The ‘hottest trends’
in college wear
DARTMOUTH -- Fashonistas and fashion
victims alike, listen up!
On December 5, from 7 to 8 p.m., UMD
will be presenting the “Hottest Trends in College
Wear” fashion show in the Main Auditorium. This
event, open to everyone, will showcase some of the latest
fashions.
Tickets for the event will be sold
at the door: $5 for adults and $3 for students and children
under 12 years of age. All proceeds will be donated to
the Children’s Ward of St. Anne’s Hospital.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments
will be served before and after the show.
Parking will be available in lots
4, 5 and 6.
Come catch a glimpse of the latest
fashions and help raise money for a local charity at the
same time!
Star Store and local artisans
host holiday sale
NEW BEDFORD -- For those of you hoping
to get your hands on some of the beautiful creations of
local artisans for the holiday season, take notice!
Members of the UMass Dartmouth artisanry
community will be holding their fifth annual holiday sale
on December 2, 3 and 4 at the Star Store on 715 Purchase
Street in New Bedford. A variety of their handmade functional
and sculptural works of art will be on display and for
sale in the Crapo Gallery on the first floor.
This holiday sale is a wonderful chance
to support local artists while guaranteeing unique, interesting
gifts for those on your holiday shopping list.
All interested in browsing the works
of talented UMD artisans while completing some holiday
shopping are encouraged to stop by during the holiday
sale hours. Opening on Friday, December 2, the sale will
be held from 4 to 8 p.m. The following day, Saturday,
December 3, doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The last day of the sale will be Sunday, December 4, when
the sale will last from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Be sure to stop by to shop and support
those in the UMD artisanry community!
Sale hours:
December 2, 4-8 p.m.
December 3, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
December 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Division by Zero
Explores philosophy of life and
growing up
By Eric Rollins
Before walking into the theater on
that quiet Saturday evening, I had no idea what I was
about to witness.
I had already seen Aliander’s
(co-creator and art director, among other things) illustrations
of the characters in her and boyfriend/co-creator Nick
Taber’s play “Division by Zero” on display
at the Star Store. They seemed like characters out of
a science-fiction fantasy piece set on another planet.
What I got from the show, however, was a refreshingly
down-to-earth story about common teenagers in our own
contemporary and nameless generation.
Anyone from the current generation
could undoubtedly relate to at least one of the characters
in an honest way. The scenarios into which the actors
were put resembled past years in the dungeons of high
school. My expectations were blown out of the water. The
writers, creators and especially the actors nailed the
life of teenagers nowadays. The story of three soon-to-be
friends unfolded through an eccentric mix of live scenes
and video footage shown on the overhead.
Aliander and Nick play Mr. and Mrs.
Francis Stein, a quirky suburban couple. Francis is a
mad scientist of sorts who dabbles in creationism in his
basement. After Nick Crowe (played by Mike Connor) gets
into an auto-accident and loses his head, Francis finds
it and uses it in his latest creation. Ginger-Michael
Stein (played by associate director Eric Grab) is the
Steins’ new son, a Frankenstein boy built from various
body parts. Mona Nakahoshi (Melissa Yee) is Nick’s
lab partner before he dies and is more bothered that he
didn’t finish their homework than she is concerned
for his life. At least, that is what she shows at first.
As we later find out, these three are destined for friendship
and development.
The brilliance of “Division
by Zero” lies in its simplicity and its relatable
characters. By making Nick and Mona typical yet unique
high schoolers and Ginger-Michael a naïve and innocent
foreigner, little time needed to be spent on character
pre-development. The scenes focused on the present and
not the past.
Mona used to be a model, but grew
tired of its false existence. By the time she was in high
school, she had built an impenetrable wall around her
that repelled monotony and anyone who didn’t hate
everything. Nick was very similar, but his male insecurities
were more evenly announced to the audience. Ginger-Michael
was the newcomer befriended and then resented by Nick
and Mona for his optimism about life and school.
The peculiarities of the two male
characters made these aspects heavily visible and therefore,
easier to notice. Nick suffered from phantom-limb syndrome
after his accident. (He had no head!) Actor Mike Connor
wore a white sheet and camouflage hairspray to recreate
his affliction. Ginger-Michael was a hybrid of many things,
but was given Nick’s brain and amnesia to boot.
He also had a fully functional yellow cat eye.
We later find out that Ginger-Michael
is Nick Crowe’s non-twin, except without the preclusion
to hate everything the way Nick did when he was alive.
His new identity gives him an appreciation for the fragile
state of mind that teenagers incur. This turns out to
be the point of play, as all three characters get lost
in the philosophy of adulthood as they embark on it.
High School reminds us of the moments
in life when our mind first begins to grasp such heavy
ideas as love, death, responsibility, authority and relationships.
Mona and Nick hate those with power over their freedom,
yet they have no way of fighting. The teenage ennui is
beautifully present in “Division by Zero,”
and I wish I could only see myself the way I saw these
characters. They fight for what they were before they
met each other, but they know bonding through this new
concept of friendship and possibly a platonic (or not)
love is good for them.
