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(05/08/14 11:35pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I didn’t want to write a farewell column.I purposefully wrote what I thought was my final column on sexism in the casting of the new “Star Wars” movie just to avoid writing a farewell column.But alas, here I am. So, I suppose I should give this a shot in the dark. Other writers are better at being sympathetic, optimistic and motivational than I am. World-weary cynicism and snark are more my wheelhouse, but I suppose I can muster up a few parting words for my readers.By my count, I’ve written 71 opinion columns.That’s roughly 31,950 words I’ve shoved down your throats during the past two years — 31,950 words that, for some reason, I felt entitled to share with the masses.And that isn’t even counting any of the pop culture reviews, Weekend columns or staff editorials I’ve written. Being one of the few people of the 40,000 students at IU to have an opinion column in the student newspaper is a job I took seriously.They weren’t all gems, especially those written at 3 a.m. after I ran out of television to procrastinate with. But I hope anyone who has read my work during the years has taken something away from it. Those 71 columns hardly represent all that I am, but they’re what I chose to share with you.Whether or not you were listening, I thank you.A writer is nothing without the audience in which he or she hopes to find attention.If writing for this paper has taught me anything, it’s to never underestimate the reach your voice has.I’ve caused a fair share of ruckus with my words. Trust me, it was never with the intention of riling up people.I’ve always been 100 percent honest with my words.I never wrote to appease anybody, and that is something of which I’m unabashedly proud.I’ve been many things during my four years at IU.I’ve been a friend, a mess, a roommate, a student, an IDS editor, a boyfriend, a Singing Hoosier, a one-night stand and a writer. But most importantly, I’ve been a Hoosier, which is something I will take with me everywhere I go.Whether you actually read my work or you simply used it to fuel a bonfire on a warm spring evening, thanks for making this an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(05/01/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s a pretty rare occasion that I criticize anything Star Wars related. Well, I guess that isn’t completely true. “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” is total trash. Hayden Christensen is a terrible actor, and George Lucas couldn’t write dialogue if it meant surviving an attack by Tusken Raiders.But I digress.On Tuesday, the core cast of the upcoming “Star Wars Episode VII” was announced. Spoiler alert, this is a huge deal. Cast members from the original trilogy — Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford — will join a slew of relatively unknown actors for a new trilogy of films in the Star Wars universe. The problem? There’s only one new female cast member. Of eight actors who will be joining the J.J. Abram’s directed and co-written film, seven are men and one is a woman. In fact, if you look at the single black and white photo released with the cast announcement, newcomer Daisy Ridley and Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher, are seated next to each other in conversation. This conversation better translate into the script, because otherwise this new Star Wars film has no chance in hell of passing the Bechdel test. As a boy who grew up watching both the original trilogy and its prequels, I get that Star Wars could be seen as a guy thing. I played with my Luke Skywalker action figure and my Millennium Falcon model ship. My stepfather and I beat each other up with glowing green and red lightsabers. My mom claims to have some basic Star Wars knowledge, but she still doesn’t know her Death Stars from her USS Enterprises. But it’s 2014. Seven dudes and one lady added to a cast already lacking for female characters is more than a little embarrassing. Especially when you consider that having strong female leads in action films isn’t exactly a box office risk. Think about Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Ripley in the Alien films, the first of which was released only two years after the first Star Wars film. Or think about the Jennifer Lawrence-led “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” also known as the highest grossing film of 2013. Even “Frozen” has proven people will turn out in droves to see films in which females are front and center, often without the need of a romantic plot to make their stories interesting. I can’t wait until Dec. 18, 2015. I will be the first in line to see exactly what the fantastic J.J. Abrams brings to the table to expand the Star Wars universe. I just wish it wasn’t going to be such a sausage fest.wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(05/01/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After last summer’s “This Is The End,” I had a sneaking suspicion that all the homoerotic subtext in bro-comedies had crossed the border into straight homoeroticism. With “Neighbors,” an uproarious comedy in which a married couple spar with a bunch of frat boys who move in next door, my inkling was completely confirmed. Not only does the fraternity’s president (Zac Efron) spend a large portion of the movie shirtless, he also spends it taking molds of his penis with his brothers and squeezing his best friend’s (Dave Franco) testicles during a brawl. And it’s all relentlessly hilarious. The premise is ridiculous. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play Mac and Kelly Radner, a new-age couple who have just had a baby girl and who still feel the urge to have fun and party. But when a fraternity moves in next door, they unsuccessfully try to play it cool before setting in motion an epic faceoff between neighbors. The story flies only because Rogen and Byrne play Mac and Kelly like the most sincere of couples. Sure, he’s a little tubby and aloof while she’s gorgeous and slightly more collected. But they play off each other with a genuineness you don’t see between most couples on screen, or in reality. On the flip side, Efron, Franco and their brothers play their characters to the edge of parody without ever toppling over into dumb silliness.They’re very self-aware performances, but they’re still finely tuned and honest. Director Nicholas Stoller, who brought the same conviviality to movies like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “The Five-Year Engagement,” seems poised on the edge of making his best work. He plays it fast and loose, letting his actors riff on the joke instead of getting bogged down in anything too heavy. It is, after all, a comedy, and there’s no better way to make a good comedy than to let a bunch of funny people be funny together. The cast is top-notch, every single one of them. Byrne is particularly sensational and the real standout, which makes it a shame when you realize she’s the only lead female in a movie of seriously funny dudes. “Neighbors” might not come close to passing the Bechdel test and it tends to feel like a one-trick pony once it’s all said and done. It’s uncompromisingly vulgar and features some of the most overly stimulating party sequences ever put on screen. Fortunately, that makes it a damn good pony with one hell of a trick.
