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(12/05/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Disney has never been wholeheartedly into feminist animated films. That isn’t to say they haven’t created and animated strong, complex women. I would count numerous Disney heroines among my favorite film characters of all time.But, because tradition holds true, the princess is always beautiful and usually on some sort of journey to gain the love of a man. However, this isn’t the case in “Frozen,” the 53rd animated film in the Disney canon. “Frozen,” which is computer-animated in the same vein as “Tangled” rather than hand-drawn like “The Princess and the Frog,” instead focuses on the complicated relationship between two sisters named Anna and Elsa.Elsa has the magical ability to create snow and ice, but her powers accidently injure Anna when they are young, and Elsa hides her gift from the world, and herself from Anna. As Elsa comes of age to wear the crown, she accidentally releases her powers and covers her kingdom in an eternal winter. Elsa flees to the mountains, and Anna sets out to get her sister back and reverse the eternal winter.Because it is a Disney film, there are plenty of hilarious sidekicks to meet along the way and a couple of hunky guys to accompany our heroine, Anna. Olaf is a snowman who dreams of summer, Kristoff is a blonde and bulky ice trader, and Sven is his adorable reindeer. But “Frozen” keeps the focus on Anna and Elsa’s relationship. Mending their sisterly bond is always at the forefront, and the romantic subplots have to play second fiddle. What makes the film so much fun is its deviation from the typical Disney formula of “girl meets boy.”The film is also unabashedly styled in the fashion of a big Broadway musical with occasional sung dialogue and an array of truly show-stopping tunes. Most notable is Elsa’s power ballad “Let It Go,” which is far and away the frontrunner for the Best Original Song Oscar next year. Disney rarely has a misstep, but “Frozen” is gorgeously filmed, and its progressive animation is a return to form we haven’t seen since the 1990s. It’s not hard to imagine it being the next generation’s “The Lion King” or “The Little Mermaid.”Yes, it’s that amazing. Go see it now, and revel in all its magical wonder.
(12/05/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>She goes by many names. The Princess of Pop. Godney. The Legendary Miss Britney Spears. But on her first album in almost 3 years, the teenage school-girl-turned-pop-phenomenon Britney Spears just wants be known as Britney Jean.Spears has claimed it’s her most personal album yet, and while Brit is producing more mid-tempo pop ditties than club bangers, it’s still not like she lets us in that much.In fact, much of the album feels kind of like an afterthought. Like someone said, “Oh yeah, Britney is launching a residency in Las Vegas, so we’d better do some basic kind of promotion.” Lead single “Work Bitch,” though a campy and brilliant dance smash, failed to gain much traction on the charts. Same for the second single “Perfume,” a lovely, personal ode to a potentially shared lover that’s the most intimate song on the record.Now, it’s no secret that Spears is not the world’s foremost vocalist, even by pop standards. But her baby-with-a-chest-cold vocals have cemented their place in the pop forum, allowing us to instead judge how well the producers and songwriters she employs do their magic.This is why all of her previous albums have been such smashes. “Blackout” started a pop revolution and was one of the most influential records of the 2000s. Working with such talent as Danja, Dr. Luke and Max Martin allowed Britney to define pop music.On “Britney Jean,” Spears enlists A-list producers such as will.i.am and David Guetta. But they just don’t do her justice.Slow jam tracks like “Body Ache” and “It Should Be Easy” are fun but almost instantly forgettable. It should be a nice change of pace when the radio is full of Mileys and Gagas trying to blast bangers successively harder than one another, but Spears’ sound is just drowned out.“Tik Tik Boom” is a sound exception, a T.I.-assisted track that’s the closest thing the album has to a bona fide Britney mega-hit. It’s not like the album is bad by any standard. It’s full of fine tracks that usually feel right at home in Spears’ discography. We’re just missing the “Toxic,” the “Womanizer” or the “Till The World Ends.”Spears has proved again and again she can release the one pop single to rule them all, even a decade and a half after she hit the scene in her short skirt and pigtails. “Britney Jean” is a fine effort, but it just doesn’t continue in that fashion.
(12/05/13 2:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” the multi-million dollar sequel to 2012’s blockbuster “The Hunger Games,” may seem like a big-budget part two that was hurried into production and the theaters after the flyaway success of its predecessor.But, in actuality, the sequel is to “The Hunger Games” what “The Empire Strikes Back” is to “A New Hope.” It’s a bolder, bigger and altogether darker adventure that ups the ante on almost every front. This comes on the heels of a leadership shake-up as Gary Ross, who helmed “The Hunger Games,” declined to direct the sequel. Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend,” “Water for Elephants”) was brought in to take the reins. Lawrence, who is not related to his leading lady, brings his big-budget chops to the table and shapes “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” into the epic it needed to be.After surviving the 74th annual Hunger Games, victors Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are touring the districts of Panem and unintentionally inciting rebellion among the dystopian’s citizens, worrying the Capitol and its oppressive leader, President Snow (Donald Sutherland). In District 11, an elderly man raises three fingers to honor his district’s fallen tribute and is gunned down in the street. Lawrence, the 23-year-old Oscar winner and acting wunderkind, forgoes merely playing Katniss and instead embodies her, never for second letting us know she’s acting. The key is that Lawrence recognizes Katniss is often a quite unlikable character. She doesn’t want to be somebody too many people rely on, let alone a hero. She’s pigeonholed by almost everyone, even by those who want to help her, and she resists it at every turn. A less apt actress might have focused too heavily on making Katniss likable. Instead, Lawrence makes her relatable.“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is also such a success because of its intelligent screenplay, a joint effort from Oscar winners Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt, who never belittle the young adult novel source material. It’s the same reason the “Harry Potter” films translated so well. The books may be shelved in the young adult section, but their themes and characters are more fleshed out than those in their sparkly, vampire-inhabited counterparts. Comparisons are hardly fair, but we can thank our lucky stars that “The Hunger Games” saga is headed more in the direction of “Harry Potter” than “Twilight.” The sequel shows that director Lawrence is not afraid of letting these movies get dark and introspective. After all, these are films about children who are sent to fight to the death. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” serves its exact purpose, which is to leave you amped and hungry for the next installment.
