UK

Books

1: The OutcastSadie Jones

2: Second ChanceJane Green

3: No Time For GoodbyeLinwood Barclay

4: The Forgotten GardenKate Morton

5: Lessons in HeartbreakCathy Kelly

A fairly mixed bag of novels this time around， mostly aimed at older female readers. The Outcast， a violent， dark and sensual story about a teenage delinquent recently released from prison leads the field， and is probably the best out of all the novels mentioned. The only other entrant that I would consider a must-read would be Barclay's excellent thriller Second Chance. What would you do if， one day， you woke up to finds all your loved ones had just disappeared? That's the pretext of this fast-paced， frenetic and excellently-written book.

近來小說真是紛繁多樣，不過大多是為老女人們準備的?！禩he Outcast》具有暴力、黑暗、感傷色彩，講述了一個剛從看管所釋放出來的少年的故事，是這些書目中最精彩的一部小說。另外我認為必讀的是Barclay的驚悚歷險小說《Second Chance》。設想有一天當你醒來發(fā)現(xiàn)所愛的人都消失了，你該怎么辦？這是這部節(jié)奏緊迫、令人驚心的完美之作的前序。

Movies

1）The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

1)Wanted

2)The Incredible Hulk

3)Adulthood

4)Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Certainly not the worst top five we've seen recently， but several of these movies are still fairly weak. Prince Caspian can't seem to decide if it wants to be a kids'flick or a gritty swashbuckling move， while even Ed Norton (who both plays the lead and co-wrote the screenplay) can't save The Incredible Hulk from being a load of tripe， even if it is a far better load of tripe than 2003 abomination Hulk. Wanted is a fast-paced， if slightly one-dimensional and shockingly unoriginal， action adventure about a young man who discovers he has super strength， speed and reflexes and is actually part of a shady underground group of assassins. The best movies of the lot are Adulthood， a dark and gritty drama about life in London， and of course Indiana Jones.

當然不是我們最近看到的最糟糕的排行榜，但是有幾部電影確實還是很差勁?！禤rince Caspian》讓人無法確定這到底是兒童劇還是俠客傳奇。面對《The Incredible Hulk》這部垃圾，即便是Ed Norton也無回天之術，雖然這部電影比起2003年那部讓人厭惡的，快節(jié)奏、單面而又俗不可耐的動作歷險片《Hulk. Wanted》要好的多?！禜ulk. Wanted》講述的一個黑幫暗殺組成員之一的一年青人發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有特異功能，反應速度超強。這些當中最棒的電影應該是以倫敦為背景的黑色幽默喜劇《Adulthood》，當然還有《Indiana Jones》。

Singles

1) CloserNe-Yo

2) Viva La Vida Coldplay

3) No AirJordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown

4) ForeverChris Brown

5) Take A BowRihanna

An unexpected jump to the number one spot for Ne-Yo， who seems to have overcome the negative criticism about the unoriginality and Justin Timberlakeishness of Closer. The tortuously repetitive and oh-so-similar-to-everything-they've-ever-done Viva La Vida appears in the UK charts a month after Coldplay broke into the American charts with it. The remaining trio of songs， while all credible in their own right， are all beginning to run their time in the Top 5 and are starting to get a bit stale. Hopefully next month will see a new infusion of talent into the British music industry.

Ne-Yo出人意料居然竄至榜首，看來他已近熬過評論界對其賈斯丁式及該作品缺乏創(chuàng)新的惡評浪潮。啰嗦乏味又毫無新意的《Viva La Vida》與Coldplay闖進美國榜單一個月之后，現(xiàn)身于美國排行榜。剩下的三部曲，雖然憑自身實力久居排行榜，它們正開始失去新鮮感而失寵。希望下個月英國音樂庫有新泉注入。

Albums

1) Viva La Vida， or Death and All His FreindsColdplay

2) RockferryDuffy

3) Home Before DarkNeil Diamond

4) Skydivin'Darren Styles

5: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum EndalaustSigur Ros

I must confess to more than a small measure of surprise when I saw Icelandic post-rock quartet Sigur Ros making an appearance in the chart this month. Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust(which， I'm told， means\"with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly\") is a somewhat eerie mix of rock， classical and ethereal music that is one of the more original albums I've heard in… well， a long time. Also， I'm glad to see aging rocker Neil Diamond still up there doing the rounds.

