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Top Picks: Kacey Musgraves' album 'Pageant Material,' PBS's TV show 'Poldark,' and more

A behind-the-scenes video shows how the dinosaurs of 'Jurassic World' came to life, James Taylor's album 'Before This World' is Taylor's first album of original material in 13 years, and more top picks.

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Legacy Effects
  • By Staff

Dinosaur animation

Moviegoers came face to face with dinosaurs in the recent box-office smash “Jurassic World.” Ever wonder how those prehistoric beings appear so lifelike on the big screen? Check out this video by Legacy Effects in which artists and engineers explain how they created the apatosaurus and what robotics they used to bring it to life at http://bit.ly/jworldapatosaurus.

Summer fixation

PBS’s new adaptation of Poldark, starring Aidan Turner as the British redcoat who returns from fighting the American Revolutionary War only to discover his family’s Cornwall property in ruins and his childhood sweetheart betrothed to his cousin, has been this summer’s must-see series. With grit and brawn Ross Poldark draws life and renewal from rubble in ways that challenge cherished traditions of British nobility. It airs on PBS Sunday evenings through Aug. 2. Visit http://bit.ly/PoldarkPBS for recent episodes and behind-the-scenes videos. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. 

Texas-sized talent

Country maverick Kacey Musgraves speaks her mind and refuses to follow country music’s rules, but she’s 100 percent the real deal and her dazzling tiara shines on her second album, Pageant Material. Songs like “Biscuits” (“mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy”) and “Family Is Family” (“Yeah, friends come in handy, but family is family”) tell you all you need to know about this talented Texas songbird.

From soccer goalie to soldier

Viewers get a chance to go deeper than the headlines about Syria with the “POV” documentary Return to Homs. The film tells the story from the vantage point of Abdul Basset al-Saroot, who was once the goalkeeper for the Syrian national soccer team and a peaceful Arab Spring protester. What made him later turn into an advocate of violence against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad? Find out when the program airs July 20 at 10 p.m. on PBS.

James Taylor’s world

Sweet Baby James has a new album. Before This World is James Taylor’s first album of original material in 13 years and all the hallmarks are there: He sings as charmingly as ever and plays deftly on the guitar like we’ve come to expect, and his band expertly carries the mid-tempo grooves and stays out of the way. It’s great to have some new James Taylor material, even if nothing here rises to the bar he set so high, so long ago.

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