(05/01/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lily Allen has always had something interesting to say. Ever since her debut album, “Alright, Still,” dropped in 2007, the British bad girl has been spewing insults that sound rightly sweet over ska-tinged pop melodies.Whether she’s talking about her ex-boyfriend’s small manhood or telling George W. Bush to fuck off, girlfriend does it with a wink and a smile. In her first studio album in five years, Allen still has the same kitschy faux-pop aura, favoring everything from thumping club beats on single “Hard Out Here” to silly country throw downs on “As Long as I Got You.” But on this go around, things feel especially tongue-in-cheek. What else can one expect from an album entitled “Sheezus,” an obvious jab at Kanye West.The title track, in which Allen name-drops all the pop lady divas from Katy Perry to Lorde, is a particular highlight featuring low-whirring sirens and a slow M.I.A-esque beat. Allen croons in light of all the other divas, she wants to wear the crown and be “Sheezus.” But be warned. As Allen sings in “Hard Out Here,” “If you can’t detect the sarcasm, you’ve misunderstood.” It’s not that Allen is purposely dissing all those other successful women, though lyrics like “We’re all watching Gaga, LOLO HAHA” are pretty brilliant. She’s pointing out the music landscape in which females are pitted against each other to release the No. 1 single.She makes a similar point on “Hard Out Here,” in which she asks, “Don’t you want somebody who objectifies you? Have you thought about your butt? Who’s gonna tear it in to?” Allen also peppers her album with adorable pop ditties like “L8 CMMR,” an ode to her “bad motherfucker” of a husband, and “Close Your Eyes.” It’s these album middle tracks that remind you what a lovely lyricist Allen was and continues to be. And if you forgot what a gorgeous voice she has, her cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” is a bonus track. Her airy yet controlled vocals may not be anywhere near the powerhouse level of Beyonce or P!nk, but they’re refreshing in our current auto-tune friendly landscape. Allen may not top the charts like the ladies she mentions in “Sheezus,” but she still deserves to wear a crown of her own.
(04/24/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>My friends and I did a peculiar thing during brunch the other weekend. There were eight of us and, after ordering our food, we realized every single one of us were buried in our iPhones.It was embarrassing, and we all decided to stack our phones in the middle of the table so nobody was allowed to check them. I’ve written columns on how liberating it was to delete my Facebook and the dangers of 21st century and millennial habits. We are a culture more electronically connected than ever, and, like any trend, there are distinct positives and negatives.But seeing as I graduate from IU in exactly 16 days, it’s become more important than ever that I put away my phone whenever possible and look my friends in the eye.I want to actually spend time together without checking Instagram or playing Candy Crush.I want to actually have a conversation and a real human-to-human connection with all of these people with whom I only have a short time left. All my iPhone apps aren’t going anywhere. They’re going to be right there every time I open my phone. My friends — the people who have become my closest allies and confidants during these past four years — won’t be there every time I open my phone. Well, at least not in person. It’s alarming to think these devices that build a barrier between people in the same room may soon be the only way I have to contact those same people.I have friends headed all across the country. Some are staying here in Bloomington, others returning home and some even heading overseas.I would kick myself if I wasted even one more minute glued to my iPhone when my time left with my fellow Hoosiers is so finite. All things come to their ends, and without these endings we would never have to opportunity to look back on all the memories we’ve made with the people we love.I can’t wait to move on from IU and start new adventures that I’m sure will be at times both terrifying and exhilarating. But while I’m still here, I’m going to spend my time with people instead of electronics as much as I can.Tweets, Facebook posts and Snapchats aren’t going anywhere. But we are, so don’t waste any more time than you already have.wdmcdona@indiana.edu
(04/17/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s so close I can almost taste it. Little 500 Week is literally days away. For some, it may begin this Sunday and run all the way through April 27.I salute you brave souls, as I always end up falling on my sword and taking a few days off from the week’s festivities. But something struck me as I began thinking about the Little 500 week of my senior year at IU.I’ve never been to the actual men or women’s bike race.For years, I’ve commemorated an event I’ve never even witnessed. It’s like celebrating Christmas when you’re not even a Christian. Well, I suppose I do that every year. But this is totally different. So I decided to do a little research on the event, and I was actually quite surprised at what I found out. The first Little 500 race took place in 1951, during which 7,000 students attended and $6,000 was raised to support student scholarships. Adjusted for inflation, that amount would provide more than $50,000 in scholarships today. More than 60 years later, more than 25,000 people travel from all over to attend the Little 500 race to raise more than $1 million for undergraduate scholarships. Full disclosure — I had absolutely no idea the race raised money for student scholarships until I decided to write this column. Discovering that Little 500 week is actually about providing education to deserving students is really, really cool. I’m not here to shame the students who will ride off the rails next week and party their faces off in lieu of attending class. I plan to be among you and to enjoy my last Little 500 as an IU student as I have for the last three years. But don’t do so without acknowledging what this upcoming week is really about. I didn’t for three years, and now I’m embarrassed. Little 500 week is about players who have trained all year to ride in this race. It’s about countless students who will receive aid in paying their college tuitions. It’s about a Hoosier tradition that’s lasted more than 60 years and inspired an Academy Award-winning movie, which I’m yet again embarrassed to say I haven’t seen. Take the time to have fun next week, and don’t beat yourself up over one missed class or assignment. But do so knowing what you’re partying for. And take the time to actually attend the race, because you only have so many chances to do so as a student. Take it from somebody who has missed three and isn’t planning on doing the same this year.wdmcdona@indiana.edu
