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Show Answers To Today’s Crossword Puzzle! A&EDiversions Page 8 Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 Cities have to fight for their scary movie So about a month ago I started hear- 11,000 to make, had exploded all over ing about this film called “Paranormal the country and made millions upon milActivity.” All I really knew about the film lions at the box office. Each week it would was that it was a limited release, and I expand to more and more cities. People would probably never see it since I don’t wouldn’t stop talking about this little film live in a major U.S. city. I and the effect it was havNicholas ing on everyone who saw also noticed the more than brilliant marketing techPeterson it. This only confirmed my nique used to promote the suspicions that this movie film. would be a must see. For the most part, the I set a personal goal for average trailer is typically myself to make sure I would filled with clips containing see this film and review it the best parts of the movie, for you all. Well, I can now all overlaid with some stupid Grade A+ say I did not disappoint you. and cheesy pop song. This “Paranormal Activity” I managed to look past my then brings some strong never-ending battle with emotional feeling out of viewers, who the flu, got out of bed and drove for an instantly decide then and there that they hour to see the film. will either be seeing it opening weekend After all this, I can say while I did not or never go to such a ridiculous movie. disappoint you, neither will this movie. I The “Paranormal Activity” trailer was do have to admit to everyone it wasn’t nothing of the sort. There was a feeling the scariest movie I’ve seen but it was still while watching the trailer that made you pretty frightening. think this movie wasn’t your average horHere’s how I would break it down. ror film. I watched an audience screening Although there were only around 10 or so the film for the first time react with com- scary parts, those parts were really scary. plete terror and panic. Eventually I came to What was really amazing though was the the end of the trailer, which simply stated parts that weren’t scary were still great. if you wanted to see this film it would have As a viewer, I was invested in this story to be “demanded” in your area more than entirely from beginning to end. I think one anywhere else. Wow … I assumed this of the major things that made this film so must be something big … something huge outstanding were the performances given … something so earth shatteringly impor- by the two main characters. tant that if I did not see it my life would be Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah forever incomplete. (Micah Sloat) are a couple who have been Finally a scary movie that is actually together for three years and have moved in scary. with each other. Micah decides to make a How would I ever see it with such a new purchase one day and brings home a limited release? Would this be like the time nifty little camera for him to play with. The I saw that amazingly terrifying trailer for whole movie is shot entirely by the couple “The Poughkeepsie Tapes” and then never themselves with this camera, which ends even got to see it. I waited and waited for up giving the film a much more realistic a release date and it never came. There and uniquely captivating feeling. It really aren’t words to express how much I want- just makes you feel like you are watching ed to see that movie after viewing only the a home movie because of how believable trailer. It had officially pissed me off, and I the actors were. thought the same result would come after This filming technique combined with seeing the “Paranormal Activity” trailer. the quality acting of Katie and Micah is Well, to make a long story shorter, after what really brought the feeling of evil a few weeks this little film, which cost only that loomed over me in the dark theater Reel Reviews throughout the movie. I’m pretty confident in saying if you go see this film you will feel the evil of which I speak. While I would love to go on and on about the juicy details and tell you all about the characters and their whole life, I am not going to. Instead, I will tell you to please go see this movie and discover it for yourself. You will not have the proper experience if I give up all the important information before you even see it. Now get on your computer and go demand this film to come to Logan, otherwise you may be that person that never got to see it. And I know none of us wants to be that person right? A+ Nick’s Pick (DVD): Want a break from the terror this weekend? How about some of those warm-fuzzy feelings that can only come from watching “The Proposal?” Guys, every girl I know who saw this movie almost died over how much they loved it. Why not snuggle up to your lady friend this weekend and make her happy by popping in this DVD? I hate to admit it but it is actually a really good movie. Behold the power of 11:11 T he time was 11:11 p.m. A collective wish was made by a search party of five and a dog named Daisy. We all, except for the canine, mightily thought our yearning wish as we superstitiously blew kisses at the digital interface of the clock in the car that was taking us up to campus. I had faith in the gods of 11:11 p.m. I knew that the magical powers of 11:11 p.m. would not fail me, they would certainly combine forces to locate a lost cell phone. Yes, my purple cellular phone was missing in action. After searching all the possible nooks and crannies of the homestead, including my jacket and pant pockets, I came to the conclusion that it must have been dropped somewhere on campus, and, as I am one that gets around, we valiant search warriors had quite a lot of ground to cover. From the Performance Hall to the Education Building to the cemetery to the Spectrum to the truck and everything in between. Some devoted roomies, plus a few, decided to help me take on the challenge of retracing my steps and searching for the wandering sheep to bring it back into the safe fold of full-barred Verizon. Details