| OCR Text |
Show Riding into fall on a Band of Horses I'm Fishing for a Date. Catch me online: lewdou@wfrmls.com There is an art in match- "Carissa's Wierd/' front man Ben Bridwell and ing the perfect 1 his song to the perfect companions moment. Zach Pendleton craft fragile pop It is my practice akin to the Eels of and loyalty to and Sparklehorse, this art form that with guitars, banjos leaves me comand epic dynamic pletely frustrated changes creating an with the Band of earthy sonic landHorses. scape that exists I discovered the between the life Best you've of summer and the Band of Horses this never heard death of winter. In summer, but even zpendlc-lon@cc.usu.edu the casual listener short, it exists in will realize that fall. this is an autumn Bridwell's voice band. is akin to James Mercer in Formed from the ashes his quieter moments, with its of the Northwestern band ability to speak from wound- ed experience and quiet resignation without being hopeless. But it isn't all gloom and defeat with Band of Horses. When they aren't borrowing from the dream pop tradition, they dig deeper into '70s acoustic rock acts like Neil Young and Jackson Browne and come up with twangy rockers like "Weed Party" and the timeless "St. Augustine." This wide sonic palate is the Band of Horses' strongest tool. It keeps the album from bogging down in slow, stately dirges and allows them to approach something almost anthemic in the 40-minute runtime of the album. The music is alive even when contemplating death, and it is refreshing to hear a band that can be serious without being severe. Autumn is coming, and when it does I am going to have this album with me. Watching the leaves fall will never be the same again. Zach Pendleton is a music enthusist whose columns run every other week in the Diversions Section of the Utah Statesman. Comments and obscure bands can be sent to zpendleton@cc.usu.edu • SUMMER MOVIES From page 14 After seeing this film, I stayed in my seat to read the closing credits and listen to the bold musical score. (Once the film ended, there was a lot to take in.) Since the lists of cast and crew for this film are nearly endless, I had ample time to think. I had hoped to see someone's name in the closing credits whose job title was "Restrainer." Someone who had the job to chime in and say things like, "Maybe we should shrink down the threesome sword-fighting scene from 15 minutes to 5," or "I think it would be a better idea to show the sea monster pulling only 12 helpless pirates into the sea instead of 20 helpless pirates." The full-time restrainer could even have said things like, "That's going to be too many plot twists. And we already have too many different characters to keep track of." Evidently, there was no full-time restrainer hired to work on this film. And I should know. I examined the credits quite thoroughly. The lack of a restrainer for this film is a tragedy though, because that's just what this film was in need of. *$t*dent Might w/19 Big Band Show Z Vance Uve Band USUSept 6 www.cclebratcam* Mixing School & Babies? Boasting some of the most amazing special effects ever produced, and a seemingly never-ending string of innovative action sequences, "Dead Man's Chest" has all of the same stuff as the first "Pirates" film, only much more. With a bounty of surprises and new, creepy seafarers, the film just has too much. For this film, being so over-ambitious is bad form. MATERNITY INSURANCE • Costs as little as $50-$115 / MONTH • Pays out as much as $3,000 - $5,000 • Must be in effect 10 months BEFORE you deliver the baby • Works great with other health insurance policies • Great prices on all Life, Health, Auto & Renters Insurance that induces a healthy jolt in the a.udience, "Lady in the Water" turns out to be a bland, self-absorbed venture for the director. Taking the storyline's concept from a bedtime anecdote Shyamalan used to tell his children, a quiet, humble superintendent (Paul Giamatti "Cinderella Man"), who works at an equally quiet 1 and humble apartment complex, discovers something odd dwelling in the complex's pool. It turns out to be a weird lady who proclaims to be from "the blue world," and needs the superintendent's help to get back home. (Being a dreamy-eyed water creature, she calls herself a narc.) After enlisting the help of various tenants in the apartments he repairs, the now courageous superintendent goes on a dangerous quest to save his new friend. Although thisfilmisset in Philadelphia, it is drenched with fantasy as we are slowly exposed to a concealed world of strange creatures, curses, and laws that prevent the frail narc lady from returning norne. Cinematography is eerie at times and the performances nave as much integrity as the actors can muster. But mixing fantasy elements with the real world in such an unabashed manner just doesn't work for this film. It ends up appearing choppy and cheesy. Hopefully, Mr. Shyamalan won't be trying so hard to be creative for his next film. "Poseidon" Grade: BReviewed by Di Lewis "Lady in the Water" Grade: CReviewed by Casey T. Allen Director, M. Night Shyamalan ("Signs") is back with another scary, surprising film. His surprise for us this time is that this film is not scary or surprising like we would expect. With maybe one moment "Poseidon" was a painful reminder of the vow I made after "Titanic" to not see movies with large sinking boats in them. As action movies go, it probably wasn't too bad. "Poseidon" had the requisite explosions, people falling from great heights and a gorgeous girl in a soaking wet T-shirt, but still left a lot to be desired. The basic plot line: tidal wave hits cruise liner and knocks it upside down, a handful of rebellious people with dubious histories decide to escape their own way, a bunch of brushes with death happen, followed by screaming, kissing and drama. The special effects were decent. There were a lot of realistic big fireballs and computer-generated debris to add to the chaos of the disaster. However, the acting relied less on the