(11/21/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I should start out by saying I love storms. I could end every day by watching thunderclouds roll across the sky from the comfort and safety of my wrap-around porch.For aesthetic purposes, I would probably sip a glass of sweet tea and tell my butler he was free to retire to the servant’s quarters for the evening.But I don’t live in the rural South.I live in Bloomington, where storms are miserable and do nothing but soak my backpack, my shoes, my hopes and my dreams. So imagine my astonishment when I learned an Indianapolis woman was arrested Sunday for parking her car on the sidewalk in front of a Kroger.Because, obviously, she was trying to avoid the torrential downpour that was assaulting the Midwest.This unnamed woman should not have been arrested.She should have been awarded the key to the city, given a lifetime supply of free Redbox rentals and recognized as the 21st century hero she clearly is.We are living timid and trepid lives, people.We all need to stop hopelessly trudging through the storm, yell “Screw the man.” and park on the sidewalk. We need to take a page out of this Indianapolis woman’s rulebook because life is just too short to walk from the parking lot anymore. This woman has given me a second wind as this dreadful semester winds down.She’s reminded me that no storm should stop me from putting myself first. So here are the corners I plan to cut from here on out.First, no more letting people I’ve met multiple times off the hook.If I’ve been introduced to you numerous times at parties or bars, then you should have had the decency to Facebook stalk me and remember my name. Second, no more guilt trips from teachers because I obviously didn’t do the reading.I leave the days behind where I sunk into my chair and avoided eye contact when the class is collectively asked a question.I will hold my head high, the weight lifted off my unburdened shoulders.If called upon specifically, I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.“I’m sorry, professor. I watched ‘Downton Abbey’ instead of doing the reading.” Third, no more lying to sorority sisters at the Sample Gates with buckets for charity.I do have change, but I’m not giving it to you. Because this city is home to parking Nazis that check meters every 30 seconds, and I need my change to make sure I don’t get a ticket. Everyone else can keep their Maya Angelous and their Mother Theresas.I’ve found my bravery in the woman ballsy enough to park on the sidewalk in the storm.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(11/14/13 8:10pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The CW might be known for teen soap dramas of the vampire variety and not for being a ratings powerhouse, but, quite unexpectedly, it’s home to what has become television’s finest drama series.“Arrow,” which debuted last fall, tells the story of Oliver Queen, a billionaire playboy who returns home after five years to moonlight as a masked vigilante, taking down the criminals of Starling City. But like most superheroes, Oliver must keep his identity a secret to protect his family and loved ones.Yeah, we all know that one always works out well.Last season ended with the death of Oliver’s best friend, Tommy, during a man-made earthquake which destroyed the Glades, a poverty- and crime-stricken area of Starling City. Banishing himself to the island where he was lost for five years, Oliver is convinced to return home by Felicity Smoak and John Diggle, the brains and additional brawn behind Oliver’s operation.Oliver’s new method of operation is to no longer kill his enemies and become the hero his city needs. Easier said than done.What makes “Arrow” such a strong show is its willingness to be a little ridiculous without pandering or resorting to cheeky “men-in-capes-and-tights” humor. After all, we are in the superhero genre, so an element of disbelief is necessary. But “Arrow” doesn’t use this as a means to play dumb.The human aspect of the drama is always present. Each character on the show has lost something and is explored beyond a 2D rendering.Oliver’s former girlfriend and city attorney Laurel is turning to alcohol and pills to seek relief from all the death in her life. Oliver’s mother, on trial for her part in the destruction of the Glades, wishes to keep secrets from her children in order to maintain their respect.Not to mention, the show is full of powerful women, both super and otherwise. Laurel’s sister Sara, once presumed dead from the same shipwreck that stranded Oliver, has returned as Black Canary, kicking ass and taking names as she hides from a currently faceless League of Assassins who trained her.Felicity, played by Emily Bett Rickards, continues to be the show’s best character, stepping up her game this season as a true necessity to Oliver’s work.Don’t let the superhero tag keep you away from “Arrow.” Oliver may be a little unrealistic as he dons a hood and shoots arrows at impossibly far away targets, but it’s some of the only must-watch series left on network television.
