INSIDEBEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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God SaveThe QueenOr at least her nation’stelevision shows

BY STACY DOUEKEDITOR

If America is the world’s melt-ing pot, then New York City is theamalgam of our great nation’s cul-tures. Our cover spread this weekreveals a television crossover be-tween the United Kingdom andthe United States, but here I’llpoint out a more resented and lo-calized crossover — the manifes-tation of the hipster subculture.

Growing up in Brooklyn led meto realize that none of the borough’sresidents really wanted to stay there;rather, the end goal was to move onup a few stories and live in “the city.”(Side note: The biggest tourist give-away is when anyone calls it “Man-hattan” during normal conversation.)

But as time passed, it seemedlike roughing it in the ’burbsended up being the more afford-able option for many, and the hip-ster subculture emerged. Here,nightclubs and bars are just asmodern but instead of radio-hitremixes and DJ Tiesto playing,you can hear local indie acts amidYelle, Empire of the Sun and Griz-zly Bear. Just don’tmake the mistakeof calling anyone ahipster, becausethey will deny it to acocaine death.

Although manyare apathetic to thisflannel-spor ting,t h i c k - r i m m e dglasses-wearing,Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking culture be-cause it prides itselfon irony and pre-tension, the nation-alization of thisgroup’s image hasbecome a complete

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 4, 2010 Column • Theater Inside Beat • Page 2

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

Rutgers Student Center126 College Avenue, Suite 431

New Brunswick, NJ 08901Phone (732) 932-2013

Fax (732) 246-7299Email beat@dailytargum.com Web www.inside-beat.com

Advertising in Inside Beat, Call (732) 932-7051Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS

TO INSIDE BEAT :

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

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

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

Cover Photo Courtesyof SFUniverse.com

Williamsburg

HIPSTERS

W/ KIDS

Park Slope

HIPSTERSAND FRIENDS

HIPSTER

PARTY

CENTRAL

Greenpoint

HIPSTERS W/O

TRUST FUNDS

Bushwick

REST OF

BROOKLYN

BY FARNAZ MANSOURISTAFF WRITER

Calvin Berger, a new musicalby Barr y Wyner, premiered inFebruar y at the George StreetPlayhouse. Under the directionof Tony-award winner KathleenMarshall, the production hasdrummed up much excitementin the theater community. As ex-pected, the show lives up to its expectations.

Barry Wyner, who wrote thebook, music and lyrics for the en-tire show, takes on a subject thateveryone struggles with: self-con-fidence. The play is based off ofEdmond Rostand’s Cyrano deBergerac, but with Wyner’s owntwist. Calvin Berger, a teenager inhis senior year of high school,hates the size of his nose and is inlove with Rosanna, the most beau-tiful and popular girl in school.Fearful she will reject him be-cause of his nose, Calvin joinsforces with Matt, the new jock-type student. Calvin writesRosanna love letters for Matt togive to her, combining theirstrengths to woo Rosanna whileMatt reaps all the benefits. Theplot gets even more interestingwhen it is revealed that Calvin’sbest friend Bret secretly has feel-ings for him. In the midst of theirfears of imperfection, the fourcharacters knowingly or unknow-ingly help one another overcomethese personal issues with heart-warming musical numbers, enter-taining dialogue and a plethora oflaughs along the way.

MANHATTAN

AKA “THE CIT

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Cobble Hill

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George Street Playhouse | B

Calvin Berger

Ilana Kaplan, Perri Lerner, Amy Rowe, Mitchell Mattes, Farnaz Mansouri,

Ashley Park, Jason Pearl

Hipster-villemarket unto itself. There is not asingle clothing store that does notsell a plaid or flannel shirt, andUrban Outfitters and AmericanApparel sales are at an extremehigh. Blogs run by Brooklynitesmake a fair amount of ad revenueand eventually grace the shelvesof Barnes and Noble in book form.Example: latfh.com (Look at thisF—-ing Hipster) started — andstill flourishes — as a tumblr thatposts photos and videos of themost stereotypical and crazy-look-ing of the bunch, and now has ex-panded to become a multi-volumeseries of books sold worldwide.

So this goes out to you — thepeople around Rutgers who be-lieve that any “hipsters” aroundhere are mere poseurs of this sup-posedly whacked-out and preten-tious subculture in Brooklyn. Ifyou’ve ever given Animal Collec-tive or MGMT a listen — or haveeven thought about trying on apair of skinny jeans or a plaid shirt— you too are a victim of circum-stance. It’s only a short matter oftime before hipsters are merelymainstream and generic.

