IUSA

Jets' Doug Brien knows a kicker's story all too well

By Alyson Brodsy and Ryan Corazza · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12:03 a.m.

If you can believe it, there actually was one NFL player this weekend whose head hung lower after his team's loss than Peyton Manning's and the Colts'. I'm talking so low that he could see between his legs when he walked, so low that he constantly ran into things, so low that ... well, you get the picture. His name you ask? Doug Brien. Wait, Doug who? You know, he's that kicker for the Jets who blew the game by missing two field goals in the final 2:20 of their contest against the Steelers Saturday.

Democracy for allies too

By Alyson Brodsy and Charlie Szrom · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12:02 a.m.

Two years ago, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf promised to step down as head of Pakistan's army before the end of 2004. Just before the New Year, in typical dictatorial fashion, he broke his own word and decided to keep the most powerful job in the country.

Hoosiers set to take on No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes tonight

By Matt Ostrega · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12:02 a.m.

Coming off a tough loss to the Nittany Lions of Penn State Sunday, the Hoosiers will look to get back on track in the Big Ten as they play host to conference foe No. 3 Ohio State tonight at Assembly Hall. IU enters the contest 8-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Despite the unfavorable Big Ten record, the Hoosiers have a 6-1 record on Branch McCracken court this season and will look to put home court advantage to use against a solid OSU basketball team.

Land of the rising sun?

By Alyson Brodsy and Amy Obermeyer · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12:02 a.m.

In this day and age, semantics is everything. Apparently, it's more important than the jobs lost in Indiana, the budget, gambling and deciding whether it's five o'clock Eastern time or four o'clock Indiana time.

'Paddle' goes downstream

By Ash Cartwright · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Three buddies reunite after the death of a childhood best friend to go on the camping trip/treasure hunt they dreamed of as children. At 30 they are each, in their own ways, struggling to settle into adult life. This trip offers a return to their carefree childhood days and a "last chance to do something really stupid together."

Game Drink?

By Mallory Simon · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Weekend followed two different groups of students to find out what drinking games make up a typical party at IU and what emotions each game brings out in all of the people involved. Past the clouds of smoke on the patio and inside an apartment on the east side of town, students work to regain their title of number one party school .

Jennifer Garner can't save "Elektra" from bad writing.

'Elektra' disappoints on all levels

By Tristan Mathews · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

"Elektra" was so unbearably awful that it's stupefying such a film was ever made. Without a doubt the worst comic book adaption to come out of the recent explosion in the genre, "Elektra" is a disappointment to any film fan and to anyone who is familiar with the characters' source material, which was obviously ignored.

Crack rock meets punk rock

By -Nate Bethea · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

The Libertines' Pete Doherty is on crack. No, seriously -- Doherty's very public addiction crises have swollen to Scott Weiland-esque proportions in his native UK, leaving some surprised that 2005 has arrived without news of his death. This newly-released deluxe edition of the Libertines' 2004 sophomore effort includes a special edition DVD with live footage and hype-laden documentary, which make up in part for the inconsistency of its songs.

Twenty flicks for 2005

By -Alec Toombs · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

This past year was pretty choice so far as cinema goes, with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Sideways," "Kill Bill Vol. 2," "The Passion," "Garden State," "The Incredibles," "Spider-Man II," "The Life Aquatic," "Ray" and "Collateral" faring best among the stuff I saw.

'Gold' better off buried

By Emily Cohen · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Aerosmith's recently-released compilation album Gold packs in everything you would want in a greatest hits album from the aging rockers -- too bad it's all been done before. The two-CD collection is a rerelease of the 2001 release Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology and has a nearly identical playlist. The main difference between the two seems to be the packaging.

'Phantom' sings to success

By Lucretia Fernandez · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Ever since October 1986 when "The Phantom of the Opera" first debuted in London, Andrew Lloyd Webber's modern opera has been drawing the public to stages with its mesmerizing music. The Phantom (Gerard Butler), an outcast from the world, uses his musical talents to entrance an orphaned chorus girl, Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum).

Grace, Quaid are great 'Company'

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Sams · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

"My wife left me, and today is the anniversary of our first date, and I found the idea of going home to be so depressing that I kind of leeched onto your dad and invited myself over for dinner," 26-year-old corporate hot shot Carter Duryea tells Alex, the daughter of 51-year-old family man Dan Foreman, as he joins the Foreman family for dinner one night in Paul Weitz's charming film "In Good Company."

Michael Keaton tunes in, turns on and freaks out in "White Noise."

More annoying than TV static

By Adam Aasen · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

After "The Ring," horror-film-fanatics were afraid to pick up their telephones. Now, it seems, putting your radio on the wrong station can kill you. Or at least, that's what the producers of "White Noise" want you to believe.

Get an iPod now, it's inevitable

By -Paul Straw · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

So, I finally broke down over break and got an iPod. Now this possibly could be the biggest "who cares" of all time because it seems everyone got an iPod over break. However, I am not a big music fan and yet I was inexplicably drawn toward these little devices.

Be Your Own Bartender

By Karen Green · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

For many IU students, beer is the drink of choice. At the bars, mixed drinks can get expensive. With beer, there's no mystery about what's in the glass. Do-it-yourself cocktails are a fun alternative, but deciphering the ingredients for some of the most popular drinks can be complicated.

Hitching A Ride

By Mike McElroy · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose ... and if you ever saw it you would even say it glows." This is where I come in. "Like a light bulb?" "Yaaaaay! All of the other reindeer . . ."

The underrated 'Village' of Shyamalan

By Rhett Umphress · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

The titular "Village" is a 19th century utopian community surrounded by woods. In the woods, there are a group of unknown creatures referred to as "Those We Do Not Speak Of." An uneasy truce exists between the creatures and the humans; each agrees to stay off one another's land. The problem for the village members is that they are low on medicine and the citizens are dying of various maladies. The only way to get more medicine would be to go through the woods into the towns, risking the wrath of the creatures by breaking the truce.

Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro square off in "House of Flying Daggers."

Another 'Hero' arrives on the screen

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

When a director releases a successful film there is an expectancy that his follow-up work will be one of equal success. Such is the case with "House of Flying Daggers," directed by Zhang Yimou, the same man who made the poetic masterpiece known as "Hero."

Survival of the fittest

By John Barnett · Thursday, Jan. 20,2005 12 a.m.

I'm an admitted survival horror junkie. The eerie atmosphere and deliberate pacing of a "Resident Evil" or a "Silent Hill" has always held me hostage in front of the console longer than any other style of game. That being said, I was amazed to find myself completely enthralled with Capcom's latest "Resident Evil" gem since it essentially turns the survival horror genre on its head and blasts it off on an entirely new and exciting path.

School groups oppose Daniel's education plans

By Alyson Brodsy and Deanna Wrenn · Wednesday, Jan. 19,2005 11:28 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels' plans for education could lead to painful cuts in staff and programs and leave the state's poorest students without the help they need to get a good education, some school leaders say.