(04/17/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Are you ready? Because I want you to pay attention. This is the beginning of something.”And with those words began the final season premiere of “Mad Men,” the long-running 1960s advertising agency drama that catapulted Jon Hamm into superstardom and launched AMC as a bona fide cable network.Yes, both “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad” have acquired huge followings for AMC and cemented themselves as leaders in this new “golden age” of television. But “Mad Men” has always done something more.It’s a subtle show — a polished piece of art that’s grounded more in character than plot. Throughout the years there have been narrative twists, like Peggy’s season one pregnancy or Don’s firing from his agency last year. But it’s personalities like Don Draper, Peggy Olson, Joan Harris and Roger Sterling we keep tuning in for.It’s now 1969, and Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is living bicoastal. His wife, Megan, has taken up residence in the Hollywood hills and seems poised on the brink of celebrity. This is a very different Don than we have seen in any other season. He’s unemployed and, after last season’s confession to his three children, no longer actively hiding his less than ideal childhood. An unexpected exchange on the airplane ride home may even have viewers wondering if the old Don is dead and gone.But it’s this shake-up that’s given the show’s final season that great pit of uncertainty it needed. Don’s no longer invincible, and he’s no longer top dog. That would be Lou Avery, who popped up for two episodes last season and is Peggy’s new boss at Sterling Cooper & Price. Suffice it to say Avery is no Don Draper, and Peggy and Avery aren’t seeing eye to eye on a pitch for Accutron watches.Peggy’s ascension throughout the show’s course from secretary to copy writer and de facto creative director has been the secret sauce that has made “Mad Men” such an important show for feminism. It’s hard to watch Peggy struggle up the food chain, but when she’s played with such gusto by Emmy-nominee Elisabeth Moss, you can’t complain.The same goes for Joan, who’s working overtime to keep the Butler Footwear account for SC&P. For a show centered on so called mad men, it’s the ladies that seem to be getting their dues this year. Unfortunately, that sentiment does not extend to Don’s ex-wife, Betty, or his daughter, Sally, who are both absent from the season premiere. Hopefully we will see more of them as the season progresses.“Mad Men” has always been shrouded in secrecy. Previews for the next episode rarely give much away, and celebrity guest stars are constantly kept under wraps. But it’s this streamlined approach to storytelling that makes it must-see television. Don’s story may be winding down, but we’ll be on the edge of our seats until series creator Matthew Weiner closes on that long-awaited final scene he’s had planned for “Mad Men” for years.
(04/17/14 4:00am)
The acting goddesses finest performances
(04/10/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In an era when we don’t tend to trust our government, fear Big Brother-like surveillance and are inclined to fall a little off-center when it comes to patriotism, Captain America — otherwise known by his civilian name, Steve Rogers — is an uplifting superhero. Free of Tony Stark’s cynicism, Black Widow’s dark past and Bruce Banner’s anger issues, Captain America wears the stars and stripes proudly. He’ll make you feel like every day should be celebrated like the Fourth of July. He’s a beacon of American pride.Or at least he was in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” and 2012’s “The Avengers.”“Captain America: The Winter Solider” finds Cap at a tipping point in his superhero career. Working various missions for S.H.E.I.L.D. by night and adjusting to 21st-century life by day, Cap begins to seriously doubt the intentions of the organization that thawed him from his icy resting place to join Earth’s mightiest heroes. It’s a timely tale no doubt inspired by our distrustful NSA/Edward Snowden political climate.It’s this dark tone that gives Captain America’s second solo film a 1970s political thriller vibe, not unlike “All the President’s Men.”Speaking of “All The President’s Men,” Robert Redford joins the Marvel Universe as Alexander Pierce, a senior leader at S.H.E.I.L.D. Redford’s a welcome and wise presence, hot off his stirring turn in last year’s man-at-sea drama “All is Lost.” Returning from “The Avengers” is Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.Both are at the top of their game, the latter shooting verbal barbs and probing about the Cap’s dating life throughout their missions. She rolls down her window to pick up Cap from a run and says she’s there to pick up a fossil from the Smithsonian. Ouch. As the ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that launched in 2008 with “Iron Man,” it’s incredible to witness the stakes continue to raise higher and higher as the mega-sized franchise goes forward. Though New York City was practically destroyed in “The Avengers,” things seem more dangerous than ever as Captain American and Black Widow uncover truths about their organization they never expected. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” works marvelously well as a solo outing for the Cap, as well as a continuation of this engrossing universe Marvel has so meticulously created.There are throwbacks to the first film in addition to wisecracks about Cap’s acclamation to 21st-century life. Star Wars, Nirvana and Thai food top his list of things to check out.But this sequel changes the game in a critical way for the Marvel Universe, throwing things into a tailspin for any future releases from the superhero factory, including the upcoming “Avengers: Age of Ultron” next summer. It’s this uneven ground and wide-open future that makes this expansive franchise one you’ll keep coming back to.