and strategies of the extensive search, though dangerously exciting, are not important. What’s important is that we had faith that my lost cell phone would be found and returned to its mourning master. I have loads of experience with losing and misplacing items of importance but, as I live a freakishly charmed life, these items always seem find their way back to me in one way or another. Once, when I realized I had accidentally left my instrument locker key in my professor’s office, and I realized I desperately needed it to open my locker and snag my violin to play in orchestra, I had a excruciating flip-out moment. The professor was not there. The door was locked. PANIC TIME. Yet I decided, for kicks and giggles, to calmly check the door once more, and, lo and behold, the door was still locked but, mercifully, not completely shut. I thanked my lucky stars, grabbed my key and shut the door for good, performing a favor for the both of us. Another time I unfolded a map of the bus route, to see how to get to the Tabernacle, inadvertently causing my long-lost student ID card to fall onto my desk. I squealed with glee. I truly thought it was a goner. All week long I had to pull all sorts of manipulative strings to get into basketball games, computer labs and cafeterias. Let me tell ya, it is splendid to do those things with a clear conscience. Yet another time, after I spent a good while at a cabin by Bear Lake on a wintry presidential weekend, I made the disheartening discovery that my favorite hat, given to me from one of my favorite people, had been left behind, most likely in a random drift of snow during a snowshoeing expedition. I could just imagine it: all lonely in the negative temperatures, frostbitten and forlorn, waiting for the fateful day when the snow would melt and lead a random raspberry tourist into its path. I was so ashamed to have lost my warm, fuzzy Christmas present that was supposedly (and most likely not) handknit on top of the Himalayas, that I could not bear to tell my roommate about the loss, for fear of being considered a callously ungrateful friend. This was in February. In August, it was returned to me. I had a rendezvous with the girl who hosted the cabin excursion and, she, as a surprising side note to our meeting, produced the red-striped hat. She knew it could belong to no one else but me. (I happen to have unrivaled hats.) The return of my hat only confirms that my life has been blessed with some sort of bizarre polarity that attracts missing items in roundabout ways back to my person. This same polarity drew me toward my missing cell phone on the north side of the Spectrum. It had a significant amount of missed calls, but it was alive and well. I cheered at its discovery. My roommates (and others) can attest to my strikingly victorious victory dance. I shall never cease to be amazed at my good fortune involving the recovery of lost items. You had better believe that I am still celebrating the finding of my instrument locker key, USU ID card and hat to this very day. Impossible tasks are never insurmountable. Dismal situations are never hopeless. I firmly believe that the power of 11:11 p.m. can come to your aid too, dear readers, as long as you strip yourselves of surly thoughts and believe in sweet mercy bedecked with hope. I promise that lost cell phones will be found. Melissa Condie is a senior majoring in music education. Her column will appear here weekly. Contact her at m.condie@ aggiemail.usu.edu Tunes: Vandaveer’s deep lyrics appealing -continued from page 7 adversity as her father leaves the family behind and eventually finds a strong man to marry. Obviously, I won’t give it all away here, but trust me when I say everyone should listen to this song at least once. The album opens with the title track “Divide & Conquer.” This track introduces the listener to what the rest of the album is going to be like. As previously mentioned, the album is pretty homogeneous. The same style, tempo and moodiness that permeate track No. 1 permeate the rest of the album as well. It’s Vandaveer’s style. The second track delves even deeper into the dark mind of Heidinger. In “Fistful of Swoon,” much of the album is defined. This is by far the song that Vandaveer has publicized the most in preparation for the album’s release date. A full music video for “Swoon” can be found on YouTube, and the track can be played on Vandaveer’s MySpace page for free. The title of this track is more appropriate to the title of the music than any other song I could find on the album. The very mentioning of the word “Swoon” makes me think of how I felt the first time I fell madly in love with a beautiful young lady. It also reminds me of how I felt when she ripped my heart out by dating another guy behind my back and marrying him merely a month-and-a-half later after revealing her other relationship. The song has a sort of punch-drunk, swaggering, sad and lonely feel to it. After caressing the sultry, seductive side of his audience for a couple tracks, Vandaveer lightens up. Through the first two tracks, I felt like I was heading for a vampire’s lair. Through the middle of the album, I felt like I was in my grandpa’s station wagon headed through the endless plains of the Midwest. As I look out the window with my mind’s eye, all I can see is the occasional farmhouse with bale after bale of hay and field after field of corn. It’s quaint and folksy. The album takes a quick dip back into the darkness of “Fistful of Swoon” through the sixth song, but then widens back into the aforementioned “Before the Great War.” After “Great War,” the album slows, meanders and ends much like it begins. Light percussion, slow tempo and Guerin’s harmonies back up Heidinger’s velvety voice as he tells the story of a lifetime. The album ends decently. I give Vandaveer a solid A. I don’t give out an A lightly. The quality of Vandaveer has convinced me, and were I not writing and reviewing music for a living, I would buy this new-age Bob Dylan’s album and listen to it on long road trips and romantic occasions. –la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu |