Cabaret Balkan In Belgrade, a minor fender-bender sets off a chain reaction of rage and violence in this biting, bitter and timely Yugoslav black comedy. D.A. (4 stars)
The Muse A desperate screenwriter (Albert Brooks) finds inspiration in a muse (Sharon Stone) with a taste for Tiffany gifts. A typically smart, understated Brooks comedy, if his most conventional. D.A. (3 stars)
BOOKS
The Pledge (Warner), by Rob Kean. Undergrad Grisham. An exiled frat boy investigates his former brotherhood after a pledge turns up dead. Director Phillip Noyce bought movie rights, but readers won’t buy the over-the-top tale. K.H. (1 star)
Cracks (Zoland), by Sheila Kohler. A reunion of classmates from a South African boarding school. Unforced poetic novella, especially good on the naive sensuality and malice of young girls. R.S. (4 stars)
MUSIC
LFO, ‘LFO’ (Arista) A new Backstreet clone brings more hip-hop, less cooing. It almost works. The breezy hit “Summer Girls” is loaded with charm, but they should’ve saved some for the rest of the album. D.G. (2 stars)
Me’Shell Ndegeocello, ‘Bitter’ (Maverick) Great music makes critics whip out the cliches. Mesmerizing. Raw. Haunting. Album of the year. These jazz-tinged R&B tales of love and betrayal are so good, we’ll let the cliches do the talking. N.C. (4 stars)
Christina Aguilera, ‘Christina Aguilera’ (RCA) At first blush, she’s Tiffany to Britney Spears’s Debbie Gibson–except she’s got quite a voice. Even her sultry, limber soprano, though, can’t surmount some of the R&B dreck on her debut. D.G. (2 stars)