(04/10/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>All men must die. Or so says all the promotional advertising for the fourth season of HBO’s critically acclaimed fantasy drama, “Game of Thrones.” And for a TV show with a body count higher than a mobster flick’s, that’s an impressively accurate tagline. For anyone who doesn’t know Westeros from Middle Earth or Narnia, “Game of Thrones” is a sprawling fantasy epic that can best be compartmentalized as a parallel universe of “Lord of the Rings” with a lot more gore and nudity. Except “Game of Thrones” is so much better than “Lord of the Rings.”Its extensive cast of morally ambiguous characters and vast locations might seem daunting, especially to anyone who hasn’t read the book series by George R.R. Martin or watched the TV show since its beginning in 2011. But anyone intimidated by the show’s colossal narrative girth is missing out on what is truly television’s best drama. We begin with Tywin Lannister melting down the sword of the beheaded Ned Stark (remember him from season one? “Game of Thrones” likes to take its time with the plot). “The Rains of Castamere” plays, a shivering reminder to anyone who remembers the infamous Red Wedding last season.It’s a beautiful open, a reminder that some of the best storytelling on screen these days is purely visual and requires no dialogue. But coincidentally enough, “Game of Thrones” happens to have some of the best-written head-to-head on television. Conversations between Jamie Lannister and his rotten nephew — actually his son, don’t ask — King Joffery or Arya Stark and her captor/protector the Hound often brim with unintentional humor and direct pathos. Despite the ambitious locales and gorgeously slaved-over set design, it’s these exchanges that give the show its necessary X-factor. New to the mix this year is Prince Oberyn Martell, also know as the Red Viper — because this is a show where one needs an easily pronounceable name when someone can’t phonetically sound out their real one. Played by the smoldering Pedro Pascal, we’re introduced to the prince in an excellently staged brothel scene that turns you on your head the second you think you have it figured out. Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen and her three teenage dragons continue to roam the desert, amassing armies and liberating cities. Things have gone so swimmingly for Dany these last three seasons, so you’d think this may be the go round when someone presents an actual challenge to her quest for the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, back at King’s Land, King Joffrey is still as unsufferable as ever. Fingers crossed he’s next in line to join the show’s ever-increasing body count.“Game of Thrones” is HBO’s most successful series since “The Sopranos” for a reason. It’s at its best when none of its characters are safe and their moral compasses continue to spin increasingly skewed.And if this season premiere’s bloody last scene with Arya and the Hound is any indication, we’re in for a wonderfully nefarious season in the Seven Kingdoms.
