Black Eyed Peas
“The E.N.D.”
3 out of 4 stars
After some excellent but underappreciated hip-hop albums, the Black Eyed Peas were faced with a difficult choice: Do we want to be great or do we want to be popular?
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With 2003’s “Elephunk” and the addition of Fergie, they chose popular. Now with “The E.N.D.,” their third album in this hit-filled, moneymaking odyssey, the Black Eyed Peas serve up empty-headed, escapist, enjoy-yourself excitement like no one else around.
On the inescapable “Boom Boom Pow,” their first No. 1 single, and the island-tinged “Electric City” built around a sample of Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy,” the Peas dare you not to have a good time. Same holds for the irresistible “Showdown,” which features the best of will.i.am’s new fascination with Euro-flavored dance music.
“The E.N.D.,” short for “The Energy Never Dies,” is packed with upbeat dance numbers about forgetting your problems — “Rock That Body,” “Party All the Time” and “Out of My Head” all will likely blast out of a radio at scheduled times for the rest of the year, along with new single “I Gotta Feeling,” which plays like a simplified “Ray of Light.”
The Peas stretch a handful of times — excelling on the unifying world-beat anthem “One Tribe” and failing on “Now Generation,” the new millennium’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” which struggles with Fergie screaming, “I want it now!” like a kid jonesing for ice cream. “The E.N.D.” may not be great, but it will be popular.
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DVD
‘Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music’ director’s cut
Although Woodstock itself reportedly lost money, the three-hour film version, released in 1970, took in more than $50 million at the U.S. box office, won an Oscar for best documentary and, reportedly, saved the Warner Bros. studio. In 1994, an expanded director’s cut was released, and that nearly four-hour version is included in this 40th anniversary set. The new material here is an additional disc with two more hours of performances and recent interviews. Bruce Dancis, MCT
WEB CLIP
5 Videos Of Drunk People Falling Over
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There’s nothing funny about excessive alcohol consumption. But people falling over? That’s hilarious. If you need proof, check in with the good folks at BuzzFeed, who have rounded up — you guessed it — five videos of people who appear to be loaded stumbling all over the place. Some of the videos are funny. Some of them are kind of sad. But you can’t help but watch. We give it a good two weeks in viral video land.
JIM WALSH, REDEYE
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TV
True Blood
8 p.m. Sunday, HBO
The bloodsuckers are back with even more gore, new creatures and a twisty central mystery. Creator Alan Ball keeps upping the freak show aspect, showing us a vampire literally bite a man in half. But even with limbs flying, that kill isn’t as unsettling as the love scene between human Sookie (Anna Paquin, right) and her main vamp, Bill (Stephen Moyer). Unfortunately, I don’t think their scenes are supposed to be scary. CURT WAGNER, REDEYE
Review about True Blood coming. Shortly. CURT WAGNER, REDEYE
DVD
Gran Torino
The movie excellently showcases both Clint Eastwood the actor and the director at his best. Eastwood, now 78, plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran and widower who lives alone in a neighborhood he has seen go through numerous changes. Eastwood does a terrific job of pulling off the transformation from bigot to someone who cares. Highly recommended.
Doug Nye, MCT
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TV
‘I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!’
11 a.m., 1:10 and 3:20 p.m. Sunday, MTV
Yes, it’s kind of like a train wreck from which you cannot look away. Yes, it’s incredibly annoying yet oddly fascinating. And yes, it’s a whole lot of fun to gossip about. But there is no reason whatsoever to be watching reruns of “I’m a Celebrity” on MTV, people. Seriously, if you missed it, you missed it. It will be over soon.
JIM WALSH, REDEYE