Category: Review

Categories
Arts & Life Movies Review

Gordon-Levitt is all grown up in “50/50”

By Michelle Joline

Arts & Life Editor

We all love him in “10 Things I Hate About You,” when he became the 1990s ideal of adorable, and “(500) Days of Summer,” when he was officially marked as a heartthrob, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt can do more than just look great. In “50/50,” based on a true story, Gordon-Levitt plays Adam, a 27-year-old faced with cancer. With the help of his best friend (Seth Rogen), he works to beat the disease. Rogen’s presence is also key to the pace of the film; without his one-liners and banter, the movie would not be as entertaining.

Gordon-Levitt’s friendship with Rogen is not the only intriguing part of the film: there is a bit of romance between Gordon-Levitt and his therapist, Katherine (Anna Kendrick). She is just as much a fresh-faced therapist as she is an awkward 20-something year old, who does not know quite what to do with a cancer patient. Their interactions are uncomfortable but have you rooting for them throughout the film.

After Gordon-Levitt has his heart broken by his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), he works to get his life back in order with Rogen by his side, leading to some really bad decisions. At times the film moves slowly, but this balances perfectly with the moments of high emotion placed throughout the film.

We all saw Gordon-Levitt take on a slightly more “grown-up” role in “Inception,” but “50/50” proves that he is really more than a heartthrob and can successfully play a serious role, with audiences clinging to his every word. If you are looking for a movie to watch with a cup of coffee and box of tissues on hand, this is the movie for you.

Categories
Arts & Life Books Review

“The Wrong Blood” got it right

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“The Wrong Blood” by Manuel de Lope is a story both sweeping and personal, about two women of different backgrounds brought together by similar circumstances during the Spanish Civil War. First published in Spain in 2000 as “La Sangre Ajena,” John Cullen’s 2010 English translation conveys languid, unusual, intense language like “roses as plump as a wet nurse’s breasts,” and preserves the emotion beneath the text, a true feat in translation.

The primary storyline, which deals with the Civil War time period, focuses on María Antonia Etxarri, an innkeeper’s daughter who, while waiting one night on a squadron of rebel soldiers, feels with a level of certainty, that she will be raped. Sure enough, a sergeant takes her to bed, and for the rest of her life she is never entirely sure whether or not she gave her consent. Either way, the events of that night alter her irrevocably. She enters service and begins to work for Isabel Herraíz, a young war widow who, like María Antonia, finds herself pregnant and without a man. At her estate, Las Cruces, they form a pact which the young, recently lamed Doctor Castro witnesses. This secret forms the backbone of the novel.

Interwoven with the wartime story is one of Miguel Goitia, Isabel’s grandson, set a few decades later. He has come to Las Cruces for an extended stay in order to study in peace and solitude as he prepares for his bar exam, a guest of the current owner of the house, the now-elderly María Antonia, who inherited it after Isabel’s death. With little knowledge of his family’s history, and only hazy memories of his deceased grandmother, Goitia studies on a regimented schedule, eats at specifically appointed times and interacts with almost no one, all of which is quietly observed by his interested neighbor, Dr. Castro.

Castro, starved for human companionship so many years after a motorcycle accident that left him permanently crippled, attempts to cultivate a relationship with Goitia, hoping for a friendly camaraderie with a fellow intellectual. Rebuffed by the intense young man, Castro is not discouraged, but continues his careful study of Goitia, reflecting on the history of the youth’s family to which he was witness, and, more importantly, certain secrets that now only he and the elusive María Antonia know in full.

The mysterious family secret around which the book revolves is built up so that it is hard to miss, but the overall effect of the book is satisfying. A story of family and war, “The Wrong Blood” is the kind of novel that operates on two levels: a surface of beautiful language and vivid description underlain with an intense, emotionally striking plot.

 

Categories
Arts & Life Music Review

Laura Marling shifts to more sultry sound

By Rob O’Donnell

Writer

I’m going to preface this review by saying that for the past week, I’ve been listening to older Against Me! songs almost exclusively. For those of you who don’t know Against Me!, they’re a hardcore punk band. So I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that I grimaced when I heard the opening chords of Laura Marling’s “A Creature I Don’t Know.” But it wasn’t my radical change of genres that was shocking; it was hers.

Marling is the main reason that many of you are listening to Mumford & Sons. At just 20 years old, she was the driving force behind the folk revival and took them on tour with her. After introducing them to her large fan base, she let them play on her second album, which was a commercial and critical success.

To describe Marling as “wise beyond her years” does not do full justice to the word “wise.” It took me a few months to learn that she was only 21 on her second album, and another few to believe it. The music on her albums was so mature and confident that it seemed to come from a veteran soul. Her guitar playing is exceptional and original, but her vocals coaxed joy out of the dark lyrics. Her voice is like Norah Jones’: seductive but mature, smooth but emotionally strong, elegant but untamed.