This leads to the inexplicable cruelty
we lay on one another when we are 15-to-18 years old.
This cruelty is derived from the fear of becoming more
responsible and abandoning our sheltered and lonely world
that we once controlled. A relationship outside that of
oneself cannot be controlled. Mona, especially, fights
Nick and Ginger-Michael’s interruption into her
walled city of an existence. As Mona and Nick once watched
from afar as their friends and enemies struggled with
girlfriends, boyfriends and cliques of friends, they implanted
in themselves an elitist philosophy of “this will
never happen to me.” However, as Mona and Nick embark
on their special joint-relationship with Ginger-Michael,
they learn that the same awkwardness that plagued others
is inescapable. It just goes to show that “freaks”
have the same complex relationships with their counterparts
as jocks, mods, intellectuals, burnouts and skater kids
have with each other.
The great thing about these characters
is that they are not just skin deep as so many other cliques
are with each other. When family troubles or intimate
issues like physical deformities arise, your true friends
are there to help you and make jokes about it. It may
seem elaborate or mocking, but it is justified when compared
to how other friends might completely ignore you or talk
about you behind your back.
Nick, Mona and Ginger-Michael also
have a tendency to preach about their new philosophical
discoveries. Their monologues are often disjointed, incomplete
and meandering. They are lost in their own philosophy
and are at a loss for words to explain it. This is how
many of us acted or felt, especially in the first years
of college; in some cases, it is even how we still currently
act. These are the kind of intellectual ideas like life,
death, love, freedom and responsibility that we question
our entire lives. When they are new to us, however, like
they are to Mona, Nick and especially Ginger-Michael,
they are exciting and fun to try and fit together, like
a puzzle.
This puzzle of intellectual reasoning
and roles in each other’s lives is what we see in
“Division by Zero.” The spiritual awakenings
of troubled teens searching for a gate to adulthood is
something we all experience and can’t explain, but
through “Division by Zero,” we see a window
into what we were and how we acted, and we are reminded
that we are not alone.
The play feeds on a playful and light
tone, one that involves the audience for conviction that
they are appreciating and enjoying the play. It is often
funny, with Emma Stein (Nick Taber) providing the comic
relief as the overzealous mother. The dialogue and scene
changes offer a sense of intrigue and suspense that lasts
until the very end. It did not heavily rely on visual
gags, even though there were extraordinary visual displays,
especially the video footage of the History Fox. They
took a page out the “Waking Life” book, knowingly
or not, for this one, but it is unique in its significance
to the play.
Talking to a few members of the cast,
it is easy to realize that the play was more a culmination
for the actors and members of the play than any member
of the audience. Many long nights after schoolwork went
into making this play. Eric Grab described it as “a
life altering experience,” which is easy to understand
when you think of how much of his life he had to alter
to make room for the physical and emotional strains of
producing an independent play such as this one. Mike Connor
hinted as to how much one has to devote oneself to such
an intricate idea in order to make it work.
From my brief and informal
interviews of the cast, it is easy for me to speculate
that the cast had more fun than the audience will ever
know. Even if the audience did not understand the play
or even if they “said” they liked it, the
members of the cast and crew will remember “Division
by Zero” for the rest of their lives.
Listen Up
Bleu, Boston’s power-pop savior
By Brian King
Boston is a city that
has produced great music in the past, but seriously, not
that great. Seemingly, some of the last amazing things
from Boston’s music scene were the Pixies and Rivers
Cuomo’s “Pinkerton”-inspiring depression
from attending Harvard in the late 90s.
Well, to anyone not
paying attention to the Boston music scene, there is a
savior for both Boston and power-pop lovers.
Bleu (born William
James McAuley III) arrived on the Boston music scene in
December 1999 with “A Bing Bang Holidang,”
2000’s electro-pop “Headroom.” Bleu
also won a Boston Music Award (for “Outstanding
Rock Band”) and won WBCN’s annual “Rumble”
for Boston’s Best Unsigned Band. He has also toured
USA and Japan with J-pop giants Puffy AmiYumi and opened
shows for Ben Folds, John Mayer and more recently, Averi.
Combining the ultra
melodic style of the Beatles, the rock of Weezer, with
the layered productions of Brian Wilson, Jellyfish, ELO
and Queen, 2003’s power-pop masterpiece “Redhead,”
was Bleu’s major label debut (Columbia/Aware Records).
But with success came the usual complications in the music
industry.
“When my last
record did not meet label expectations, I was told that
I would not be able to make another record unless I delivered
a [hit],” said Bleu. And though he considers himself
lucky to get a second chance, more problems arose.
“According to
my contract, the label retains partial ownership of all
the songs that I give them... Even if they don’t
put out my record, it’s a standard clause.”
Bleu adds, “But basically, I didn’t feel comfortable
giving them more songs when they weren’t really
making a commitment to release anything, and I might not
even be able to release the songs at all...so I got embroiled
in convoluted contract re-negotiations to get that clause
taken out.”
While this was going
on, Bleu’s manager and band “weren’t
on his ‘to-do’ list anymore.”