actors' skills as thespians and more on Emmy Rossum and Mike Vogel's good looks and the fast-paced action to distract the viewer from how lackluster the acting was. Overall, it was an OK movie for killing a few hours, but a high quality film for the ages, it was not. Superman Returns Grade: BReviewed by Steve Shinney Superman Returns is what every Superman movie should be: simple, predictable and fun. The plot is a familar one with Lex Luthor (brought to life expertly by Kevin Spacey) being evil and lots of Superman doing what he does best, namely flying., catching and heavy lifting Bryan Singer's take on the man of steel is filled with references both subtle and obvious to previous Superman films and comic strips. Unfortunately what makes Superman feel so comfortable also keeps it from truely flying. Nothing news is really done becuase there's nothing he hasn't already done. An all around fun movie but not what we've come to expect after being spoiled by last year's "Batman Begins." Cache Valley Insurance, Inc. 94 South Main, Logan (435) 752-4560 Ask for Quent Casperson or Curtis Craig C A C H E • CELEBRATE AMERICA From page 13 V A L L E Y CENTER FOR THE ARTS Something for Everyone... October 3 & 4 The Ten Tenors November 1 & 2 Seals & Seals November 18 BYU Ballroom Dance Company audience members back in time. The cast, composed of 12 singers and 15 dancers, have been rehearsing 16 hours a week since summer began to prepare the show for a live audience. The events planning is more of a continuous undertaking, however, beginning early in the year with auditions, scouting for the community's best talent and searching for innovative ideas for the show's design. Jenete St. Clair, a student at USU and singer in this year's production, says audience members can appreciate the entertainment of the evening regardless of their individual musical tastes. But beyond the entertainment value of the show, St. Clair enjoys the production's distinct appeal — its focus on a deeper, unifying theme of patriotism. "Every time we get together, we have patriotic moments to remember what the show is about," she said. As Anthony emphasized, the show combines light-hearted entertainment with touching tributes of American heroes, remembering and acknowledging what they have done and continue to do for the country. Like the canteen days, the production will include dancing after the show's conclusion in which all audience members are invited to participate. Students interested in attending the Celebrate America Show can purchase tickets for K the student performance : ' for $6 at the TSC Ticket " Office or the Spectrum. The student night, Sept. 6, will not include dinner like the other nights performances. Seating will be available at 7:30 p.m. for preparation of the snow's opening at 8 p.m. For more information about the Celebrate America Show, go to wwwxelebrateamericashow. com. -cynthiadiane@cc.usu.edu iJanuary 25 & 26 Juniper Chamber Music Festival! 25% • W A R ON TERROR usu From page 13 Student Discount January 29 & 30 Lost in Yonkers February 13 & 14 Pirates of Penzance / * February 21 & 22 Preservation Hall Jazz Band « March 1 & 2 Grand Derangement March 20 & 21 A Midsummer Night's Dream Start your season off rightJFor tickets call 435-752-0026 r visit us online at •www.certterforthearts.us ZVCA Ticket Office Monday-Friday 10 am&3Opm Ellen Eccles Theatre fp South Main, Historic Downtown Logan, Utah usual, and then proceed to confiscate all my liquid makeup, lotions, and bubble bath soap. Damn. Thankfully, I can still travel with gelfilled bras and small amounts of breast milk. No, to be serious for a moment, I understand that security precautions are needed on liquid items to eliminate... oh, sweet! I just found out from www. tsa.gov that toy Transformer robots are officially allowed in your carry-on bags! After visiting the Web site, if you're still confused by the prohibited items list, don't worry, we don't expect much out of you anyway. Regardless, here's a motto to help everyone remember: "Just say no to toothpaste, but yes to nitroglycerine!" Have a look, it really is there. As a fall-out from the latest interrupted threat, all sorts of electronic items nave been under consideration to be banned in carry-on baggage. Devices like laptop computers and remote car lock openers could possibly be used as trigger devices for bombs. If the government passes a law banning those items, they'd have to ban all electrical items from planes. This means no watches, everyone. If James Bond can do it, the terrorists can too. This also means no IPods, no DVD players, no PSPs, and a plane full of gangly teenagers, feeling very free to move about the cabin like zombies in search their new-age kind of brain-food. Scary. But if electronic devices could trigger a bomb, then it makes reasonably good sense than any spark could have the same effect. And because air travel is dry enough to promote the rubbing of balloons on your hair and then sticking them out of the kids reach, the TSA win have no choice but to ban balloons - and hair. Then again, sometimes when the bathroom line is finally short enough, you get up and discharge some static from your pants or sweater. TSA's answer? No more clothes. But for the very unfortunate men who happen to have rather hairy behinds, TSA will need to ban butts. Yes, our prized government will institute the very first International Ass Ban. Planes will have to be equipped with rows of gardener kneeling pads. So my perception foresees that the future of American aviation travel will be something along these lines: A massive eclectic concentration of bald, naked, assless people with nothing to do, no way to tell time, and no lotion to keep them looking fresh. Seems like a good war to me. Well, it could oe worse. In-flieht music entertainment might be garnished with another pleasing rendition of "Let the Eagles Soar." Carrett Wheeler is a second bachelor's student in technical theatre design. Send any comments or column ideasio wheel@cc. usu. edu- |
