Longform

Helping hands on campus

Throughout a student's college experience, he or she inevitably will run into problems. Maybe there is a dispute about grades with a teacher, or the person has experienced racial or sexual discrimination, or maybe the student just gets depressed.

The dress of a classical musician

Composers compromise to survive

The classical music industry is facing more problems than ever, and the talk of new music is usually greeted by musicians' confused and reluctant responses rather than a sense of excitement.

Senior's fashion design project inspired by Brazil

Crystals, corsets and color are three words that perfectly describe the theme of fashion design student Ana Carol Coelho's senior collection. Coelho will present her collection, titled "Birds in Paradise," at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Fountain Square Ballroom. The show is open to the general public.

Around The Arts

Women's History Month will be honored this weekend with a dance from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St.

'The ScArlet Letter'

When a director puts up a casting call about forbidden love and religion gone too far, theater students come running.

Bloomington 24/7

During the day, Bloomington buzzes with activity. Cars zip along the roads, people run errands and students slog to classes. In the evening, people slow down and return home, eat dinner and go to bed. The buzz quiets down to a hum. But that hum is pretty significant.

'Ring' sequel not as scary as original

It begins like it's predecessor, with a frightening incident involving scared high school kids and an evil VHS tape. What follows is not surprisingly scary nor distinct among recent horror films.

Broken hearts and beautiful music

After playing it again and again, Stars' Set Yourself on Fire hasn't failed to impress me. The twee electronic pop album by the Montreal-based band (who, by the way, includes several members of Broken Social Scene) is its third release and the first I've heard. It will be uplifting to some ears and too pansy for others.

Furnaces more Fiery on latest

I'm speechless. The Fiery Furnaces, my least favorite next big thing, has put out a solid, focused EP that's not annoying. Well, not nearly as annoying. It wasn't that Eleanor and Matt Friedberg weren't capable of it.

'Sword' proves psychotic and violent

In the world of Chambara (Japanese for sword fighting) cinema, there are two kinds of films. The first comes in the form of hokey, poorly organized samurai films which present unrealistic battles and pathetic attempts at a storyline.

A somewhat 'Incredible' DVD

There's a burning question hovering about in the heads of Hollywood's power players these days; that question being "Is Steve Jobs' Pixar Animation Studios even capable of making a film that doesn't win the hearts and dollars of tens of millions?" Apparently not, as the near-universal critical and monetary praise of Pixar's latest effort, "The Incredibles," would show.

Stop making biopics!

I realize some people lead fascinating, harrowing and complex lives. I'm also glad for this truth. The fact that some people have lives that are worthy of being adapted into biography films is not what concerns me. What concerns me is that these films, commonly called biopics, are being made and released with such alarming frequency that they are stomping on and casting shadows over other truly interesting and original films.

The Death of Gonzo

Probably the most insane, yet most genius thing Dr. Hunter S. Thompson ever did was to run for sheriff of his hometown Aspen, Colo. Crazy because he was more of a fringe journalist who used rather unorthodox methods, such as taking various mind-altering substances and writing about his ensuing adventures while on assignment. Genius because he knew what he wanted to change and had the guts to back up the facts.

DUNGEONMasters parks!

Nicole Howard smiles coyly and rests her hand on the long sword that hangs at her side. Tonight she finds her fortress surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy troops. Even her six traveling companions and her skills as a rouge will help her little in the coming battle.

'Hostage' a somewhat captivating thriller

Bruce Willis' latest attempt to breathe life into his once thriving career comes in the form of "Hostage." While better than his other offerings of late -- the dreaded "The Whole Ten Yards" and "Tears of the Sun" -- it's nowhere near the goodness that is the first and third "Die Hard" flicks, "Pulp Fiction," "Twelve Monkeys" and the M. Night Shyamalan double shot of "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable."

'Robots' too mechanical and emotionless

To the small but growing collection of computer animated feature films comes a charming, amusing but ultimately forgettable offering called "Robots." Don't let that scare you away — this is a good movie with excellent animation, a heartwarming story and some moments of genuine humor that is well worth a trip to the theater.

Guardians of gaming

There is a civil war brewing deep inside the head of graduate student Steve Cornett, with monsters, heroes, princes, emperors, demons and dragons all waging battle. But there is also a 200-page document he's virtually memorized detailing how those fantastic creatures and causes fit together in a massive digital card game he's developing. In the end, they will leave his head as "Guardians of Kelthas," a game in the vein of "Magic: The Gathering," but with the added technology and interactivity of a computer.

Manson matron-named band not killer

Leicester, England-based band Kasabian is the latest in a long string of U.K. rock bands making waves on their home soil (to the tune of a top five record), now looking to take the U.S. by storm. They certainly seem to have the tools for doing so in order.

Trio in Stereo releases debut album

In a sea of local bands, the name of the game is getting noticed. Bloomington-based Trio in Stereo knows how to play the game. In their second year of playing together, Trio in Stereo has accomplished quite a bit as an independent band. Their self-funded first album, Everyone Here Looks Familiar, will see release on April 15.