INSIDEBEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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RazzleDazzle

The most anticipated and dreaded award

shows are almost here

EDITORIALBOARD

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS TO INSIDE BEAT : Amanda Aman-ullah, Amy Rowe, Ashley Park, Becca Zandstein, CassandraSperber, Fahim Khan, Jason Pearl, Kara Jordhoy, Mitchell

Mattes, Molly Mulshine, Steven Williamson, Vic Fern Cover photo courtesy of sandrabullockweb.com.

STACY DOUEK.......................................EDITOR

MICHAEL MALVASIO............................ASSOCIATE EDITOR

EMILY SCHACHTMAN.........................ASSISTANT EDITOR

ARIBA ALVI...............................................................TV EDITOR

NATALIA TAMZOKE.......................................THEATER EDITOR

JASON STIVES.......................................................MUSIC EDITOR

ROSANNA VOLIS...............................................FASHION EDITOR

AMANDA LITCHKOWSKI.........................................ART EDITOR

ADRIENNE VOGT....................................................COPY EDITOR

RAMON DOMPOR.................................................PHOTO EDITOR

EMILY SCHACHTMAN............................................FILM EDITOR

NIDHI SARAIYA...................................................BOOKS EDITOR

INSIDEBEATRutgers Student Center

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Phone (732) 932-2013Fax (732) 246-7299

Email beat@dailytargum.com Web www.inside-beat.comAdvertising in Inside Beat,

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to 4:30 p.m.

WatchingOlympics,eh?

BY NIDHI SARAIYABOOKS EDITOR

Unfortunately, I know that for too many Americans, the Olympicsfade into obscurity in comparison to the Super Bowl, NBA Playoffs, theWorld Series, the Stanley Cup, etc. Add the fact that winter sports haveno Michael Phelps to champion them and the Winter Olympics are evenfurther overlooked. But for me, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympicsmake for a great 16 days of sports. When else can you just turn on theTV at all hours to watch athletes from across the globe compete forpride, patriotism and gold?

Most Olympians may not be household names, but there are a fewAmerican Olympic athletes to look out for. Shaun White, aka “The Fly-ing Tomato,” has made quite a name for himself as a snowboarder.Skier Lindsay Vonn’s ability to compete in five events despite herbruised shin proved her mettle. Olympic medal winners Kelly Clark,Bode Miller and Apolo Anton Ohno are always fan favorites in women’ssnowboarding, men’s alpine skiing and men’s short track, respectively.New Jersey Devils fans should keep their eyes peeled since five Dev-ils players will be competing in men’s ice hockey, although only two,Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise, are representing Team USA.Finally, New Jersey’s own Johnny Weir, who is almost as well known forhis fashion choices as he is his figure skating, will be trying for hisfirst Olympic medal in Vancouver.

Although figure skating, skiing and snowboarding may be rela-tively popular in America, one of the best aspects of the WinterOlympics is that it brings some of the lesser-known winter sports intothe limelight. Curling is one sport that I always enjoy watching, eventhough I’m not sure I understand it. Luge and skeleton are fast and funsports to watch as well. The best is bobsledding because it always re-minds me of Cool Runnings.

But as much as I love to root for Team USA, my favorite part aboutthe Winter Olympics has little to do with competition. For me, theOlympics bring the world together in a way that politics will neverachieve. Generally, seeing people from different countries come to-gether means a large-scale war or relief for natural disasters like theHaitian earthquake. However, during the Olympics, nations unite for atruly positive reason. In the embracing spirit of the Games, we can setaside issues of prejudice, political power, money and business — for themost part — and just enjoy the sports.

Vancouver 2010 Hottie Watch

Allison BaverShort Track

February 18, 2010 Column Inside Beat • Page 2

Timothy BeckBobsled

J.R. CelskiShort Track

Tessa Virtue Figure Skating

LluisMarin TarrochSnowboard

Ji-Hee MunBiathlon

February 18, 2010 Theater Inside Beat • Page 3

Inside Beat: So there seems to be a buzz goingaround about this show.

Noah Weisberg: My mom called you?

IB: Unfortunately, no. But, she must be proud thatyou are playing the lead. Tell us about it.NW: It’s based on [Rostand’s] Cyrano [de Bergerac],though there’s no prosthetic nose. When Calvin looksin the mirror, his nose is the biggest thing, and that’swhat everyone is staring at, according to him. Justlike anybody, his insecurity is magnified to himself.But I think he really has a heart of gold. He’s got somuch love to give and he’s hoping to find the rightperson to give it to. But he’s probably too smart forhis own good.

IB: I heard a bit of the song “Security Meltdown” andcan’t get it out of my head. NW: When you see the show, you’re going to have 14songs you can’t get out of your head because it’s likethat with us. I guarantee you will hear the music ofBarry Wyner on Broadway because it is as good, andin many cases better, than some of the stuff we heartoday. His music is just smart and funny.

IB: What has your experience been like working withKathleen Marshall?NW: She’s been really amazing and has helped us todiscover, shape, and polish our roles. She’s just theideal director.

IB: And what has your experience been like workingwith the cast?NW: I love them. There are only four of us, and we’veformed our own family. I think that’s also probablycredited to Kathleen. She was able to get a sense notjust of talent but when people auditioned, but alsowho is easy to work with. They’re all wonderful.

Weisberg isCalvin Berger

BY BECCA ZANDSTEINSTAFF WRITER

Carmen, the French opera by Georges Bizet,puts the power of love into sharp and powerfulcatchy tunes and depressing ballads. From themoment Jacques Lacombe, the conductor, raisedhis wand until the last of the cast took their bow,the performances will give you chills from yourhead to your toes.

Carmen, played by the talented KirstinChàvez, is the seductive and fearless gypsywhom all the men want to love and be lovedby. Richard Leech plays the opinionated José,who is promised Carmen and is unable to es-cape the image of their love. All because of aflower with a strong fragrance, José finds him-

State Theatre | A-Carmen

Calvin Berger, the new musical created by Barry Wyner and directed bytwo-time Tony-Award winner Kathleen Marshall, began previews recentlyat the George Street Playhouse. While the excitement continues to growaround this production, cast member Noah Weisberg (Broadway: SouthPacific, Legally Blonde) sits down with Inside Beat to discuss his experi-

ence playing the title role.

COURTESY OF THEATERMANIA.COM

BY NATALIA TAMZOKETHEATER EDITOR

self intoxicated by Carmen and refuses to let go.

Micaëla, played by Caitlin Lynch, is the per-fect bride-to-be before José deserts her for thegypsy and angers his mother, the one personwhom José hopes will always love him and for-give his inexcusable actions.

José is tested by the stunning Carmen as towhether his love is strong enough to enduresuch a fearless and brave women like herself. Henever gives in to Carmen’s tests, though hisweakness lies with his dying mother, for whomhe will leave anyone.