He adds “All
of the guys I was playing with left my band... I couldn’t
afford to pay them anymore.” He still remains on
good terms with some of these people.
The experience wasn’t
all bad, says Bleu: “I took the time to write and
record a crapload of stuff... I was broke and depressed,
but it was kinda cool. Finally, no one was breathing down
my neck.”
Bleu’s friends
and the new musicians whom he began working with helped
him out by granting him access to their studios and donating
time to his projects. One of the major forces behind this
was the group Hanson—yes, that Hanson.
Working in their “incredible
studio” in Oklahoma, the eldest Hanson brother,
Isaac, co-wrote material and played drums on some of Bleu’s
sessions.
With a new manager,
a new band and a two-year gap between his last LP, Bleu
is currently working on three different projects.
His forthcoming “Bleu”
album, “A Watched Pot,” which he describes
as “Singer-songwriter and neo-soul/gospel inspired
songs...with some “radio-friendly” pop-goobers,”
should be released in 2006. For Bleu-fans, all of his
projects will be well received, though the most surprising
(and awesome) project so far is ELOPE, “which should
be out by March,” Bleu adds.
ELOPE is a Electric
Light Orchestra (ELO) and Jeff Lynne inspired power-pop
album he’s been “Whittling away at for a couple
years.” Using Jeff Lynne’s meticulous and
painstakingly layered productions, Bleu’s original
ELOPE tracks are amazing and as good as (if not better
than) ELO’s inspired works.
ELOPE is not cover
songs, folks; they are originals inspired by Lynne’s
best, and considering Lynne/ELO hasn’t released
anything since 2001’s “Zoom,” it’s
great to hear anything relating to the “’70s
Beatles.”
When I suggested he
should call Lynne and send him some tracks, Bleu replied,
“I actually have his home phone number, but I have
to get over my nerves first.”
It wouldn’t be
the first time Bleu was in the presence of his fellow
power-pop peers. He was worked with greats like Andy Sturmer
(Jellyfish), Matt Mahaffey (Self), Dan Wilson (Semisonic)
and Puffy AmiYumi (on the “Redhead” track
“Sayonara”).
Gaining new fans everyday,
the Jamaica Plain resident Bleu is an avid user and enthusiast
of social networking site, MySpace.com. “I use it
because it’s real,” he says. “It’s
easy to use, and I know what I’m getting on each
page.”
He added, “I
gain a daily average of 10 [friends] a day without inviting
anyone.”
Using the technology
proved to be a smart choice as Bleu posts new songs and
demos from all of his projects while being available to
“mingle” with his appreciative and devoted
fans.
At his November 12
show at the Avalon (Boston), my conversation with the
flaky but hilarious Bleu ranged from the normal (songwriting,
bands we both enjoy) to the absurd (‘80s metal,
Bruce Springsteen and “getting free stuff”).
A lover of Guns ‘N’
Roses, Poison and Bon Jovi (he has covered “Livin’
On A Prayer”), Bleu has a wide diversity in his
own genre hopping work to the music he listens to. His
favorite group of all time is Jellyfish followed by Bruce
Springsteen. When I told him of my strong dislike for
“The Boss,” he was shocked and seemingly disapproved.
Majoring in songwriting
at Berklee College Of Music, Bleu described his love for
the art and craft of songwriting and how his “education
helps out,” but he has no formula for writing songs.
“When I was born I wanted to write songs... I started
writing lyrics when I was 9.”
When asked his goals
for his upcoming album, Bleu replied, “Free sneakers,
movie tickets.” And for those wondering how he got
the name “Bleu,” the sometimes-Bill McAuley
says, “I had blue hair from the end of high school
through college... It was just a dorm room nickname that
stuck... The [eu] spelling was because, naturally, I thought
it was a little cheesy.” Get it? Cheesy!
Look for upcoming Bleu
shows in the future, and proving what a great guy he is
to his fans, he is always hanging out at his merchandise
table, signing and taking photos with eager fans after
every show.
For more info check
out Bleu’s homepages:
http://www.Bleutopia.com
http://www.myspace.com/bleuelope
The Evens: Fu-get about Fugazi
By Matt Glazer
Fugazi fans can breathe a sigh of
relief! Since their 2001 hiatus, the pioneering post-hardcore
band’s fans have wanted new material. Well, they
can rejoice now as Fugazi singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye
has combined his efforts with fellow DCer Amy Farina to
create The Evens.
With their self-titled release, MacKaye
and Farina have created a politically charged album that
blends well with their peaceful, folkish sound. Through
their duets and solo singing efforts, Farina and MacKaye
let their lyrics stand as their protest to the injustice
in the world, while letting their music show the harmony
they seek for these problems.
In opener “Shelter Two,”
MacKaye’s baritone guitar starts off quietly, but
gradually builds up until Farina’s simple but complimentary
drums accompany it. When he starts to sing, MacKaye has
lost his trademark growl and replaced it with melody-driven
vocals that have been let out of the deepest recesses
of the Beatles-influenced part of his brain. Farina joins
her tender vocals in on the chorus with MacKaye’s
auspiciously toned down singing. The two of them feed
off each other for the rest of the song and represent
the rest of the album’s buildup.