What appealed to me most in her first two albums was that her voice was the only thing that could be compared to Norah Jones. I’m a fan of Jones, but her music is very pop and bland at times. Marling is an incredible folk guitarist, with catchy but haunting melodies. It was traditional music but with beautiful vocals, a rarity in folk. She was not Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger; her vocals did not come with a disclaimer like theirs.

This album definitely marks a shift for Marling, but hopefully not a permanent one. It could actually pass as a Norah Jones album, if not for the occasional banjo. The opening song, “The Muse,” is a strange combination of pop, jazz and folk, with the latter being present only in the lyrics. Her lyrics are fortunately unchanged: dark, brooding and heart-breakingly sincere. But the rest seems too polished and generic to be truly called folk music.

With all that said, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. This is still a really gratifying album and I’ll definitely be playing songs like “Night After Night” and “My Friends” on my radio show. If you’re a fan of Norah Jones, Adele or Tegan and Sara, this album is absolutely perfect. It’s just a huge shift from her first two albums of hardcore folk into a much more mainstream genre. But maybe all change isn’t bad.

 

Categories
Arts & Life Review Television

1960s-era “Pan Am” a blast from the past

By Michelle Joline

Arts & Life Editor

 

Along with shows like “Mad Men” and “Playboy Club,” “Pan Am” is just another addition to 1960s-era shows dominating television this season.  With a bad economy and a lack of job security, today’s generation is looking for some much-needed comfort in a “simpler time.” We are living vicariously through these characters who travel the world in just one hour of network time.

There has been much media excitement over “Pan Am’s” premier, focused on whether or not it would meet expectations. It does not disappoint. The series premiered Tuesday, Sept. 25, and fans are already anticipating the next episode. Some predicted the show to be a flighty interpretation of the classic and stereotypical life of a Pan Am flight attendant, but within the first few minutes of its running time we realized this is not the case. There is mystery entwined into the lives of the stewardesses the show is pictured around, making the show more like a mini-series than the average sitcom.

Christina Ricci, the face of the new series, plays Maggie, an atypical hippie Pan Am flight attendant. The first episode is not entirely about Maggie, which comes as a surprise given Ricci’s importance in the show’s current promotional advertisements. This was a wise direction since the ensemble of characters makes for a more dramatic and satisfying adaption.

This is the type of series that will get you hooked and leave you waiting for next week’s episode to air.

Interested in “flying” with “Pan Am?” You can catch the next episode at 10 p.m. this Sunday.

 

Categories
Arts & Life Restaurants Review

It’s never too cold for a Freez

By Michelle Joline

Arts & Life Editor

Fall is considered to be one of the prettiest times on campus, but there is one thing to dread during this colorful and blissful time of year: the closing of the Lewisburg Freez. The Freez season only lasts from March through September, so what can we do on an Indian summer day in October? It is understandable to think that winter is not prime ice cream eating season, but considering the complaints from students, it does not seem that a bit of snow would get in the way of a classic Freez.

Walking to the small building located on Route 15 has been a campus tradition since its arrival in Lewisburg. The brand came under new ownership in 1991, and now has 31 flavors and counting. There are other options, like banana splits and smoothies, but it seems that the classic Freez is still the favorite.

The question is, how can University students persuade our friendly Lewisburg Freez owners to come back a little early this year? Maybe even a few months early? At the moment, all we can do is cross our fingers that the ice cream gods are listening, because this Lewisburg establishment has closed its doors until next March.

Categories
Arts & Life Movies Review

“Crazy, Stupid, Love” not so crazy or stupid

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell, “The Office,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) has a steady job, good kids, a nice house, and a happy marriage. Or so he thinks. But when his wife of over 20 years and high school sweetheart, Emily (Julianne Moore, “The Kids Are All Right,” “Children of Men”), announces over dinner that she cheated on him and wants a divorce, life as he knows it unravels. Suddenly single and thrown back into the dating scene for the first time in decades, Cal unsuccessfully skulks around at a local bar, harassing passersby with the story of his failed marriage. Fortunately, he is taken under the wing of Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling, “Drive”, “Lars and the Real Girl”), who quickly transforms him into a suave ladies’ man in an attempt to get back at his wife.

The subplots are similarly comic. Hannah (Emma Stone, “The Help,” Easy A”), a twenty-something studying for the bar exam meets Jacob at the bar he and Cal frequent, but, in an unprecedented move, rejects his advances. Later on, as she realizes her relationship with her loyal boyfriend is going nowhere, she returns to the bar to see what it would be like with “hot bar guy.” Meanwhile, Robbie, Cal’s 13-year-old son, pines for his babysitter, Jessica, who couldn’t be less interested as she has a thing for Cal himself. At this point, Cal has had enough bar flings and wants to win back his wife. Meanwhile, Jacob struggles with the idea of committing to Hannah.