All the male characters in Carmen batter thewomen physically and verbally—but the onewoman who can handle her men is Carmen. Atone point, José was about to say goodbye to Car-

men forever with such ease until competitioncomes by. The men in Carmen are desperate forpassion and would rather die for their love thanlive with the person they love.

Carmen is a tragic opera with sexual charactersand one of the best mezz-sopranos. The set stayedthe same throughout all four acts but is likely tochange the next time it comes around from OperaNJ. The chorus is visible at all times in the back-drop of the set, which can take away from the cast.

This unforgettable opera brings to mind the im-portance of family and the real definition of loveor the lack thereof. Each cast member feels hand-picked for their part and fist naturally into thecharacter and storyline. All of Opera New Jersey’supcoming performances are worth the price for aclassic operatic memory.

IB: In comparison to other productions you havebeen in, how is Calvin Berger special to you?NW: It’s very special because we’re developingsomething new. This is literally new material that,even though they’ve worked on the show and donesome readings and small productions, no one has of-ficially heard. This is almost like a New York pre-miere in a sense.

IB: Is there something the audience can take awayfrom this production?NW: The program?

IB: Ah, yes. But how about something less physical?NW: Well, I think the moral is that being who youare and being honest with yourself and others,ideally, will be more attractive than pretendingyou’re someone else. Also, I think that though ittakes place in a high school, it’s not a high schoolshow. When are we more aware and insecure andhormonal? It’s just a very universal and touchingstory that adults and even younger people can re-late to. Especially college-aged students…in New Jersey…

IB: And on that note, any final words to Rutgers stu-dents? Why should they see Calvin Berger?NW: There’s hot people in the show. And…I thinkthat it’s just really funny. The music is so good thatyou’re going to easily follow the story. You’re goingto laugh a lot and be stuck with great melodies inyour head.

Calvin Berger is playing at George Street Play-house through March 14. For more information andfor ticket information, visit www.georgestplay-house.org. For more information about Noah Weis-berg, visit www.CastNoah.com or visit his onlinecommunity for per formers at www.ImAnActor.com.

shocking pictures of Americanforces in an Iraqi prison thatblew up in the media in 2003.Gourevitch’s interests in this in-cident lie in the “ethical inquiryinto the use of photo evidence.”The author says it is perplexinghow there can be multiple storiesand viewpoints that don’t seem tolink to one another on a singleevent in history.

Gourevitch often finds that

pieces of evidence and narrativeaccounts are like parts of a puz-zle that don’t fit because the“guilty” tend to make excuses.For example, in his widely rec-ognized, award-winning bookabout the Rwandan genocide, WeWish To Inform You That Tomor-row We Will Be Killed With OurFamilies, he writes about an in-terview with a particular sur-vivor, a woman whose neighborhad killed her entire family. Theaccused murderer continued todeny this fact as well as othersimilar accusations.

Gourevitch not only travels toforeign lands, he finds similarmystification in New York City.He read an excerpt about a gang-ster he had interviewed who hada strikingly comparable mentalityto the other criminals he has spo-ken to. The author explained thatthe basis for this common behav-ior is that people are generallyfond of themselves and knowhow to make peace with their ac-

tions. Crime, he feels,has a corrosive effect,yet the aftermath islike a cleansingprocess that allowscriminals to contem-plate and regret, al-though it is too late.

As Gourevitch pro-vided his Rutgers au-dience with livelyreadings, it was obvi-ous that his skills asan observer and in-vestigator are impec-cable. The novelsinclude detailed de-scriptions and visualimagery of the peopleinvolved and the ac-tions that take place.But what the audi-ence was really leftwith was his hauntinganalysis of the crimi-nal psyche. The com-mon thread that runsthrough Rwanda,New York and other

crime scenes across the globe isthat many people, even remorse-ful criminals, will “learn to livewith what they’ve done.”

The Writers at Rutgers Readingseries is open to all audiences, evenbeyond the University community.The next event is on Wednesday,March 31 at the Rutgers StudentCenter on the College Avenue cam-pus and features Kiran Desai. Sheis the author of Hullabaloo in theGuava Orchard and The Inheri-tance of Loss, which won the ManBooker Prize and the NationalBook Critics Circle Award.

Page 4 • Inside Beat Books February 18, 2010

BY NIDHI SARAIYABOOKS EDITOR

Apple has made head-lines again with its newestproduct, the iPad, sched-uled to release in lateMarch and April. Amongother things, the iPadthreatens the e-reader mar-ket with its iBooks applica-tion and iBookstore. Butwill Apple win over con-sumers with yet anotherrevolutionary product, orwill the iPad be an e-readerdud? Decide for yourselfwith this head-to-head com-parison of the iPad with thethree most popular e-read-ers currently available.

BY AMANDA AMANULLAHSTAFF WRITER

Although you would thinkthat the scandalous world ofcrime scenes is a professionaldomain limited to just investiga-tive cops and forensic scientists,Philip Gourevitch, an Americanauthor and journalist, extendsthat panorama to the writingand publishing field. Havingtraveled to Rwandawith nothing buttranslators and ameans of recording,he bravely inter-viewed both victimsand murderers of the1994 genocide to dis-cover the aftermath ofwar and the truth be-hind so-called “evi-dence.”

Gourevitch, whonow works as the edi-tor of The Paris Reviewand as a staff writer forThe New Yorker, washonored by the Rut-gers community onFeb. 3, 2010, as theguest reader for thefirst “Writers at Rut-gers” event this semes-ter. This series,sponsored by the Eng-lish Department, oc-curs throughout theacademic year and usu-ally features fiction au-thors and poets. Still, theeye-opening nonfiction writerproduced a great audience of alltypes of writers, students, facultymembers and friends.

Introduced by Professor Car-olyn Williams, the undergradu-ate director of English,Gourevitch read aloud excerptsfrom his three novels. As notedby Williams, the author writesmainly for social change by ex-posing the truth about crimes. Inhis most recent and explosivebook, The Ballad of Abu Ghraib,he writes about the story behind

E-reader Wars: Where Does the Apple iPad Stack Up?

* This is the simplest version of the iPad.Models with 3G wireless, 32 GB, and 64 GBare available on a sliding scale of pricing.

The Reader Barnes & Noble NookNook

Amazon Kindle DX Apple iPad* Sony Reader Daily Edition

Price $259 $489 $499 $399

Dimension 7.7” x 4.9” x 0.5” 10.4” x 7.2” x 038” 9.56” x 7.47” x 0.5” 8.125” x 5.0” x 0.59”

Screen Size 6” 9.7” 9.7” 7.1”

Weight 12.1 oz 18.9 oz. 1.5 lbs. 12.75 oz.

