and the first Sherlock Holmes), recently graduated from a trade school specializing in FinalCut and got overly excited about employing every possible method learned.

Alternate promotional poster for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

That being said, the real enjoyment of the film is not necessarily always in the visual, but in the intricacy and recondite nature of the plot as it unfolds to reveal an unprecedented rivalry between good and evil. Screenwriters Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney (yes, Dermot Mulroney’s brother) pit the equally intelligent minds of Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris of Mad Men–he always manages to find a role where he doesn’t have to have an American accent) against one another in a succinct manifestation of what happens when one’s mental acuity is used for unseemly purposes.

Bromance.

The Mulroneys, who also co-wrote 2009′s mixed reviewed Paper Man, show massive progress in the span of just two years as this is only their second major feature. Of course, their rendering of lesser famed characters from the Sherlock Holmes series, such as the gypsy Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace), is also a distinguished touch. Rapace, who played Lisbeth in the original versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, makes a more versatile substitute for Rachel McAdams’ role as the primary female of the film.

On the scene.

Second only to the incisive writing in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is Stephen Fry’s performance as Mycroft Holmes, the witty master of the one-liner. Not to mention the memorable image of his nude ass onscreen. While a perfectly decent film, what is troubling about Sherlock Holmes is how distant Guy Ritchie’s usually recognizable voice seems to be. And so, I would say that I’m somewhat disappointed in Ritchie with this particular effort. I now finally know how Madonna feels.

Just a few weeks after “Give Me All Your Love” was leaked, another Madonna single, “Masterpiece,” has surfaced. At the New York premiere of W.E., which took place at the Museum of Modern Art, the pop star-cum-director confirmed that the William Orbit-produced track will appear on the soundtrack for the film, as well as the artist’s next studio album. Madonna’s reaction to the leak of “Give Me All Your Love” was much more mournful than the unintended release of “Masterpiece” as the former song is still in its demo incarnation/missing vocal contributions from confirmed collaborators M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj.

That's right bitches, I'm back.

“Masterpiece,” however, is a lyrical and musical return to the style of Madonna’s more revered ballads, such as “Live to Tell” and “This Used to be My Playground.” Incidentally, both of the aforementioned tracks also appeared on soundtracks (At Close Range and A League of Their Own, respectively). The words to the song are an undeniable mirror of the love story between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, the primary subject of W.E. With echoes of Madonna’s vocal tone during the Evita era, “Masterpiece” paints a picture (pun intended) of someone unattainable–but not someone who isn’t worth fighting for:

“If you were the Mona Lisa/You’d be hanging in the Louvre/Everyone would come to see you/You’d be impossible to move/It seems to me, that’s what you are/A rare and priceless work of art/You stay behind your velvet rope/But I will not renounce all hope.”

Madonna: Her own work of art.

With so much hinging on the success of this film, it is wise of Madonna to hedge her bet with a song like this to bolster the allure of W.E. Although, considering that she was willing to showcase it to the likes of Parker Posey, Julian Schnabel, and Patti Smith at the MoMa premiere, it seems Madonna is fairly self-assured about the merit of her directorial skills. And not without reason–according to style.com, “Patti Smith got up and gave her a standing ovation.” That’s a pretty big vote of confidence.

Maybe it has to do with being from Barbados or using Madonna as a source of inspiration, but Rihanna is definitely a pop star who falls into the category of “can’t stop, won’t stop.” On the heels of her previous two albums, Rated R (2009) and Loud (2010), Rihanna has just released the dance-tinged Talk That Talk. Already, the album has spawned a number one, “We Found Love” featuring Calvin Harris, and, based on the other songs on the siren’s sixth LP, this is only the beginning of her record-breaking success.

Fierce.

Produced largely by Dr. Luke and StarGate, much of Talk That Talk is suffused with the raw sexual energy that Rihanna has become known for. Songs like “Cockiness (Love It)” showcase the artist’s lack of inhibitions with lyrics like, “Suck my cockiness, lick my puh-suasion/Eat my words, and then swallow your pride down, down.” The lasciviousness continues on “Birthday Cake” as she croons, “Come and put your name on it/It’s not even my birthday, but you wanna lick my icing off/I know you want it in the worst way.” So yeah, Rihanna’s pretty comfortable with innuendos.

