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Show A&EDiversions Page 6 Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 Reading to satisfy hunger Sci-Fi film shows depth The Hunger Games", by Suzanne Collins, between youths from all the areas surroundhas been recommended to me everywhere, ing the Capitol. "The Hunger Games" are from bookstores to blogs to teachers to friends meant to remind citizens, after a long and and family (including both mothbloody war, that they are not in er and sister). This widespread Chelsey charge, that the Capitol can take their remaining freedoms, their hoopla and nothing but great Gensel livelihoods or their children - at reviews made me wary and convinced me it was just another any time. "Twilight" phenomenon. What makes it great readIn the tradition of the stubing for teens, students and the born streak that keeps me from middle-aged is that it is written simplistically, which makes reading whatever is popular as Grade B long as I can put it off, I ignored it easy to follow and hard to it. That lasted a little more than a "The Hunger Games" dislike. The characters are wellyear, from right after it was pubdeveloped without too much lished until last weekend. narrative outside the thoughts of the main Having resolved to read it a couple of character. The story is stunningly imaginative months ago - when I had time - I put it on a and the numerous twists even more so. list and left it there. Then I visited my parents' There are a few elements of the story as it house and found it sitting on the kitchen unfolds that were not, at first, entirely believcounter. My mom had borrowed it from a co- able, but if you are willing to suspend disbelief worker and had to return it the following day. and imagine the existence of the world as it is I thought, well, I'm a fast reader, and if I don't written, those outlandish elements seem starfinish it, that's OK. I'll know that it was over- tling, disturbing and entirely real, which adds hyped, and I didn't want to read it anyway. to the feeling Collins is trying to create - that I should have known better. I devoured it, something is wrong here beyond the obvious. pun intended, in about four hours. I sat down It isn't just a story about who will survive the at the table to have something to read and Hunger Games - that would make a great finished around 2 a.m when I realized I had piece of juvenile fiction on its own. It is about work at 7:30 in the morning - the first day of why the games exist at all, and whether it is the semester. But, I maintain it was worth it. just and whether there is anything to be done Set in some distant future, "The Hunger about it. Games" is part-dystopia, part-epic and partly I'd have liked more information about what pure fun - a young, adventurous flight through caused the war that ended with the initiation social commentary, rebellion and family ties, of the Hunger Games, but that seems a minor flaw that likely as not will be fixed with the with just a hint of romance. Or is there? Without giving too much away - because sequel, "Catching Fire", which is out now, and it is great reading material - the story follows the third in the series, which will be released 16-year-old Katniss in her almost Orwellian later this year. slum life, and then to the Capitol, where she - chelsey.gensel@aggiemaiLusu.edu is to participate in a traditional deathmatch Book Review Let's be out with it. Science fiction movies, by and large, are absolutely awful. I am aware of the crushing emotional blow this statement deals to the pointy-eared among you. Acceptance, however, is the first step toward recovery. Don't yet fall upon your own lightsabers. There may be hope for sci-fi, and it may be closer than you think. Let's open our hearts and let the healing begin. "Moon" premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival and was released last week on DVD. To those of you who are unimpressed with most scifi offerings, don't write this one off. Much like Steven Soderbergh's "Solaris", "Moon" uses the genre only as a context for a complex and satisfying drama. In the not-too-distant future, it seems Earth's population has finally solved the energy crisis. The longsought solution is a substance called Helium 3, which is harvested from rocks on the surface of the moon. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwood) works for Lunar Industries, the company responsible for the godsent utility. Sam is nearing the end of his three-year contract with Lunar, during which he has been the sole human inhabitant of a Helium 3 collection facility. Apart from some potted plants, for which he exhib- tasked with unraveling the its almost parental con- mystery. The premise reeks of cern, Sam's only companion has been "Twilight Zone", but there Gerty (Kevin is enough novelty and misSpacey), the direction to keep the viewfacility's arti- er invested. What makes ficial intel- "Moon" superb, rather than ligence pro- just competent, is the capgram (and an tivating performance of unabashed Rockwell. We feel deeply tribute to for the character(s) he creHAL of ated. Rockwell is on screen Kubrick's for virtually the entire film, "2001"). but he is so dynamic that Although we are fascinated throughthe mental out. Apart from the intrinsic and emotional strain are excellence of vivid characbecoming terization, the performance increasingly supports and enriches the apparent, premise. Each iteration of Sam is keep- Sam is unique, but not unbeing busy, diligently perform- lievably disparate. Ergo, ing his duties Rockwell's performances and counting Ben down the days Roden lend themuntil he can selves to multiple interprereturn to his wife and young tations of the film. Each Sam daughter. Early in could be a the film, Sam separate entiGrade A embarks onto ty, but