(11/14/13 7:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Listening to “ARTPOP,” the third album from pop-extravagant Lady Gaga, makes me really miss the late 2000s and early 2010s.Gaga was hot off the release of 2009’s “The Fame Monster,” arguably one of the most influential pop albums of the last decade.She was defining mainstream popular music and challenging the conventions of what it was to be a musical artist.But with the slight comedown that was “Born This Way” and the muddling misfire that is “ARTPOP,” we may be close to calling a time of death for Gaga’s egg-residing and disco-stick dancing career.“ARTPOP” opens with “Aura,” an otherworldly and Eastern-inspired track designed to be accessible in any club on the Jersey shore, which isn’t a good thing.Gaga employs a spoken accent throughout most of the album and especially on the first single, “Applause.”There’s some spoken words on “G.U.Y.” that come off as creepy instead of sexy. You’ll cringe for all the wrong reasons.These voices and accents are supposed to be some sort of cool trademark, but it only becomes annoying as the album plays on.Not to mention it distracts from the fact that when Gaga sings, you remember what a talented vocalist she is.The first half of “ARTPOP,” while certainly listenable, just fails to break new ground in pop music.And I’m sorry, Gaga, but we’re going to hold you to that standard given your track record and agenda of making pop music into high art.Gone are the days when Gaga brought us new thumping club beats in the vein of “Bad Romance” or “Telephone.”Instead, we get songs that sound like anything else on the radio. Gaga has replaced what used to be a mesh of style and substance with full style.The R. Kelly-assisted “Do What U Want” is the exception as the sleekest and actual sexiest track on “ARTPOP.” It’s so good you won’t even wonder why the hell R. Kelly decided to stop by.“ARTPOP” picks up speed in its better second half, where tracks like “Donatella” and “Gypsy” bring some much needed freshness to the album.But at this point, you’re already going to feel like the whole ordeal is running on fumes.By the time “Applause” finally rolls around, you may have already given up and switched over to “The Fame Monster.”We have to hold Gaga to such a standard because she’s shown what a game changer she can be. On “Aura” she asks if we want to see the girl who lives behind the aura.By the time “ARTPOP” is over, we’re no closer to knowing that girl at all.Next time, maybe Gaga should focus on being herself and not everyone else who’s on the radio.
(11/14/13 7:36pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With Lady Gaga’s ‘Artpop’ hitting the shelves this week, Weekend looks at some of the top female pop stars and how they’ve fared in 2013.Katy PerryThe 2013 pop leading lady and winner for biggest music star on the planet goes to Katy Perry.“Roar” stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, knocking down the 12-week reign of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.”Perry’s
new album, “Prism,” debuted at No. 1, selling 286,000 copies and
becoming the highest debut for a female artist this year.Early
critics may have dismissed her as a one-hit wonder who gained fame by
kissing a girl, but Perry clearly has the eye of the tiger and is here
to stay.Best song“Teenage Dream”Worst song“Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”Britney SpearsWhile the celebrated pop perennial’s new album “Britney Jean” doesn’t drop until Dec. 3, the legendary Ms. Britney Spears has almost a decade and a half of hit songs and iconic performances behind her.Unfortunately, her first single, “Work Bitch,” only peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks. Spears will always be a queen, but this doesn’t seem to be her strongest season.Best song“Toxic”Worst song“I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”Miley CyrusIf controversy was the deciding factor, then 2013 would hands down belong to the former Hannah Montana.From the smash singles “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball” to her CNN headline-grabbing VMA performance, Cyrus has totally revamped her good girl image and debuted as one of pop’s sexiest stars.She’s still a little green in the gills compared to some other pop heavyweights, but expect Cyrus to show us more of what she’s got in the years to come.Best song“We Can’t Stop”Worst song“Anything” by Hannah MontanaLordeWhile this New Zealand newcomer just turned 17 a week ago, she hit the ground running with 2012’s “The Love Club” EP.People noticed the sleek, stark, artpop production of that release’s single “Royals,” and the song gained exponential traction leading up to her 2013 debut album “Pure Heroine.”Lorde is an up-and-comer on the pop scene who can’t quite hold a candle to Katy or Gaga, but she’s got nowhere to go but up. And to do that, she picked a pretty good role model. Lorde cited Yeezus himself as a major influence. Best song“Royals”Worst song“Glory and Gore”Lady GagaGaga has always been a performer first rather than a musician. Her extravagant live shows, including her wild and scantily clad performance of “Applause” at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, prove that.She’s an example of a pop star who puts her image before her music. Ever since her 2008 debut album, “The Fame,” her music output has been mediocre.That trend hasn’t changed on “Artpop.” Unfortunately for Gaga, to be the pop queen you’ve gotta have some substance.Best song“Bad Romance”Worst song“Heavy Metal Lover”M.I.A.Maya Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has always been a nonconformist. Her masterful 2007 release, “Kala,” was a game-changer for female rappers.M.I.A. doesn’t shy away from her Sri Lankan roots, but she also knows how to make an insane club banger. Her music is a combination of exotic pop and abrasive, hard-hitting dance.Although she’s probably the most adored by critics of anyone on this list, and some of her singles have seen some pop crossover (most notably “Paper Planes”), she’s still mostly on the underground.Most of her music isn’t quite accessible enough for mainstream radio, and some of her controversies (e.g. her beef with the NFL) keep her from being a pop superstar.Best song“Bring The Noize”Worst song“Come Around”
