Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Sunday, Dec. 28
The Indiana Daily Student

IUSA


The Indiana Daily Student

Burn it down

·

After more than three years of intense friendship, dedication and sacrifice, Burn it Down is standing on the brink of a new world. With the release of its debut full-length CD, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, this Indianapolis quartet has risen above its status as one of the city's better hardcore bands. The band now stands at the edge of the unknown.


The Indiana Daily Student

Bad 'Water'

·

I'd like to say that I have officially created a brand new drinking game. It's called "Drink to Durst." Every time Fred Durst says "f**k" in "Hot Dog," everyone takes a shot. I recommend light beer, because after 45 "f**ks," everyone is guaranteed to be f**ked up. I would also like it to be known that Durst cannot count, as he mistakes the amount of times he says f**k in his own song. Believe me, I counted.


The Indiana Daily Student

Ritual or Treat?

·

The mother's motions are delicate and graceful as she picks up a can of carrots from an aisle in Kroger. Her curly brown hair twirls and springs off her shoulders encompassing her small round face with big brown eyes that mesmerize every passerby. The daughter wears a flowing ankle-length blue flowered skirt with a white T-shirt and short blonde hair. Her eyes sink into her face, and her thin crimson lips rarely speak.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Welcome to New York\'

·

"Welcome to New York" immediately catches attention by utilizing yet another catchy theme song ("New York, New York" from the musical On the Town). The show is built around the well-worn "country mouse goes to the city," as Indiana weatherman Jim Gaffigan (played by -- no joke -- Jim Gaffigan) moves to big, bad New York City.

The Indiana Daily Student

\'Felicity\'

·

"Felicity" is back, complete with a full head of hair. For those who don't know, "Felicity" was almost cut from the TV lineup last year because she cut her hair. Gah, how superficial are these viewers? Well, it really did look pretty bad.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Gilmore Girls\'

·

How schmaltzy and WB-esque perfect does this show look? Very. But if you actually look behind the picturesque setting and picture-perfect lead actresses, the new drama is quite charming. "Gilmore Girls" is the story of society girl Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), who had her daughter Rory at the age of 16.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Ed\'

·

The most refreshingly sincere new show this fall is NBC's "Ed." The title character (played by Thomas Cavanagh), a New York City lawyer hotshot, has just been fired from his job and has just caught his wife cheating on him. He leaves to find peace and love in his small home town of Stuckeyville. The show works because it is not so much about a fish out of water as it is about the merits of being a big fish in a little pond.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'C.S.I\'

·

If anything, it's great that "C.S.I." answers at least one burning TV question: Where the heck did Gina, the Secret Service agent on last season's "West Wing," get off to? Her portrayer, Jorjan Fox, now toils on "C.S.I." as crime scene investigator (hence the title) Sara Sidel.


The Indiana Daily Student

'Beautiful' gets ugly

·

\"Beautiful" is the story of Mona Hibbard (Minnie Driver), a woman from Naperville, Ill., obsessed with winning the fictional Miss American Miss pageant despite the threat of being disqualified for having a child (Hallie Kate Eisenberg). "Beautiful" is also actress Sally Field's first time out as director, and it's more than a little depressing that the woman who uttered the now-famous phrase "You like me -- you really like me!" should, at age 54, still be mucking about with the tiresome women's themes of acceptance and self-esteem. That she goes about doing so with a script about beauty pageants makes her work here that much more dubious.


The Indiana Daily Student

Chan outdoes himself in \'Legend of the Drunken Master\'

·

The Legend of Drunken Master" is the latest re-release in a long string of Jackie Chan Hong Kong chopsocky flicks displaced upon American soil, and perhaps the best. Sporting fight sequences rivaled only by Bruce Lee's Kung Fu epic "Enter the Dragon" or Jet Li's "Fist of Legend," Chan's "Drunken Master" definitely earns its coveted spot amongst the very best martial arts flicks.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Best in show\' places

·

In the new mockumentary "Best in Show," the dogs deliver, but you don't need to own a pedigree to appreciate Christopher Guest's dry sarcasm. The writer and director of "Waiting for Guffman" is back, and his new target is dog shows. With the same supporting cast as "Guffman," this film explores the world of dog showing and the idiosyncrasies of each breed as well as their owners.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Gideon's Crossing\'

·

"Gideon's Crossing" is a testament to terrific acting and scripts that exemplify the human spirit. Led by the amazing Andre Braugher ("Homicide") as Dr. Ben Gideon, the show centers around a teaching hospital and the patients who grace its doors.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'The Practice\'

·

The Emmy fave has returned for its fourth hard-hitting season. Although the show did not win as many Emmys as in previous years (it had to give "Sopranos" a break), it is still in award-winning shape. This season, David Kelley's (Ally McBeal) favorite subject, law, is ruling the show. There have hardly been any scenes in the new season that aren't in a courthouse or a jail cell.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Angel\'

·

As was the case last season, "Angel" continues to be the more creative and cohesive than sister show "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." While series creator Joss Whedon is constantly finding himself at loose ends with Buffy's plots and characters, he seems to revel in the slightly darker L.A. atmosphere of "Angel."


The Indiana Daily Student

Farewell to the Machine

·

They were different. They were innovative, intelligent and active. But, most of all, they were different. Zach de la Rocha announced his split from Rage Against the Machine last Wednesday, to the extreme disappointment of fans. Zach said he was frustrated with the group's "decision-making process" which interfered with RATM's political and artistic desires.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'That '70s Show\'

·

One of the most highly underrated shows on television, "That '70s Show" is back for its third season, and it is funnier than ever. Set in suburban Wisconsin, the show centers around the Forman household and son Eric's five friends growing up and dealing with drugs, parents, sex and life -- often with hilarious results.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'The Fugitive\'

·

The biggest problem facing "The Fugitive," a remake of the 1960s series and a redux of the 1990s movie, is how to keep things fresh when the main character will pretty much be doing the same thing every week. Dr. Richard Kimble (Timothy Daly) has been wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and now spends his time running from the law and, of course, helping others.


The Indiana Daily Student

"The West Wing"

·

Last season's explosive season finale left "West Wing" fans with one burning question, as NBC relentlessly pointed out in promos: Who's been shot? The answer to this question led to an revealing two-part season premiere as the terrorist shooting plot got cleaned up, and victim Josh (Bradley Whitford) had flashbacks of President Josiah Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) rise to office.


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer\'

·

"Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" is still one of the more imaginative and exciting television dramas. But this year's episodes have continued the slight slump in quality the show experienced last season. Although the producers have thankfully given up on the silly military vampire-fighting battalion, "The Initiative," traces of mediocrity still remain, mostly in the persona of Riley (Marc Blucas,) Buffy's boring, puppy dog-esque boyfriend).


The Indiana Daily Student

\'Will and Grace\'

·

Entertainment Weekly, "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood" have all recently been proclaiming this year the year of the gays ... in sitcoms, that is. Basically this is a reaction to the Emmy wins of Will, Grace and the show's supporting stars, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes. Whether or not networks are clamoring to line up the next gay superstar, "Will and Grace" certainly has broken the Ellen taboo in becoming the first successful show to feature gay lead characters.