could the lunar sur- "Moon" just as easily face to colbe projections lect a load of of a strained Helium 3, and Reviews mind. as so often In a genre happens in the Coming soon: log onto often maligned world of cine- aggietownsquare.com for a lack of ma, everything depth, "Moon" goes awry. Sam to leave your review of excels. Sure, it awakes in the the latest movies has a number infirmary under of sci-fi tropes, Gerty's care but it's focus and eventually returns to on thoughtful characterizathe site of the awry ... um ... tion and subtle storytelling -ness, where he discovers an that makes for a challenging unconscious Sam Bell. You and emotional experience, read that right. This strange regardless of your interanomaly at first seems noth- est in futuristic trappings. ing but a product of Sam's "Moon" is proof that there's isolated psyche, but as each still some life to be found in Sam confronts his counter- sci-fi. In this case, though, it part, much more frighten- happens to be definitively ing possibilities surface. extraterrestrial. We, the audience, are now - be.ro@aggiemail.usu.edu Reel Reviews Student Curing boredom with 'SkyMall' I UtahStateUniversity MOAB EDUCATION CENTER • .ur - Your textbook prices have dropped! CEE 6210 was: $158.70 now: $50.65 used even lower USUsW UtahState University was biding my time on a Southwest airplane, inwardly contemplating a complimentary beverage, mindlessly thumbing through a "SkyMall" magazine, when, all of a sudden, a particularly farcical item caught my eye. I read the description and nearly died due to convolutions of absurd giggles. "SkyMall" is an airline catalog that attempts to tempt consumers with outrageously priced items of minimal value. It tries to convince readers that they absolutely cannot live a full life without purchasing the items being advertised. Lives are promised to never be the same again after trying a novelty patent. It is pure hilarity. I wonder who in their right mind would stoop to buying such glorified junk. I mean, someone out there has got to be buying stuff from "SkyMall" or, at least I assume, it would cease to exist, especially in these hard economic times. Anyway. The startling item that captured my attention this fine afternoon was an "ultrasonic barking dog deterrent" that was "disguised as a birdhouse." Wow. I had to read on. And, I quote, "when a dog barks in range of the birdhouse, (the birdhouse) emits a harmless ultrasonic tone inaudible to humans that startles the animal into silence." Picture this: A ticketed passenger, seeing the aforementioned item, itches to own the convenient gadget because it reminds him of his neighbor's infernally loud dog. Our hypothetical gentleman orders the previously-unknown necessity, and, after weeks of anticipation, when he receives the wonder, he whistles to himself skittishly as he nonchalantly hangs the "birdhouse" onto a branch that hovers over the offending dog house, worrying all the while that his neighbors will see through his disgusting guise. Then the moment of truth. The dog, clearing his throat for a nightly barrage of bark, suddenly hears a highpitched beep and is instantly "startled into silence." His eyes gaze off into the distance. His toothy jaw stunned, as he whimpers pitifully and struggles to accept the fact that his bark cannot dare compete with this new and mysteriously startling tone. His owners, sensing an onset of depression, take him to a local psychiatrist to unravel his internal inadequacies. And yes. This all crossed my mind in the airplane. The next product that caught my eye is advertised with a particularly loaded question: "What's a Pant/Heel pant leg wedgie?" Oh my dear holy smokes, my whole life I have wanted to know the answer to this question. And, phew, the definition to a Pant/Heel wedgie is supplied: "It's that annoying occurrence when the bottom of your pants creeps under your heel when you're wearing open-back shoes." Oh my dear holy smokes, don't you get so annoyed when that happens? And of course, if the concept is still not yet clear, a photograph of a foot model sporting a Pant/Heel leg wedgie, depicted in full color, should do the trick. The purpose of this educationally descriptive blip is to glorify a plastic stick that innovatively, magically and wondrously prevents a Pant/Heel leg wedgie from occurring. I searched the item on Google to further try to understand how it works, only to find a Web page full of contrived testimonials of the product. Oh my dear holy smokes. Flip, flip, flip. Wow. "SkyMall" Wonder No. 3: This specific item has a noble purpose. A convenient one too. As advertised, it can even be used while you sit at your computer It is a foot-frying-UV-ray-blasting lamp that tans whiter-than-ghost feet into footsies of brawny bronze. Its lead: "If you always feel like people are gawking at your white feet and the unsightly tan lines around your ankles ..." First of all, "unsightly" isn't generally used in post-Victorian speech, making the whole scenario a bit too ridiculous for my cultivated taste. It reminds me of other dated words such as "besotted" and "swoon." Oh fair maiden with translucent ankles, for shame. And second of all, the connotations of "gawk" are simply outrageous. Gawking is not staring. Gawking is full-blown, intently-laden, overly-attentive, vision scouring of something incredulous. I do not think anyone on our planet would be heartless enough to gawk at a person with sun-challenged feet. Third of all, I would much rather see a untanned foot than melanoma. And ultimately, I think "SkyMall" should be appreciated for its comic value, but never actually used for its intended purpose of provocative purchase. Melissa Condie is a senior majoring in music education. Her column will appears here weekly. Contact her at m.condie@ aggiemail.usu. edu |