Longform

The week in music

Back in the High Life with Superdrag

Anyone remember Superdrag? MTV, 1996? Buzz-bin hit "Sucked Out?" Catchy power-pop number, a-la the Beatles or Cheap Trick, full of driving guitars and impassioned chorus? No takers?

'Ben' folds

Self-proclaimed nerds and all-around butt-kicking rock trio Ben Folds Five disbanded Tuesday. Following six years together, the deceptively and jokingly named band officially called it quits.

U2 returns

"In the days/When we were swinging from the trees/I was a monkey/Stealing honey from a swarm of bees." Accompanied by a folksy strumming of the guitar, the above lines kick off "Wild Honey," the seventh track off of U2's first album in three years, All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Jay-Z pours out his heart on new album

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's new album The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000- ) is no Reasonable Doubt, his 1996 debut which still stands as his best album to date. But Jay-Z's latest is no Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life either. So be warned y'all Jigga fans and haters -- it is apparent from the get-go that Jigga's onto some different stuff this time.

Natural Born Killers

Heavy-handed as Oliver Stone might be, this is his magnum opus. "Natural Born Killers" is a vivid catalogue of how to push cinema to its ultimate extremes with the usage of every film stock known to man, acid-jazz editing and one hell of a soundtrack. Mickey and Mallory Knox are not killing for pure fun; they are killing as an attempt to destroy the hatred that is brewing in every piece of pop culture's junk yard. The greatness of the film lies in their failure to do so.

Harvey matures

When PJ Harvey burst onto the rock scene with Dry, she was a fountain of cathartic rage, with crunching guitars and yelping lyrics. Now, what was started with the 1995 classic To Bring You My Love has come full circle on her sixth full release Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. PJ Harvey has matured, and the sum is equal to the whole of her parts.

'Hamlet' goes awry at the Ryder Film Series

Even though it's been nearly 400 years since William Shakespeare passed away, Hollywood is still trying to milk his talent for all its worth, thanks mainly to the tasteless Miramax Films and the Oscar-minted success of the ridiculous "Shakespeare in Love."

'Angels' Sizzles

The trailers for "Charlie's Angels" featured such blatantly sexist gems as full close-ups of Cameron Diaz shaking her itty-bitty butt in an itty-bitty pair of cartoony boy-underwear, Drew Barrymore unzipping her wet-suit revealing miles of dripping wet cleavage and Lucy Liu in what has now become her typecast role as the dominatrix bitch.

The John Woo Collection (The Killer and Hard Boiled)

Capitalizing on the success of John Woo's recent flicks like "Face/Off" and "Mission:Impossible 2," his seminal ballets of blood are reaching DVD for the first time in a wide-release box set. These two films feature international superstar (and rightly so) Chow Yun-Fat, in roles where he has charisma to burn, guns in both hands and a cigarette and/or toothpick protruding from his mouth.

Mission: Impossible 2

The highest grossing and possibly most genuinely enjoyable popcorn flick of this past year in abominable cinema was released upon the DVD format this past Tuesday.

Art within the angles

Herman B Wells had been thinking of a "cultural crossroads" at the heart of the IU campus since 1939, when he was first installed as its president. Here were two points -- the Union and the Library, with nothing between them. What Wells wanted was a space which students could pass through while moving between the two busiest points on campus. The University also needed a museum, as its collection of art was largely hidden in the vaults of what is now the Fine Arts Building.

MTV makes a jackass out of itself

Do you want your MTV? You can have mine. I sure as hell don't want it anymore. For four years, I've watched the channel in my attempt to stay attuned to the music world. My brain has melted enough from the prolonged exposure. Whenever I watch the network for too long, I feel myself devolving into a sensory-deprived beast, and nowadays I escape to the Weather Channel for higher quality programming.

Better Than Ezra better than ever

With big name '90s rock groups dropping like flies, it's a surprise that Better Than Ezra has managed to stick around this long. Even after being dropped by its label, Elektra, less than two months ago, BTE continues to put out material.

City Lights shows Cagney, Bogart classic

The ultimate in over-the-top greatness -- James Cagney -- stars in this melodrama oozing with crime and intrigue. Cagney's Rocky Sullivan, which earned him an Oscar nomination and a New York Film Critics Award for best actor, finds himself out of juvenile detention and in cahoots with the Dead End Kids while a former buddy turned priest stands in his maniacal path.

The Patriot

Mel Gibson's underappreciated (both in terms of box office and critical praise) Revolutionary War epic recently made its debut upon the DVD format in a pristine Special Edition cut.

Bah humbug! to Aguilera\'s Christmas album

Yve Adam crushes listener\'s hopes of quality

Hearing an album that starts out great but ends up mediocre is actually worse than hearing a CD horrible from beginning to end. At least a terrible CD doesn't raise any hopes of quality. It would actually be more fun to write an all-around negative review of Fiction, the American debut of Canadian duo guitarist/vocalists Adam Popowitz and Yve. But parts of the album are very enjoyable. So enjoyable that the bad parts just seem worse.

Professors discuss recount, political factors

As Florida officials recount every vote from Tuesday's presidential election, almost 800 miles away IU professors are discussing the potential effects of this historic race.

Night of music to benefit charity

The Liberal Arts and Management program will be a beacon of light for Middle Way House Saturday night. The students of BUS X333:, Managing Business Functions, are sponsoring six hours of disc jockeys, bands, music and dancing to raise money for the charity while earning college credit.