Battery Life 10 days (no wireless) 4 days - 2 weeks 10 hours 7 days - 2.5 weeks

E-ink Display Yes Yes ? Yes

Speakers Yes Yes Yes NoInternet 3G Wireless 3G Wireless Wireless 3G Wireless

Memory 2 GB 4 GB 16 GB 1.6 GB

Strengths Sharing of most content withother users for 2 weeks

International use, Free re-download of old content

Most versatile e-reader, Fullcolor screen!

Largest eBookstore,Borrow library books for

30 days

Writers at Rutgers Series:Philip Gourevitch

COURTESY OF PHILIP GOUREVITCH

BY AMY ROWESTAFF WRITER

No matter the amount of misfortune in a per-son’s life, the world will keep on spinning. ColumMcCann, author of Zoli and Dancer, makes thisclear in his 2009 National Book Award winningnovel Let the Great World Spin (June 2009). Thebook follows the lives of several different narra-tors whose stories are all interconnected; its set-ting is the 1974 event when Philippe Petitwalked, laid down and hopped upon a tight ropebetween the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

The book, itself split into four, begins in Ire-land where two young brothers, Corrigan andCiaran, are growing up with their single mother.McCann establishes Corrigan as the asceticbrother and future monk and Ciaran as the aim-less one. After a brief glimpse of their childhood,McCann sweeps readers off to the South Bronxin the 1970s, where Ciaran and Corrigan live ina run-down apartment in the projects. McCann,who was born in Dublin and later moved to NewYork, may be reflecting on his own life throughhis characters.

Corrigan, after tiring of pious seclusion,works as a van driver at a local nursing home.He also helps a group of prostitutes that do theirwalk by the Major Deegan Expressway. Mean-while, Ciaran bartends at an Irish pub in Queens,confused with his brother’s life choices. Ciarandetests how the prostitutes barge into theirhouse to use their bathroom and does not un-derstand the relationship his brother has devel-oped with the women.

Throughout the novel, Ciaran’s story col-lides with the characters narrating the othersections, one of whom is Claire, a Park Avenuehousewife. She and her husband, JudgeSolomon Soderberg, are struggling with theloss of their son to the Vietnam War and copingin different ways. Others include Adelita, aGuatemalan nurse who works with Corrigan,and Tillie, a strung-out, aging and imprisonedblack prostitute, who along with her daughterJazzlyn, develops a close relationship to Corri-gan. Each character is involved in each other’sstories, and the connections between the char-acters are very compelling.

Let the Great World Spin, though slow tostart, gradually picks up the pace and sucksreaders into its epic story about loss and lovethrough the eyes of different New Yorkers. Mc-Cann’s talent shines through each character ashe gives them life and poignant dialogue. Al-though the accounts of Petit’s outrageous stuntare not the focal point of the story, they do punc-tuate it. The idea of a walker on a small wire be-tween two towers, which today are symbols ofloss, really mirrors the plight of each character.That allegory of the Twin Towers sends the cen-tral message home: ultimately anyone can tri-umph over loss.

Grea

t World

Spin

Let TheC

olum M

cCann |A

February 18, 2010 TV Inside Beat • Page 5

BY AMANDA LITCHKOWSKIART EDITOR

In the world of fashion, aprinter malfunction can mean theend of a career.

This is the type of insight pro-vided by Bravo’s new behind-the-scenes reality fashion series, Kellon Earth. The show follows the lifeof über-busy Kelly Cutrone, a fash-ion publicist and the founder ofPeople’s Revolution.

Cutrone, who gained semi-fame among MTV fans as theboss of Lauren Conrad and Whit-ney Port in The Hills, proves thatshe can bully and sass her way topublic relations success. Whileprepping her staff for the gun-to-the-head stress of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Cutronetells them if they have to cry, gooutside. Appropriately, she has aself-help book of the same title.

The appeal of the show is sup-posed to lie in the dynamics of thePeople’s Revolution office. Thepersonalities of Cutrone’s ten or soemployees should be shining, butit’s difficult to distinguish betweenone frustrated skinny trendsterand the next.

What really sticks out is themundane-ness of fashion publi-cist work. All the stress, all themeltdowns, all the career-break-ing scolding result from tryingto organize RSVP lists and puttogether seating charts. Aprinter malfunction is enough towarrant a “to be continued…”until the second episode. Obvi-

BY BECCA ZANDSTEINSTAFF WRITER

Ironically, Secrets of Aspen hasascertained that Aspen, Colo.,has no secrets — rumors spreadlike butter on bread. The nearlyall-women cast, save one flam-boyantly extravagant man, livethe elite life filled with wine andmen embellished in money.

Brooke is the core of Aspen— she knows everyone andeveryone wants to know her. Theonly con is that people lavishlyeat away at Brooke to get to theugly and truthful core. Laura, theCindy Crawford look-a-likewhose words are as fake as hermole and breasts, is the womanwho steals men and friends,specifically the innocent Robin.She bumps heads with Brooke inparticular, most of the time be-

ARIBA ALVITV EDITOR

If there’s a show you should be watching because itmight just make you a better person, it’s The Buried Life.

For once, MTV has come up with a socially con-scious show for the “era of Obama.” Not only does thisshow have humor and stupidity, it also has a clear mes-sage. It forges a new path for MTV and for television ingeneral in a time of meaningless reality television (a laJersey Shore).

The show, which is actually from the documentary TheBuried Life: What Do You Want To Do Before You Die? isabout four friends— Ben, Duncan, Dave and Jonnie— who

VH1 Sundays at 11 p.m. | B-

TheBuriedLifeMTV Mondays at 10pm | A-

Bravo Mondays at 10pm | C-Kell on Earth

Secrets of Aspen

COURTESY OF ASPENDAILYNEWS.COM

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ously, there’s a lot of pressure toensure that Bazaar and Voguereporters are not seated next toeach other.

The funniest lines in theshow come from the two tokengay fashionistas working forCutrone. Andrew, her personalassistant, is a long-haired gothwho dons a sequined dress forthe season’s first runway show.He was hired immediately be-cause Cutrone was tired of sift-ing through overeager blondes.

The other employee, who is fullof witty quips, is also named An-drew, except he’s characterized byhis orange tan and obnoxiouslyflamboyant voice. He makes him-self heard when he coaxesCutrone’s former personal assis-tant and newly-promoted StefanieSkinner to pop some pills forstress relief.

Kell on Earth is not a bundleof fun, nor is it mildly enter-taining to watch Cutrone yell ather employees for RSVP-ingpeople who weren’t even in-vited in the first place. On topof that, it is nearly impossiblefor viewers to sympathize withCutrone’s victims because thecrazy suckers consciouslychose their own careers.

Most of all, it’s dishearteningfor those who dream of a job infashion PR and watch Kell onEarth only to find out that the topof the food chain has to do thesame work as an intern. The onlydifference is that she has the rightto yell.

cause of their past. When put to-gether in a quarrel Laura alwaysends up looking like John WilkesBooth while Brooke appears asthe Virgin Mary, despite thehooker whispers.

