A+E

This month's peanut butter, Old Dominion Salted Chunky Butter, is so chunky that you might as well just spread peanuts on your bread. That may sound unappealing at first, but it does have just the right amount of spreadability to make for ideal sandwich material, and it carries a rich peanut taste that's undiluted by added ingredients. The Walkerswood Jamaican Guava Jelly is sweet but subtle, and makes for an excellent complement. Overall, a low-key but tasty triumph. (3.5 stars)

More info:
www.lovepbj.com

Glenn Puit's book Witch is about Vegas' Brookey Lee West, convicted in 2001 of killing her mother. A review in the form of five random sentences:

"The cycle of high-profile homicides in Vegas is nonstop." (Page 34)

"It was the city where West grew into a woman, and it was the city where West's father dedicated himself to the Prince of Darkness." (Page 82)

"Doyle got out of his truck, and within a few steps, he noticed what appeared to be a corpse stretched out on a sloping bank leading to the river." (Page 138)

"Howard Simon St. John moved in to Brookey Lee West's Los Banos home in early 1994, and to his new neighbors it seemed as if the Tasmanian devil himself had just spun down Fir Street and invaded their peaceful community." (Page 182)

"'She had her hand behind her back, and I'm on the phone talking to 911, telling them, "I think they are going to kill me,"' Chloe said." (Page 256)

Luxurious

Lucky 13 (3 stars)

This 13-track disc from Johnny DeVille and Joel Stites was recorded here at the Dirty Martini Lab and in LA at the Gin Room—and that should give you a clear idea of the genre. Heavy on the synths, with a sidecar of back-and-forth between a smoky-voiced woman and a man from Quebec, Lucky 13's groovy, neo-electro-lounge numbers will put the fizz back in your sloe gin.

Lila Says (R) (4 stars)


$29.95

The riots may have died down, but the tensions that sparked the hostilities between Muslim youth and authorities will continue to plague France for years. In their wake, Ziad Doueiri's tense, steamy drama takes on an added and perhaps unintended meaning. Set in Marseilles, Lila Says tells the story of a stunning 16-year-old blonde whose sudden appearance in a poor Arab neighborhood threatens to ignite a firestorm of jealousy and rage among a local gang. As temptations go, Vahina Giocante rivals any apple in the Garden of Eden.

Sins of the Fleshapoids (NR) (3 stars)


$24.95

Sins was made in 1965 at about the same time that Andy Warhol, John Cassavetes, Kenneth Anger, Jonas Mekas and Mike Kuchar—the man principally responsible for this bizarre sci-fi epic—were turning out films that formed the nucleus of America's avant-garde. Sins imagines life on a post-apocalyptic Earth where robots indulge the carnal passions of surviving humans. Called a major influence on the emerging indie movement, it could just as easily be the missing link between stag films and narrative porn.

Gone in 60 Seconds: Collector's Edition (NR) (3 stars)


$24.98

More fun than a barrel of grease monkeys, H.B Halicki's original Gone in 60 Seconds is the car-chase epic against which all future car-chase movies, including the 2000 remake, would be measured. Although the narrative is workmanlike at best, the auto-erotica remains thrilling. More than 100 cars are destroyed and four dozen others are stolen, including Eleanor, the prize 1973 Mustang Mach 1. Made on a shoestring budget and mostly cast within the Halicki family, Gone in 60 Seconds is one of the great guy movies of all times. Sadly, Halicki died in 1989 performing a water-tower stunt for the sequel.