Top Picks: 'StarMap 3D' app, 'The Infiltrator' on DVD and Blu-ray, and more
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New chapter
Bruce Springsteen’s acclaimed autobiography “Born to Run” has already ascended to the top of the bestseller charts. But his aural history, Chapter and Verse, is equally revelatory. Conceived as a companion piece to the book, the album has 18 tracks that chronologically trace New Jersey’s favorite son from his scuffling bar band days with recordings of his first groups, The Castiles and Steel Mill, to demos on the cusp of stardom, to the familiar platinum megahits backed by the E Street Band. Springsteen is so full of youthful exuberance and release at the beginning, but stardom and time seem to add palpable weight to his music by the album’s final cuts.
Star guide
Wondering which constellations you’re gazing at when you look up at the night sky? The StarMap 3D app identifies the sights using your phone’s gyroscope and compass and tells you all about the vista. It’s available for iOS users for $1.99.
Suspenseful film
The based-on-a-true-story movie The Infiltrator stars Bryan Cranston as Robert Mazur, a federal agent who is pursuing Colombian drug lords. According to Monitor film critic Peter Rainer, the film “showcases ... Cranston’s robust acting chops.” It’s now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
New le carré
The work of John le Carré returns to the big screen with the film Our Kind of Traitor, which stars Ewan McGregor as Perry, who becomes involved with the dealings of Russian Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), who needs Perry’s help. Monitor film critic Peter Rainer writes that Skarsgård “strikes a sympathetic note as a man whose obstreperousness cannot disguise his ferocious love for his family.” The film will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Oct. 18.
Peek backstage
”Hamilton” fans who haven’t been able to see the musical phenomenon get a backstage pass with PBS’s Hamilton’s America, which airs Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. It not only depicts the making of the stage musical, with plenty of footage of the show for eager viewers, but also delves even further into the history of Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Father’s compatriots, providing intriguing background for the musical’s story.