Erin and Ben are the “couple”who have the potential to out-shine Kathy Grif fin and one ofher token gays. Erin, a socialitefrom Miami, is the funniest andthe youngest looking in thebunch. She doesn’t necessarilyfit into Aspen yet. She wears cou-ture and heels to a fly fishing les-son. Ben consumes as muchliquor as a whale does water andhas a mouth as large as one aswell. Shana is the fierce cougarwith great natural looks and akind heart. Star and Kat areroommates who struggle to keepup with all of the wealthy Aspen-ites’ pricey lifestyles.

When there is an eligiblebachelor in town, all of thewomen charge toward him likehormonally-altered bulls. Allof the women on Secrets ofAspen are single and/or cur-rently dating someone new;none are in a long-term committed relationship.

Secrets of Aspen is theyounger and hipper version ofReal Housewives in a scenic lo-cation with loads of uninten-tional humor. The onlyexception is that these womenare anything but housewivesholding down a house and aman with ease. The dramacomes in constant never-endingjolts and is over as soon as an-other drama-filled situation be-gins. Secrets of Aspen will easilybecome many viewers’ newestguilty pleasure.

decide to make a list of 100 things they want to do beforethey die, and live them out.

The twist is that for every one thing that the boys doon their list, they go and do something off of a strangerslist. They use their unique skills and their brains to helpout the strangers that they meet, as well as to accomplishtheir own goals.

The four friends, originally from Canada, were all veryhighly accomplished before they decided to start this jour-ney. Ben was an on the Canadian National Rugby Team,Dave is a pro-break dancer, Duncan (older brother of Jon-nie) set up a NGO with the goal of providing soccer equip-ment to less fortunate kids, and Jonnie is an award- winningfilmmaker as well as an activist.

They make use of their skills in order to accomplish theirgoals. For instance, in the first episode they crash a Playboyparty. The boys use their creativity in order to get in, but then col-lectively use their musical and dancing skills in order to raisemoney for a school. It doesn’t seem to get much better than that.

The best part is that MTV as a whole is turning sociallyconscious because of The Buried Life. Although 16 andPregnant turned teen pregnancy into entertainment, TeenMom goes on to show that life is much harder for teen moth-ers than it looks.

Though there is an element of recklessness and es-capism in The Buried Life, it always reverts to its origins andreminds people to not only value their own lives, but to helpout the people they meet on the journey.

It’s hard to believe the Oscar nominations are finally upon us, but what’s even harder to believe is that the actual award show isnot until March. Holding them a month and a half after the final major award show (Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 23) seemsa bit excessive — almost making them obsolete in their tardiness — but that’s the way it goes.

After Anne Hathawayannounced all of the nom-inees, there really wereno surprises. Yes, District9 got nominated for Best

Picture. But with theexpansion of the listto 10 nominees, therewere really no snubs.Every good film (be-

sides Star Trek) got nominated for Best Picture, as wellas the Acting categories. This year’s Oscars are disap-pointing because it’s just business as usual. If viewers sawthe Golden Globes, SAG Awards or anything in between,they can predict nine times out of ten who will win andwho will lose.

Sure-fires are Mo’nique and Christoph Waltz for Pre-cious and Inglourious Basterds respectively, as well as San-dra Bullock for The Blind Side (even if it was only a subparfilm). The best acting nomination is Jeff Bridges for CrazyHeart, because the Academy is finally making up for nevernominating his brilliant performance as The Dude in TheBig Lebowski.

It’s great that good writing does seem to prevail overall, with films like In the Loop, A Serious Man and Up nom-inated for their screenplay. Even Quentin Tarantino has achance at winning Best Original Screenplay with Inglou-rious Basterds. As much as every film that has been a criticdarling this season remains so, the true argument lies inthe film cage match of the new decade: The Hurt Locker or Avatar?

As much as Avatar was a brilliant and original experience, there’s a feeling that because the Academy has never given a woman the Best Director win,things may actually work in Kathryn Bigelow’s favor. The Hurt Locker really is a superior film against Avatar when it comes down to the directing, writing andacting, but there has been nothing this year like Avatar as a movie-going experience. Overall, the winner should and probably will be The Hurt Locker, only

because James Cameron hit his apex with Titanic andshouldn’t repeat.

The Oscars will be a run-of-the-mill affair. It’s kind ofsad actually that even with Best Picture expanding itselfto 10 nominations, you can still see the clear-cut winnerand losers.

BY THEO JONES •

Award ShWhile the Academy will be handing oawards will be granted to the worst —laughed at, not with. Combined, the

this year’s high and low

The OscarsSTAFF WRITER

V

Sandra Bullock: A Razzie One N

2010 is a great year for SGlobe for her performancenominated for an Academcontender for a Razzie awthat she will be both the bewe’ll have to wait until Ma

AVATAR

IN THE LOOP

Love or hate them, winning the Academy Award is a highly-esteemed achievement, and its ceremony is stillhost to one of the most narcissistic nights in Hollywood — snore. What of the Razzies? The Razzies were formedin 1980 as a response to all that pomp and circumstance. As such, the annual announcement of nominations isalways the day before the Academy’s. Razzie.com states, “The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation’s well-aimed darts of derision have always been directed at Hollywood’s high profile humiliations.”

There is indeed something cathartic about seeing some of the year’s worst cinematic dreck speared bythese so-called darts. It’s also great public relations for any star with enough humility to accept their slap onthe wrist. Sandra Bullock, nominated for Worst Actress in All About Steve, has told Entertainment Weekly,“Oh my God, how fantastic is that? I’m showing up if I win. … The Razzies are a great honor.” Joining her in

the runningis Beyoncé (Ob-sessed), Miley Cyrus(Hannah Montana: TheMovie), Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body and Transformers: Revenge of theFallen) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Did You Hear About Morgans?).Male leads nominated include the Jonas Brothers for their 3-D con-cert movie, Will Ferrell (Land of the Lost), Steve Martin (Pink Pan-ther 2), Eddie Murphy (Imagine That) and John Travolta (Old Dogs).

All of the nominations for Worst Picture have stars nominated forWorst Actress/Actor, and the Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel cat-egory is equally predictable.

The nominations for Worst Screen Couple, which are satis-fying on a deeply personal and visceral level, are: any of theJonas Brothers for their concert thing; Sandra Bullock andBradley Cooper (All About Steve); Will Ferrell and everythingelse on-screen in Land of the Lost; Shia LaBeouf, Megan Foxand any CGI robot (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen); andKristen Stewart with either Dopey or Bashful (Twilight Saga:New Moon).

