Supergrass have been around for eleven years now. With every album they have altered their sound just a little bit, while still retaining the overall pop-rock catchiness that they are known for around the world. For some, there was no problem with that.
Franz Ferdinand's new album "You Could Have It So Much Better," on Domino Records, proves that their number one priority is to make girls dance, which was the indie rock group's philosophy right from the get-go. This 13-track album had my foot pulsing with each beat and my body wanting to jump up and dance the whole 41 ½ minutes that it played.
"What ever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go (there's a heart). There's a heart to hold onto. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go. There's a face of somebody who needs you. Everywhere you look. When you're lost out there and you're all alone a light is waiting to carry you home. Everywhere you look. Everywhere you look."
If theatre fans can't make it to Broadway this November, a showing of the screen version of Rent is the next best option. It started as La Boheme, an opera by Puccini, then it was revamped into the 1996 hit rock musical by Jonathan Larson, and it will now open in movie theaters across the country Nov. 23 under the direction of Chris Columbus. Rent is the story of a closely tied but strikingly different group of New York twentysomethings who embrace their Bohemian lifestyle and are struggling to live in the city despite their meager incomes, drug addictions, battles with AIDS and personal "baggage."
It didn't take long for indie band, The Arcade Fire, to make a name for itself after the progressive music from its debut album "Funeral," was released in September 2004 with Merge Records.
"Between the worlds of the living and the dead there's a place you're not suppose to stay," quite the creepy phrase that will lure immense audiences to watch this psychological thriller, "Stay." However, it's unfortunate to say that I wished I would have "stayed" on the couch watching "Unsolved Mysteries" instead, at least that leaves me at night with blankets over my head.
Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) was the dorky kind of guy any girl would love to be "Just Friends" with. When his romantic feelings toward his friend Jamie (Amy Smart) come to a head, he decides to reveal his love at a yearbook signing party, and his plan goes terribly wrong.
For the most part, musicians seem to have trouble containing their zeal when it comes to the assembly of a greatest hits album. Many musicians place only their highest selling, casual fan favorites on their compilations. Some, though, choose to pick and choose only their favorite tracks, forgoing the largest-grossing numbers for more eclectic songs.
Tis the season for bewitching and Columbia pictures presents Nicole Kidman as the sweet, cute, nose-twitching witch in this comedic romance, but as for comedy, this is the department that the movie is lacking in. As of Oct. 25, "Bewitched" is now out on DVD.
One would never expect a musician to write anything more than a song or a piece of music, but after reading Searching for the Sound: My Life With the Grateful Dead, written by Phil Lesh and published by Little Brown, one instantaneously learns that myth is false.
"Are we ever going to get to kill someone?" asks one of the marines towards the end of "Jarhead." Such a question may seem peculiar to ask in a war movie, but "Jarhead" isn't a movie about the horrors of war, but the desire of one to be part of it. This movie does not revolve around masses of people being murdered and bloody theatrical scenes. "Jarhead" is about a group of dedicated marines that desire the dream to become appreciated in their unit. This movie is about the realities of going to war, maintaining sanity and the ultimate effects of what the war entails.
Eastern's theater department presentation of "An Evening of Student-Directed One Acts" was decent entertainment in short spurts with underlying social commentary thrown in. Set in 1945, Murphy Guyer's "The American Century" follows a World War II veteran (Scott Podraza) into his home for the return to his young wife (Anne Sears). The couple's celebration is soon interrupted by a man (Mike Denofrio) dressed in a bandana and acid-washed jeans who claims to be their future son. Needless to say, a certain amount of chaos appropriate for the 1950's ensues.
The movie centers on the Triwizard Tournament, which usually has only three contestants, but this time there are four, due to a conspiracy that involves Harry..of course. The other three champions are Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion played by Robert Pattinson, Viktor Krum played by Stanislav Ianeski, from the wizarding school of Durmstrang. Viktor Krum is also Hermione Granger's (Emma Watson) love interest. The third champion is Fleur Delacor played by Clemence Poesy from Beaux Batons magic school.
Andrzej Bartkowiak directed the new videogame-turned-movie Doom, and followed the same clichéd pattern all videogame-turned-movies tend to follow. That is, adding too much useless and dull background information to a story plot that never intended to be drawn out.
Tim Burton's 2005 rendition of the children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may leave something to be desired for young audiences. From a director who has such off-the-wall favorites as Beetle Juice, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks! and Big Fish credited to his name, one cannot expect the same wholesome, innocent story as Mel Stuart's 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But Burton manages to keep the film family friendly, for the most part.
Cameron Crowe didn't quite hit his usual heart-melting target with his latest directing and writing endeavor, "Elizabethtown." Crowe already has a number of successful films under his belt including "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous," all for which he was the writer and director. This time however, he wasn't able to convey the emotion and introspection he was reaching for in this two-hour and 18-minute film. In the end, too many side stories and distorted character behavior just couldn't take the storyline where it needed to go.
Eastern's fall theatre department production of "The Little Foxes," although well done, was not received overly well by its audience. Maybe it was just a weekday slump or maybe it was the composition of mostly college students who were required to attend for various courses, but the audience might as well have been absent gauging by their reaction to this dramatic show.
As a veil of darkness slowly retreats, Addie, an Irish-American servant girl, busily cleans and prepares drinks for her coming masters. Birdie Hubbard (Nicole Fleming) rushes onto stage and begins an upbeat, reminiscent chat that immediately enthralls the audience during the Nov.
Nickelback has always been a band with music that is harder than pop but not hard enough for traditional rock and heavy metal fans. The band's consistent midway approach has often angered diehard rock fans but also unlocked the door to a host of other musical audiences.
"The Little Foxes," which debuted this past weekend, was directed by Clarence P. Blanchette and acted by Eastern students, was a fabulous display of the greed and back stabbing that occurs when money finds its way into a close-knit family. The small cast is made up of only 10 actors became the Giddens and Hubbards on stage, creating a familiar chemistry between one another that was evoked through their language and actions.
Lillian Hellman's "The Little Foxes" was presented by the Eastern Illinois University Theatre the weekend of November 11-15 in front of enthralled Charleston audiences. The shows took place off of 18th Street at the Village Theatre, and all who attended seemed genuinely delighted by the performances.
Imagine being in a life or death struggle every other day. The only friends around are a bumbling hit woman and hard-drinking Irish vampire who'd rather have a nice raw steak and a beer than human blood. A Clint Eastwood (or Lee Marvin) cowboy is hunting you endlessly with huge antique pistols and can survive a tank shell from point-blank range.
Comedy show supplied mediocre laughs, falling short of riveting entertainment. Tony Roney was an unexpected opener for the comedy show at 7th Street Underground. Detroit's Roney can be seen in his new movie, "How far would to go? To make it!" He opened the show confessing his love for marijuana.