The basic yet detailed design isyet another aspect that makes theshow a strong production. Fourbedrooms, one for each teenager,sit atop a high school setting. Sep-arating personal and public life,the rooms seem to expose eachcharacter’s individuality. It is in theprivacy of these rooms that theybecome more outwardly vulnera-ble, whereas in their high school,the characters seem to fall intotheir stereotypes.

The individual talent andchemistry between the actorswork in synch with the quality ofthe production. Not only do theyembody their characters to the T,they also succeed in bringing avulnerability to each role thatdistinguishes them from everyother typical nerd, loner,princess and jock.

Noah Weisberg, who plays thetitle role of Calvin Berger, has im-peccable comedic timing and de-livery. While at times the vocalssound as though they are out ofWeisberg’s range and are over-shadowed during male/femaleduets, his voice appears tostrengthen as the show contin-ues. Krystal Joy Brown, playingthe role of Rosanna, brings asense of openness to her charac-ter, showing a dif ferent side tothe stereotypical popular girl.While every so often Brown’svoice sounds strained, her beautytranscends past her looks, mak-ing her personality and voiceshimmer. David Hull, playingMatt, has such a charisma on-stage that his jock-like character

becomes extremely personableto the audience. There are timeswhere the music is out of Hull’srange, forcing him to really pushhis lovely voice. However, similarto Weisberg, Hull becomes sig-nificantly stronger as the showprogresses. Hull and Weisberghave incredible chemistrythroughout the entire show; theactors work off of each other ex-ceptionally well, to the pointwhere every line and joke is com-pletely on point. Dana Steingold,playing the role of Calvin’s bestbuddy Bret, never fails to im-press the audience. Steingoldflawlessly goes back and forthbetween having a tough-girl per-sona to becoming a raw and emo-tional teenage girl. Aside fromher acting, Steingold’s power-house vocals tear down the houseafter each number.

Overall, Calvin Berger is cer-tainly a success. Wyner empha-sizes that his characters havemore depth than what is pre-sented at face value, and thesame can be said about this pro-duction. While at first glance theappearance of the set is stunningand the show itself starts off en-tertaining, there are many littlesurprises and details along theway that push the productionfrom solid to impressive. Thoughat times the vocals are not up topar, they are overshadowed bythe other positive attributes.Through a well-balanced combi-nation of hilarity and sentiment,Calvin Berger succeeds in keep-ing the audience entertained.

In this KoreanWar tale, Chang-raeLee provides a multi-faceted perspectiveof the fighting andits afteref fects. Nar-rator June Singer isonly 11 years oldwhen the war tearsher family apart.Rescued by G.I. Hec-tor Brennan, a mantrying to escapesome horrors of his own, June and Hector spendthe rest of the war at an orphanage run by a caringmissionary couple, the Tanners. But althoughJune and Hector are brought together by chance,their impact on each other do not end with thewar. Thir ty years later, the two, now living inAmerica, must reunite to complete a mission thatwill take them back to the past they both tried sohard to forget.

March 4, 2010 Books • Fashion • Art Inside Beat • Page 3

The secret to possessing aseemingly endless wardrobe offabulous clothes does not re-quire frequent trips to the mall.True fashion chameleons knowhow to recycle their favoritepieces in multiple ways. Theirg r e a t e s tweapon is thenewest trend:c o n v e r t i b l eclothing.

In this econ-omy, the down-sized wallet ofthe wise collegefashionista doesnot depreciateher style. Con-vertible cloth-ing isspecifically de-signed to havemultiple dif fer-ent looks. Forexample, thenew “DaytimeC o n v e r t i b l eDress” by Victo-ria’s Secret canbe worn in sixsexy styles: aone-shoulder, ahalter, a sweetheart and more.

Turn up the heat with a reversiblehalter-style swimsuit from Express’slatest spring collection. This bikini of-fers the wearer a choice of two prints,for double the sun at half the price.Express’s accessories departmentfeatures a wide collection of re-versible belts, including a super ver-satile four-in-one leather cincher.

New York & Company’s Con-vertible Tunic fluidly translatesto every woman’s personalstyle. Drawstrings on the shoul-ders and sides create a chicruching ef fect while also con-verting the tunic into a mini-

dress or adraped top.

Rachel Roy’s“Transfourmer”coat can zip andunzip to form ahip blazer vestand a sleevelesscoat. This high-drama jacketcan adapt tocrazy weatherpatterns or evenmore volatilefashion trends.

