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Show MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2007 Life REVIEWS from Bl Columbia Pictures 30 Days Of Night Luke Hickman ute editor This vampire movie put an original twist on the genre by having created a non-stop, month-long, high body count attack on a small Alaskan town in the height of its sun-less winter season. Creatively, you'll see the big screen vampires in new light (what a bad pun). The only problem with this cool and creative angle is the filmmaker's faulty execution, which at times made the movie, as a whole, feel like it was 30 Days Of Movie. Once the survivorsfindrefuge in long-term hiding spots, you begin staring at the screen much like the month-long trapped characters stare at the attic walls. Though fun, 30 Days is only guaranteed worth viewing if you're a hard-core fan on vampire flicks. Columbia Pictures We Own The Night Luke Hickman If you've seen the trailer, you've thought, 'Sweet-another Departed type of movie." But in reality, they made a movie as lame and pointless as its random nothing-to-do- with-themovie title. We Own The Night feels like a poor, made-for-HBO rip-off of The Departed, The dialogue feeis unnatural and cold. The story relies solely upon random coincidence and good luck. And you see characters doing things that one in their position would never, under any circumstances, do. Some have said We Own The Night shows the extraordinary talent of Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes, but any extra from Law And Order could've played these roles just as good as these stars. No-name director James Gray should leave the mainstream gangster genre to Scorcese and make direct-toDVD movies or Showtime Originals. Warner Bros. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford JaSOn Pyles Life witter Adapted from a Ron Hansen novel, Jesse James defies the shoot-'em-up western genre to deliver a biographical drama starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. An oddly quiet and poetic film. Jesse James depicts the downtime between its major events, and usually not the events themselves, which are occasionally shown later. Uncommonly yet admirably, action is incidental. Complaints abound accusing Jesse James of dragging, but the film's lackadaisical pacing isn't the problem: A movie this slow shouldn't run this long (or vice versa). Indeed, the only thing that exceeds the 160-minute runtime of The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is the movie's title. All in all, the film is well made and memorable, with lines like "Poetry don't work on whores," which could also be said of westerns. Ssptimber 21 to Ronmair 3 A at . THE COLLEGE TIMES B 3 Struggling to find oneself Into the Wild is more than just survival and death These connections start with McCandless leaving his beloved DalSpoiler alert: The sun pickup truck near narrative of the book dif- Lake Mead in Nevada fers from the movie, so and moving from Califorsome information given nia, going up the Pacific in the intro of the book Coast to Washington and is not given until deep settling in South Dakota into the film. If you plan for a bit. on seeing the film over The question of why reading the book, then McCandless decided do not read ahead. to make a journey to Alaska is still a mystery. At one time or an- Krakaurer tells the story other, most people want of several who decided to escape civilization or to go on their own for a even reality itself. while, with the author reThat's exactly what lating his own experience Chris McCandless did of his solitary moment in when he ventured into the Alaskan wilderness. the Alaskan bush on a Some of those menjourney to survive on the tioned were mentally ill land, which eventually and some would say that led to his death. McCandless would fit Jon Krakauer's Into into that stereotype. The Wild documents the But Krakauer refutes strange tale of McCand- this thinking. "McCaless and why he chose to ndless didn't conform live a nomadic existence. particularly well to the Fortunately for Krakauer, bush-casualty stereotype. McCandless kept a jour- Although he was rash, nal of his many travels untutored in the way of and the connections he the backcountry, incaumade. tious to the point of foolJason Adkins Life writer hardiness, he wasn't incompetent -he wouldn't have lasted 113 days if he were." Alaskans's were particularly brutal in condemning McCandless. Krakhauer simple refutes in stating that "Maybe McCandless reminds them a little too much of themselves." McCandless's fascination with the losing himself in the wild can be traced to his love of Jack London and The Call Of The Wild. McCandless also treasured Thoreau and Tolstoy, trying to live some of the higher principles they espoused in shaking off the trapping of middle-class America. McCandless however missed the real truth that his favorite authors failed to note. London did not live alone in nature using his wits and instincts to survive and Tolstoy, one who preached celibacy, was a notorious womanizer. contradictions The are an interesting part of what made McCandless tick. After all, he brought with him some necessities such as a gun, camping gear and even food. McCandless even had to use the capitalistic system that he abhorred in order to work at McDonald's to fund his journey. Despite all of this, McCandless wasn't foolhardy and only bad luck did him in in the end, not a lack of sun ival skills. What is so poignant about McCandless's struggle ihai Krakauer tries to relate in us is the experience of being completely on your own is not what it seems. Instead of focusing inward on our souls, we are forced to concentrate on sheer survival. Into The Wild is really about that struggle and how the final result may be death, but emphasizes that this doesn't mean that the desire to be on one's own is simply the result of hubris or foolishness. with a magnum, a grenade launcher, a machine gun, and the oh-so-useful shotgun. Killing takes no time to get used to and switching up tactics between plasmids and firearms is just plain fun. The graphics in Bioshock will amaze and astound to say the least, this being one of only two games currently on the market that utilizes DirectX 10. One could easily lose himself admiring the de"cor and all the little messages scribbled in blood on the walls, which is never a bad thing. The story is top of the line that would give Hollywood a run for its money, making the deal all the more sweet. In summation, anyone looking for a good adventure on the Xbox 360 need look no further than to buy Bioshock. BIOSHOCK from Bl Big Daddies and the Little Sisters. Little Sisters are demented girls who gather Adam, the key ingredient in the making of "plasmids" that give you specific powers such as telekinesis and shooting lightning from your hand. Each Little Sister is protected by their respective Bid Daddy, a lumbering creature in a diving suit that negates all outside harm that comes to a Little Sister. They attack with brute force and a sack full of grenades, and some even have drills for an arm. When attacking Bid Daddies, exercise caution; once you do attack, it becomes their life goal to see your entrails on the nearest wall. Bioshock has a good amount of weapons at your disposal. Along with the aforementioned plasmids, you're also graced — POINT— • • % W ' r "You'll be > *fr in the state's original corn • maze...celehrating Pirates of the Cornibbean this year! GO AHEAD AND '""" WE RE All EARS The Corn Maze is bock this year with a pirate theme. The Creature, a mammoth haunted Inflatable attroction, returns along with an enormous Jumping pillow, pumpkin bisters. gemstone mining and more, • y . - v ^ ' . SEPTEMBER 21-NOVEMBER 3 Monday-Thursday *j$$ Friday, Satirday & Fall Breaks _ . .: x • n ltyW&\i;a\ SlOpwAduH • $10 pwChOd purs LOTS WORE CTRNHSSTTC FUN & 12 acre corn maze, pumpkin patch, farm hayrides, cow tippin' pumpkin blasters, corn cannons, pedal kart racing, singing chicken show, duck races, kiddie corral, cornbelly mountain, cow train, jumping pillow, pig races, kiddie courtyard, jack-o-lantern hayride, the haunted creature, cornophobia haunted trail, gemstone mining & the spiderweb A DEAL SO GOOD IT'S SCARY! OCTOBER 2007 Weekdays FridayftSiUrrday. 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