New releases

By Stephanie Schorow, Globe Correspondent  |  June 23, 2008

Seems only Julia Louis-Dreyfus has broken the dreaded "Seinfeld" curse. With her new series ready for a fourth season, Louis-Dreyfus has succeeded where former colleagues Jason Alexander and Michael Richards failed and found a formula that showcases her comedic talents. As a self-centered single mother, Christine Campbell, the star wisely surrounds herself with equally flawed characters, including her ex-husband, her ex-husband's girlfriend, also named Christine, and live-in brother.

Drama: Persepolis
Comedy: The Hammer
Animation: Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Comedy/Drama: Definitely, Maybe
Drama: Honeydripper
Comedy: Charlie Bartlett
Drama: Belle Toujours
Drama: 10,000 B.C.
Classic Film: Man of a Thousand Faces
Family: The Spiderwick Chronicles

I, Flathead (Nonesuch)
Ry Cooder concludes his "California Trilogy" of albums that began with "Chávez Ravine" (2005) and "My Name Is Buddy" (2007) with a new CD that reflects the diversity of the Golden State, with its blues and boogie-woogie, Latin riffs, and hard-knock folk dirges. As with "Buddy," Cooder has penned a surreal novella to accompany the music, but instead of following a Woody Guthrie-like cat, he follows the journey of musician "Kash Buk," mixing the preaching with a light touch.

Rock: Mötley Crüe / Saints of Los Angeles (Eleven Seven)
Rock: Cute is What We Aim For / Rotation (Fueled by Ramen)
Pop: Steve Tyrell / Back To Bacharach (Koch)
Folk/Rock: Amos Lee / Last Days at the Lodge (Blue Note)
Bluegrass: Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass / The Room Over Mine (Rounder)
Rock: Alejandro Escovedo / Real Animal (Back Porch)
Folk: Crooked Still / Still Crooked (Signature Sounds)
R & B: Edwin McCain / Nobody's Fault But Mine (Time/Life)
Jazz: Incognito / Tales from the Beach (Heads Up)
Dance: Billy Idol / The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself (Capitol)
Progressive soul: Maiysha / This Much Is True (Eusonia)

Wii, Xbox 360 (Activision)
The biggest thing to hit the gaming world since, well, Guitar Hero, "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" lets you try your hand at playing like the Bad Boys of Boston. Gamers play as Joe Perry (guitar) at first and then as Brad Whitford (guitar) and Tom Hamilton (bass) alongside screamer Steven Tyler and drummer Joey Kramer. Game play follows the band through its musical history from the first 1970 gig to the 2001 Super Bowl halftime show. Dream on.

Joyce Carol Oates (HarperCollins)
The ever-so-prolific Joyce Carol Oates ("Them," "Black Water") rips another plot from the headlines in her literary re-interpretation of the JonBenet Ramsey murders. Skyler Rampike, the son of a bullying father and a mother obsessed with her daughter, narrates the story of a dysfunctional family - the usual territory of Oates's oeuvre - only in this case the dysfunction turns deadly.

Stephanie Schorow can be reached at sschorow@comcast.net