MacKaye has come a long way from his
days when he was the hardcore pioneer of Minor Threat;
twenty-two years after that band broke up, he has participated
in an album that is the polar opposite of his former group.
However, MacKaye has maintained the blueprint from Fugazi.
Drummer Farina and he have developed a bare-bones hybrid
of his better-known band, minimizing its sometimes too
complexly layered music, creating a less distant feel
to the songs. The Evens show a catchy, accessible side
of MacKaye that borders on a pop-sensibility brought out
by Farina’s mellow singing and playful drumming.
The album wouldn’t sound nearly
as sharp and well crafted without Farina. Her drumming
isn’t fancy, but it is fun to tap your foot to.
Farina’s angelic vocals (think Blonde Redhead’s
Kazu Makino’s high-toned pitch, but not as depressing)
agreeably play along with MacKaye’s deeper tone.
The Evens centers on the democratic cooperation between
Farina and MacKaye and never seems like either one has
full control without the other one’s consent; they
feed off each other to become complaisant and create an
outcome that represents both of them.
The Evens’ lyrics are consistent
with the reflective words and themes from their DC political
roots. The chorus to “Mt. Pleasant” (“The
police will not be excused / the police will not behave”)
is similar to the lyrics for “Great Cop” from
Fugazi’s “In on the Kill Taker,” in
which MacKaye screams, “I look for wires when I’m
talking to you / You’d make a great cop.”
This distrust of authority figures prominently shows up
throughout MacKaye and Farina’s lyrics. Farina,
formerly the drummer/co-singer of the defunct DC group
The Warmers, provides the same lyrical awareness of speaking
up when something is wrong as MacKaye. Their sincerity
in their expression is never in question, but rather comes
off as an unending battle with their DC-political home
ground.
The Evens’ self-titled release
is a subdued but potent release that provides mellow compositions
perfect for an organized protest. Although the polished
production of the album loses the edge of their previous
bands’ albums at some points (that can happen when
the songs have been worked on for almost four years),
The Evens offer a welcomed change for Fugazi fans who
wanted to hear a softer-toned MacKaye. Let’s hope
if a new Fugazi album ever comes out again, this new voice
is part of the package.
The Advantage: Beep bop beep boop
bop
By Scott Glazer
The theme from “Bubble Bobble”
never ends. This is a fact that plagued much of my childhood,
as I would hum the loop ad-nauseam in the lunchroom of
middle school. Members of The Advantage may have had a
similar experience; it would explain much about the band,
whose name was taken after a Nintendo Entertainment System
joystick and songs are all covers of in-game NES music.
The songs on this CD (including that infectious “Bubble
Bobble” theme), however, do end. Though some endings
are more welcomed than others by nature of the band’s
simple gimmick, the CD stands its ground despite -- and
often because of -- the uniqueness of its source material.
The Advantage consists of two guitarists,
a bass player and a drummer in the traditional four-piece
rock setup. Many of the songs here should be familiar
to anyone who’s owned an NES: “Double Dragon
2,” “Ninja Gaiden,” “Bomberman”
and a few “Super Mario” games are included
amongst themes from other common games. Nostalgia abounds:
I hadn’t heard the theme to “Marble Madness”
in years, and by the time the minute-and-a-half loop had
finished, I hummed it for a few more minutes.
This reliance on nostalgia isn’t
entirely good, however. The success of The Advantage’s
gimmick depends much on how emotionally tied the listener
is with a given song; while I could listen to “Super
Mario 2: Overworld” for days on end, I never played
“Batman 2”; so while the song included from
that game sounds good enough, I don’t find myself
listening to it often. I imagine the experience would
be much the same for an audience less familiar with the
game themes on hand. Seemingly to compensate for this,
the band has chosen songs from more common games. Still,
this requirement should be considered if your only experience
with the Nintendo was the “Super Mario/Duckhunt”
cartridge that came with the system.
The source material can be risky as
well; while some songs -- “Mario 3: Underworld,”
for example -- show that songs initially consisting of
bleeps and bloops translate well to instrumental garage
band rock, others are revealed for exactly what they are:
filler placed to keep a game from being silent. The repetitive
“Bionic Commando: POW Camp” theme is the worst
in this regard. Some songs serve a comedic purpose, as
well: saying the name “Ghosts and Goblins: Intro”
takes longer than the song, at four seconds in length,
and “Bubble Bobble: Shark Skeleton” is simply
a sped up version of the “Bubble Bobble” theme.
While these songs are cute, they tend to be quite skippable
on subsequent listens.
For the most part, despite the few
misses, the songs are enjoyable enough on their own, and
a few escape the “straight-cover with instruments”
category. “Bomberman 2” has an added dub-reggae
beat, and it adds to the outer-space feeling of the original
song. Though this sort of experimentation is not common
(as I would imagine The Advantage’s audience to
exist for nostalgia and not improvisation), it breaks
up expectations at a number of points on the album.
