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The Indiana Daily Student

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Del Toro's fantastic fairy tale

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

After dabbling in Hollywood fare such as "Blade 2" and "Hellboy," Mexican director Guillermo del Toro returns to his native Spanish tongue with the excellent "Pan's Labyrinth." Set during the final days of the Spanish Civil War of the 1940s, the film tells the story of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero -- enough about Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine," this is the child performance of the year), a young girl who moves to the countryside after her pregnant mother is remarried to a military captain. The captain, a soulless prick of a man, is set on running out hiding rebels.

Wincing produces Smiles

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

The Shins' Wincing The Night Away doesn't come out until Jan. 23, but how about an early heads-up? Help you take a bit of the gamble out of pre-ordering, perhaps? Lets cut to the chase. Shins fans: Don't worry, they've still got it. While Chutes Too Narrow remains my favorite, Wincing is very satisfying -- falling well within that difficult balance between freshness and familiarity.

Mike Judge vs the world

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

I love Hollywood, I really do, but sometimes the big studios can really piss me off. Example: "Idiocracy." Here's a good comedy (albeit not great, but better compared to most films released these days) that got shelved for more than a year, barely received a theatrical release (only 125 theaters in seven cities) and was left to die on DVD, all because Fox didn't feel it was marketable. Interesting, because if audiences just gave the film a chance, it might actually have been a moderate word-of-mouth hit.

Not the top 'Dog'

By C. Warner Sills and K. A. MacDonald · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

"Alpha Dog" is based on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest people to appear on the FBI's Most Wanted List. With a plot like that, you would think that there is a lot of potential to be exciting, fresh and dramatic, but the movie fails on all three accounts. I found it to be a mixture between a bad gangsta video and an after-school special gone wrong with a bit of the "Three Stooges" thrown in. One of the biggest problems that the movie has is that the audience laughs throughout the tough guy scenes. The movie has a soccer mom's SUV being borrowed with permission to do illegal deeds, a street thug who wears a tie to work as a salesman and a one-on-eight fight scene that turns in to a cheesy karate flick.

Movies, music and the iPhone

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

Ahh January, what a crappy month. All the studios dump movies that weren't good enough to be released last year, and TV has yet to pull stunts for February sweeps. One can't help but fantasize of better things to come. Here's a look at some of the most anticipated entertainment events of 2007:

A tenuous study in paranoia

By C. Warner Sills and John Barnett · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

In the loaded pantheon of drug cinema, Richard Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly" falls somewhere in the purgatory between "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle." Based on a Philip K. Dick novel, "Scanner" is the story of Substance D, a sort of crack-on-crack hallucinogen with as many slaves as pushers and quite a reputation in government and law enforcement circles. Keanu Reeves is Bob Arctor, a D-addicted divorcee hired by the local police force to rat out his D-addicted buddies, Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane, Winona Ryder and a never-punchier Robery Downey Jr. As the film progresses, the opening scene's sense of humor gives way to a melange of paranoia, espionage and the maze of withdrawal. As with many drug films, "Scanner" occasionally takes bigger bites into the drug culture than it can handle, but Linklater does his best to keep everything relatively grounded.

The power of illusion

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Mellini · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

Somehow I didn't see either of 2006's magician movies ("The Prestige" being the other) in theaters so I can't compare the two. That's a good thing, because "The Illusionist" is a fine film on its own that shouldn't only be weighed against something similar. Edward Norton plays Eisenheim, a popular magician in 1900 Vienna. Eisenheim's shows capture the attention of the city's Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who swears him as an enemy when Eisenheim forms a relationship with his fiancée (Jessica Biel, finally in a role that doesn't require her to just be hot.) Leopold assigns his chief policeman Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to watch over Eisenheim until problems arise and cause Uhl to doubt his loyalties.

The Indiana Daily Student

Faking it

By C. Warner Sills and Michael Reschke · Thursday, Jan. 18,2007 12 a.m.