Perhaps some of the more brutal, funny and spot-on categoriesthis year are the Razzie’s Worst of the Decade categories (foractor, actress and picture). Worst Picture nominations includeBattlefield Earth, Freddy Got Fingered, Gigli, I Know Who KilledMe and Swept Away. Worst actors are those with a string of awfulfilms under their belt, and most had somewhat respected careers

beforehand: Ben Affleck, Eddie Murphy, Rob Schneider and John Travolta. Worst Actress? Mariah Carey (the only nominee with a single film reference: Glit-ter), Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna.

While none of the nominations are any more sur-prising than those from the Academy, they are at leastmore entertaining. Wouldn’t it be great if more nomi-nees shared Bullock’s attitude? Maybe someday theRazzies will get the respect they deserve.

how Warsout Oscars to Hollywood’s best, Razzie— those who audience members haveresult is some interesting coverage ofcinematic achievements.

The RazziesEMILY SCHACHTMAN • FILM EDITOR

S

ight and an Oscar the Next?

Sandra Bullock. Not only did she win a Goldene in The Blind Side, but she has been

my Award as well. Ironically, she also a ward for the film All About Steve. Is it possibleest and the worst in cinema? Unfortunately,arch to find out.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

I KNOW WHO KILLED ME

JONAS BROTHERS: 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE

Page 8 • Inside Beat Film February 18, 2010

(500) Days of Summer Marc Webb’s directorial debut was certainly a strong one. His direction, along with an excellent script, helped this un-

conventional romantic-comedy earn critical praise. While all of the actors performed well, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a par-ticularly outstanding job in the lead role.

— Jason PearlAvatar

Rarely is a film so engrossing that the viewer almost feels like they are part of the movie. However, thanks to ground-breaking new special effects technology, Avatar succeeds in creating this sensation. While the plot may seem a bit familiar,there is no doubt that Avatar has changed the film-making industry.

— JPDamned United

Michael Sheen (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) puts on a brilliant performance in this British footballdrama that largely steers clear of on-field antics and instead dissects the complex relationships be-tween managers, owners and players. Loosely based on legendary English manager Brian Clough’scoaching career, what sets Damned United apart is its focus on the human elements of the game. Themovie explores Clough’s rivalry with Don Revie, manager of Leeds United, the country’s most suc-cessful team at the time. Clough’s severely outmatched team loses to Revie’s, after which Revie refusesto oblige Clough with the traditional handshake or even eye contact. Clough and his massive ego thenembark on an extremely personal mission to eclipse Leeds United. Fueled by the slight, Clough soarsto great heights only for his ambition to sink him to new depths in both his career and social life.

— Fahim Khan

A Serious ManThis complex and haunting dark comedy from the Coen brothers consistently keeps you amused

while staying intelligent. It chronicles a Midwestern Jewish physics professor and family man whoselife slowly starts to unravel as he strives to find meaning and order in it all. As ordeals both mundaneand extraordinary pile up he seeks the aid of three rabbis, not unlike the Biblical story of Job. The filmpatiently builds to a climax that ultimately leaves audiences with more questions than answers. It be-comes unusually difficult to discern the moral of the story from the seemingly chaotic events, reflect-ing the disordered events of life itself. On that premise, the Coen brothers have created a masterpieceas evocative as any of the last year.

— FKUp

Up is a refreshing comedy that people of all ages can enjoy. The movie is centered on a little old man who is de-pressed following the death of his beloved wife, Ellie. After a wild adventure to South America with a chubby, young“Wilderness Explorer” boy scout, he realizes that his wife would have wanted him to explore and enjoy life even with-out her. Pixar’s 10th film has proven to be their best.

— Cassandra Sperber

I Love You, ManMovies featuring Paul Rudd, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, are funny, but a movie starring Paul

Rudd? That’s bound to be hilarious. I Love You, Man is without a doubt the funniest movie of 2009. Rudd plays PeterKlaven — your average guy — a real estate agent about to get married. His one flaw: He has no guy friends. Uponmeeting his soon-to-be “BFF,” Sydney Fife, played by Jason Segel, the movie rises to nonstop, ridiculous comedy.

— CS

Movies We Love

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CLOCKWISE: DAMNED UNITED; ASERIOUS MAN; I LOVE YOU, MAN;

UP; (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

BY MOLLY MULSHINESTAFF WRITER

I was ready to give Dear Johnan A+ within the first five minutesthanks to shirtless ChanningTatum on a surfboard. Then heput his shirt back on and the dia-logue started, and it was all down-hill from there.

Tatum’s character John is a sol-dier on leave who falls in love withSavannah (Amanda Seyfried) overthe course of her two-week springbreak in Charleston, S.C. Whatthey love about each other is un-clear. Their entire courtingprocess is jammed into a montageof him teaching her how to surf,her playing guitar and singing tohim, and the two of them cuddlingon the beach. After these fewshots of them doing romanticthings, we’re supposed to be in-vested in their relationship.

Early in the film, Savannah tellsJohn that she doesn’t drink,smoke or sleep around, becauseGod forbid a female love interest

BY VIC FERNSTAFF WRITER

The United States Super 8mmFilm and Digital Video Festival,now in its 22nd year, is the largestand longest running festival of itskind. It provides an opportunity toview small-budget works createdby passionate film/video makers.Audiences can participate in thejudging process by voting for theirfavorites during screenings. Someof the finalists spoke to Inside Beatabout their respective films.

Fledgling by Tony Gault and Eliz-abeth Henry (GlenwoodSprings, CO )

“We had always wanted tomake a short film about ourfriend Kevin. He vacillates be-tween a romantic dream of quit-ting his job to become a mountainman and his more cynical viewthat humans are so removed fromnature that he wouldn’t survive aweek out there. In other words,his conflicting attitudes reflectour main focus as filmmakers: ex-ploring human alienation fromthe natural world and its conse-quences on the environment.”

Delphinium: A Childhood Portraitof Derek Jarman by MatthewMishory (West Hollywood, CA)

“My film is an experimentalexamination of one of the mostimportant and inspiring artistsand filmmakers of the 20th cen-tury. We focus on Jarman’s Eng-lish childhood after the War andin particular the creative, sexual

Dear JohnLasse Hallström | D

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in a Nicholas Sparks novel is not avirgin. Naturally, John says thismeans she has no flaws. She con-fesses that she does, in fact, have aflaw — sometimes she curses —in her head. Savannah’s true flawis that she’s boring. She is one ofthose personality-free ingénuesthat practically begs viewers toproject their own characteristicsonto her, thus enabling the audi-ence to pretend they’re the onesmaking out with Channing Tatum.This is normally a pretty solid ap-proach that has done wonders forother movies based on novels byNicholas Sparks (Mandy Moore inA Walk to Remember, anyone?). InDear John, though, even the view-ers who normally fall for this trickwill soon be done relating to theuninteresting Savannah.