Conver tibleclothing is agreat way tostretch dollars,but it is not theonly way to getinnovative withan outfit. Thereis plenty of po-tential in everyw e l l - p u t -

together wardrobe to get themost out of basic pieces. Layer-ing and belting is a great way tomorph styles and silhouettes. Along necklace can be worn as abelt, or a longer skirt can beraised to become a cute mini-dress. Creativity is the true keyto convertibility and ever-chang-ing ensembles.

“I am not a serialkiller” isn’t a decla-ration that mostpeople have tomake. But for 15-year-old JohnCleaver, this state-ment has become adaily mantra. John,fascinated by thestories of murder-ers and frequentlyexposed to deadbodies while working at the family mortuary,finds it dif ficult to rein in his violent fantasies.But when several corpses start turning uparound his hometown of Clayton — each miss-ing a body part — John must act on his hiddenobsession to uncover the killer. This gory mys-tery — the first in a projected trilogy — will keepreaders riveted until the unexpected solution atthe end.

There is art to be found in New Brunswick, especially this week, as local artist Robert Mermet holds thespotlight in a downtown gallery. The Class of 2007 Mason Gross School of the Arts alum has his first solo ex-hibition at the Alfa Art Gallery. The exhibition, titled God Bless, is a way of saying “screw you” to Americanpolitics and religion.

The exhibition features various paintings that satirize the country’s dismal political situation and reappliesconsumer messages and pop culture symbols. Although the irony in some of Mermet’s art can be either a pick-me-up or a downer, his sculpture of LSD’s chemical structure is a definite mood-lightener.

Mermet was educated in film and video, but the multi-talented artist said he wanted God Bless to showeveryone that he is a painter as well. Inside Beat met up with the man behind the “Dancing Hitler” paintingand got the scoop on his inspirations and intentions. What follows are some of Mermet’s key pieces and hispersonal commentary about them.

The Art of Satire

“Nixon” (2009)RM: This is one of my more successful paintings, and I’ve been using it to market the show. It can be

read a number of ways: “V” for victory, the symbol for peace, and in Germany, it means “f—- you.” And the tie-dye is kind of acting as the crown of thorns, like he’s being crucified by the ’60s era.

“Buy a Boat” (2008)RM: Boats are so unnecessary, but conservatives, yuppies and the like tend to buy boats and will just

have them but never really use them. It’s just an elitist, nonsensical thing to have. As opposed to driving, youcould have a boat, which could take you nowhere.

“Skull” (2009)Robert Mermet: It’s not supposed to look like a skull. The point is that it’s kind of symmetrical like a

face would be. People crave symmetry, but in reality nothing is really symmetrical.

“Target” (2010)RM: This is referencing Jasper Johns who did the original target. Then Target stole the symbol in what

I’m assuming was in their own way an homage to Johns, and I wanted to reclaim it for the art world. Actuallyif you look really closely, you can see that I made the lines in the same way Jasper would make his target. Icould have just as easily printed something and made a stencil, but I figured the process was important.

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A Look at New Books in MarchBY NIDHI SARAIYA

BOOKS EDITOR

With the relentless snow and cold weather this winter, you may find yourself indoors more than usual inMarch. Here is a mix of light and serious reads to help you get through spring fever.

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ConvertibleChic

BY AMANDA LITCHKOWSKIART EDITOR

BY ASHLEY PARKSTAFF WRITER

Comedienne ChelseaHandler finds herself in un-usual company. Joining theranks of Tori Spelling,Stephen Colbert andMadonna, Handler has be-come one of the most pop-ular celebrity writers. Withbestselling titles My Hori-zontal Life and Are YouThere, Vodka? It’s MeChelsea already under herbelt, Handler has devel-oped a reputation of dissecting her life experiences withstark and self-deprecating honesty. Chelsea Chelsea BangBang promises more of the same. This time, she analyzesher life from youth to adulthood with topics ranging from aparticularly memorable third-grade sleepover to domesticsquabbles with her boyfriend. Her ability to reveal some ofher most personal and embarrassing episodes and spinthem into humorous anecdotes is an admirable trait and aconvenient source of entertainment for readers.

Chelsea Chelsea BangBang

by Chelsea Handler March 9

I Am Not a SerialKiller

by Dan A. WellsMarch 30

The Surrendered by Chang-rae

Lee March 9

RACHEL ROY TRANSFOURMER COAT

THE VICTORIA'S SECRET CONVERTIBLE DAYTIME DRESS

COURTESY OF ROBERT MERMET

The Rise of the In the past ten years, an influx of British TV shows have

thanks to their original storytelling anBY JASON STIVES

Although there have been nu-merous British made shows re-made to great fanfare here inthe United States, many haven’tworked out and some shouldhave never been remade at all.Here are five shows that weregiven the American treatmentonly to be met with low ratingsand eventual cancellations.

