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The Indiana Daily Student

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'Crank' it down a notch

By C. Warner Sills and Benny Goldman · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Better than the preview

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsky · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

'Bandidas' wanted for stealing time

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Do the Mew

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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?

'Office' team avoid sophomore slump

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Pirates sequel both entertaining and overwrought

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

'Curse' of the soap opera

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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 reason to buy an Xbox 360

By C. Warner Sills and Chris Freiberg · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Waking up is sometimes a good thing

By C. Warner Sills and Craig Shank · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Del Toro's fantastic fairy tale

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Wincing produces Smiles

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Mike Judge vs the world

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Not the top 'Dog'

By C. Warner Sills and K. A. MacDonald · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

Movies, music and the iPhone

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

Ahh January, what a crappy month. All the studios dump movies that weren't good enough to be released last year, and TV has yet to pull stunts for February sweeps. One can't help but fantasize of better things to come. Here's a look at some of the most anticipated entertainment events of 2007:

A tenuous study in paranoia

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

The power of illusion

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.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.

The Indiana Daily Student

Faking it

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Reschke · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

IU's reputation as a party school has historically caused University officials to cringe, and students to work even harder to uphold it. However, defending the party title can be costly to many undergraduates who opt to enter the bar scene early with fake IDs. Possessing a fake ID is a Class C infraction and is punishable by up to $500 in fines, said Indiana Excise Police officer R. McDonald. The demand for fake IDs has also created an onslaught of students who choose to chance the law by creating the IDs. Making fake IDs is a Class D felony, punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and up to a year in jail, McDonald said. Indiana State Police Cpl. and Bloomington District Duty Officer Eric Dunn said he has seen many fake IDs in his career but admits several offenders slip through the cracks.

The Indiana Daily Student

More than 1,000 visit 11th Annual Housing Fair

By Shannon McEnerney · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:57 p.m.

Seniors Julia Koday and Jenny Kratzat live in sorority houses on campus, but next year the pair will face a situation they have not had to worry about: searching for off-campus housing. On Wednesday both Koday and Kratzat attended the 11th Annual Housing Fair hosted by the Indiana Daily Student in Alumni Hall to find a remedy for their unknown housing arrangement next year. The two were among 1,028 people who attended the fair, said IDS Marketing Manager Rob Bock.

The Indiana Daily Student

Police searching for student

By Alexandra R. Moses · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:50 p.m.

Purdue University police are searching for a Purdue student who has been missing since early Saturday morning. Wade S. Steffey, whose hometown is Bloomington, was reported missing Tuesday night after being last seen early Saturday morning at Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house, 900 David Ross Road in Lafayette, according to a press release.

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