Storytelling in The New Hollywood

A New York icon and one of the most successful singer/songwriters of the late 20th century, Billy Joel rose to success in the mid-'70s with a melodic piano-led pop sound that merged Beatlesque hooks with elements of rock, jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and even Broadway. A Long Island native with a powerful voice and knack for storytelling, Joel first made the pop charts with "Piano Man," a rousing barroom singalong with a bittersweet old-timey feel that became his signature song. Released in 1977, his fifth album, The Stranger, launched him into superstardom yielding four Top 40 hits including "Only the Good Die Young" and the Grammy Award-winning soft rock ballad "Just the Way You Are."

A landmark work in the history of the cinema, Der letzte Mann represents a breakthrough on a number of fronts. Firstly, it introduced a method of purely visual storytelling in which all intertitles and dialogue were jettisoned, setting the stage for a seamless interaction between film-world and viewer. Secondly, it put to use a panoply of technical innovations that continue to point distinct ways forward for cinematic expression nearly a century later. It guides the silent cinema’s melodramatic brio to its lowest abject abyss — before disposing of the tragic arc altogether. The lesson in all this? That a film can be anything it wants to be… but only Der letzte Mann (and a few unforgettable others) were lucky enough to issue forth into the world under the brilliant command of master director F.W. Murnau.

Johnny Sansone's music is a treasure chest of Louisiana culture. The award winning songwriter is back with his eighth album, Lady on the Levee, another stellar collection of down home folk tales, deep swamp harmonica blues, front porch cajun accordion and classic R&B tunes that add to his impressive legacy. The recording was produced by Anders Osborne and recorded at the Parlor Studio in New Orleans with a cast of Louisiana greats including guitarist Osborne and John Fohl, Sansone Osborne and Fohl are bandmates in an acoustic trio that has been woodshedding at the New Orteans songwriters showcase Chickie Wah Wah since 2009.

The only thing better than one John Waters movie for a solid evening of trashy entertainment is seven, and thanks to the folks at New Line Home Video, Waters fans can now enjoy a gleefully offensive, career-spanning collection of his most memorable films in this set that's sure to give the neuters nightmares! All seven films, including Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Polyester, Hairspray, Pecker, and A Dirty Shame, are presented in their original aspect ratios in addition to featuring outrageously entertaining commentary by the director (other bonus materials vary from disc to disc), with a bonus disc offering a variety of audio and video clips detailing Waters' life from childhood to his current status as the Sultan of Sleaze!