(04/10/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Halfway through a water long island at Kilroy’s Bar and Grill on Kirkwood earlier this week, I glanced down and noticed something odd on the table. It was a small card advertising IU Student Association and Residence Hall Associations’ Culture of Care Week, an annual occurrence that’s been happening for the last three years. I thought it was strange that IUSA advertised such an important event at a bar not exactly known for fostering its own culture of care. The Editorial Board of the Indiana Daily Student, a board I have been a member of for the last four semesters, isn’t exactly a champion of IUSA. We haven’t been for quite some time. Regardless of my disagreement with their greek system favoritism or their shoddy and biased voting system, Culture of Care Week is one thing IUSA has really gotten right in my time as a student at this University. We come to college as freshmen with the idea that we are adults. Of course, this is legally true. Mentally, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. We’ve acquired maturity and can be trusted with large responsibilities, to an extent. But in many ways, you cannot prepare yourself for many of the situations you’ll be thrown into once you enter the Sample Gates.You will feel lonely at some point or another. You will feel worthless. You will be pressured to drink or find yourself in a situation where alcohol is causing your or your friends to make questionable choices. You will, and should, experience sexual situations.But none of those events have to have negative connotations. It just takes the knowledge and time to learn something from your peers who have been around the track before. Culture of Care Week’s commitment to educating students about respect, sexual well-being, mental health and drug and alcohol abuse is a very real answer to a problem our school — and many schools around the nation — face every year. While IUSA and the RHA have joined efforts this week to promote students’ well being, we need to treat every week like Culture of Care Week. And if you think this doesn’t apply to you because you’re about to graduate or some other excuse, remember that every single student at this school is your peer. These people make up your friends, your classmates and your family away from home.It sounds like the ending to an after-school special, but remember to care about each other. Sometimes, a few small words of encouragement might mean a huge difference to somebody else.wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(04/03/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It comes in with the warm weather and the reemergence of tank tops every spring. No, I’m not talking about allergies or the sweet temptation to forgo all your important work and head to the KOK patio at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday.I’m talking about the Little 500 concert announcement. The make-it-or-break-it moment when you find out if this year’s concert is going to be epic like Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj in 2011 or a head-scratching pick like Sublime With Rome in 2012. The verdict is in, and we’ve got a head scratcher even more baffling than Sublime With Rome. ScHoolBoy Q will headline this year’s concert, which will be at 7:30 p.m. April 24 in the IU Auditorium. You know, whoever that is. First things first. The concert is in the auditorium, which is a fine and beautiful establishment for enjoying music. Unfortunately, it also screams, “Yeah, there’s no chance in hell we’re going to sell enough seats in Assembly Hall.” Because that’s what happened in 2012 with Sublime With Rome. Nobody wanted to go see some forgotten band from the 1990s, so they had to switch venues. I would have totally turned up for the Spin Doctors or Semisonic. But Sublime With Rome? No, thanks. Second, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have all headlined in Assembly Hall during Little 500 because they’re huge, established artists used to selling out arenas around the world. I’m not saying album sales and abundant radio play equals talent. ScHoolBoy Q seems like a perfectly legitimate artist.His latest album, “Oxymoron,” has an impressive score of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic, a website that complies critical reviews of movies, music, television and games. But this is Little 500. This is the one week a year where the rules become guidelines and guidelines become laughable. I was so inexplicably ready to turn up for Ke$ha, Miley Cyrus or Kanye West. I had my warrior paint and glitter primed and ready to go.Unfortunately, I didn’t count on Union Board dropping a wrecking ball on my Little 500 dreams. There is a time and place for small, underappreciated artists like ScHoolBoy Q to perform. There are countless lesser-known entertainers I would drop serious money to see. But not during Little 500. As big of a fan as I am of Lana Del Rey, she would put on a thoroughly lame Little 500 concert. The same goes for Lorde, Bastille and countless other big-name headliners we could have gotten. So it would seem my senior year is going out on a lamer note than I anticipated. Oh well, at least Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press will be here. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(04/03/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When a franchise has been alive and kicking for almost 60 years, it’s definitely doing something right. Think James Bond, Star Wars and countless horror movie franchises that never seem to die.Since their TV debut in 1955, the Muppets have been an American staple. And now Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and the Swedish Chef are all instantly recognizable characters to younger generations thanks to 2011’s “The Muppets,” which grossed $165 million and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.“Muppets Most Wanted” picks up where “The Muppets” ended, so literally you can still see “The End” written in fireworks in the sky as the film begins. It isn’t long until they’re knee deep in their first musical number, appropriately titled “We’re Doing a Sequel.” It’s this self aware, tongue-in-cheek attitude that keeps the Muppets hilarious to the 16 and above age bracket.Bret McKenzie, thankfully returning to pen original songs after the brilliant work he did in the 2011 film, doesn’t seem as assured this time around. Songs like “I’m Number One” and “The Big House” pack plenty of laughs, but you don’t skip out of the theater humming them.This time the stakes are also lower, which is curious when you consider the Muppets are touring Europe to keep their brand afloat and priceless art is being stolen by Constantine, the world’s most dangerous frog who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Kermit. Also along for the ride are Ricky Gervais as Constantine’s number two, Ty Burrell as a thoroughly European Interpol agent, and Tina Fey as a formidable Russian prison guard.Despite the addition of those three fine performers, the film suffers from the absence of Jason Segel and Amy Adams, both such gems in the 2011 film.Half the fun of any Muppets’ adventure is the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them barrage of celebrity cameos. Everyone from Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and Christoph Waltz stop by for some quick fun. R&B crooner Usher even pops up as, you guessed it, an usher at a wedding. Josh Groban shows up for what pays off to be a downright hilarious bit part.Even when you feel like the cast, both human and Muppet, isn’t having as much fun this time around, “Muppets Most Wanted” delivers an adventure worth paying attention to.Their unapologetic and cheery brand of merriment is refreshingly free of cynicism and perfect for children and adults who still feel like children.