The band itself is quite competent,
especially the occasionally quick guitar-work by Nick
Rogers and Ben Milner. Though most songs are by nature
very rhythmic, with little in terms of what one would
consider a “lead” guitar, each guitarist plays
off one another well when given the opportunity. The actual
rhythm section, consisting of drummer Spencer Seim and
bassist Carson McWhirter, is equally as good; the drums
are often a highlight when Seim adds depth to songs that
couldn’t originally contain more than a white-noise
snare.
The Advantage are a good if simple
gimmick band whose CD deserves attention from the crowd
who remembers the joys of extra lives and frustration
of the flashing red power light on the front of the NES.
While the CD isn’t for everyone, there’s probably
a kid who used to annoyingly hum the theme from “Bubble
Bobble” during lunch waiting to discover that he
wasn’t the only one.
Phantom Corsair
Kabob ‘n’ Curry
By E. H. and B. K.
Indian food isn’t always spicy,
contrary to what most think. It is a mix of herbs and
spices, but not the kind that are associated with hot
foods. Delicious and filling, Indian food is a great treat
to the palate and (usually) easy on the stomach. Kabob
‘n’ Curry is a restaurant on Providence’s
Thayer St. that provides flavorful food that will tempt
anyone to eat until they burst.
Usually an expensive restraunt for
college students, the Kabob ‘n’ Curry offers
a Sunday brunch that is cheap and all you can eat. If
you bring the coupon from their website, you receive an
extra 10 percent off the check.
The service was friendly, helpful
and fast. Courteous employees do not rush the decision
making process. However, when confronted with unheard
of dishes, the buffet came in handy. It smelled heavenly
and was tasty.
The buffet consisted of chicken tikka,
a dish in which the chicken is cooked and served in a
marinade. There were pieces of flame-cooked chicken as
well as a tasty coconut desert (reminiscent of Fruit Loops’
sweetness), a rice pudding, salad, rice and a pumpkin
and squash dish. The salad was oddly placed with the assortment
of food that was present; it was not needed, as the other
dishes were complimentary to each other; it was still
a great digestive tool nonetheless.
The pumpkin and squash dish was not
completely soft; it was still in firm chunks. The taste
was reminiscent of Thanksgiving squash with cinnamon.
The rice was fluffy and delicious, mixed in well with
the chicken tika, it helped to soften the blow to the
Phantom’s sensitive mouth (anything that is mildly
hot induces severe nose running and mouth burning). The
rice was not the only thing that helped to keep the burning
down to a minimum; there was flat bread. The bread was
soft and fresh, and it smelled and tasted like it had
been baked in a brick oven.
For dessert there was a coconut soup.
It was milky and very sweet. Despite the fact that the
Phantom was very full from the huge plate of food that
was garnered from the buffet, the Phantom shared a small
bowl of the sweet stuff.
Check out the main menu online at
the restaurant’s website. While it is pricey, if
you stop by on a Saturday night, you will be pleasantly
pleased with the atmosphere of the dining room and of
the servers.
The Phantom gives the Kabob ‘n’
Curry a total of 9 out of 10.
Ambience: 9 out of 10.
Food: 8 out of 10.
Service: 10 out of 10.
Affordability: 6 out of 10.
‘Pride and Prejudice’:
An often told tale turned young and soulful
By Mercy Bell
Adios to dusty, “precious”
interpretations of Jane Austen! This cheeky, poetic new
film makes the story youthful again with down-to-earth
vibrancy and worship of emotion.
Here are young people making the mistakes
and dreaming the dreams of the young showing that when
it was written, “Pride and Prejudice” wasn’t
antiquity, it was life.
Lizzie is not a smirking omniscient,
but a quick witted independent, hotheaded and fiercely
loyal to her sister. She is wary of an unfair world and
uses her wits to survive. Darcy is not an impenetrable
stoic, but a shy, sensitive soul with unwieldy social
pretensions, fending off the outside world. And they are
both lonely. Thus the filmmakers made one great decision:
they let these two main characters fall in love the first
moment they lock eyes. In a shot, we see hearts behind
fortified personalities and an instant chemistry that
takes a movie’s worth of battling with each other
and themselves to right it. It’s an earthy move
that sets the tone for a film about the people and world
behind the stuffy manners -- a world much like ours.
Now set in 1797, the filmmakers committed
to main plot points and themes, astutely representing
the Romantic Age and Austen’s characters. Prides
and prejudices are drawn clearly: Lizzie searches hard
to find fault with Darcy, and Darcy cannot bring himself
to let down his guard. Both have their reasons justified,
but they foil their own chances at love constantly until
they see how wrong they are and are too heartsick to keep
going.
Class conflict is vicious and threatens
happiness. When Charlotte Lucas marries for security,
she bitingly sobers up a disdainful Lizzie on the grave
realities of their world. Lady Catherine (the fearsome
Judi Dench) is not just a sparring partner for Lizzie,
but someone capable of wounding others.
The ensemble and the world inside
the frames are electric. The camera spryly edges in and
out of rooms and conversations instead of sitting arthritically
in a corner. The dance scenes are rollicking and spirited
while characters flirt, deflect and analyze one another.
