Ojeda

"Fever" is actually one of Bunuel's plottier movies. It's set on Ojeda, an island under the control of a fictional French-speaking banana republic. Its major resources are bananas and fish, etc. But the island's real importance is its prison labor camp (modeled on Devil's Island perhaps?), where political prisoners are sent. When the governor of the island is assassinated, the governorship itself becomes a pawn in two different but intertwined games: the struggle for power on the mainland between the president and his brother and the rivalry for the hand of the former governor's widow (Maria Felix) between the new governor (Jean Servais) and the former governor's secretary (Gerard Philipe). The secretary is the film's nominal hero – an idealist who thinks he can change political conditions from within but who is increasingly corrupted out of sheer necessity for survival. Thus "Fever" also becomes a kind of morality tale. At any rate, it's surely the most politically explicit movie Bunuel ever made.

The disc is indeed an exhilarating set of big band swing, peppered with impossibly tight horn arrangements and scorching solos, it's also a lot more than that. Swing Shift is at once a classic swing album and a thoroughly modern big-band jazz record, with 11 new compositions and three classics showcasing brand new arrangements. Of course, everything here is impeccably done in the swinging Basie style, making Swing Shift an ideal disc both for older fans already hooked on the Orchestra's sound and for swing newcomers curious about the music's origins. ~ Ezra Gale

Twisted Sister has always been able to find the heart and humor in the truly crass, so it probably should not surprise anyone that this holiday outing, TWISTED CHRISTMAS, while possibly a cash-in attempt - remains heartfelt, funny, and at times sincere throughout it's 12 tracks. Dee Snider's idiot charm actually meshes surprisingly well with the childlike wonderment of Christmas. Highlights include "I'll Be Home For Christmas", featuring Lita Ford on vocals, and "Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)" with "a tattoo of Ozzy" replacing the coveted "partridge in a pear tree".

Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a romance novelist who receives a package mailed to her by her now-dead brother-in-law Eduardo, who was recently murdered. Her widowed sister, Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor) calls Joan and begs her to come to Colombia with the mailed package because Elaine has been kidnapped and the package is the ransom…