(04/03/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We’re living in a great age for ladies on television, especially the ones who are funny. Zooey Deschanel and Mindy Kaling are doing their comedy thing on their respective FOX half-hour sitcoms. Lena Dunham’s “Girls” was renewed for a fourth season on HBO. The second season of Amy Schumer’s sketch comedy show “Inside Amy Schumer” is debuting its second season on Comedy Central.So it’s no surprise that real life British besties Dolly Wells and Emily Mortimer have launched a six-episode mini-series on HBO entitled “Doll & Em.” Playing dramatized versions of themselves, Wells, the unlucky in love and life sidekick, moves to Hollywood after a break-up to work as the assistant to her successful actress best friend, Mortimer. It’s no surprise that mixing work and friendship leads to semi-disastrous results. Wells unsuccessfully attempts to navigate Los Angeles traffic to pick up Mortimer on the street, leading Mortimer to shout one choice four letter expletive in front of some adoring fans. It’s some beautifully finessed meta-comedy, especially to anyone familiar with Mortimer’s work. Though she’s more lovable on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO journalism drama “The Newsroom,” Mortimer is an effortlessly likable lady, even when she isn’t the world’s greatest BFF. Wells, though not as recognizable as Mortimer, brings a subtle and layered nuance to Doll. Despite being broken up with and working under her more famous best friend, she’s never painted as a pitiful creature.The first episode finds Mortimer accidentally locking Wells outside of her house for upwards of 12 hours. Wells is furious, and even more so when Mortimer’s mistake barely registers to her when she returns home from a swanky Hollywood party rather tipsy. The scenes between Wells and Mortimer spark with unwaveringly realistic sentiment, thanks in large part to the audience’s awareness of their real life friendship. It’s just a shame the plot seems to exist on such a miniscule scale. There’s plenty of room on television for small stories that don’t have much effect on the world at large, and not every show needs to have the continuance of the human race hanging in the balance. But “Doll & Em” doesn’t seems to have any stakes at all. It’s so mild that sometimes it ends up feeling shapeless. I want to keep watching this show, and I desperately want it to get better. Wells and Mortimer are unsung talents in a sea of overly made up and sexualized female characters on television. And they demand your respect by writing, starring and producing their own small and personal series.There needs to be a place in popular culture for independent television, and I applaud HBO for giving “Doll & Em” space on the air. There’s a whole load of promise here. It just needs to start delivering.
(03/27/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>One Kickstarter campaign and $5.7 million later, everyone’s favorite millennial private investigator is back to doing what she does best, spouting witty one-liners and solving mysteries in her hometown of Neptune, Calif. We open with Veronica living in New York City, interviewing with high-powered attorneys for law jobs — hello, Jamie Lee Curtis cameo — and dating her college boyfriend-turned NPR employee, Piz.But Marshmallows, the name loving coined for the “Veronica Mars” obsessed, wouldn’t stand for Ms. Mars steering clear from danger and mystery for too long. Logan Echolls, one half of the LoVe (that’s Logan and Veronica for non-Marshmallows) relationship, is accused of murdering his pop-star girlfriend, Bonnie DeVille, and he’s left with no choice but to call upon his P.I. ex to find out what really happened. Hence, Veronica is back in Neptune just in time for her 10-year high school reunion. How convenient for the plot. Despite a quick, two-minute intro at the film’s beginning to usher in viewers who’ve never seen an episode of “Veronica Mars,” this is really a movie designed for the fans. And why shouldn’t it be? After all, it was the fans who put up their own money to see this film made. But that isn’t to say it isn’t an enjoyable mysterious and character-driven affair for the average viewer. Bell, who’s since blossomed into quite the film star with break roles in films like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and the animated hit “Frozen,” has all the snark and charm that made Veronica so refreshing during her three season arc on television. In the film’s opening minutes, she pops an imaginary cap off of her middle finger and flashes it to an immature guy interviewing for the same job as her. Oh, how we’ve missed you, Veronica. Another of the film’s highlights is Veronica’s pitch perfect relationship with her father, the ever-wonderful Enrico Colantoni. The two trade barbs laced with love like no time has passed since the show went off the air in 2007. Despite the fact that Veronica is whip smart and more capable than 90 percent of all the male protagonists you’ve ever seen, we’re still subjected to the romantic triangle between Veronica, Logan and Piz. Both Team Piz and Team Logan will have their moments to shine, and it’s important to resolve that story line the TV series left open. Hopefully, if this isn’t the last we’re to see of Veronica, romance will take a backseat to the show’s more interesting points, like Veronica’s friendships and aptitude for solving crimes. “Veronica Mars” probably isn’t for you if you’ve never heard of her before. But the feature film has managed to pack in an interesting, if light, mystery in with plenty of jokes for Marshmallows both old and new. If nothing else, stay for the enigmatic Kristen Bell, who provides a near infinite amount of reasons why we need more Veronica tales in the future.
