‘The Artist,’ ‘Hugo’ win big at Oscars
Host Billy Crystal summed up this year’s Oscars perfectly when he quipped, “Nothing takes the sting out of these tough economic times like watching a bunch of millionaires giving golden statues to each other!” Yet another awards season has come and gone, and yet another audience has sat through Hollywood’s so-called “greatest night” during the [...]
Read moreFew faults in these ‘Stars’
The Fault In Our Stars would be a troublesome novel if it were not so beautifully executed. While its characters — and I mean, every character — are contrived figures of fanboy fantasy, and any potential for narrative realism is completely lost with an ill-advised plot twist halfway through the book, I was more than [...]
Read moreA sure smash: Super Mash Bros
Super Mash Bros. only do one thing — they make mash-ups. But what they do, they do phenomenally. Arguably the best mash-up artist out there (sorry Girl Talk), Super Mash Bros. have churned out consistently stellar mixtapes since 2008, and their newest project, Mile(y) High Club, stands out as their greatest achievement yet. Mixing hundreds [...]
Read moreGoing Mad
After almost a year and a half of waiting, Don Draper fans across the country finally get a fix of television’s favorite corporate mogul. Season five of AMC’s Mad Men opens March 25 with a special two-hour-long premiere event, which creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner describes as a “Mad Men movie.” The show follows [...]
Read moreA not so ‘Wander’-ful film
Imagine you live in a hippie commune. Now imagine this commune is filled with some of the strangest and most annoying people on the planet … and some of them are naked. That is the premise of Wanderlust, an off-kilter comedy which is more likely to make you cringe than laugh. Paul Rudd and Jennifer [...]
Read moreSexual un-healing: Gripping drama explores addiction
Shame, the new movie directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger), certainly keeps your attention, but not for the reasons you may expect. Shame offers a broad social commentary which reflects the emotions felt by both the characters and the audience. Everyone has secrets and everyone feels shame. The question is, how far are you willing to [...]
Read moreThe return of Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney’s new album Kisses on the Bottom, released earlier this month, is a sweet throwback to the musical styles of the former Beatle’s childhood. Including just two original tracks, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts,” McCartney’s latest musical effort is full of classic love ballads and old-school standards. If nothing else, the album is [...]
Read moreA different sort of V-day
I’m not going to lie, when I realized it was time to get off my couch and run to watch the Spectrum Theatre’s fifth annual production of The Vagina Monologues Friday, I was not happy. My friend and I complained the entire way to the Chemistry Building about how awkward it would be — and [...]
Read moreFaculty Facts featuring Paul Barolsky
Professor Paul Barolsky brilliantly combines images of Italian Renaissance art with text from the day in his fascinating lectures. Known affectionately as “Mr. B” to all his students, Mr. B has his students write journals about what strikes them in the class each week. By doing so, his students writing skills not only improve, but [...]
Read moreCaptivating ‘chronicle’ reinvents superhero genre
Josh Trank’s Chronicle portrays the typical “super powers gone awry” story in a new and clever light. The story starts out when young high-schooler Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) decides to buy himself a video camera to document every aspect of his life — where he lives, where he goes to school, his sick mom and [...]
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