(11/14/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Whether or not you’re excited that we’re the generation who tweets things before we’ve had the time to fully process them, IU is fully supporting social media taking over the world. And that’s actually pretty cool. Instead of shaming us because half of the time we have our heads buried in our Twitter and Facebook feeds, our University realizes we’re not just hashtagging dumb things and posting #ThrowbackThursdays. We’re also building an online community of Hoosiers. As acceptance letters go out to new Hoosiers during the next couple months, prospective students will receive shiny crimson envelopes with #IUSaidYes across the back.They’re then encouraged to tweet, Instagram and Facebook a photo with their acceptance letter, taking their first steps as part of Hoosier Nation. They may even get retweeted by @IUBloomington, the most followed Big Ten school on Twitter with 81,000 followers and counting.But the #IUSaidYes acceptance letters are just the tip of the social media iceberg. Our Instagram account — also @IUBloomington — is No. 5 in followers and No. 3 in user engagement. Our Pinterest site — which is one form of social media I’ve yet to brave for fear of wedding or baby fever — tops out at more than 23,000 followers. That’s more than half of our school’s population.For a University just shy of its 200th birthday, IU is a rather in-vogue institution. But that’s because the IU community of teachers and students realizes that being a Hoosier is more than just living on campus for four years and attending classes, tailgates and bar crawls. Who among us has resisted Instagramming our favorite part of campus as the leaves change, the snow falls or the trees bloom? These posts are usually accompanied by some form of the phrase, “I live on the most beautiful campus in America.” And we’re right. We do live on the most beautiful campus in America. Sure, we’re a bit biased, and most of us probably haven’t seen more than a handful of American college campuses, but we know we’re right anyway because this is IU.I’d also bet a hefty sum that every single student at IU has taken some class where they could follow a class Twitter or needed to use their own Twitter account to interact with their teacher and fellow classmates. This column will end with a sentence prompting you to follow me on Twitter, because this allows you, the audience, to interact with what I have to say. Critics may scoff at our “Now! Now! Now! Me! Me! Me!” frame of mind, but I applaud IU for jumping on board and realizing the potential for Hoosier Nation to reach every corner of the campus, country and world on social media.IU has gone viral, for better or for worse. But I’m confident it’s for the better. —wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(11/07/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As a blue-bleeding liberal, I’m always thrilled to see more money being poured into schools.But last week when Gov. Mike Pence said more than $9 million will be dispensed among Indiana schools to improve security measures, I found myself at odds with this increase in school funding.This isn’t because I don’t want schools to have proficient security in place. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary last December that claimed the lives of 20 students and the shooting in a Nevada school last month that left one teacher dead are concrete proof that American schools need heightened security.As the brother of a high school freshman, I think anyone going into his school should be required to pass through a metal detector and show identifying credentials in addition to providing a valid reason for entering the school. But schools shouldn’t have prison-like levels of security simply because schools are not prisons designed to keep children locked up for part of their day. Schools are centers of learning where children should feel safe and protected. Otherwise, an environment of productive education can never be fostered. But the days of children walking into schools without jumping through hoops of security and protocol are over.They may feel as if they’re walking into prisons, but it’s for their safety, and it’s the only way we know how to address the problem of violence in schools.My issue is the fact that local schools now need this $9 million for security in the first place.That shootings and gun violence have reached such a mainstay on the national agenda that we hardly blink when a new one occurs. Instead of that $9 million being allocated toward improving education, increasing mental health care in schools or enforcing stricter gun control, we’re settling to fund security — an inevitably last resort effort to stop violence.Why remedy the source of the problem when you can just wait until the last minute to present the result?This funding will allow Indiana schools to employ a school resource officer among funding other measures.Of course schools should have security guards and threat assessments.Of course our first priority must be to protect innocent children and their right to a first-rate education.It would just be nice to live in a country or an age when we could read reports of $9 million going toward improving education and not intensifying school security.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(11/07/13 1:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was the spring of 2002, and I was sitting in a dark movie theater with my brother and grandparents watching Sam Raimi’s feature film adaptation of Stan Lee’s “Spider-Man.”For 121 glorious minutes, I watched Tobey Maguire spinning webs and swinging around New York City, saving Mary Jane Watson and defeating the Green Goblin.Now, I was never a comic book reader. My early morning cartoon choices were more “Pokémon” and “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” instead of “Batman” or “Superman.” But seeing Spidey on the big screen profoundly changed me. I will never be able to go back and locate the exact moment I fell in love with the power of film, but I have to believe “Spider-Man” was a major contributing factor. This may seem like a rather inconsequential and common thing for a young boy growing up in the Midwest, but as a kid who geared toward playing with Disney dolls as opposed to G.I. Joes, superheroes were never supposed to be my thing.But in all great stories, you learn to expect the unexpected.“Spider-Man” opened me up to a whole array of superhero films I would have otherwise never given another thought about. It led me to discover “X-Men ” and multiple Marvel Comics-based films that followed in the wake of the success of “Spider-Man,” like “X2: X-Men United,” “Spider-Man 2” and eventually 2008’s game changer, “Iron Man,” which launched the current Marvel/Disney mega-franchise we have today.Modern superheroes face their fair share of justified criticism. They’re almost always white, predominantly male and exclusively heterosexual on the big screen. These are issues I hope we will find satisfying solutions to in the coming years. But for now, I’ll keep peace with the Marvel universe because what they’re building is monumental, and they have the power and responsibility to make these needed changes to the superhero genre.As Marvel and Disney work together to tie the worlds of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and other superheroes into one continuous movie universe, we should be standing in shock and awe.The talent and collaboration to pull off something this exciting and groundbreaking is almost too much to pack into our tiny brains. Imagine the directors, writers, producers and actors committed across all these Marvel projects. In just the next two years we will see new Thor, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man and Avengers films released through the joint efforts of Marvel Comics and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. As a new crop of young superhero fans grow up in this new Marvel heyday, I can only hope they find the same wonder in these films as I did as a kid. Superheroes are here to remind us that the impossible is possible, that everyday people are capable of huge changes and that good does triumph over evil.It’s a hard message to sell in such cynical times, but someone’s got to put on the cape and try.