Coupling (2003)With ratings megahit Friends

going into its final season, NBCquickly scrambled to find a suitablereplacement. In doing so, theycame across Coupling, a Friends-like sitcom centered around sixsexually promiscuous friends. Itsrisqué content deemed too muchfor primetime television, the showwas cancelled after four episodes.NBC is still searching for its new Friends.

Life On Mars (2008)This science fiction-esque cop

drama, centered around a cop stuckin 1973 from an accident he suf-fered, started out right in fall 2008.Strong ratings along with approvalfrom the show’s original showrun-ner gave the series a lot of hope midseason. However, a sudden reshuf-fling in its timeslot coupled with adip in the ratings brought theshow’s run on ABC to a sudden con-clusion in early 2009.

n the diverse medium that we call television, shows are strug-gling to stay on the air. The networks’ desires to grab an audience worthyof a Nielson rating report makes it more dif ficult for completely originalshows to survive. But when we run out of ideas or interesting shows wecan always rely on the Brits. Since the early days of television, the Britishhave shipped across the pond some of the most engaging television tograce our screens. From drama to comedy to science fiction, British tel-evision has become an unaffiliated partner to the American networks byimporting programs to fill timeslots and ideas to recreate for this coun-try’s fluxuating market.

Particularly in the past decade, the phenomenon of British televisionhas made its way to our screens during the week. Indeed, according to anarticle on marketingmagazine.co.uk, the United States accounts for some36 percent of the U.K. television exports in the world. From Ricky Gervaisto Hugh Laurie, the sudden rise to stateside stardom of acclaimed U.K. ac-tors and comedians alike show America has gone full tilt anglophile. Forsome it may be the mysterious accents, and for others it’s the glowing per-formances; regardless, we have a firm appreciation for the wonders ofQueen and country. Shows like The Of fice and Spaced, noted for their

snappy and fast-paced dialogue, also revel in the excess of American pop-ular culture by referencing it on a regular basis.

While many British-made television shows find their homes on U.S.cable networks and public television stations, the major networks tend toshy away from airing these shows in their original form, opting instead torecreate them as in-house productions. This practice is not new to Ameri-can television networks. Dating back to the ’70s, BBC’s best offerings wereremade to fit the changing television market. Classic British shows likeSteptoe and Son and Till Death Do Us Part had their American distributionrights picked up and structured into the now classic staples Sanford andSon and All in the Family.

This process has continued for more than 40 years in America, and inthe early 2000s, it reached its peak. The invasion of reality television —thanks to premiere of Survivor in early 2000 — led to many already pop-ular reality and game shows in England being picked up to capitalize onthe exciting new trend. Starting with Big Brother, and then shows likeThe Weakest Link and Dancing with the Stars, British reality shows gar-nered big ratings.

But the remaking of British television shows in the 21st century isn’tjust limited to the reality genre. As early as 2000,Showtime was airing hit shows thanks to dramas orig-inally conceived in the U.K., like Queer as Folk, whichwas critically acclaimed and lasted two seasons. As faras contemporary culture is concerned, the most com-mended British import is The Of fice. Created by RickyGervais and Stephen Merchant in 2001, it was one ofthe biggest British imports to come into the UnitedStates and was quickly remade by King of the Hill ex-ecutive producer Greg Daniels in 2005.

The controversy surrounding the Americanizationof the The Office was harsh, as many saw it as an insultto the creative talents of both Gervais and Merchant.Even as the controversy continued well into its sec-ond season, the show prospered despite having lowratings. The series, now in its sixth season, has sincehelped garner Gervais with some much needed ex-posure in America. Thanks to the popularity of hisshort-lived HBO series Extras and his lead role in thecritically-touted The Invention of Lying, Gervais is astar all to himself.

Unlike Gervais, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright,noted for the sleeper hits Shaun of the Dead and HotFuzz, used their newfound American notoriety tobring their cult television show Spaced to DVD in2008. The show, which lasted two seasons between1999-2001, featured the single living hijinx of maincharacters Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Jessica Stevenson),who live together as a couple in order to keep their

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SpacedCOURTESY OF MY.SPILL.COM

COURTESY OF SERIALNEWS.RU

so-called “dream flat.ticular those to scienfollowing in the Unitseries. In fact, some mentary tracks on thcluding directors Quco-creator Matt Ston

Outside of the maimported shows. BB1998 to exclusively aearly years, the chanAttic and the daily BBcritically-acclaimed sand has garnered somsion in the past five y

Due in part to theoverlooked wondersmany of the originalwellian nature. Strangbrought on by governvery engaging if not tice, and both SyFy ahitters — in particul

British Empire^t e l e v i s i on

e given the American media market a run for its money nd award-winning writing and acting.