(03/27/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>May 2, 2011, and March 19, 2014, were very similar days for me. Bookending the beginning and end of my undergraduate career at IU, both days brought about the deaths of prominent and malevolent figures in American culture. And neither death brought me solace. Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011 and the death of Westboro Baptist Church leader and founder Fred Phelps last week could both be reasonably seen as occasions to commemorate the end of one individual’s reign of perverse terror.I don’t need to remind you bin Laden was the mastermind behind terrorist attacks across the world, most notably the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Phelps founded his small, independent church in Topeka, Kan., whose members are known for picketing funerals of American soldiers and anyone who’s ever been seen publicly with a homosexual.And though the world is a better place without these men, death is never something to celebrate. The night bin Laden was killed, I saw images on television of people rejoicing outside the White House, singing inharmonious renditions of songs with merriment and elation. It was discombobulating, both because I disagreed with such celebration and because I felt guilty for not being happy like those I saw on CNN. Bin Laden is clearly the more prominent figure, despite the notoriety and infamy Phelps and his church have gained in the last two decades or so. Bin Laden has also inflicted more pain on people than the Westboro Baptist Church will ever have the manpower to do. But we can’t lower ourselves to the level of the Westboro Baptist Church members and cheer at the news of someone’s passing. Despite Phelps and his followers’ refusal to grant other people the same respect, we cannot show joy at this man’s passing. When Westboro protested pop singer Lorde’s concert in Kansas City, Mo., a group of rival protestors shared my sentiment. A man and woman held up a sign that read “Sorry for your loss” to the church members.Though turning the other cheek is never an easy thing to do — and certainly not something I can say I’m skilled at — this is the response we need to have towards the Westboro Baptist Church going forward. Hate cannot be obliterated with hate. We’re no better than the hateful men who have died if we waste our breath cheering for their passing. I’m not asking you to mourn or grieve. I’m just asking you to consider leaving your hate behind, lest you embody the emotion you claim to condemn. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(03/13/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When it comes to the animation game, DreamWorks Animation doesn’t hold a candle to the House of Mouse. “Monsters vs. Aliens” is no “WALL-E.” “Shark Tale” is no “Finding Nemo,” and “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” is no “Frozen.” Though director Rob Minkoff cut his teeth directing the animated Disney smash “The Lion King,” he wasn’t able to bring that same sense of fascination and imagination to “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” the feature film adaptation of characters used during the 1960s in “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.” The first of our titular characters, Mr. Peabody, is a talking dog and the smartest being in the world. Never adopted by a loving family, Peabody devotes his life to a number of careers and accomplishments. When he finds an abandoned baby in alley with a note bearing the name Sherman, Peabody legally adopts the boy. It’s a cute role reversal, but the creative juices stop with this promising exposition. The adventure of the film is Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s journey in a time machine to multiple eras in history, with the expected amount of hijinks ensuing. They eat cake with a hedonistic Marie Antoinette, they invent with Leonardo Di Vinci and they learn American history with George Washington. Now, I’m not saying that animation aimed at a children’s’ audience needs to be strictly informative. It obviously needs to entertain, too. But “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” misses the boat by playing history like an overindulgent parody. The writer is too busy trying to make us laugh at ancient Egyptian culture to teach us anything worthwhile. None of this is helped by the fact that it’s all just so visually uninspired. It normally wouldn’t be an insult to call an animated film cartoonish, but in this case the dig is intended. Gigantic heads on scrawny bodies is hardly novel when it comes to animating humans, but the characters in “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” are grossly unbelievable. So are talking dogs, but if the film has managed to conjure up a bit of magic, it all may be forgiven. One of the film’s saving graces is the inspired voice work. Though he’s better known as the affable Phil Dunphy on ABC’s “Modern Family,” Ty Burrell does some phenomenal voice acting as Mr. Peabody. He’s haughty yet endearingly affectionate and almost unrecognizable. Same goes for Max Charles voicing the adorable 7-year-old Sherman. Charles incidentally is also a mainstay on the ABC network, playing Max Weaver on “The Neighbors.” There’s a really hilarious and heart-warming film somewhere inside “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.” Unfortunately, this is just not that movie.