(11/05/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The implementation of age restrictions for vices like drinking and smoking is a societal necessity. But societal necessity or no, the argument of how old somebody must be before they can legally buy a beer or a pack of cigarettes will likely volleyball back and forth for as long as people drink and smoke. New York City will, in all likelihood, have a new law raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21. As a non-smoker and a non-resident of New York City, this issue doesn’t affect me directly. But this law affects anyone who, like me, sees no use in taking an already glorified and adult-associated behavior and placing it on a taller pedestal. A driving force behind underage drinking and smoking culture is the fact that people — especially youths — inherently want to engage in activities in which they aren’t allowed to partake. I didn’t drink before I was 21 because I enjoyed the taste of alcohol or because I thought it would better my life. I drank because my older friends did and I thought they were cool. I don’t regret this. I think it’s a rite of passage for any teenager to rebel a bit, as long as they remain smart and safe.But teenagers develop this mentality because we glorify alcohol and tobacco by putting it on the highest shelf and wagging a disapproving finger at them.This is why 4,000 people younger than 18 will try their first cigarette today, and why one-fourth of those minors will continue the habit every day. We’re afraid to educate and instead choose to restrict and shelter children from what we deem bad for them.Whether New York City legally restricts a larger group of young people from purchasing cigarettes, those adolescents who want to smoke will find a way to do so. Let’s allocate our resources to educating teenagers on the dangers of smoking and let them make their own choices on the matter. Laws that just make the pedestal taller treat the instantaneous symptoms and not the ongoing problem.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(10/31/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Twitter is a pretty handy little communication device, which is why a hashtag like #MensRightsMovies can flare up pretty quickly and create all sorts of fun commentary on so-called “men’s rights activists.”The hashtag came about when Aaminah Khan was conducting a Twitter rant in opposition to white privilege and took on subset of “My Little Pony” male fans who call themselves “bronies” and are men’s rights activists.Khan tweeted “my little ho-ny: friendship is worthless #mensrightsmovies.”What followed was a string of tweets aimed at teasing the patriarchal perspective of most Hollywood films.“Silence of the Women.”“Girl, Interrupted By A Man Who Knows Better.”“You’ve Got Male Privilege.”“Dude, Where’s My Patriarchy?”“Driving Miss Andry.”It’s great fun to come up with various plays on popular movie titles to deconstruct our male-dominated society.But more importantly, why does anybody think we need activists for men’s rights?I must have missed the national conversation addressing potential legislation to politicize my male genitals.Or the fact that women now suddenly earn astronomically higher salaries than men and hold more than half of the CEO jobs on the list of Fortune 500 companies.Oh right, none of those things have happened.One justification for men’s rights activism is the abundance of organizations working to edify and educate society on issues affecting women and minorities, but no such movement for men.Well, let’s take a look at some historical facts. Women haven’t even had the right to vote in America for 100 years.In the Senate, women only occupy 20 of 100 seats.In Congress, women only occupy 98 of 535 seats.On average, that’s around 20 percent female representation in government in a country where women make up more than half of the population.Without any liberal snark or sass, I would genuinely love for someone to point out to me where men’s rights are being underrepresented.White men may feel discriminated against on many grounds.Maybe it’s a lack of experience when seeking a job or insight when shut out of a conversation of which they’re not deemed worthy.White men may even be discriminated against because of their sexuality or societal status. But none of those things have anything to do with a man’s gender.While men’s rights activists may have the sound intention of getting their voices out there, they need to realize they’ve never had to fight for a platform to do so. That was a battle forced upon women and minorities that still exists today.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(10/31/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every year Halloween comes around and I achieve an unreasonable level of giddiness.It’s finally seasonally appropriate to watch all my favorite horror flicks drenched in buckets of blood and psychotic murderers, monsters and mongrels.Too often horror is reduced to remakes and gratuitous nudity.So, when a truly terrifying and authentically artistic horror film is released, it should get attention.Here’s a selection of essential Halloween movies for your spooking pleasure.1. Halloween (1978)The one, the only, the true epitome of the horror/slasher genre. “Halloween” is simply the greatest scary movie ever made.From the opening reveal where we watch a grisly murder through the eyes of a child killer to the epic “Is he still alive?!” ending that was actually original in the late 1970s, director John Carpenter took horror and independent filmmaking to new heights.But the true brilliance of “Halloween” is Michael Myers.Why is the masked man so chilling? We don’t know why he’s killing people.There’s no motive, no reason. Just unadulterated madness. That, my friends, is true fear. 2. The Exorcist (1973)Filmmakers have, with varying amounts of success, tried to create the new “it” horror villain throughout the decades.But who could be scarier than the original bad guy — the devil?The first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, “The Exorcist” tells the story of a young girl possessed by a demonic being, her actress mother and the troubled priest who must help them.From the brief flashes of a horrifying demonic face cut into the film to the famous “pea soup” projectile vomit scene, this one is just as disturbing as it must have been 40 years ago.This is where watching horror between your fingers was born.3. The Descent (2005)Neil Marshall’s thriller is the closest someone has come to matching the hey-day of horror films of the 1970s and 1980s.Beginning as a tale of six friends lost in the caves of North Carolina, the film quickly descends into madness as the women are picked off one by one by blind, caving-dwelling creatures.Though the monsters are terrifying in their own right, “The Descent” attains better scares when it questions the landscape of human nature and if we have the disposition to help one another or save our own skins. 4. Jennifer’s Body (2009)I’m counting this one because it was marketed heavily as a horror film, though it’s far from one.Penned by Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody, this Megan Fox vehicle is downright hilarious.The movie is filled with the same wit Cody brought to “Juno,” and there are some genuine scares and jumps as Fox’s Jennifer devours boys to stay vibrant, and her best gal friend, Needy, attempts to rescue her damned soul.This is the kind of film that will find a cult audience within the next decade, and let’s hope it will be celebrated for the masterpiece it is down the line.
