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'Letters' from Eastwood

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

As I walked out of the theater last October after viewing "Flags of Our Fathers," the disappointment in my mind only reminded me that "Letters from Iwo Jima," Clint Eastwood's companion piece from the Japanese perspective (filmed almost entirely in Japanese, save two English segments), would be a better film. What I did not expect upon viewing "Letters" is that it would join "Saving Private Ryan," "The Thin Red Line" and "The Longest Day" as one of the greatest WWII films ever made.

Suburbia under a magnifying glass

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

As I watched "Little Children," I felt like I was on one of the worst emotional rollercoasters in a long time: One long moment of laughter followed by a sudden 50-foot plummet into anxiety only to gaze at a horrific corkscrew in the distance. After it ended, I felt blown away by all the forces thrown at me in succession. Director Todd Field ("In the Bedroom") takes the New York Times best-selling book by Tom Perrotta (they also collaborated on the screenplay) and places the world of suburbia under the magnifying glass. Only unlike so many portraits of that world, this time the sun is shining to burn away the seams.

Super sweet 15

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsky · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

When Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland were asked to photograph their neighbor's quinceañera, little did they know doing so would result in an extraordinary film and winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards (Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize). "Quinceañera" is a coming-of-age story about 14-year-old Magdalena (Emily Rios), and the events that lead up to her quinceañera, a traditional Mexican celebration when a girl turns 15. When Magdalena doesn't fit into her quinceañera dress, it is assumed she is pregnant. Although Magdalena is a "virgin," a pregnancy test confirms she is pregnant.

Must-see TV is back

By C. Warner Sills and Brian Hettmansperger · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

Good news! With NBC's revamped Thursday night comedy block, must-see TV is back! The two-hour comedy block kicks off with "My Name is Earl," a comedy about a man inspired by Carson Daly to seek out all the people he has wronged in his life and help them. Next is "The Office," where viewers get to watch the dysfunctional employees of Dunder Mifflin clash with each other with ensuing hilarity.

Green Day re-issue goes 'Kerplunk!'

By C. Warner Sills and Christopher Lee · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

Green Day was a completely different band before American Idiot. Before being signed to major label Warner Bros., the trio released two albums on Bay Area independent label Lookout!. The first was a compilation of various EPs titled 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, while the latter, Kerplunk!, featured what would become the definitive lineup of Billie Joe Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Mike Dirnt on bass and Tre Cool on drums. Both albums are being reissued through Warner Bros.

The birds and bees of indie electronica

By C. Warner Sills and Craig Shank · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

If you're part of an electronically inclined indie duo, odds are that last year went well for you. Over the past 12 months, we've seen outstanding new works from twosomes including The Knife's Silent Shout, The Blow's Paper Television and the Junior Boys' So This is Goodbye, among others. This year may be young, but another duo is poised to continue the streak with an infectious new LP released on the legendary Blue Note record label.

What were they 'Smokin'?

By C. Warner Sills and Zack Teibloom · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

As the kid behind me in the theater put it, the preview for this movie made it look "fuckin' bad ass." Looks can be deceiving. I expected a stylized action movie where top-flight actors run around trying to kill Jeremy Piven's latest incarnation since Ari Gold, Buddy Israel, with witty, quick dialogue and terrific action scenes.

The Indiana Daily Student

A mediocre 'Beginning'

By C. Warner Sills and Ash Cartwright · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

"Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning" naturally garners low expectations with its credentials -- it is the latest in a series of films spawned from a popular horror movie and a comparatively lackluster cinematic offering put foreword to take advantage of interest in the "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" stirred up by the recent, fairly high-quality remake of the original. It is also directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who was responsible for "Darkness Falls" (remember, it was the one with "the tooth fairy?").