當我看到冰島后搖四重唱小組Sigur Ros出現(xiàn)在本月榜單時，我感到非常驚訝。Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust是集搖滾、古典于一身的怪誕的飄渺的較有獨創(chuàng)性的一張專輯。同樣我很高興看到寶刀未老的搖滾歌手Neil Diamond依然矗立于榜單中。

Books

1) Fearless FourteenJanet Evanovich

2) TwilightStephenie Meyer

3) New MoonStephenie Meyer

4) Someday SoonDebbie Macomber

5) New MoonStephenie Meyer

A good month for novels this month! Or， at least， it would be if the new entrants were any good. Fearless Fourteen is a continuation of a series of books about bounty hunter Stephanie Plum that really should have quit three outings ago. Debbie Macomber's Someday Soon tells the story of a gentle widow who falls for a man with a very dangerous job (and sets the feminist movement back three decades in the process)， while The Shack is a refreshingly un-preachy man-meets-God tale set in the back woods of Oregon.

這個月是小說的天下！Fearless Fourteen是繼俠義衷腸獵人《Stephanie Plum》系列叢書的續(xù)篇，其實這個故事應在三次游記之前就結束。Debbie Macomber的《Someday Soon》講述了一個貴族寡婦愛上一個身任危險職務的男子的故事。而《The Shack》只是俄勒岡州叢林單純青年遇見上帝這一故事的翻版而已。

Movies

1)Wall-E

2)Wanted

3)Get Smart

4)Kung Fu Panda

5)The Incredible Hulk

First and foremost， Kung Fu Panda deserves to be much higher than fourth. However， this summer does seem to enjoy pushing top-quality animated movies on us; Wall-E tells the story of a rubbish-collection robot thousands of years in the future， after Mankind has turned the Earth into a giant landfill site and instead taken off for the stars. The other gem here is Steve Carrell vehicle Get Smart， a remake of the 1960's cult secret agent comedy.

首先，《功夫熊貓》本應排于第四名之上，但這個夏天好像更是青睞那些高品質的卡通片；《Wall-E》講的是千年之后，人類將地球變成一個巨型廢物填埋地，并進駐其它星球，描述了一個有廢品組裝的機器人的故事。另一精巧之作應屬Steve Carrell的《Get Smart》，一個1960年紅極一時的情報局喜劇的翻版。

Singles

1) I Kissed A GirlKaty Perry

2) LollipopLi'l Wayne feat Static Major

3) Bleeding LoveLeona Lewis

4) Take A BowRihanna

5) Burnin’ UpJonas Brothers

The only new entrants into the chart this month (and the only song I haven't heard previously)， the Jonas Brothers have produced yet another piece of mass-marketed， generic pop that will sell well regardless of the fact that it is merely passable. The three boys have， however， cobbled together a fairly amusing video lampooning classic TV shows and movies such as The Karate Kid and Miami Vice.

本月榜單唯一的新人就是Jonas Brothers，他們現(xiàn)在又出了一張很暢銷的流行專輯，雖然不是特點鮮明，僅僅能被接受而已，可這張專輯確實很暢銷。三兄弟粗劣地整合了一張諷刺如《The Karate Kid》和《Miami Vice》這般經典電視節(jié)目及電影的幽默的錄音帶。

Albums

1) Viva La Vida， or Death and All His FriendsColdplay

2) Tha Carter IIILil Wayne

3) Camp Rock SoundtrackCast of Camp Rock/Various Artists

4) Saints of Los AngelesMotley Crue

5) Last 2 WalkThree 6 Mafia

This month's album top 5 is disappointing， to say the least. Coldplay's Viva La Vida sounds just like their previous three albums (which would have all been great， had the others not been released). Recently the Three 6 Mafia have become more Caffe Latte than Cosa Nostra， and their awful， awful album Last 2 Walk sounds like a rehash of every bad hip-hop track of thew past three years – a disappointing showing from a band who won an Academy Award for Best Original Song back in 2005. So for this month highlights we have to look at aging rockers Motley Crue， Lollipop singer Li'l Wayne， or the teen stars of Camp Rock. These are dark， dark times indeed.

這個月的專輯排行榜叫人失望。Coldplay的《Viva La Vida， or Death and All His Friends》與他前三個專輯雷同。他們那張糟糕透頂?shù)摹禠ast 2 Walk》聽起來是在模仿三年前的嬉皮式作品——由一支在2005年獲得奧斯卡最佳原創(chuàng)獎的樂隊創(chuàng)作。這個月較為出色的亮點人物也就算Motley Crue和Li'l Wayne或者是《Camp Rock》的少年新星。這年月真是黑暗。