(10/24/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Over my freshman, sophomore, and junior years of college, all I heard about was the coveted senior year.After three years of sleepless nights, 20-page research papers, weekend Finite midterms and endless cups of caffeinated beverages, you finally earned a carefree and wild senior year before you jet-set off into the real adult of unemployment, mortgages and disappointment.But, in my fourth year at IU, I’m not raging at the bars Thursday through Saturday nights.I’m not looking at my planner on a Monday night, yelling, “YOLO!” and drowning in a box of Franzia.I’ve barely even skipped a class.Instead, I’m working at a newspaper that publishes five days a week, taking classes I don’t enjoy to complete a degree I’m not sure I’ll ever use, and using the free time I have to do outside work for those commitments. Basically, senior year is not what I was promised. Go figure.Now, you probably think this column is bound to be a dumb rant by an overprivileged and ungrateful white man who should just shut up and appreciate he’s getting a university education. That’s exactly what this column is, and I’m embarrassed.Because if there’s a way to shut up and be grateful, I have yet to discover it.Here I stand, a prime example of the “Me! Me! Me!” generation to which everyone claims I belong. So maybe I’m writing this to get a little bit of anger out of my system.Maybe this is just a more public way of venting about my issues. But maybe it can be something more.I’m sure I’m not the only IU senior out there having a rough time of it.I hope in writing this little unthankful rant someone else out there will realize it’s never going to be all it’s cracked up to be.So here’s what I plan to do moving forward as a senior in my last few months at IU.I’m not going to live this year like it’s already over.As slowly as time seems to move when you’re studying or writing papers, I know I’ll be graduating before I can say, “How do I adult?”I’m not going to beat myself up every time I hear people talking about all the interviews they’ve lined up or all the job offers they’ve received.Because chances are they’re secretly just as scared and miserable as I am. There might not be a senior support group where we can hold hands and talk about how scary it is going to be as an adult with a college degree, but we’re all going to bein that boat. Eventually, we’re all going to have to dive in and accept that real life is just around the corner.And guess what? It isn’t going to be a walk in the park anymore.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(10/17/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Underage people drink alcohol.This is a reality to which countless people on the Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board have dedicated their columns.A vast majority of the time, this is an occurrence that passes without much fanfare. Occasionally tragedy will strike, and the repercussions must be faced. We all must debate how we plan to go about remedying the issue of consumption by minors.The soundest option is to educate the safest methods of drinking without condoning or making excuses for moronic kids and the dumb choices they make.Which is why it’s disconcerting to witness the blatant ignorance of North Andover High School in North Andover, Mass.Here, a sober 17-year-old senior was suspended after attempting to pick up an intoxicated friend up from a party.Erin Cox has been stripped of her position as captain on the volleyball team and suspended for five games because she arrived at a party to pick up a friend when the police came.The school feels justified in punishing Cox because of its zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol.This is a case that makes me thrilled to live in Indiana, where the Lifeline Law protects intoxicated minors who make moral judgment calls when someone’s life may be in danger.The law isn’t perfect, and Cox wouldn’t necessarily benefit from it if this had happened in Indiana.But it shows how some factions of society are willing to compromise on educating minors about drinking culture.The Lifeline Law shows how encouraging the safeguarding of those who may have drank too much can lead to conversation and cultivation of good habits, not condemnation. In a country where 4,700 teens die from alcohol use every year, Erin Cox attempted to bring that harrowing statistic down just a hair.Erin Cox didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, she did everything right by going to pick up her drunken friend from a party. If I were Erin, I’d sleep better at night knowing I more than likely saved somebody’s life.A few days suspension is worth that burden off her shoulders. But shame on North Andover High School, a school system that refuses to acknowledge Erin Cox is a hero and not a delinquent. We will never be able to prevent every alcohol related death, just like we will never be able to stop minors from procuring and drinking alcohol.But we should not stand by idly as a school system punishes someone for doing the right thing.Erin Cox was in the right place at the wrong time in the midst of doing a noble act.She deserves your praise. She certainly has mine.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(10/17/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“American Horror Story,” the often brilliant and always ridiculous television anthology created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, is back with some major bitchcraft.Over the last two excellent seasons, the pair explored a murder house whose inhabitants, including a Franken-baby and a Rubber Man gimp, are left to haunt the property after dying there and a maliciously run asylum with some aliens and Nazis thrown in for good measure. The show has always danced along the line of self-aware camp and utterly scary imagery. With season three, Murphy and Falchuk introduce a coven of witches in modern day New Orleans. This season premiere also bounces back to 1843 New Orleans, where Kathy Bates’ Madame LaLaurie (a real life socialite and serial killer) tortures her slaves and uses their blood as a moisturizer. Nothing is sacred in “American Horror Story,” and we shouldn’t want it any other way. As always, this season is filled to the gut with crazy plot lines and characters. Taissa Farmiga’s Zoe accidently kills her boyfriend during sex and, at the behest of her family, is sent away to Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, a southern