The aesthetic unabashedly revels in beauty, but always
the simple joys of our world: sunrises, dewy landscapes
in wide shots, colors everywhere.
Simple blocking is caffeinated. Lively,
layered interactions between characters make rich scenes,
neither wasting space nor time as is proved in a scene
with Mr. Collins, played by the magnificent Tom Hollander
-- a delightfully weird standout here. (When he jaggedly
squirms his way up to someone you want to shriek.) He
wants to speak to Lizzie, alone, and a bolt of fear strikes
through her as she pleads in vain not to be abandoned.
The sisters are merciless, Mrs. Bennet delighted, Mr.
Bennet at a loss and Collins prepares. It’s all
silent, and it’s hysterical.
Suggesting variation to revered characters
is taboo, but here it’s a revelation. Keira Knightley
is charismatic, random, wonderfully young and intuitive
to the bone -- she inhabits Lizzie. Matt MacFadyen is
a deep, remarkably subtle, but mostly soulful Darcy, and
he shines. Both are transcendent and instill an unexpected
exuberance of feeling in their performances. When you
throw them together, you get a love story full of subtext
and gloriously heavy moments.
Since dialogue was cut, simple lines
have impact and exposition is visual. Epic little moments
linger and rain, revealing souls. This movie understands
the power of a shot or glance. Lizzie comes to understand
Darcy in how he embraces his sister or smiles (a momentous
occasion, indeed). When she talks about love, it’s
stirring because it’s finally spilled into the open
after we’ve seen it near the edge many times with
half said sentiments and stifled tears. Usually, “I
love you” comes with extra explanatory prose, but
here, sincerity kills cliché: parties are fun,
a misty field is breathtaking, the dawning of love is
a revelation, and the heartbreak is throbbing.
“Pride and Prejudice”
is a brilliant film. It is breathless and luminous, from
its youth and the break from propriety to the beauty,
pain and spontaneity of life and love.
10 out of 10.
The Nomad
Barcelona: Home to works of Gaudi
By Kit Graham
After completing my language program
in Vienna, I went to Spain to enjoy some time off. I had
no idea how difficult it would be to remember Spanish
after spending eight weeks in intensive German courses.
To further complicate things, the language in Barcelona
is actually Catalan, a dialect of Spanish. Fortunately
for me, many people speak English since Barcelona is a
city with a lot of tourism.
Barcelona is on Spain’s Mediterranean
coast, where the weather is in the 60s during this time
of year. Like the weather, Spain’s landscape is
completely different from Central Europe. Spain has many
beautiful beaches and palm trees, giving it a more tropical
look. Spanish cities have beautiful tree lined streets
with many outdoor cafes since it is warm enough to eat
outside year round. Barcelona has many fountains and huge
plazas where locals and tourists alike hang out watching
the day go by.
Barcelona has a strong connection
to art and architecture. Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali
and Joan Miro all spent time in the city. There are museums
dedicated specifically to Picasso and Miro in the city.
The Picasso Museum has the most extensive collection of
the artist’s ceramic work I have ever seen. The
ceramic work is interesting because it shows how the artist
experimented with combining art with function by decoratively
designing and painting tableware.
The art in the museum covers Picasso’s
entire career and includes over 3000 works of art. Picasso’s
series based on Velazquez’s “Las Meninas,”
in which he applied cubism in his own versions of famous
painting, also makes the museum worth visiting.
The architecture of Antoni Gaudi is
one of the city’s top sights. Gaudi was the leader
of Modernisme, a Spanish version of Art Nouveau. In his
architecture, Gaudi seemed to avoid right angles at all
costs. He was obsessed with the shape of the parabola,
and it is used frequently in this designs. Gaudi also
incorporated decorative ironwork into his designs since
he spent time as a blacksmith’s apprentice. Gaudi
architecture is also known for is the creative ways he
used mosaics to cover everything from entire sections
of buildings, park benches and chimneys.
Park Guell is a public park that features
some of Gaudi’s more whimsical architecture. The
park is up on a hill overlooking the city and the ocean.
The world’s longest park bench is curved and completely
covered with mosaics, providing tourists with a great
place to relax and enjoy the view. The park is famous
for its crooked columns that help support the elevated
area with the park bench. The park is also known for a
large sculpture of an iguana that is covered in mosaic
and sits at the parks entrance. Also at the entrance are
two houses designed by Gaudi that look like gingerbread
houses.
Gaudi’s work can be found throughout
Barcelona. He also designed La Sagrada Familia, a church
that looks like a drip castle. Construction of the church
is a seemingly never-ending project; it is not even possible
to purchase a postcard that doesn’t show the large
yellow cranes used in the construction process. Gaudi
also designed several residential buildings, which can
be toured. He even avoided right angles in his design
of interiors; apartments here have a circular layout.
The roofs of his buildings are famous for having many
beautiful and oddly shaped mosaic covered chimneys; the
rooftops also have great views of the city.
Barcelona is one of my favorite cities
in Europe just because it is so different from Central
Europe. I absolutely love Gaudi’s architecture,
which gives the city its own unique style.
The lifestyle here is also different.