IU's reputation as a party school has historically caused University officials to cringe, and students to work even harder to uphold it. However, defending the party title can be costly to many undergraduates who opt to enter the bar scene early with fake IDs. Possessing a fake ID is a Class C infraction and is punishable by up to $500 in fines, said Indiana Excise Police officer R. McDonald. The demand for fake IDs has also created an onslaught of students who choose to chance the law by creating the IDs. Making fake IDs is a Class D felony, punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and up to a year in jail, McDonald said. Indiana State Police Cpl. and Bloomington District Duty Officer Eric Dunn said he has seen many fake IDs in his career but admits several offenders slip through the cracks.

The Indiana Daily Student

More than 1,000 visit 11th Annual Housing Fair

By Shannon McEnerney · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:57 p.m.

Seniors Julia Koday and Jenny Kratzat live in sorority houses on campus, but next year the pair will face a situation they have not had to worry about: searching for off-campus housing. On Wednesday both Koday and Kratzat attended the 11th Annual Housing Fair hosted by the Indiana Daily Student in Alumni Hall to find a remedy for their unknown housing arrangement next year. The two were among 1,028 people who attended the fair, said IDS Marketing Manager Rob Bock.

The Indiana Daily Student

Police searching for student

By Alexandra R. Moses · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:50 p.m.

Purdue University police are searching for a Purdue student who has been missing since early Saturday morning. Wade S. Steffey, whose hometown is Bloomington, was reported missing Tuesday night after being last seen early Saturday morning at Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house, 900 David Ross Road in Lafayette, according to a press release.

The Indiana Daily Student

Face-morphing machine shows similarities

By Whitney Mitchell · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:49 p.m.

IU students who have ever wondered what they might look if they were a different race have a chance to find out this week. As part of the week long Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, the Office of Diversity Education is sponsoring the Human Race Machine, which shows participants what they would look like if they were of another race. The machine is equipped to map six different races -- Asian, black, Hispanic, American Indian, Middle Eastern and white -- onto a participants' images.

The Indiana Daily Student

Annual Spirit of Sport ends 30-year run

By Brandi Baldwin · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:47 p.m.

Spirit of Sport, the annual event that showcased IU's various athletic clubs, will not be returning for the first time in 30 years. "Spirit of Sport has really accomplished its goals and it's no longer novel; it's no longer unique," said Kathy Bayless, director of Campus Recreational Sports and assistant dean for the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

The Indiana Daily Student

IU wrestlers arrested, suspended

By Kristi Oloffson · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:46 p.m.

Bloomington Police arrested two IU wrestlers Monday after more than a month of investigating a Dec. 3, 2006, incident in which the two were involved in a fight near Kilroy's Sports Bar, 319. N. Walnut St.

The Indiana Daily Student

Around the Arts

Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11:08 p.m.

The Trickle Down Effect presents free show at IMU

The Indiana Daily Student

Rethinking Tattoos

By Michelle Manchir · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 11 p.m.

I'd never given body art much thought. It seemed like a dangerous, rigid culture, in which I -- a Catholic-schooled, perpetually optimistic small-town girl -- had no place. As a little girl, when media formed my opinions on essentially everything, I took in the large, inked convicts I saw on "Cops" with wonder and fear. Later, with years of life experience and a media-literate mind, I viewed the "tatted" as interesting, artsy folk with whom I had little in common.

The Indiana Daily Student

ARTiFACTs

Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 10:35 p.m.

What: "Number 11" by American Jackson Pollock 1949. Duco, aluminum and paint on canvas

The Indiana Daily Student

IU folk dancing fosters togetherness, tells stories

By Ryan Gregg · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 10:34 p.m.

Checking out the Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union at 7 p.m. Fridays, a passer-by would witness people dancing joyously in a circle to European music. And it wouldn't be out of the ordinary --just another weekly meeting of the IU International Folkdancers.

The Indiana Daily Student

Jordan River Forum

By Aparna Venkatraman · Wednesday, Jan. 17,2007 9:41 p.m.

Student chant result of paying more for worse seats "Stand up, old people." Mildy innappropriate? Yes. Extremely humorous? Yes. Regardless of what you think, this chant draws attention to a big issue: student tickets.

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