• MUSIC EDITOR

Payne (UK - Fawlty Towers)(1999)

While this post-Monty Python clas-sic starring John Cleese has been re-made several times, Payne is the onlyone that had any leg to stand on.Thanks in part to the dry and overlywitty acting of star John Larroquette,this remake of Towers debuted torather favorable reviews. But like allgood ideas, it couldn’t find the rightaudience and was shown the doorafter just eight episodes.

Eleventh Hour (2008-09)Just like Life on Mars, this sci-fi

drama about an FBI team of para-normal investigators started outwith a weekly average of 12 millionviewers on CBS. Unfortunately, be-cause the show couldn’t hold half ofthe audience of CSI leading into it, itwas cancelled in May 2009. Evenafter a campaign to bring the showback for another season, CBS exec-utives still held their ground and theshow remained inactive.

Spaced (2007, never aired)With the inevitable release of the

original series on DVD to follow in2008, the Fox Network jumped on theidea of remaking the Simon Pegg 2001sitcom into an American series. Butwhen both Pegg and co-creator EdgarWright caught wind of the planned re-launch, they quickly sent a cease-and-desist to Fox. This, along with anoutcry from diehard fans, gave the net-work no other choice but to cancel theremake after its initial pilot in fall 2007.

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Life on Mars The Office

Doctor Who

COURTESY OF BBC.CO.UK

COURTESY OF BBC.CO.UK

.” The show’s frequent pop culture references, in par-nce fiction and horror genres, gave the program a cultted States thanks to circulating bootleg copies of the

of the show’s most famous fans appear on the com-he American DVD release of the complete series, in-uentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, and South Park

ne.ajor networks, cable channels have embraced originalBC America, the cable/satellite channel launched inair British-made content is one such channel. In itsnnel’s content revolved around reruns of Cash in theBC World News reports. However, the influx of manyshows gave BBC America a much-needed makeoverme of the highest ratings on cable and satellite televi-years.e network’s facelift, we have been treated to the oftens of British science fiction. An art form all in itself,l British sci-fi dramas produced are of brooding Or-ge worlds, secret conspiracies and apocalyptic effectsnment mishandlings have made many of these showsnail biting. American cable networks have taken no-

and BBC America have picked up many of these heavylar that of sci-fi stalwarts Doctor Who and its equally

popular spin-off, Torchwood. For Doctor Who, the sudden U.S. exposurewas almost 30 years in the making. Considered by the Guinness Book ofWorld Records as the longest running science fiction show in the world,Doctor Who has aired in one form or another for the better part of 45 years.The show, which tells the tales of a time-traveling alien known only as “theDoctor,” is a British staple. It has acquired both critical praise for its amaz-ing storytelling and criticism for its low-end special ef fects and wobblysets. But in 2005, partially due to its popular revival and its star David Ten-nant, the show crossed over into the U.S. and finally gained great ratingsfor the SyFy channel and later for BBC America. Because of this, theshow’s adult-themed spin off, Torchwood, followed quickly in its footstepsand gave BBC America its highest ratings in summer 2009 with the week-long Torchwood: Children of Earth. Its dark themes and risqué uses of sexand violence brought the show mainstream exposure for lead John Bar-rowman, who will be seen later this year on ABC’s Desperate Housewives.There is also an American version of the series in the works over at FoxNetworks, with Barrowman reprising his role as main character CaptainJack Harkness.

As the ratings for BBC America continue to rise and more shows arebeing remade, the continuing invasion of British television is expected.This is no fluke, as the quality of these shows are at an all-time high,thanks in part to world-class writers and actors who remind us of the pos-sibilities of great television when the right people are heading it up.

Page 6 • Inside Beat Film • TV March 4, 2010

BY JASON PEARLSTAFF WRITER

Joe Johnston’s (The Rocketeer, Jumanji) The Wolf-man is a remake of the 1941 movie of the samename. While the original was somewhat of a B-movie, it still had some decent character develop-ment to back up the action. The remake however isall bark and no bite.

The movie begins with Lawrence Talbot (Beniciodel Toro, 21 Grams) returning to the family estateyears after he has had any contact with his family. Hisbrother’s fiancée, Gwen, (Emily Blunt, The DevilWears Prada) prompted his return by sending him aletter about the brother’s mysterious disappearance.When Lawrence arrives, his father (Anthony Hop-kins, The Silence of the Lambs) informs him that hisbrother has been found dead, seemingly killed by awild beast. While trying to learn the true nature ofhis death, Lawrence travels to a gypsy camp at theedge of town. Shortly after he arrives, a werewolf ap-pears and begins a bloody rampage through thecamp. After killing several townspeople, the lycan-thrope bites Lawrence before being chased away.This leads to Lawrence becoming a werewolf himself,and the rest of the film follows his attempts to trackdown the werewolf who bit him while eluding the au-thorities, led by Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving,The Matrix).

While del Toro, Hopkins and most of the otheractors are competent, none of them really stand out

BY ARIBA ALVITV EDITOR

I’m not married, nor have I ever been married, but there’ssomething understatedly brilliant about the new NBC realityshow, The Marriage Ref. It’s a comedic look at married coupleswho have some outlandish fights, but with the twist that thereis finally a winner inthese arguments.

Couples fight overthings like stuffing a deaddog, having a stripper polein the house and keeping adead husband’s prostheticleg. Intrigued yet?

Hosted by comic TomPapa, who is the “marriagereferee,” the show’s panel of celebrities changes every week.Guest panelists like Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Madonna and RickyGervais argue the case of either the husband or the wife, and add

a great deal of humor to the show. Baldwin, more hilarious in per-

son than when he is scripted, sayslines like, “Women come and go,but a stuffed dog is forever.” Papa,who makes the call at the end ofthe debate, does great impres-sions and livens things up withstandup comedy.

Natalie Morales acts as theshow’s “fact checker,” looking intofacts about the couple as well asfacts about their arguments. For in-stance, did you know that poledancing can burn up to 250 caloriesan hour? The Marriage Ref is edu-cational as it is entertaining.

Watching couples fight hasnever been more amusing. One wife, Dianah Hunter, tells her hus-band that, “People in Hell want ice water, but they don’t get it,”after he tells her that a stripper pole is something he really wants.

Some of these people are truly outlandish, and it makes youwonder ifthese cou-ples arescripted oractually existin real life.But somethings simplycannot bemade up, likea man whosemistress ishis cat.

For anyone who isn’t married, this show is like the what-not-to-do-when-you’re-married guide. And for anyone who is, it’s theman-thank-god-my-spouse-isn’t-like-that show. It’s witty, informa-tive, amusing and certainly appeals to the masses. It’s a must-watch for anyone who is or plans to be married one day.

The Marriage Ref airs on Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.

Jerry Seinfeld | A

Director DarylWein Talks Shop

BY EMILY SCHACHTMANFILM EDITOR

Independent filmmaker Daryl Wein’s second feature-length film, Breaking Upwards, is sort of like a dissectionof the modern breakup. Along with directing and starring,he also penned the screenplay with co-star Zoe Lister-Jones (both use their real names in the film), and the re-sult is a clever meta-narrative about what it means toremove yourself from the life of someone you love, butwith whom you may not be in love with. Breaking Up-wards is screening at the New Jersey Film Festival thisweekend, so Wein answered a few of Inside Beat’s ques-tions about his latest effort.

IB: The script for Breaking Upwards is great! Was any ofit improvised?Daryl Wein: Yes, there was some stuff that was impro-vised. The actors were free to add lines if they felt in-spired to make something up. But I’d say 95 percent of it

The Marriage Ref

Joe Johnston | C-The Wolfman

Best Picture ShowcaseBY EMILY SCHACHTMAN

FILM EDITOR

For those who just can’t wait for this Sunday’s Oscar award ceremony, your local movie theatermay have the answer. AMC is running their annual Best Picture Showcase at select theaters thisSaturday, March 6. Because of the expanded list of nominees, this year’s showcase has been splitinto two weekends. This weekend’s showings include: An Education, The Hurt Locker, The Blind

Side and Inglourious Basterds. The showcase begins at 10:30 a.m., and one $30 ticket covers all 11-plus hours of movie-watching, plus a free large popcorn with unlimited refills. There is also a 24-hour marathon for Oscar diehards at select theaters in New York City. For students on campus,the closest theater is AMC Loews New Brunswick 18, on US Highway 1. For more information

and participating venues, check out www.amcentertainment.com.

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except for Hugo Weaving, in a role too small for histalent. In addition to poor casting and unremarkableperformances, the screenplay by Andrew KevinWalker (Se7en) and David Self (Road to Perdition)was clearly lacking in character development. Theychoose to focus more on driving the story forwardquickly than establishing personalities and motives.It almost seems as though entire scenes were miss-ing from the film.

Joe Johnston’s direction was uneven throughoutthe movie. While some scenes are done well — par-ticularly the fight scenes — his unusual take on flash-back sequences was awkward and overly stylized.Overall, the whole movie felt disjointed, with a glar-ing lack of cohesion.

Nevertheless, The Wolfman did have a few re-deeming qualities. In addition to Weaving’s per-formance, the art direction was excellent. All thesets had a distinct feel, each uniquely dark and fore-boding. I also appreciated the decision to use make-up for the wolfman himself instead of CGI. It helpedgive the creature a more realistic and threateninglook that could not have been achieved through theuse of computers.

With far more flaws than strengths, The Wolfmanfails to deliver as either a successful homage or a sat-isfying horror experience. While the original cer-tainly was not perfect, I would definitely recommendit over the remake. All in all, unless you are a die-hard monster movie fan, there is not much to enjoyin The Wolfman.

was scripted. Peter, Zoe and I worked really hard on thescreenplay for about a year or so.

IB: I read one review on IMDb that compared the film toWoody Allen’s New York films. Do you see that?DW: Yes, I would say Woody Allen was the biggest influ-ence. I miss those early films like Annie Hall and Manhat-tan. They are funny, sad and serious, and I love thatcombination. I was trying to create something similar tothem in a way but in a fresh, new light.

IB: I noticed you used a lot of outdoor shots. What wasyour experience with filming in NYC?DW: Totally renegade. We just went out on the streets andshot. Everyone in the background is real. Nobody everbothered us except for in Madison Square Park. Theyguard that park well.

IB: Is it difficult directing yourself? What I mean is, howdid you deal with both directing and starring in your film?

DW: Yes, I never want to do it again … I couldn’t focuson both my performance and the other actors at thesame time. You have to be invested in one or the otherfor it to be the best it can be. Sometimes I could watchplayback and then give notes and some stuff I wasn’t in,so that was fine, but the rest was hard. I just had to let goand trust sometimes.

IB: What do you see as the one message in Breaking Up-wards you’d like audiences to come away with?DW: There is not one message. I hope people walk awaylaughing, maybe crying, feeling nostalgic, excited, moved,in love with New York, and asking lots of questions aboutthe nature of relationships.

Breaking Upwards is being screened by the New JerseyFilm Festival in Voorhees Hall Room 105 on the CollegeAvenue campus at 7 p.m. on March 5 and 6. Tickets are$9 for students. For more information, visit the Web siteat www.njfilmfest.com.

March 4, 2010 Music Inside Beat • Page 7

BY MITCHELL MATTESSTAFF WRITER

Turn on the radio to any pop or hip-hopstation and you are bound to hear“BedRock,” a collaborative rap song fromLil Wayne’s super group Young Money. Yetthe verse that has been getting the most at-tention — and critical appreciation — is thatby feisty femcee Nicki Minaj.

Born Onika Maraj in Jamaica,Queens, Minaj set her sights early for acareer in entertainment, attending a per-forming arts high school. Initially shewas reluctant to cast herself as a rapperbecause the industry, so heavily domi-nated by males, often left no room forsuccessful female rap artists. To take onthe industry, Minaj developed her three-part “Wonder Woman” persona: Nicki theNinja, the naughty hip hop lyrical assas-sin; Nicki the Harajuku Barbie, the girlyfashionista; and Nicki the Boss, the savvy

BY AMY ROWESTAFF WRITER

Joanna Newsom’s thirdfull-length album HaveOne on Me is quite ambi-tious. It features the samesqueaky — sometimesfreaky — vocals, idiosyn-

cratic pronunciations and eloquent harpskills that the previous Ys did, but it delvesmuch deeper. While Ys had only five 10-minute-long tracks, Have One on Me is atriple album broken up into three parts,each six tracks long, which runs for a totalof two hours.

The segmented album allows listenersto start and stop listening, rather than lis-tening all in one sitting. In total, the albumis a bit difficult to take in at first and mayrequire multiple listens before really get-ting into it. An early standout from the firstpart of the album is the track “Good Inten-tions Paving Company” which features

BY PERRI LERNERSTAFF WRITER

Formed from a reunion of two high schoolfriends, Phantogram blossomed from a small townindie band into an electronic rock band. Now theSaratoga Springs, N.Y., duo have released its firstfull-length, Eyelid Movies, after releasing two EPsover the past couple years.