Everyone seems relaxed; people slowly stroll down the
boulevards and spend hours in cafes and at tapas bars.
I have only just begun my time in Barcelona. There is
still much more that I plan to do, see and write.
‘Walk the Line’: The
best drama of the year tells Cash’s story
By Sean Thompson
“Walk the Line” is a fountain
of smoldering cinematic gold, which erupts on screen leaving
a burn in the shape of Johnny Cash’s face. A brilliant
musical biography in the same spirit as “Ray,”
this movie is undeniably heart wrenching and inspirational.
Directed by James Mangold who directed
2003’s “Identity,” the film tells the
story of one of rock and country’s most influential
musicians of all time, Mr. Johnny Cash. In “Walk,”
a wide spectrum of tragedy and triumph is displayed from
the life of a man of humble origins from Arkansas. Mangold
has overseen the soldering together of an iron cast dramatic
vessel which transverses the seas of time.
The story is one that a modern day
audience can be sucked into, despite the fact that it
takes place primarily in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Likewise, it contains characters with whom one can sympathize
despite their specific backgrounds and differing historical
backdrop. The viewer can transcend these limitations and
relate to the film through common themes, which are still
very much prevalent today, such as addiction, death and
love.
Every performance in this movie is
superb. Robert Patrick’s portrayal of Cash’s
cold-hearted father is chilling. Likewise, Reese Witherspoon’s
portrayal of Cash’s tour mate and love interest,
June Carter, is heartwarming. Yet, hands down, the best
actor in this movie is the man who seemingly became possessed
by the spirit of Johnny Cash, Joaquin Phoenix.
It has been many a moon since acting
of this caliber has been captured on film. It’s
truly a vision to behold. Phoenix’s range is enormous.
He explodes with an intensity that is comparable to Nicholson
and Pacino. Yet, he also exudes a wide-eyed innocence
and compassion comparable with Morgan Freeman or Robin
Williams. The nominations should be right around the corner
for Phoenix.
Sometimes there are movies so good
that they change a person and stay forever in the mind.
Maybe a day or even a week goes by, and you are once again
reminded of the film. And though it has only been a short
while, you think to yourself, “Man, I would really
like to go see that movie again.” When this is the
case, a film has done its job. It has affected your life,
and it has become a permanent part of your subconscious.
“Walk the Line” is one
of these films.
10 out of 10.
Here’s a treat for you ‘boos
and ghouls’
By Sean Thompson
In 1989, HBO began a show based on
a popular series of horror comics from the ‘50s
entitled, “Tales from the Crypt.” Recently,
the first season of “Tales from the Crypt”
has been sliced, sewn and embalmed together into one deliciously
diabolic DVD box set. Masterfully packaged and organized,
this double disc DVD set is a must own for all great lovers
of the hilariously grotesque and over the top series.
The Crypt Keeper, a decomposing “master
of scaremonies” whose cackle and horrible horror
puns turned him into an iconic figurehead for all things
spooky, hosted each episode. But most importantly, the
show contributed the macabre to television, showcasing
ghastly tales of murder, monsters and wrong doers meeting
their fates in an ironic twist.
“Tales from the Crypt”
has since become cemented in the mausoleum of great horror
epics, due to its bodaciously bloody images and the dark
humor that permeates each episode.
The first disc contains all six episodes
of the first season. To get the severed head rolling,
the disc begins with the classic title sequence found
at the beginning of every “Tales from the Crypt”
episode. Danny Elfman, who has done musical work for movies
such as “Batman” and “The Nightmare
Before Christmas,” is responsible for the creepily
catchy theme song here. This theme plays during the introduction,
which is a first person perspective of entering a spooky
old mansion and descending to its decrepit basement. The
camera moves towards a coffin in the middle of the room,
out of which the Crypt Keeper bursts with his trademark
cackle.
This introduction is set up so that
it can be played separately from each of the episodes
and is cut from the beginning of each episode. As a result,
when you go to play an episode, it cuts right to the Crypt
Keeper and his opening spiel. This is an incredibly helpful
feature, as by the third or fourth time of watching the
same introduction, you usually get sick of it and fast
forward anyway. Also, the first disc contains a new introduction
by the Crypt Keeper made especially for the DVD, which
is an added treat.
Each delightfully morbid and zany
episode clocks in at roughly 28 minutes. Most of the actors
are relatively unknown, with the exception of Lea Thompson
in “Only Sin Deep,” and Joe Pantoliano in
“Dig that Cat...He’s Real Dead.” Remember,
this was only the first season, and as the show continued,
it acquired more well-known actors and actresses wiling
to star. Still, the performances are adequate all around,
meaning that none of the performers drag down an episod.
The second disc is what truly makes
this set hellishly hard to pass up. First, there is a
special on the history of “Tales From the Crypt.”
This history spans from its creation by Bill Gaines in
the ‘50s as the first horror comic to when it became
the beloved television series it is today.
The second special is on the history
of the first season of the show as explained by none other
than the Crypt Keeper himself. He discusses each episode
and who directed and starred in it. These two specials
alone make this set a must-buy for all die hard fans.
