The Star-Telegram arts writers spotlight what's rocking their world this week.
1 Wake in Fright: Long before Australia became trendy and no one had yet heard of Crocodile Dundee, two films captured the sunburnt continent in all of its unforgiving cruelty: Nicolas Roeg's masterful Walkabout and Ted Kotcheff's powerful but little-seen and long-lost Wake in Fright, both from 1971. The latter, starring Donald Pleasance and Gary Bond, is an exploration of manhood and Aussie mateship that reaches almost Deliverance levels of degradation. Now, you can see it in a newly restored version that will play Dallas' Texas Theatre on Friday and Saturday. thetexastheatre.com
-- Cary Darling
2 Girls: The Complete First Season : Ahead of its second season premiere next month, get caught up with star/writer/director Lena Dunham's provocative HBO comedy Girls, via the Blu-ray/DVD set in stores Tuesday. Over the course of 10 episodes, Dunham and her castmates chart the ups and downs of life as 20-something females in 21st-century Brooklyn. By turns uncompromising and wonderfully human, Girls is one of the year's best new shows. HBO's three-disc set (two Blu-rays, one DVD) features plenty of extras, including a conversation between Dunham and executive producer Judd Apatow, as well as deleted scenes, a gag reel and audio commentaries.
-- Preston Jones
3 Paloma Faith, Fall to Grace: Sneaking onto American shores here at year's end, this British singer-songwriter is being positioned as the next big thing in our post-Adele world. Although Fall to Grace is technically her sophomore effort, it's being touted as her stateside debut. The brassy-voiced Faith speaks bluntly of heartbreak and swaddles her raw feelings in the lush, woozy pop-R&B hybrid the Brits have all but perfected. Faith is a slow-burn stunner, and someone who could enjoy a very successful 2013.
-- Preston Jones
