Region

Great acting doesn't save 'Jacket'

By Miranda Higdon · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:41 p.m.

"The Jacket" is a dark, bleak film rife with harsh screeches and brutal, stabbing flashes of memory. Sounds normally peripheral are unnaturally loud, like breathing or the buckling of straps. Director John Maybury employs numerous extreme close-ups of eyes and mouths. The jagged, tuneless music complements the cramped, cheerless tone of the film perfectly. If any of these things in large quantities make you uncomfortable, then this film may not be to your liking.

'Wounded city' holds terror summit

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:41 p.m.

MADRID, Spain -- Nations must band together to fight an international terrorism threat because most are too weak to deal with it on their own, a world summit on the new century's scourge was told Tuesday. Leading experts on terrorism also stressed the new enemy only can be contained and might claim lives for decades to come.

Travolta comes up 'Shorty' in sequel

By -Alec Toombs · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:39 p.m.

Ten years after "Get Shorty" hit theaters comes the unnecessary but intermittently entertaining sequel, "Be Cool." Despite dismissals from numerous critics across the country, "Cool" actually lives up to its name at times.

'Phoenix' rises to the occasion

By -Kehla West · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:35 p.m.

The DVD release of "Flight of the Phoenix" is a lot like the movie itself: mediocre fluff, but ultimately a little less than good. The movie is good, in a Saturday-afternoon-at-the-movies sort of way. It's a popcorn flick, without any real cinematic value, but I liked it. A team of humanitarians involved with a Red Cross-like agency are flying across Mongolia on their way home. Naturally, the plane crashes in the least accessible part of the desert, and because their agency was already strapped for cash, it doesn't look like anyone is going to be coming for them.

'Bringing Up' a classic

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:33 p.m.

What happens when you combine Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, a dog and a pet leopard all into one movie? You end up getting one of the greatest comedies of the classic Hollywood era, that's what!

Send this prequel back to hell

By Evan Wade · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:31 p.m.

After wasting 114 minutes of my life with "Exorcist: The Beginning," I can only recommend that others not even bother watching it. Like the original "Exorcist"? It doesn't matter. Looking for a good lark to watch with your buddies over a few beers? Don't rent it. Watch "Blood Freak," "Basket Case" or something else with low production values and a high camp factor.

Johnson's latest 'Dreams' a success

By Diana Tychsen · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:28 p.m.

Jack Johnson traded in his surfboard for a guitar when he was 14 and has since secured international success with On and On, and his January 2001 debut, Brushfire Fairytales. His latest album, In Between Dreams, was released March 1, and the first single "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing," already has people anticipating that sweet, Cat Stevens-esque simplicity that he mastered on his first two recordings.

Don't ever put 'Frances' on 'Mute'

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:25 p.m.

It's been almost five years since post-hardcore act At the Drive-In parted ways and went on to form all new musical incarnations. While three-fifths of ATDI created the atmospheric Sparta, the rest of the band, singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, would go on to form the highly experimental group the Mars Volta. And while Sparta is pretty good and the old tunes of At the Drive-In are simply unforgettable, the Mars Volta does an amazing job on its latest release, Frances the Mute.

Fitty avoids sophomore slump

By John Barnett · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:24 p.m.

Even for someone possessing the brash bravado of Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent), following up a record as brutally loaded as his own debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', would prove an overwhelming task. With 11 million copies sold, Get Rich threw 50's intimidatingly talented hat in the ring while doing its part to bring back some of rap's ferocity lost after the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. It's also become somewhat of a modern rap classic.

Group begins the battle with mental illness stereotypes

By Monica Dix · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:22 p.m.

After hearing continuous derogatory remarks having to do with mental illnesses, Meredith Canada decided something needed to be done to educate students.

Claiming the posthumous prize

By John Barnett · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:21 p.m.

I suppose I should open with a few simple queries. Is there actually anyone out there who truly feels that Ray Charles made the finest album of 2004? Was Green Day's American Idiot too overtly blue state-friendly? Was Kanye West's The College Dropout too generously explicit? Were Usher's Confessions and Alicia Keys' The Diary of Alicia Keys jam-packed with too much pedestrian and mundane R&B? I suppose none of that matters, because Charles died, and untimely death will always take precedence over genuine artistry.

Movies make the best medicine

By -Kehla West · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:20 p.m.

I had a friend come down with mono last week, so I did what any good friend would do: I swooped in with a box of popsicles and an armload of DVDs. But this wasn't any hasty rescue mission, mind you. It was a well-planned humanitarian act. And she needed my help; when I arrived at her apartment she was watching an Oprah movie. And it wasn't even a good Oprah movie. Poor thing.

Branding education

By Warren Christopher Freiberg · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:15 p.m.

Maybe I've played too much "Grand Theft Auto," but when I think of the color red, I think about blood. And when I think of the letter "J" I think of the word "joint." Instead of conjuring images of a drug deal gone wrong, leaders of the School of Journalism think red banners with a giant "J" on them will get people to think of "media careers that matter" as part of their new branding campaign.

Crime and punishment

By Edward Delp · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:14 p.m.

In the battle to reduce crime, there seem to be two schools of thought. One, focus on rehabilitation and make prison a livable place. Two, focus on punishment and make prison so horrible that nobody in their right mind would want to go there.

Planning ahead of abortion

By Amy Obermeyer · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:13 p.m.

I hate abortion. I could never have one, and I feel terrible for any woman who feels so desperate that she would walk into an abortion clinic. Yet I, like many people, recognize a woman's right to choose.

Public money for Kinsey

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:12 p.m.

Scholars pride themselves on a devotion to facts and hard data from which they can draw conclusions that affect our lives. As students at a research university, we, as well as society in general, have a right to facts and evidence to broaden our educations and to learn about our world. We need that information.

Lawmaker's bill would close some loopholes in Open Door Law

By Alyson Brodsy and Deanna Wrenn · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:11 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A state lawmaker trying to plug holes in Indiana laws favoring open government wants to ban "serial" meetings and forbid votes on public business by telephone and over the Internet. Legislation that would make these tactics a violation of the Open Door Law passed the state Senate unanimously in February and moved to the House for consideration. "Most governing bodies try very hard, I think, to comply with open-door laws.

Lithgow enjoys villainous 'sleight of hand' in musical

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:06 p.m.

NEW YORK -- John Lithgow can be forgiven for taking unwholesome glee in being a scoundrel. He said the part of consummate con man in the new musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" comes naturally to him. "What I do is sleight of hand," he said. "Trying to make people believe something when they know perfectly well it's not true."

Drama department announces new season

By Lyndsay Gilman · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:05 p.m.

Classic and modern productions from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to Pulitzer Prize-winning "Wit" will be showcased next year at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center, 275 N. Jordan Ave. Chairman of the IU Department of Theatre and Drama Jonathan Michaelsen announced the 2005-2006 season Friday at the Theatre Circle dinner.

Actors learn to work on a tight budget

By Josh Kastrinsky · Tuesday, March 8,2005 11:03 p.m.

On the set of a low-budget film, many of the amenities granted to Hollywood actors seem as far away as a mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif. On this low-budget set, there are no amenities -- all actors are responsible for their own costuming, hair, makeup and morale. Ross Matsuda knows this all too well by now.