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The Indiana Daily Student

The reason to buy an Xbox 360

By C. Warner Sills and Chris Freiberg · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:45 p.m.

It took more than a year, but finally Xbox 360's killer app has arrived. "Gears of War" is the first truly "next-gen" game, something that could not possibly have been done on older consoles and will make your jaw drop the first time you see it in action. The game plays like a strategic third person shooter, which means that tactics are more important than going in all guns blazing. You will have to move methodically from cover to cover if you wish to eliminate the cunning Locust horde. Luckily, simple and intuitive controls ensure a fun experience under heavy fire.

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A tenuous study in paranoia

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:43 p.m.

In the loaded pantheon of drug cinema, Richard Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly" falls somewhere in the purgatory between "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle." Based on a Philip K. Dick novel, "Scanner" is the story of Substance D, a sort of crack-on-crack hallucinogen with as many slaves as pushers and quite a reputation in government and law enforcement circles. Keanu Reeves is Bob Arctor, a D-addicted divorcee hired by the local police force to rat out his D-addicted buddies, Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane, Winona Ryder and a never-punchier Robery Downey Jr. As the film progresses, the opening scene's sense of humor gives way to a melange of paranoia, espionage and the maze of withdrawal. As with many drug films, "Scanner" occasionally takes bigger bites into the drug culture than it can handle, but Linklater does his best to keep everything relatively grounded.

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Pirates sequel both entertaining and overwrought

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:41 p.m.

Functioning as the "Empire Strikes Back" of the as-of-yet-unfinished "Pirates of the Carribean" trilogy (dark, anticlimactic, at times unnecessarily complicated), "Dead Man's Chest" showcases most of the best and some of the worst in its genre. Not that "Empire" has any flaws, mind you, but those Dagobah scenes are a test of patience. One part rousing, gorgeously shot and choreographed action and one part laborious, overwrought plot progression, "Dead Man's Chest" works primarily because of its two award-worthy lead characters. Already with a Golden Globe nod, Johnny Depp's iconic Jack Sparrow retains his standing as the only heart and soul of director Gore Verbinski's trilogy, and Bill Nighy's performance as the malevolent Davy Jones (with significant assistance from Industrial Light & Magic) guarantees "Dead Man's Chest" the visual effects Oscar.

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'Office' team avoid sophomore slump

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:39 p.m.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, several years removed from creating one of the few funniest shows ever to grace television screens, return with "Extras," a much subtler triumph. The team's original U.K. incarnation of "The Office," so vastly superior to the current U.S. knockoff it cannot be overstated, featured Gervais as much-maligned office manager David Brent, a character not very dissimilar from "Extras"' downtrodden quasi-actor Andy Millman. Gervais portrays both men as hollow jokesters screaming for pity and finding none.

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Around the World

Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:37 p.m.

Thick, billowing smoke and flames fed by volatile chemicals leaking from a derailed train in Brooks, Ky., continued to belch into the sky Wednesday, frustrating officials long after the accident shut down a highway and forced evacuations.

The Indiana Daily Student

Senate panel approves tax breaks

By Andrew Taylor · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:36 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Tax breaks for small businesses sailed through a Senate committee Wednesday, paving the way for an expected boost in the federal minimum wage for workers those businesses hire.

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Mike Judge vs the world

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:35 p.m.

I love Hollywood, I really do, but sometimes the big studios can really piss me off. Example: "Idiocracy." Here's a good comedy (albeit not great, but better compared to most films released these days) that got shelved for more than a year, barely received a theatrical release (only 125 theaters in seven cities) and was left to die on DVD, all because Fox didn't feel it was marketable. Interesting, because if audiences just gave the film a chance, it might actually have been a moderate word-of-mouth hit.

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34,452 Iraqi civilians killed in '06

By Steven R. Hurst · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 7:35 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Twin car bombs tore through a leading Baghdad university as students left classes Tuesday in the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly two months, and the United Nations reported 34,452 civilians were slain last year, nearly three times more than the government reported.

The Indiana Daily Student

The power of illusion

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:45 p.m.

Somehow I didn't see either of 2006's magician movies ("The Prestige" being the other) in theaters so I can't compare the two. That's a good thing, because "The Illusionist" is a fine film on its own that shouldn't only be weighed against something similar. Edward Norton plays Eisenheim, a popular magician in 1900 Vienna. Eisenheim's shows capture the attention of the city's Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who swears him as an enemy when Eisenheim forms a relationship with his fiancée (Jessica Biel, finally in a role that doesn't require her to just be hot.) Leopold assigns his chief policeman Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to watch over Eisenheim until problems arise and cause Uhl to doubt his loyalties.

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Waking up is sometimes a good thing

By C. Warner Sills and Craig Shank · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:44 p.m.