The instrumentals are calm and soothing, givingthe album a mix between melancholy and dreamlike. Keyboardistand vocalist Sarah Barthel’s organic, haunting voice complementsthe electronic sound of the album. Guitarist Josh Carter’s vocals aredressed up to blend with the trippy sounds of the instrumentals.

Despite the darker tracks on the album, there are some dance-friendly songs that provide relief from the overall emotionallyheavy tone. “Futuristic Casket” offers an upbeat sound, while stillremaining gloomy.

Although the lyrics are somewhat nonsensical, they paint inter-esting imagery and leave it open for listener interpretation. Theeerie and whimsical “Mouthful of Diamonds,” which contains elec-tronic loops and a ghostly melody, is a highlight on the record.

Although there are interesting dynamics, the music tends toblend into the background. While Carter’s vocals are not as strongas Barthel’s, they add a different feel to the songs, as well as pre-vent the album from becoming one 45-minute long song. EyelidMovies proves to be successful at incorporating ’60s bohemianmelodies with ’90s beats while still maintaining a contemporarysound, making it a solid full-length debut.

BY ILANA KAPLANSTAFF WRITER

You’re sittingin the front seatof your friend’scar with the openroad to Californiaahead. Scram-

bling around for some tunes,Shout Out Louds’ Work makes itsway into your hands and providesa soundtrack to your journey.

Pleasingly, the Swedish bandgoes into unchartered territory.Their last album, Our Ill Wills,

Nicki Minaj’s guest vocal notoriety prepares her for solo stardom.

The New Queen Bee

Have One on Me | B+

JoannaNewsom

MUST DOWNLOADS• “Up Out My Face (Remix)”•

•”Knockout” (with Young Money)••”Massive Attack”•

Eyelid Movies | B+

Work | BShout Out Louds

PhantogramCO

URT

ESY

OF

LAST

.FM

COURTESY OF JADOREMAG.COM

COURTESY OF ZOILUS.COM

proved to harbor the same boringmelodies as their debut album,Howl Howl Gaff Gaff.

Work reflects the music ofRogue Wave, Fleet Foxes and thebackground sounds of Explo-sions in the Sky. The combina-tion of the various sounds andvocal techniques used keeps thealbum fresh and not redundantlike its predecessors. The tracksblend nicely together, while stillremaining distinct.

“Candle Burned Out” is verymellow and dreamy, as if to createa sort of psychedelic space for the

listener. “Fall Hard” is a romantictrack sung between Adam Oleniusand Bebban Stenborg as if theirvocals are the reflection of a con-versation between two lovers. Thethematic elements provide for asuspenseful and lovely musical ex-perience in the song.

This time, Shout Out Loudsproduced an album that is raw,nostalgic and more honest thantheir previous two efforts. Theband has finally mastered a ma-ture sound, but they remind theirlisteners that they still have roomto grow and move ahead.

business women. No matter which per-sona, her skills and talents were noticed,and in August 2009, Lil Wayne signedMinaj to his record label.

Minaj has released three mix tapes; themost recent, Beam Me Up Scotty, earnedher critical success including a “FemaleArtist of the Year” award at the Under-ground Music Awards.

Minaj is already impacting the music in-dustry. Her brazen and energizing sound isfeatured as a guest appearance on nearly 10albums. She spits faster than the beat in“Shakin’ It 4 Daddy,” on Robin Thicke’salbum Sex Therapy and outshines MariahCarey in the remix of “Up Out My Face,” acheeky song from Carey’s remix album,Angles Advocate. Minaj has also recordedtracks with Ludacris and Usher for their up-coming albums. With an already impressive résumé and a debut album out later thisyear, it seems the future is bright for thisrising queen of rap.

climbing, jazzy piano melodies and im-pressive vocal harmonies. It’s very upbeatand has a different tone than the rest of thealbum. The next track, “No Provenance,”slows down and evokes a more sombertone through Newsom’s twinkling harpplucking and soft vocals.

The second part’s most notable track,“In California,” demonstrates vulnerabil-ity and depth on the strange songstress’sbehalf. Her voice climbs to impressiveheights and dips often while singingabout her lover visiting her in California.The third part of the album lags a littlebit, but is made memorable by the finaltrack, “Does Not Suffice.” The slow, sor-rowful ballad mostly features piano as op-posed to the orchestral accompanimentfeatured throughout the album. The songends on a melancholic note, but is undoubtedly sublime.

While Have One on Me takes a bit of com-mitment on behalf of listeners, those who arededicated will surely not be disappointed.

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