“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” lives up to its title. With a slightly unconventional plotline, witty dialogue, and a stellar supporting cast (Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, and an awkward Josh Groban), directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have created a seriously off-the-beaten-path film. “Going into the movie I didn’t have very high expectations, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how good it was,” Kendall Woods ’14 said. Indeed, it stands out in the vignette genre as a movie that is not merely a bunch of high-profile names attached to some holiday theme, but a cohesive and infectiously engaging story.

“Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell are a surprisingly entertaining pair that brought humor to a movie that otherwise would have been just another love story,” Ava Giuliano ’14 said.

This lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek look at love has all the elements we look for in a good love story, plus one excellent twist at the end. “It’s a movie you would be crazy and stupid not to see!” Giuliano said.

 

Categories
Arts & Life Review Television

“New Girl” proves herself among famous FOX lineup

 

By Courtney Flagg

Editor-in-Chief

The most anticipated season premiere of the fall was the fan-favorite and Ryan Murphy brainchild “Glee.” To be completely honest, the season premiere didn’t blow me away. Yes, it was cutesy and full of show tunes and Sue Sylvester’s hilarious and politically incorrect one-liners. But the episode had very little substance. It seemed to serve more as a filler and preview of promising things to come than a real great episode. So when Glee ended at 9 p.m. and I was left wanting more, I was pleasantly surprised by Fox’s new series “New Girl.”

The premise is simple: a freshly single Jess (Zooey Deschanel) becomes the new roommate to three bachelors who are not at all competent in dealing with women. The show starts with Jess riding in a taxi in only a trench coat, ready to engage in some surprise sex with her boyfriend, only to find out that he’s been cheating on her. After this traumatic experience, and sick of sleeping on her model friend Cece’s (Hannah Simone) couch, she takes matters into her own hands and moves in with three “guy’s guys,” Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Nick (Jake M. Johnson).

I knew this show was a winner when Coach and Nick made Schimdt put money into their communal “Douchebag Jar” after he makes an arrogant and idiotic comment about how “ladies love the Schimdt.” The show also impressed me with its accuracy in portraying both the obvious and subtle intricacies of both male and female behavior. Of course this idea isn’t revolutionary. How many times have we seen TV shows where guy and girl roommates engage in various shenanigans? This show comes with something different. Like its main character, “New Girl” is quirky, funny and quite the breath of fresh air. The pilot showcases the witty writing and the actors’ clever performances, all of which add to the show’s culturally relevant theme of the sexual politics between men and women.

Congratulations, Fox, you’ve made a fan out of me.

Categories
Arts & Life Music Review

Astronautalis teaches life lessons in newest album

By Rob O’Donnell

Writer

The genre of Astronautalis’ fourth album “This Is Our Science” is hard to describe. He’s a rapper, but sings his choruses with a voice as gravelly as Tom Waits. With a blend of acoustic folk, heavy punk bass riffs, hard snare drums, melodic piano and electronic beats, the music  gets inside  your head.  Just like the name suggests, the album has an intellectual theme: science. Songs dedicated to Dmitri Mendeleev, the inventor of the Periodic Table of Elements, and Thomas Jefferson’s scientific work dominate the album.

As an English major, I miss a good amount of the references, but that’s the brilliant part about Astronautalis. He’s singing about obscure intellectual topics, but the songs aren’t really about the science. He makes it personal, connecting those references to his life and the sacrifices of pursuing what he loves. It’s a message that we can all relate to in some way, especially in college when we’re trying to decide what to do with the rest of our lives. In his album, he struggles to make a living and has to be on the road constantly to support himself, but he loves every second of it.

Although he references little-known Greek mythology, the message is clear:  if you’re not living for what you love, you’re turning your life into a prison. Long, winding stories and carefully researched facts drive this straightforward principle home to the listener. In that way, along with his unusual singing voice, he reminds me of the great folk musicians like early Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, who perfected the art of ballads.

The music is  powerful and makes the lyrics even more potent and hard-hitting. As his first album with a backing band, the emphasis is more on the melodies than in his previous works. His vocal delivery is fiery and intense, especially on songs like “Holy Water,” but soft and gentle at times like on “Lift The Curse.” The choruses are stirring, usually with incredible drums and pianos mixed with his raspy voice in a catchy melody. This album is much more polished than his others, but still captures his passion and raw emotion.

No matter what kind of music you’re into, I can guarantee you’ll find something to love in this album. As for the genre, just call it whatever you want.