Whitaker takes the crown in 'Scotland'

By Olivia Morales · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

Living in Scotland in the 1970s, a new young doctor decides to spin a globe with his eyes closed and make a new life for himself wherever his finger happens to point when the globe stops spinning. "The Last King of Scotland" is partly about choice and partly about fate. It is fate we witness when Dr. Nicholas Garrigan's finger lands on Uganda, and it is the choices he makes that concern the rest of the film.

Solid as a rock

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsky · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

Critics labeled "Gridiron Gang" cliché and predictable. I can't say I disagree. More and more sports movies are released every year following similar plotlines saddled with the frequent tagline, "based on a true story." I've begun to doubt these types of movies. Yet, there is something that stands out about "Gridiron Gang." Without much directing experience to his name, Phil Joanou did a great job with this film and making it stand out from other sports films.

All hail the Good Queen

By C. Warner Sills and Eric Smith · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

Blur's Damon Albarn has created a new side project, and unlike the surprisingly transcendent experiment that was the Gorillaz, this new group may only be around for one shining moment. The Good, the Bad and the Queen is the improbable combination of vocalist/pianist Albarn, the Verve guitarist Simon Tong, the Clash bassist Paul Simonon and afrobeat legend Tony Allen on drums.

Model 'Employee'

By C. Warner Sills and Stuart McWhirter · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

There's a certain genre of comedy that few people actually know exists titled: "Work Sucks but Isn't It Funny?" Many hit comedies through the years have fallen into this category, like "Caddyshack" and, of course, "Office Space," the 1999 cult favorite about working in a cubicle typing at a computer. "Employee of the Month" falls right into this category of films and actually turns out to be a pretty entertaining one. Although it wasn't a major success in theaters, the movie has many high points and is much more highbrow than might be expected of a film of this caliber.

The Indiana Daily Student

'24' - Jack Bauer is a vampire, Kumar a terrorist and L.A. is toast

By C. Warner Sills and Zack Teibloom · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

The first five seasons of "24" were pretty formulaic: Meet the new terrorists, watch them successfully unleash a couple attacks and threaten massively bigger ones. See Jack find out, through awesomely graphic interrogations, which of the supposedly good guys are actually traitors and kill whoever stands in his way from stopping the BIG attack and save the world as the season ends.

Clap your hands say 'meh'

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

If there's one lesson to take away from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's second album, Some Loud Thunder (out Jan. 30), it's this: Ambition is a fine thing, but ambition alone is not enough. Indeed, for those of us who love out-of-the-mainstream music, it could serve as an aesthetic test: Can we distinguish complexity from quality? Can we tell the difference between something that's difficult-but-rewarding and something that's simply difficult?

A piece of Indiana

By C. Warner Sills and Jessica Wolfe · Friday, Jan. 26,2007 12 a.m.

As a young man, Bob Nellis didn't just go to the theater to see the latest flick to hit the big screen. In fact, because of a curfew, he rarely saw a whole movie start-to-finish. He really went to "The Indiana" -- now the Buskirk-Chumley Theater -- in downtown Bloomington to see his friends and pass the time. Sometimes he would go just to hear stories from Roy Hays, the theater's projectionist. Nellis' father worked with Hays in the theater, and between the two men, Nellis heard many stories over the years about life at the theater.

The Indiana Daily Student

Federer serves Roddick another loss in Aussie Open semis

By Aaron Beard · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:54 p.m.

MELBOURNE -- Even top-ranked Roger Federer was stunned by his domination of Andy Roddick. After looking vulnerable in some of his earlier matches, Federer was virtually untouchable as he beat sixth-seeded Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 Thursday at the Australian Open to reach his seventh consecutive Grand Slam final, tying a record set by Jack Crawford in 1934.

The Indiana Daily Student

Hoosiers hope to make splash at first tournament

By Aaron Beard · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:52 p.m.

The good news for water polo coach Barry King and his team is that after finishing last season with a 24-11 record, they start this season ranked No. 20 in the country. The better news for the Hoosiers is that their season finally gets under way this weekend at the Michigan Kick-Off tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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