Editor's note: This is the first installment of a weekly column that will run Wednesdays. Since Larry King was unavailable for a weekly intellectual critique of culture and cinema, we had to make due with in-house film reviewer and former arts editor Martin Tsai. That's life.\nCan you believe the summer is already over? This has been a less-than-stellar year for summer movies and music. Despite their $100-million-plus box office gross, it's unlikely "Mission: Impossible 2," "X-Men" and "Gladiator" will stand the test of time in our collective memory. And aren't we all sick and tired of Eminem by now? \nThe most memorable event this summer isn't a blockbuster film or a hit song ' it's the national obsession that is "Survivor." \nEven some of those film studies students who used to engage in hardcore debates in auteurism last spring have returned as "Survivor" fanatics in the fall.\nWhy do we love "Survivor" so much? It's the story about the triumphs and downfall of 16 ordinary people like us ' male and female, old and young, smart and dumb, slimy and naive. They not only have to survive nature, they also have to survive each other. It's easy for us to to identify with the castaways who share our values and work ethics. We root for them and live vicariously through them. \n"Survivor" metaphorically reflects on America's cutthroat corporate culture. At first there is healthy competition, then there's a merger. Those who have good work ethics and strong abilities are being eliminated one by one, and the businessman comes out on top. \nNow that "Survivor" is over and the evil fat naked guy Richard is literally rich, what is there for us to look forward to every week? Can we really settle for the bi-weekly banishment of "Big Brother" houseguests until "Survivor: The Australian Outback" comes on? \n"Big Brother" is no "Survivor." Although the show is a big hit around the world, "Big Brother" makes a fatal mistake in this country. If the politicians we elect to run our government are any indication, you can't trust the American public to vote for who get to stay and who get to leave. Those who complain about "Big Brother" being boring only have themselves to blame. \nStill, "Big Brother" is getting more and more interesting as it slowly unfolds. The increasingly subversive mindgames the producer is playing with the houseguests makes great television. Jamie, the beauty queen, is gradually emerging as the "Big Brother" equivalent of Sean, and it's time for us to vote her off the Big Brother house.
Independent film Given Nc-17 Rating by Mpaa\n"Requiem for a Dream," Darren Aronofsky's highly-anticipated follow-up to "Pi," has been rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America. The film's distributor Artisan Entertainment will release it without a single cut or a rating Oct. 6. Based on the novel by Hubert Selby, Jr., the film deals with the downward spiral for a group of drug addicts. \nSince its premiere at Cannes Film Festival this year, "Requiem" has been generating much buzz. Judging from the film's mesmerizing trailer, "Requiem" seems like a darker, Americanized version of "Trainspotting." The nightmarish trailer features a collage of unsettling images with rapid-fire editing. This is certainly one of the movies to watch in an unimpressive year in movies, and thankfully its distributor has the guts to stick behind the director's vision.