Categories
Arts & Life Books Review

High expectations for Peter Hoeg’s “The Quiet Girl” falls flat

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

Peter Høeg’s “The Quiet Girl” is billed as a new thriller to match the success of his 1992 novel “Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” However, where Smilla was a high caliber bestseller, “The Quiet Girl” has been met with a very mixed reception in Denmark, and the English translation by Nadia Christensen has failed to accrue the enthusiasm of its predecessor.

“The Quiet Girl” stars middle-aged clown Kasper Krone as a protagonist of sorts, whom Høeg gifts with the ability to hear peoples’ essences, making Kasper able to learn countless useful snippets of personal information and intrinsic qualities immediately upon “hearing” their unique sound. This interesting bit of magic realism aside, Kasper is also world-renowned for his illustrious circus career and simultaneously dealing with his father’s terminal illness, as well as being up to his neck in debt, a womanizer, and wanted in multiple countries for fraud. He also moonlights as a children’s therapist, capitalizing on his innate ability to hear into the souls of others, which apparently comes even more naturally with children. This is how he first meets the quiet girl of the title, a 10-year-old nymphet of whom Humbert Humbert would be proud, named KlaraMaria.

For some reason, KlaraMaria’s essential sound is quieter than anyone else Kasper has ever encountered. So when, after disappearing from his life for some time, KlaraMaria returns to Kasper in some definitely suspicious circumstances, he recognizes her immediately. And when she slips him a note which leads him to believe she has been kidnapped and abused, Kasper jumps quickly into action to rescue this precocious and obviously special child. Lying with terrifying ease and jetting around Copenhagen so quickly readers may well become nauseous, Kasper tries to follow KlaraMaria’s maddeningly faint trail, while also dodging police and members of the enigmatic “Department H,” which he has been warned to leave alone. Trying to connect the dots between KlaraMaria, his ex-lover Stina, some children with very questionable abilities and avoid incarceration, Kasper attempts to piece together this mystery and see how everything can possibly fit together.

One of the issues with “The Quiet Girl” is the convoluted plot and sporadic storytelling style employed by Høeg. Honestly, parts of the novel seem more like James Joyce than a modern thriller. Following the path of the characters is definitely a challenge, and reading it in translation may be a contributing factor. Christensen has clearly taken on a challenge in working with “The Quiet Girl,” but without knowing Danish or having a solid understanding of Copenhagen’s layout, the book loses much of its entertainment value. Considering its lukewarm reception at home, Høeg might have confused more than just his foreign readers. After virtually disappearing from the literary world for 10 years and producing several lesser novels, Høeg still fails to match his achievement in “Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” “The Quiet Girl,” though possibly misunderstood, is ultimately disappointing.

Categories
Arts & Life Review Television

Entourage ending is satisfying

By Ryan Costello

Writer

On Sunday we saw Vince and the gang of the popular HBO series “Entourage” fly off into the sunset for the final time. The series finale tied up some loose ends but also created a few new paths for fans to think about, possibly opening the opportunity for a movie.

For those who have never seen “Entourage,” it is a series about the Hollywood life of A-list actor Vince and his entourage: Vince’s manager Eric, Vince’s half-brother Johnny Drama, and C-list actor Turtle, Vince’s driver and entrepreneur.

The guys all grew up together in Queens and are trying to find their way through Hollywood. The other main part of the show centers around Ari Gold, Vince’s agent and friend, and his rise to the top of his industry.  A main theme throughout the entire series is the friendship between the guys: no matter what happens between them, they always have each other’s backs.  The series takes place in Hollywood and is centered around the lifestyle of an A-list actor, so “Entourage” has featured many big stars in cameo roles as themselves.  Among the best appearances were Matt Damon throwing an uproarious temper tantrum and Turtle’s messing with Tom Brady.

The series finale had Vince getting married, Eric getting back together with his ex-fiancée, and Ari also getting back together with his wife who was about to divorce him. Overall, the series finale was a little rushed–everything happened too quickly and too conveniently. This episode lacked any real closure, but that is consistent with what the series has been. It has been mostly about  guys being guys in Hollywood, who that won’t change no matter where they go. The end implies that they are just going to keep on going, doing what they’ve been doing.

The series as a whole has been an inside look at how celebrities live on a day-to-day basis, and the types of problems they deal with. That is what has kept me tuning in to see the show, even in the last few seasons.  I wanted to see how the friendships between the characters change, even as some of the Hollywood elements have died out. After all, the guys seem just like normal guys thrust into the glamour of Hollywood.

While I did not find this episode to be indicative of the entire series, I’m glad the series ended this way. Entourage has been on the decline the past few seasons. I’m still sad to see Vince and the gang fly off into the sunset, but it was about time.