Longform

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.

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.

'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.

Three Hoosiers leave football team for various reasons

By Aaron Beard · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:55 p.m.

Three IU football players have left the team, an IU Athletics Department spokesman said Thursday night. Starting linebacker freshman Josh Bailey left the Hoosiers this week and plans to transfer to Western Kentucky.

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.

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.

Wrestling squad looks to bounce back from loss

Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:51 p.m.

This weekend the IU wrestling team will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in IU's third Big Ten match of the season.

Track-and-field teams ready for weekend invitational

By Ryan Gregg · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:50 p.m.

After strong performances at the Indiana Team Classic last weekend, the men's and women's track and field teams prepare to host the Gladstein Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

IU travels to Purdue for rivalry meet prior to conference meet

By Brian Buckey · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:50 p.m.

IU sophomore swimmer Heath Tameris swam in his first IU-Purdue meet last year. Growing up in Ohio, Tameris wasn't aware of the intensity of the in-state rivalry. After swimming in last year's meet, however, Tameris recognizes that there is more on the line than usual when these two teams compete.

Hoosiers host Saturday doubleheader

By Kevin Kane · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:49 p.m.

The IU women's tennis team looks to improve on its unblemished spring record Saturday with a doubleheader. But while one win is almost assured in the team's second match against Butler, many uncertainties surround the Hoosiers' first foe, DePaul.

Late-game rally not enough for IU to beat Buckeyes on the road

By Lee Hurwitz · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:48 p.m.

Despite nearly coming back from 15 points in the second half at No. 5 Ohio State, the IU women's basketball team lost to the Buckeyes (18-1, 7-0) 72-62 Thursday night.

These are the mid-season awards

By Ryan Corazza · Thursday, Jan. 25,2007 11:46 p.m.

Usually in this column space, I try to write some breathy prose about the men's basketball team. You know, relating each game to the big picture of the season and telling you what it all means, man. Let's ditch that for a day. Here are your mid-season awards and accolades 66 percent of the way through the regular season. Whoops.