Talk That Talk album cover

But that doesn’t mean the Barbadian sex goddess isn’t fond of singing about a holding hands type of love. Tracks like “You Da One,” “Where Have You Been,” “We All Want Love,” and “Farewell” are all a bit less sexually explicit, focusing on either the euphoria of finding love or the sadness of losing it.

Deluxe edition of Talk That Talk

Another highlight on Talk That Talk is the song of the same name featuring Jay-Z. Although they’re never going to recapture the perfection of “Umbrella” together, it still works as a great track to bump in your car or on the dance floor. As far as Behind the Hype is concerned, this album is among her best, proving that quality is actually possible with quantity. Because no one in the music industry has been this prolific since Missy Elliott (where is that ho anyway?).

Lars Von Trier is never one to mince the sentiment of well, melancholia, or the utter isolation of human existence. He’s proved his fearlessness time and time again with expressing a rather unpopular view of the world–Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and Antichrist all being cases in point–which is, essentially, that it is the most wretched of all things and would be best left out of the collective picture (read: universe). And now, Von Trier’s typically grim portraits of what it is to live on Earth have come to full-blown fruition with Melancholia.

Justine, the reluctant bride.

Kirsten Dunst stars as Justine, the lovely to look at, deadbeat bride, who seems to sense that something greater is wrong than the mere fact that she could not give less than one fuck about her new husband, Michael (Alexander Skarsgard). As she roams from one milieu to the next on the stately mansion/golf course provided for their wedding reception by her brother-in-law, John (Kiefer Sutherland), and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg a.k.a. Ms. Antichrist herself), Justine can’t help but feel as though she would rather be anywhere else except inside with Michael and her dysfunctional family.

Looking semi-"into it" at the beginning of the reception.

Said dysfunctional family consists of a mother (the always avant-garde Charlotte Rampling) whose severity and harshness can only be compared to a hybrid between the Queen in Snow White and the Queen in Alice in Wonderland and a father (John Hurt) whose zany lasciviousness is both charming and repellent.

The ominous tag line of Melancholia.

In an attempt to distract herself from these people, Justine engages in every task that could possibly be available to her, from tucking in her nephew, Leo (Cameron Spurr), to riding a golf cart to taking a bath. Claire, ever the responsible sister, tries as best as she can to wrangle the quietly unruly bride, knowing full well that a girl like Justine can’t be told what to do. Also in the mix is the disgruntled wedding planner (Udo Kier, who has been in some of Andy Warhol’s finest films, not to mention the best Madonna video ever, “Deeper and Deeper”). Upon Justine’s first infraction, he declares, “She ruined my wedding. I will not look at her,” promptly putting his hand over his face so as not to look at her. It is actually one of the best details of the film.

Promotional poster for Melancholia

By the end of the reception, no one can go on pretending as though everything hasn’t fallen apart. Among Justine’s irrational choices are: Committing adultery with one of her boss’ subordinates, Tim (though, who can blame her as he is played by Brady Corbet?), quitting her job in spite of freshly being promoted to the position of art director, and, finally, admitting to her husband that it’s over, coldly inquiring of him, “What did you expect?” So, in other words, it is the most unsuccessful wedding/marriage ever, but none of it matters because Justine knows that it’s all coming to an end anyway. Once Melancholia, an elusive planet slated to hit Earth’s atmosphere, makes contact, no one will be around to judge her actions anyway.

Grinning and bearing it

Only vaguely apologetic for her treatment of Michael (seeing as how the end of the world is imminent), Justine retreats into a depression that Claire subsidizes by letting her stay at their house. The question of how different people react when they are consciously (as opposed to subconsciously) aware that their days are numbered is explored in depth at this point. Claire, the idealist, chooses to ignore the possibility of death as much as she can, in spite of all of the signs being right in front of her. Justine, the fatalist, insists, “The Earth is evil. No one will miss it.” In many ways, it is an allegory for the religious versus the non-religious.

Run for cover.

How it all pans out in the end is in keeping with the Von Trier no holds barred sector of reality. But what I am surprised by is how obvious he made the metaphor for this movie: The Earth’s undoing is Melancholia/the Earth’s undoing is melancholia.