Savannah’s tendency to bemind-numbingly boring isthrough no fault of Seyfried. Shedoes the best she can with thelazy script, which seems like itwas cobbled together 15 minutesafter the writer finished reading

Sparks’ novel. Tatum’s characterJohn has a bit more to him, butis there anything easier thanwriting a guy who’s the strong,silent type?

Dear John was heartwarmingat times, and like anything involv-ing Nicholas Sparks, it lays on theschmaltz. But due to the lack ofpersonalities and the movie’shasty exposition, it was hard tosqueeze out any tears over Johnand Savannah’s relationship. Di-rector Lasse Hallström must haverealized the movie wasn’t nearlyas sob inducing as its legendarypredecessor, The Notebook, be-cause he actually resorts to show-ing a grown man sobbing inhopes of getting some tears out ofthe audience.

I’ll admit that I’m not the targetaudience for a movie like this be-cause I don’t cry easily, but I’mpretty sure not many people willbe moved by Dear John. Despitethe film’s teary premise, its lack ofaction and predictable storylinerender it flat and boring.

and political awakening that in-spired a remarkable life.”

Inside Out/Side One by MattMeindl (Columbus, OH)

“Inside Out/Side One is a five-minute nostalgia chunk that ex-plores the texture and tangled-upnature of memory. And becausethe film is non-narrative, my focuswas solely on images, rhythm, dy-namic and mood. My subcon-scious sort of tricked me intomaking Inside Out/Side One; Iwould shoot bits here and thereand tell myself it was just for agoof. But the footage began pilingup and after about four years Istarted piecing everything to-gether and recording bits of musicin order to try and craft it into anactual film.”

Gitchy by Thomas Norman(Brick, NJ)

“My short horror comedy,Gitchy, is about a killer clown thatclaims the lives of his victims by… tickling them to death. I’venever been impressed much bythe excessive gore found in thecommon slasher movie. Filmsthat offered an element of ‘creepi-ness’ have always been ones thatI leaned toward.”

The United States Super 8mmFilm and Digital Video Festivalwill be held on Feb. 19-21, 2010 inVoorhees Hall Room 105 on theCollege Avenue campus, beginningeach evening at 7 p.m. More in-formation can be obtained atwww.njfilmfest.com/super8.html.

February 18, 2010 Art • Fashion Inside Beat • Page 9

BY ASHLEY PARKSTAFF WRITER

Upon entering the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli ArtMuseum’s Les Femmes Du Maroc exhibit, visitors areimmediately aware that they are not alone. The Mo-roccan women in the photographs stare out with chal-lenging and penetrating eyes. Viewers feel a sense ofuneasiness at the haunting fascination of these mi-rage-like women.

The artist, Lalla Essaydi, is a Moroccan photogra-pher born into a conservative Muslim home. Her workspeaks strongly of her Islamic background and is lac-quered with feminist overtones. The title of the exhibit,Les Femmes Du Maroc, is derived from EugeneDelacroix’s Les Femmes d’Algiers. This 1834 paintingwas part of the 19th century Orientalist movement inEurope, in which artists, like GÈrÙme and Jean Au-guste Dominique Ingres, depicted Middle Easternwomen in the nude as slaves or prostitutes.

“[They are] so beautifully painted that you don’tfeel guilty while looking at it, and you don’t realizethe scene that’s happening because it’s so beautiful. Ithink that’s very dangerous,” Lalla Essaydi said in arecording provided by the Zimmerli.

Using these paintings as inspiration, Essaydi hassystematically brought back a sense of respectabilityto Islamic women. First, she rejected the nude formand clothed them in veils and drapery. She also in-scribed calligraphy on their faces, hands, feet and

Fashion-Forward February

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BY ROSANNA VOLISFASHION EDITOR

The lights of the fashion world have grown a bit dimmer and far less interesting with the passing of Lee AlexanderMcQueen. The British designer, who will forever be remembered as the “bad boy” of fashion, committed suicide on Feb.11 in his London apartment.

Renowned across the globe for his avant-garde creations, he was the man who — for 20 years — dared to shake thesometimes-proper fashion scene to its very core. Adored by celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, SarahJessica Parker and Lady Gaga, McQueen came to be known as “L’Enfant terrible,” and never ceased to live up to hisname. “Nicey nicey just doesn’t do it for me,” the designer once said. His October 1993 show had models strutting downthe runway — middle fingers held high — adorned in dresses hand-printed to look like blood. At his most controver-sial, McQueen showcased a collection dedicated to “the Highland rape,” a statement speaking to the “rape” of Scotlandby England. The models appeared to be badly brutalized, with their dresses ripped apart, hair a tangled mess and eyesblanked out with opaque contact lenses.

McQueen’s somewhat sadistic style became his calling card, and he never failed to shock and awe his captivated au-dience. “He realized that fashion was not just about nice clothes to wear, it was about ideas and imagination, and expanding theboundaries,” said Cathy Horyn of the New York Times, in a tribute to the designer. Trained on London’s famous Savile Row, Mc-Queen’s early clients included Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. In a story that has McQueen written all over it, the eccen-tric designer claimed to have sewn expletives into the lining of a jacket he was making for the latter.

Despite the controversy he usually garnered, McQueen won many awards in England. He was even honored as Commanderof the British Empire in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth, although it is hard to imagine the queen being a fan of one of McQueen’s most

well known achievements, “bumsters,” low rise pants that inspired a decade-long obsession with the risqué cut. McQueen turned himself into a household name as the head of Givenchy. It was a tumultuous relationship

that started when the designer referred to the iconic pieces of Hubert de Givenchy — including the elegantlittle black dresses immortalized by Audrey Hepburn — as “irrelevant.” McQueen stayed with Givenchy until2001 when he sold the company to its biggest rival, the Gucci Group.

McQueen’s unofficial muse, Lady Gaga, whose infamous see-through red lace frock from the MTV VideoMusic Awards was custom-made by the designer, is planning a tribute for McQueen at the upcoming BRITAwards. “It’s horrible news. He was a big influence on a lot of my outfits, but far more than that he was a re-ally lovely guy with a good heart,” Gaga told The Sun.

All controversy aside, it is McQueen’s influence and ideas that will live on and his death will no doubt ce-ment him as an icon in fashion history. “Perhaps a little melancholy but unquestionably beautiful,” is the per-fect way to describe the designer’s highly dark yet romantic aesthetic, as Horyn does in her tribute. With ourmiddle fingers to the sky, we salute the great McQueen and know he wouldn’t have it any other way.

KARA JORDHOYSTAFF WRITER

When trying to make itthrough the blistering arctic thatdefines the month of February,most Rutgers students throw onsome sweatpants and call it a day.However, with the Rutgers Uni-versity Programming Associationhosting two fashion events thismonth, college kids will be in-spired to dress to impress, even inthe frosty air.