There may be a slough of female songstresses scattered about the indie landscape, but few are able to convey their melancholy quite as deliciously as Julie Doiron does. Dorion began her career playing bass for Canada's own Eric's Trip in 1990 at age 18. When Eric's Trip ended in 1996, she began a promising solo career under the moniker of "Broken Girl." She eventually began releasing music under her own name and has released six full length albums and two EPs prior to I Woke Myself Up.

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'Curse' of the soap opera

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:44 p.m.

No one can deny that Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou is one of Asia's greatest filmmakers. Having built a strong career with human dramas such as "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Ju Dou," then completely taking a different direction with masterful martial arts entries "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," I'm disappointed to say that Yimou's latest effort, "Curse of the Golden Flower," is the worst film he has ever made.

The Indiana Daily Student

Better than the preview

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsky · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:44 p.m.

When I first saw previews for "Freedom Writers," I thought it was another cliché story about story about a teacher who won't give up on her students. Luckily, I believe in the idea that you shouldn't judge a movie by its previews and gave this movie a chance.

The Indiana Daily Student

Del Toro's fantastic fairy tale

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:44 p.m.

After dabbling in Hollywood fare such as "Blade 2" and "Hellboy," Mexican director Guillermo del Toro returns to his native Spanish tongue with the excellent "Pan's Labyrinth." Set during the final days of the Spanish Civil War of the 1940s, the film tells the story of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero -- enough about Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine," this is the child performance of the year), a young girl who moves to the countryside after her pregnant mother is remarried to a military captain. The captain, a soulless prick of a man, is set on running out hiding rebels.

The Indiana Daily Student

Wincing produces Smiles

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:44 p.m.

The Shins' Wincing The Night Away doesn't come out until Jan. 23, but how about an early heads-up? Help you take a bit of the gamble out of pre-ordering, perhaps? Lets cut to the chase. Shins fans: Don't worry, they've still got it. While Chutes Too Narrow remains my favorite, Wincing is very satisfying -- falling well within that difficult balance between freshness and familiarity.

The Indiana Daily Student

Do the Mew

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:43 p.m.

Mew. If there's any justice left in the world of popular music, you'll be hearing that name in terms of top 40 rock radio and nationwide stadium tours. A big success in Europe since 2003, the Danish band finally brought their huge, spacey, melodic prog-rock to the United States in 2006 with their fourth album, And The Glass Handed Kites, which, despite Pitchfork liking it, is really quite excellent. Now, perhaps as a sign of faith in future U.S. sales, Sony will release their original 2003 breakthrough Frengers in the United States on Jan. 23. So, what should you expect?

The Indiana Daily Student

'Crank' it down a notch

By C. Warner Sills and Benny Goldman · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:43 p.m.

I was really excited when I started "Crank." Jason Statham is solid in everything he does; the concept of a guy who needed to keep moving or face death seemed very compelling, and I love a good action movie. What followed over the next 83 minutes (only 83!?) was a boring, contrived and disappointing exercise in patience. The plot, if it can be called that, is based around contract-killer Chev Chelios (Statham) being poisoned by a rival with a "Beijing Cocktail." This cocktail is a lethal mix with effects that can only be slowed down by constantly getting an adrenaline rush, but will eventually work within a time limit that Verona places at an hour.

The Indiana Daily Student

'Bandidas' wanted for stealing time

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:43 p.m.

If movie reviews could come in the form of wanted posters, mine would read something along these lines: WANTED: Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek for the theft of 93 minutes from numerous critics and film watchers and for taking their careers to a new low. There would be no reward as we'd be saving people from a "Bandidas" sequel. "Bandidas" is nothing more than one of those foul joke films. You know the kind where two actors say to one another, "Hey wouldn't it be great if we did this kind of movie together?" The kind of movie being a Western that borders on parody with a story told countless times in the past and lacking originality.

The Indiana Daily Student

Not the top 'Dog'

By C. Warner Sills and K. A. MacDonald · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 5:43 p.m.

"Alpha Dog" is based on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest people to appear on the FBI's Most Wanted List. With a plot like that, you would think that there is a lot of potential to be exciting, fresh and dramatic, but the movie fails on all three accounts. I found it to be a mixture between a bad gangsta video and an after-school special gone wrong with a bit of the "Three Stooges" thrown in. One of the biggest problems that the movie has is that the audience laughs throughout the tough guy scenes. The movie has a soccer mom's SUV being borrowed with permission to do illegal deeds, a street thug who wears a tie to work as a salesman and a one-on-eight fight scene that turns in to a cheesy karate flick.

The Indiana Daily Student

Around the World

Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 12:43 a.m.

Fidel Castro has had at least three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, and the Cuban leader faces "a very grave prognosis," a Spanish newspaper reported Tuesday.

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