boarding school where the student enrollment rate has dropped to four young ladies. It’s these supporting women that give “Coven” its fire. Emma Roberts plays Madison, a mean girl movie scarlet with telekinetic powers. Gabourey Sidibe is human voodoo doll Queenie, and Jamie Brewer is a psychic with Down syndrome. A dinner scene involving Queenie’s powers, Madison’s attitude and a fork give the season its first awesomely comedic gross-out moment. Unfortunately, the season three slump is palpable at moments. Jessica Lange does the same crazy lady she’s played for two years. Make no mistake, she’s great, and this season she seems to be having a bit more fun than usual. But it’s all so one-note three years in. Sarah Paulson, robbed of an Emmy for “Asylum” last year, is given next to nothing to do. If “Coven” wants to reach to heights of “Murder House” and “Asylum,” they’re going to need to flesh out their most talented actresses.The writing remains as a sharp as ever. Lange’s supreme witch Fiona Goode purrs to Paulson, “Don’t make me drop a house on you,” and compares Miss Robichaux’s to Hogwarts before flinging Madison against the wall with a flick of her hand. It’s this melodramatic and referential dialogue that has always made “American Horror Story” undeniable fun. This season will need to pick up some slack and develop some characters to reach its true potential, but “Coven” proves that the most masterfully produced television doesn’t have to take itself so seriously.
(10/10/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU students are used to avoiding plenty of people they see on campus.We steer clear of exes, old roommates, sorority girls with buckets for donations, Green Peace, etc. The list goes on and on. But there are two types of people you want to adamantly evade above all others. They’re the ones who pass out Bibles and the ones who hand you inflammatory pamphlets about abortion and Planned Parenthood. The latter group of people visited our campus this week, and I’m all riled up.Anti-Planned Parenthood advocates handed out propaganda that insinuated that Planned Parenthood admits its abortion services are “murdering” unborn children.Regardless of how you view the abortion debate, only 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services are related to abortion. This is not enough to prosecute an institution founded and funded to provide affordable health care not only to women, but to men as well.Five million people will annually visit one of the nearly 750 Planned Parenthood health centers across the nation. That includes women and men of all ages. Planned Parenthood will perform more than half a million Pap tests and breast exams every year — two critical services needed to monitor women’s health and screen for cancer. Planned Parenthood will administer more than four million tests and treatment services for sexually transmitted infections each year.That’s a service with no gender wall. Planned Parenthood can test or treat you for an STI regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman.And people have the audacity to criminalize Planned Parenthood for performing abortions, a medical procedure that has been federally legal in this country for nearly 40 years.Now, this is a country where free speech is celebrated and encouraged.As IU is a public institution on public property, anyone is welcome to come and attempt to pitch ideas to us.But it becomes a whole different ballgame when those people involve minors. More than half of the people I encountered handing out the anti-Planned Parenthood propaganda were young teenagers who couldn’t have been older than 15 or 16. I realize teenagers have opinions. I certainly did at that age.But letting adolescents hand out pamphlets with pictures of partially aborted fetuses and holding up posters of inflammatory images to make their point is borderline lunacy.Don’t involve kids in your battle. It’s not their fight.The abortion debate isn’t going to go away.But neither is Planned Parenthood, no matter how hard some states try and defund the positive work the health centers provide. So, the haters can bring on all the rabble-rousing and uninformed propaganda they want.Planned Parenthood and all its wonderful health services are here to stay. — wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(10/10/13 2:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In case you haven’t been paying attention, Miley Cyrus has gone from Disney teen queen to Pop Tart sex kitten before you had the chance to say “she can’t be tamed.” Like Britney and Rihanna before her, Cyrus has shed her adolescent skin and reworked her image into music’s latest wild child, whether you like it or not.But let’s put all the twerking talk and “Wrecking Ball” chatter aside to discuss how “Bangerz” is the so-stupid-you’ll-love-it pop album we’ve been craving all year.The title isn’t a lie. Most of the selections on “Bangerz” are club tracks from A-list producers such as Mike Will Made It, Dr. Luke and Pharrell Williams. The opening song, “Adore You” is a bit of a yawn-inducing misfire, but the rest of the album hits its stride as soon as “We Can’t Stop,” arguably one of the summer’s best pop ditties, queues up. Cyrus follows it up with a Britney Spears collaboration called “SMS (Bangerz),” and the stupid silly fun doesn’t let up.“4x4,” a Pharrell Williams-produced and Nelly-assisted track, has a ridiculous country thump married to a slick club beat, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best song on the whole album.“#GETITRIGHT” is right up there, though. But no surprise, seeing as it’s another Pharrell production.And while “Wrecking Ball” is a pretty listenable power ballad, it’s really nothing that special. You’d be more satisfied waiting for the inevitable, and hopefully awesome, acoustic version. Cyrus is right at home with the glossy, ‘80s-influenced electro beats, a pinch of dubstep and her unvarnished vocals. The album has a strong cohesion that introduces Cyrus as the young, independent woman she’s selling herself as these days.As her first album since “Hannah Montana” ended its run, Cyrus’s “Bangerz” feels like the debut album she couldn’t drop until now. It’s a solid kiss-off to her haters so the rest of us can stay at her party until the whole harebrained ordeal is over. So while Cyrus has a while to go until she proves to have the longevity of some of her pop peers, “Bangerz” is a perfectly solid start to what’s hopefully a long — and crazy — career in pop music.