The first event, “Rutgers on theRunway,” will give students thechance to see new Rutgers gearfrom all sorts of different namebrands such as Victoria’s Secret,Mark Ecko, Nike, Champion, Adi-das, Jansport, Under Armour andmore. University students arebeing given the chance to supporttheir school in style, whether it beat the gym, in residences halls oraround campus. “Rutgers on theRunway” is co-sponsored by theRutgers University Bookstore andRutgers University Student Life.Tickets are available for purchaseat the Student Activities Centeron the College Avenue campusfor $5 each with RUID. Thisevent will take place today at8 p.m. in the Rutgers StudentCenter Multipurpose Room.Proceeds will be going toRutgers Against Hunger.

RUPA is also bringingcelebrity guest ClintonKelly from TLC’s WhatNot to Wear to give stu-dents advice on fashionin the workplace. Fromstarting an internship tohaving a full time job, COURTESY OF TLC

LegendLuxuriant

L’Enfant Terrible

CLOCKWISE: RUN-WAY, FALL 2006;CLAW BOOTIESPRING 2010;RUNWAY, FALL2008; RUNWAY,SPRING 2010

Alexander McQueen

Middle Eastern Art Arrivals

clothing, as well as the background of the set. Thecalligraphy, a traditionally males-only art form, is ren-dered in henna, a dye associated with womanhood.Enmeshed in a labyrinth of words, the figures seemto meld into the background, indicating their intimateand interminable connection with the domesticrealm. The script is all taken from Essaydi’s diary,and the models comprise of her close family andfriends, making this a personal, as well as cultural,statement. The elegant poses are directly influencedby 19th century Orientalist paintings, but Essaydi re-places all male figures with women. Essaydi directedthe gazes of the models directly out at the viewer, asif daring them to look upon their entrancing beauty.

“The psychological intensity of the women inthese photographs forces the viewers to understandthese women as a very human presence,” said DonnaGustafson, the liaison for the Mellon Program and as-sistant curator for American Art at the Zimmerli.

Essaydi presents an overwhelmingly complexmessage concerning female identity and her own per-spective of Islamic culture. While she does not seekto attack Orientalist paintings, her aim is to emanci-pate Arab women and correct Western fallacies. Herwork is highly provocative in that it raises questionsabout how we perceive and interpret the realities thatsurround us.

“We live in a world filled with images,” Gustafsonsaid. “A knowledge of art, and how artists make im-ages, helps us to differentiate truth from illusion.

Kelly will motivate future employ-ees to look their best while keep-ing up the hard work. He will alsoenlighten the audience with adviceon what to wear now and what tokeep in the back of their closet forlater. Be sure to come early andgrab a seat, because everyone willwant a glimpse of Kelly and hissassy remarks. This event is co-sponsored by Rutgers UniversityStudent Life, Career Services, Fu-ture Leaders in Student Affairs,RU-tv, Iota Phi Theta, Alpha KappaPsi, The Professional BusinessFraternity, Minority EngineeringEducational Task and Rutgers Uni-versity Leadership EmpowermentSociety. “What Not to Wear…atWork: A Night with Clinton Kelly”will take place tomorrow from 7:30to 10 p.m. in Livingston Hall at theLivingston Student Center.

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Page 10 • Inside Beat Music February 18, 2010

BY JASON STIVESMUSIC EDITOR

For all intents and purposes, the stor y of Robin Hood is notabout robbing from the rich and stealing from the poor, but a groupof merry men having a good time. Brooklyn-based garage rock out-fit Locksley, who derive their name from the same book, are justthat: a group of guys having fun. Since the group’s formation in2003, the Beatles-esque quartet has mastered the art of good pressthanks to spots in various television shows and major motion pic-tures. Their catchy blend of British Invasion-inspired hooks andNew York indie rock has made them one of the big artists to watchin the new decade.

Locksley, originally from Madison, Wis., consists of lead singer JesseLaz, his brother and bassist Jordan, lead guitarist Kai Kennedy anddrummer Sam Blair. They are everything a band was to our parent’sgeneration and what they want to be to their own. Their energetic on-

BY STEVEN WILLIAMSONSTAFF WRITER

The year was 1978, and music found itself at an in-teresting crossroads. The New Wave genre was gainingsteam with the release of Blondie’s Parallel Lines andBritish punk act The Clash had just released theireponymous album a year earlier. Glam rock was dead,disco limped along and iconic hard rock band Van Halenscored a major success in February of that year with itsown debut album.

But out of all of this came an album that was com-pletely unique in its own right. Channeling elements ofblues and rock ’n roll with a heavy dose of countrymusic, frontman Mark Knopfler and his band DireStraits made a splash with their eponymous album, DireStraits. The album is most noted for producing one ofthe band’s most heralded songs, “Sultans of Swing,” butit is the album itself that lays the groundwork for one ofthe United Kingdom’s most famous rock acts.

Knopfler sets the group apart through and through.His finger-pick blues style makes every guitar riffunique and identifiable, but his gritty voice also adds araw, emotional element to every track. In addition toscoring the band’s breakout single, the album show-cased the band’s versatility. Their ability to transitionfrom up-tempo to slower songs was almost seamless.Knopfler showcased the nascent stages of his composi-tion ability that, while great, only improved until theband’s peak in the mid-80s.

From the opening track, “Down to the Waterline” —a lesser-known but powerful song — to the closingnotes, Dire Straits presents a country-infused, blue col-lar experience, not unlike that of Bruce Springsteen.While it lacked some of the emotion and sheer powerof Dire Straits’ third album, Making Movies, Dire Straitsis definitely worth the listen.

Vintage VitalDire Straits

All Eyes On

LOCKSEYThe quartet has already rockedthe New York Indie scene, butthis jolly group continues to embark on new territories

around the world.

MUST DOWNLOADS• “Darling, It’s True” • “Let Me Know”• “All Over Again”

“The Past and the Present”

•

“Don’t MakeMe Wait”

•

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stage persona is reminiscent of acts like The Kinks and The Who; That,coupled with their boot tapping, relentlessly shrieking garage-basedsound have made them an eye-catching act to see. Their 2007 full lengthalbum Don’t Make Me Wait, had all the makings of a bona fide runawayhit: clever bass lines, a thunderous back beat and Jesse’s uncanny vocalimitation of singers like the Small Faces’ Steve Marriott and PelleAlmqvist of The Hives.

Unlike acts who wear their hear ts on their sleeves, Locksleyplays to the scars and bruises on their faces from a relentlessamount of touring supporting acts like OK Go, Rooney and Kink’slead singer Ray Davies. Battle scars aside, their melancholy andhear tbroken songs are broodingly honest and beautifullyarranged into mini pop rock masterpieces that leave the listenerbopping along and doing their best Jesse Laz sing-song vocals.The group will release their sophomore ef for t Be in Love to stores in March, spreading their infectious sound to young hear ts ever ywhere.