Overall, the first DVD set of the
first season of “Tales From the Crypt” is
addictingly accursed and totally, terrifyingly terrific.
The only downside is that there are only six episodes.
Still, this set is a grotesquely great purchase and a
bargain at only $19.99 at most stores. So, if you’re
in the mood for some fiendish fervor of frightening fancy,
go find the first season of “Tales From the Crypt,”
and as the Crypt Keeper says, “Pleasant dreams kiddies!
Haa haa haa haa haa.”
8 out of 10.
Monty Python gives our lives meaning
By Thomas Gibbs
Did you ever wonder what the meaning
of life could be? At some point, maybe you asked yourself
one of life’s burning questions: “Why are
we here?” “Who created us?” “Why
can’t I get myself a nice, hot, pastrami sandwich
anymore?” Well, the answer to most of these questions
can be found in the special collector’s edition
of Monty Python’s classic “The Meaning of
Life.”
Yes, the Monty Python cast is at it
again as they try to explain life’s mysteries to
those who are willing to listen -- especially the fish.
The group goes through many encounters
along the way as corporate pirates, machines that go “ping,”
sex school rugby teams, people dressed as lions, an extremely
rotund connoisseur of all things edible, surgeons who
make sure that people donate their organs whether they
want to or not and even death tries to explain what the
meaning of life is.
John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric
Idle and the rest of the Pythons were (and still are)
one of the funniest groups in British comedy. They managed
to take their satirical style and bring it to America
in the form of a television series, a live tour and a
number of movies. Their most famous movie of all time
would have to be “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,”
but this movie comes a close second. It is a refreshing
taste of intelligent (and sometimes zany) humor that is
not often seen anymore.
“The Meaning of Life”
should be best watched with a group of friends and a keen
sense of humor. The DVD version of the movie also contains
special features, such as deleted scenes, commentary from
some of the Pythons and even a “find the fish”
mini-game that’s sure to tickle your tummy. Monty
Python will always be here to stay in the world of comedy.
9 out of 10.
‘Young Avengers, here we
come!!!’
By Chris Hassan
Fans of television’s “The
O.C.” will notice that Orange County’s resident
comic fan Seth Cohen doesn’t make as many comic
references this season. That’s because writer Allan
Heinberg, the man responsible for slipping in Seth’s
comic quips, is now writing comic books himself. Just
another amazing example of people breaking into Hollywood
just so they can get into comics.
The first caption on page one of issue
one asks the question on everybody’s mind: “Who
the #*&% are the Young Avengers?” It seems that
in the wake of Brian Michael Bendis’ epic “Avengers
Disassembled” storyline, a new group of young heroes
have appeared to fill the void left by their heroes. Patriot,
Iron Lad, Asgardian and Hulkling look like Captain America,
Iron Man, Thor and Hulk’s teen sidekicks and could
easily pass for Marvel’s answer to DC’s Teen
Titans. When the rookie heroes botch up a hostage situation,
Captain America and Iron Man set out to disassemble the
Young Avengers themselves. Throw in classic Avengers villain
Kang the Conqueror, twists and turns and a battle to save
all reality, and you’ve got yourselves one great
storyline.
One thing that makes this series stand
out among the rest is that it’s fun. You’re
probably thinking, “Aren’t all comics fun?”
Have you picked up a comic book lately? Over at DC, superheroes
and their wives are being murdered all over the place,
and at Marvel, half the mutants on the planet are suicidal
over losing their powers. Well, the kids are our future,
and maybe these Young Avengers will take us out of these
dark times.
Now if you’re looking for “The
O.C.” in comic form, don’t look here. These
teen superheroes actually seem more realistic then the
tough public school and rich prep school stereotypes on
“The O.C.” There’s still romance, and
Seth’s witty banter comes through in these fanboys’
dialogue. That’s right, the Young Avengers are all
huge Avengers fans. They drop more references to Marvel
history then the Watcher.
But the nods to past continuity and
the use of Bendis created characters like Jessica Jones
show just how qualified for this job Heinberg is. Like
many of the industry’s top writers, you can tell
he loves and respects comics. Even if you don’t
have a good understanding of Avengers history, it shouldn’t
be a problem. Sure, you might be confused as to who Mockingbird
was, but the Young Avengers are just as new to the Marvel
Universe as you might be.
I picked up the “Young Avengers
Vol. 1: Sidekicks” hardcover, which contains the
series’ first six issues. At $19.99, you might want
to wait for the cheaper trade paperback, but I think it’s
worth it. The art in this book by Jim Cheung looks gorgeous
in the hardcover format. His crisp, detailed and beautifully
colored artwork is worth the twenty bucks alone.
It’s hard for new characters
to last in the current comic climate, but Heinberg and
Cheung have introduced some exciting and complex new characters
to the Marvel Universe. You won’t regret giving
this book a try. I’m even tempted to start reading
the single issues instead of waiting for the next hardcover.
Comics
Space Wars -- Chris Hassan
Dramatic Irony -- Joshua D. Altobelli
A Shot in Hell: Bat Out of Hell Part
III -- By Stuart "the Touch" Wilson