(03/13/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I was having a really bad week, so instead of dying my hair or getting an impulsive tattoo, I decided to deactivate my Facebook. It seemed like a major life change, which is a little sad in and of itself, but that’s what I did. What surprised me was, not even 24 hours later, I felt amazing. I felt more liberated than I had been in ages. All from deactivating this website to which I’ve been a slave for seven some odd years. This whole idea of connection we feel Facebook instills in us is bullshit. Facebook doesn’t connect you to anyone. Facebook is a device in which you subject yourself to everyone else’s extreme narcissism, or promote your own individual brand of narcissism. I’m not trying to halt technological progression. I’m not going to turn to the past and start hand-writing letters sent by carrier pigeon or burning mixtape cassettes for my friends. I just feel like maybe everyone would benefit from a little break with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever seems to be the digital poison in your life. If you’re in the same room as somebody, there really isn’t a sound reason to let your thumb autopilot to your Facebook app. You can give that person some respect and hold a conversation with them. Unless that person really sucks, in which case maybe you should leave the room and then check your Facebook. I should be frank. I didn’t stop checking my Twitter or Instagram feed while my Facebook was deactivated. I still texted people and maybe used my phone for a call or two.So no, I didn’t completely cut out social media and electronic interaction like the cancer they’ve grown to be in so many of us. But I really wish I could. I wish I could do like Andy Sachs does at the end of “The Devil Wears Prada” and throw my phone into a majestic, Parisian fountain, strutting away in designer haute couture.The sad fact is, whether you like it or not, it’s not easy to make it in a world without your quirky web presence. I can’t fathom all the parties I don’t know about or the various BuzzFeed quiz results I had to live without in my Facebook-less week. Which is why no good thing lasts forever. I was seduced back by the sultry Facebook temptress when it came time for my weekly column — this column — to be published. “But how will people read about what I deem is important?” I thought. “How will my 1,268 Facebook friends know exactly what I’m thinking about?”I’m not proud to be back on Facebook. But I’m trying to use it a little less, and I’m making myself aware of how much I let it dominate my life. I’m not going to tell you deactivate or, God forbid, delete your whole online presence. Just remember, the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed or out of control, obliterating an unnecessary online world is just a few clicks away. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(03/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s hard for me to politely discuss the fact that the Indiana House passed a bill — by a margin of 74-24, no less — allowing people to keep guns in cars on school property. All I can say is no. Indiana Senate Bill 229 is wrong. People should not be allowed to have guns on school property. They shouldn’t be allowed to bring them into the school, and they shouldn’t be allowed to keep them on school grounds, whether or not they’re locked up — apparently safely — in someone’s car. A 2006 study found a considerable portion of adult gun owners with minors in their homes do not safely store their firearms. Trusting these same adults to safely store their guns in their cars seems like a bit of a reach. Advocates of SB 229 say parents should not face the possibility of committing a felony by dropping off their kids at school or attending school functions while a gun is in their car. The answer is painfully obvious. Don’t put your gun in your car when you take your kids to school. Or simply, don’t keep your gun in your car. There shouldn’t be a law designed specifically for parents too lazy to remove a deadly firearm from their vehicle before they’re going to be near a school. That’s like creating a law that makes it legal for minors to drive with open alcohol containers as long as they stay in the backseat. You’re not solving any problems, you’re just giving people the opportunity to make excuses. Supporters of the bill also say it continues to prohibit students from keeping firearms in their cars. That is, unless the student has permission from the principal and is a member of a school gun club.Maybe I just didn’t grow up in the right school district, but somebody please tell me if your public school had a gun club. I guess I was too busy with show choir to participate in gun club.More likely, my school administration wasn’t idiotic enough to allow an organized student gun club. If parents or guardians wish to teach their children proper gun handling, safety and technique outside of an educational environment, that is a parental right I would never dream to squander. But there’s no reason an adult needs to bring that same gun to school and leave it in their car. Not when in 2011, 5 percent of high school students carried a gun on school grounds and 7 percent were threatened or injured by some sort of weapon. There’s absolutely no reason to raise those odds.Indiana students deserve the right to feel safe. Safety is in no way, shape or form the chance of a gun in any number of cars in a school parking lot. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(03/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A&E is known for showing murder on television and airing reality crime programs like “Cold Case Files” and “American Justice” to exhaustion. But now they’re going fictional with the debut of the Chloe Sevigny vehicle “Those Who Kill” and the season two premiere of “Bates Motel.”As anyone with a passing knowledge of horror cinema could decode from the title, “Bates Motel” is an extension of the story made famous by director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic “Psycho.”But instead of adult Norman Bates killing pretty women and parading under the psychosis of his dead mother, the TV series created by Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin acts as a prequel set in the 21st century, in which Norman (Freddie Highmore) is a teenager and his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), is alive and well. Well ... maybe not so well. But at least she’s still alive. The second season opens right where the first left off — with Norman’s high school teacher, Miss Watson, dead and Norman’s culpability in the matter likely but not confirmed.We then flash forward four months where Norman is still reeling about the loss of his teacher, and Norma has adopted a blonder look, more likely to evoke the idea of “housewife” rather than “mother of a psychotic killer.”Things seem to be going well for the Bates. Their motel business is soaring, and Norman hasn’t seemed to kill anyone recently.But a highway cutting off the main roads from the Bates Motel and bringing in bigger, commercial business threatens to thwart Norma’s success. This subplot gives Vera Farmiga, who received an Emmy nomination last year for the first season of “Bates Motel,” a salacious and powerful monologue in front of the town’s city council. Farmiga is full of spit and fire, coming undone at the drop of a pin and launching into a tirade you both fear and admire.Equally as compelling is poor Norman, whose fixation with taxidermy only seems to be on the rise. “You’re taking apart a woodchuck. I don’t know how long that’s supposed to take,” Norma quips early on in the episode. Though the show is rooted in mystery and bloodshed, “Bates Motel” doesn’t take itself so seriously that it can’t laugh at itself and its history every once and a while.There exists a “Twin Peaks” element to it all. It’s a high wire act of self-aware drama that would easily topple if Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, who plays Norman with an awkward menace, weren’t so fantastic. The show runners would do well to nip and tuck some of the extraneous storylines and keep the focus on Norma and Norman. They’re the main draw. And even though we all know how this story ends, it’s impossible not to be excited to get there.