(10/10/13 2:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If there are two things I like to talk about ad nauseam, it’s movies and sex. So in honor of Weekend’s sex issue and the combination of my two favorite topics, here are the very best, steamiest and most memorable sex scenes captured on film in the last 10 years.1) Black Swan (2010)The fact that “Black Swan” is a great horror movie notwithstanding, the sexual encounter between Natalie Portman’s innocent Nina Sayers and Mila Kunis’ seductive Lily is hands down one of the hottest things to ever be filmed.It may have all just been a dream in Nina’s head, but this is the stuff of ultimate fantasy. Beginning with that “come hither” look Lily gives Nina and commencing with Lily’s black swan tattoo morphing as she goes down on Nina, the scene will floor you in every possible way.I have a rug burn scar on my foot from watching the scene in my friend’s living room. And that was probably the third or fourth time I’d seen the movie. It only gets hotter with time.2) Atonement (2007)The library encounter between Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner needed to set the tone for the whole film, seeing as the lovers are separated for the majority of the two hour running time.And believe me, it does.Propped up against a bookshelf as her gorgeous green gown flows down beneath her, Keira Knightley’s Cecilia and James McAvoy’s Robbie commence a long, drawn-out flirtation that ends with a false accusation by Cecilia’s jealous sister and Robbie’s unfortunate incarceration.The scene is at once sexually charged and wholly romantic, a rare trick that is achieved with stirring performances and director Joe Wright’s deft eye for subtle camera work.3) A History of Violence (2005)Early on in “A History of Violence” there is a tame and playful sex scene between Tom and Edie Stall, a married couple using a cheerleading uniform to spark up their foreplay.But later, after Edie learns Tom lied about his identity and has a very violent and criminal past, their second sex scene is charged and a little bit frightening.Maria Bello’s Edie storms up the stairs and Viggo Mortensen’s Tom attempts to stop and reason with her. The pair ends up in what can only be described as the epitome of angry sex on the wooden stairs of their home.4) Little Children (2006)Picking a sex scene to talk about in “Little Children” is like deciding which finger on your hand is your favorite; you can’t really go wrong with any of them.But the suburban drama, which finds Kate Winslet’s Sarah and Patrick Wilson’s Brad conducting a summer love affair behind the backs of their spouses, hits its sexual peak when Sarah and Brad have sex for the first time on Sarah’s washer and dryer.The scene is shot with an unflattering amount of sweat and unrelenting camera angles, making Sarah and Brad’s first time as shocking to the audience as it is to them.
(10/10/13 1:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lizzy Caplan has been on the verge of becoming a huge star for a while now. Over the last decade, she’s been the highlight of films like “Mean Girls,” “Cloverfield,” and “Bachelorette.” But now with “Masters of Sex,” Showtime’s latest hour-long drama, Caplan has found her breakout role.It isn’t a stretch to think we may see Caplan’s name on the Emmy nominations list come next summer.Caplan’s co-lead, Michael Sheen, plays Dr. William Masters, a fertility doctor and researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., who decides to embark into the potentially scandalous sexual research territory. Dr. Masters hires Virginia Johnson (Caplan), a former nightclub singer with no science background, to help him with his research. As Johnson, Caplan radiates the star power necessary to carry this sex research drama created by Michelle Ashford. In a show set during chauvinistic times, Johnson is a strong, level-headed woman breaking into a field dominated by men. Caplan is more than game and steals the show. Don’t think this show is a cheap “Kinsey” knock-off. While it treads similar territory, “Masters of Sex” is a story about the people behind the sex research revolution. It doesn’t seem as interested in the ramifications the research will have across the nation.The pilot, helmed by “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” director John Madden, does a fine job setting up intriguing questions and dynamic characters.Masters is a sex researcher who struggles with intimacy in his own marriage. His wife, Libby, blames herself for not getting pregnant. Johnson is able to separate sex and love, something her male colleague, Dr. Ethan Haas (Nicholas D’Agosto), is unable to do. Each character has a solid base and plenty of potential to build from. While period dramas like “Mad Men” have successfully broken down and analyzed gender roles of mid-20th century men and women, “Masters of Sex” focuses more on the personal than the professional. But sex research seems to be where the personal and the professional will inevitably merge, at least based on Masters’ proposal to Johnson at the pilot’s end. While the rest of the season may need some lively pacing to keep the audience alert and tuning in, the pilot of “Masters of Sex” is more than enough of a jumping off point to get viewers hooked. Tune in for the titillating content. Stay for the dramatic, gender-shaking potential.