BY MITCHELL MATTESSTAFF WRITER

Lil Wayne’s seventh album, Rebirth, serves as his rock debut andshows a very new side to the hip-hop mastermind, who is fully embracingthe genre and even playing electric guitar on a number of the tracks. How-

ever, the result is an overly flamboyant attempt to bridge the gap between rap and rock,which is met with little success.

Rebirth finds Wayne auto-tuning over piercing guitar riffs, haphazardly bombastic drumbeats and heavy synths with lyrics. Furthermore, his content not only presents questionsabout his talent but his perception of rock music in general. While the direct influence is un-clear, other rock musicians will probably not be pleased to hear this album. Wayne has never

February 18, 2010 Music Inside Beat • Page 11

BY AMY ROWESTAFF WRITER

Kieran Heb-den, more com-monly known as

Four Tet, provides an intriguingsound with his most recent re-lease, There is Love in You, whichfeatures a mixture of samples andhis own guitar playing. Hebden’seerie electronic melodies and sim-plistic drum beats combine withenigmatic vocal samples to createa dark, ambient vibe throughoutthe album.

The first track, “Angel Echoes,”starts out with a few different per-cussion samples that lead into sev-

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Four Tet

BY JASON

STIVESMUSIC EDITOR

When your new album soundslike the music from Disney’s Mis-sion: SPACE ride, you know thereis a creativity problem. While pub-lic perception of Tom DeLonge’sAngels and Airwaves has changedgreatly since the reunion of blink-182 and the release of the docu-mentary Start the Machine, theover-produced operatic feel is stillprominent on the band’s thirdalbum, the digitally-released Love.

The trouble with the music ofAngels and Airwaves is that it triesto be more epic than commercial.Granted, the sound of Love iscatered to their fans, but to outsidelisteners the album is a rock ’n rollinterpretation of Carl Sagan’s Cos-mos series. The record paintssome potential singles (“Epic Hol-iday” and “Hallucinations”) but theradio-friendliness stops there.

Love | C Angels & AirwavesCOURTESY OF SURETONE.COM

sounded more forced; In fact, the only glimpse of authenticity to the lyrics are the verses ofthe songs where he puts down the guitar and goes back to rapping. For example, take “PromQueen,” a song about childish high school heartbreak and revenge, like the rest of the albumit is filled with tacky, unimaginative and misguided lyrics that lack any sense of emotion.

The album’s only high points come from Wayne’s various collaborators. Young Moneyartist Nicki Manaj offers feisty rhymes, uplifting the track “Knockout” while Eminem injectshis usual angst and disgust into “Drop the World” with a freestyle verse that saves the track.One featured artist who proves to be disappointing is Shanell, who — despite offering hervocal talent to three of the tracks — makes them more uneven and chaotic. With lyrics like“I’m a dope boy wit a guitar” from “American Star,” Wayne is insistent in proclaiming him-self as a rock musician. After listening to Rebirth, although not the intended connotation,Wayne does indeed sound like a dope with a guitar.

eral voices mixed together whosemessage is reduced to syllables.The more upbeat xylophone addsa brighter layer to the second halfof this gloomy song.

“Love Cry” begins with melan-cholic, distorted organ notes andringing bells. A snappy drum beatinterrupts and then punctuates theominous samples. This song, andmost of the others on the album,creates anticipation for what’s tocome by building layer upon layerof sounds.

The tone rises with “Sing,”which features poppy electronicsamples and rhythmic beats fromthe outset. This song’s beats arethe most obvious of all the dance-

inspired songs on the album. Thefollowing song, “This Unfolds,” fos-ters a subtly static backdrop thatmakes way for an extra funky elec-tronic beat upfront. The twinklybeeping noises harmoniously en-hance the looming guitar riffs thatmeander along within the track.

“She Just Likes to Fight” fea-tures somber guitar riffs and lay-ers of percussion thatcontinuously build to create an ap-propriate end to the album. Heb-den clearly manipulates sound toevoke certain feelings withinThere is Love in You, and the ex-perience of listening to the entirealbum in one sitting is definitely anenthralling one.

Compared to the group’s previouseffort, 2007’s I-Empire, whichcombined DeLonge’s space soundwith an accessible mainstreamrock record, Love falls into thesame basic formula of soundinglike the life-altering music that De-Longe claimed the group’s firstalbum to be. Tracks like “YoungLondon” and the album’s opener“Et Ducit Mundum per Luce”come off tiresome if not disgustingly exaggerated.

There is, however, a silver lin-ing to everything. As far as fans ofthe band are concerned, Love justdoesn’t have an audience yet.While the group’s sound has notexpanded much, the progressionin DeLonge’s song writing is dar-ing — if not awe-inspiring. From aguy who spent the bulk of his ca-reer writing three minute pop-rocksongs, going as far away fromwhat you know best can be a goodthing. Maybe DeLonge should justthrow AVA’s music in a time cap-sule and hope people remember it20 years from now.

Page 12 • Inside Beat Music February 18, 2010

BY AMY ROWESTAFF WRITER

Despite his seemingly plural-ized Spanish moniker, Toro Y Moiis the sole effort of Chaz Bundick,and his effort truly pays off withhis debut dreamwave albumCausers of This. At first listen, thisalbum feels a bit out of reach, forthe atmospheric quality and dis-tortion of the samples are not veryaccessible. However, upon subse-quent listens, Bundick’s sweetvoice and catchy beats are sure toplease any skeptics.

The album begins with“Blessa,” which adopts reverb gui-tars and falsetto ‘woo-woo’s’ —very reminiscent of Panda Bear.The track develops further withBundick’s smooth poppy vocalsand groovy drum samples.

The track “Imprint After” isslightly off-putting, for it incorpo-rates cheesy synthesizersthroughout its duration. But youcould overlook this track for the

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anticipation of the following “Lis-soms,” a sample heavy piece thatincorporates thrashing drum-beats and orchestral samples,punctuated in a fashion like thatof Justice, or perhaps a less rawCrystal Castles.

Bundick splices together vocalclips from an unidentifiable R&Bsong throughout “Fax Shadow.”The samples are very choppy anddistorted, rendering the lyrics in-decipherable. His soothing voicecomplements the samples quitewell, and it all comes together withthe pulsing club-like beats andhandclap samples.

The last track, “Causers ofThis,” opens with a snappy drum-beat and samples what sounds likemusic from The Weather Channel,thanks to its meandering bass line,jazzy guitars and synthesizers.Bundick pulls it off without sound-ing cliché as he loops it all in acatchy fashion, along withscrawled female R&B vocal clips.Bundick combines a wide array ofmusical elements to createCausers of This, which succeeds asa funky dance album.