Snnntin a fnt l ♦ Lucaswebsiteinvites young
VJIIVJW Llllg IUI kJUtI O ♦ filmmakers to use the force
by Erin McCarty
staff writer
Let the spoofing begin!
George Lucas, creator of
the sci-fi cult classic Star
Wars, has agreed to team up with
online movie site Atom Films to
launch the Star Wars Fan Film Net
work, a forum for novice movie
makers and George Lucas groupies
alike to submit their parodies of that
fantasy realm which existed “a long
time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”
This is certainly not the first time
that Force-driven farces have ridden
the bandwidth of computer screens.
Indeed, one such parody, a nine-
‘Outkast 5 but not outmatched
by Douglas Smith
sports editor
The college rap favorite Outkast
recently released Stankonia to the
public. This is their fourth album
on Arista Records, following the
watershed 1998 album, Aquemini.
Stankonia opened up as the num
ber two album Halloween week,
the week of its release, just behind
another rap album, The Dynasty,
from Jay-Z.
Outkast is a part of the Atlanta
based “Dungeon Family” clique
made up of
Goodie Mob,
Witchdoctor,
and produc-
Orga
nized Noize.
Aque m i n i
made
Outkast a
household
After the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and u
the Big Bopper, Rock and Roll came to a virtual standstill. u J
However, it was rescued when four guys from Liverpool, SllSaTl Tavlor
England, who called themselves “The Beatles” came to the USA. staff write
When they performed “I Want to Hold Your Hand" otl The Ed r
name and
proved to the
Sullivan Show in 1964, the people went crazy. Who would guess that in the 21st century, you’d be
able to buy action figures of the soon-to-be-famous four? Now 36 years after their first television
performance, the Beatles have released yet another album, Beatles 1.
The album comes 20 years after John Lennon’s tragic death. It also comes while Lennon is being
memorialized at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The remaining Beatles, George
Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, put the album together. Its cover is orange with the single
yellow number “1” on it. While critics claim it boring, this tactic has worked for other artists like
Chicago. It’s not necessarily what the album cover looks like, but the quality of music contained on
the album. And the music must be of good quality, as most of the ratings on Yahoo have been
positive.
critics that
they did in
deed have
talent. The
great dance
hit “Rosa
Parks”
helped col
lege students
find a greater
interest in the
The album, currently at number 23 on Billboard’s ToplOO, contains 27 classic Beatles tracks. It
starts out with “Love Me Do” and ends with “The Long and Winding Road.” But you could never
leave out “Hey Jude,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “Let It Be.” Of course, they’d never forget the
favorite of The Ed Sullivan Show, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” A tribute to John, “The Ballad of
John and Yoko” is track number 23. And best of all, this album comes out just in time for Christmas.
Released on November 13, 2000, at midnight in the U.K., some British fans were a little harsh on
the album, calling it “more of the same.” But a spokesman said that even though most fans had the
tracks contained on the album, it was still doing very well and they hoped it would reach number one.
Some British shops were selling five times as many Beatles albums as Irish boy band Westlife’s
album that had just finished beating out the Spice Girls’ album for the number one spot. This comes
after the album’s sales picked up during the day, since the midnight store opening was a bit of a
disappointment. Even European fans would rather sleep than buy CDs.
This album will be a hit for any Beatles fan, young or old, this Christmas season. Even if they can’t
remember seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, this album would make anyone think that they
had.
group, and
made them
receptive to
the beat
based album.
In the con-
tinuing tradi
of
Outk a s t ,
however,
they have
changed their
style once
again as they
search for a new method to their
madness
The new album features twisted
R&B, new-wave pop, and a deep
bassy bump to many of the songs.
This can be seen in the craziest
single on the album known as
Movies
Bounce
The Grinch
Rugrats in Paris
11/17
* release date 11/21
Arts & Entertainment
minute film entitled George Lucas
in Love, eventually went on to be
released to video on Amazon.com,
outselling The Phantom Menace.
What makes this new site special
is that it has received the blessing
of Lucas himself, and as long as
filmmakers adhere to the rules of the
site, they will know they are not vio
lating copyright laws. Lucas has
provided to the entrants, free of
charge, a generous number of sound
effects for use on the spoofs, as well
as any clips in those sound banks.
This is all the help film makers will
get, however; no additional dialogue
or music from the movies may be
used. The site also mandates that
"Bombs over Baghdad.” It is an
all-out assault on the conventions
of hip-hop, with a full-length gui
tar solo and a sung chorus never
heard before in rap. The gospel
choir sings “power music, electric
revival,” over electro breaks. Of
course this is the way of Big Boi
and Dre, the two vivid personas
that make up Outkast.
Big Boi stated,“we’re not just a
hip-hop group. Outkast is funk.
We see ourselves as an actual
band, with influences from Sly
Stone to Jimi Hendrix to the 2 Live
Crew to Too Short.”
That can explain the reach into
the future for this album.
Stankonia is the place for all
things funky. The album is very
funky, but indeed can be emo
tional in the futuristic beats. The
Video*
Chicken Run
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball
Gundam Wing
Romeo Must Die
Britney Spears
Star Wars Trilogy
X-Men
the parodies limit themselves to the
existing world that Lucas has cre
ated. He does not wish entrants to
build on his plot lines, merely to
spoof them.
For amateur movie makers with
a flair for sci-fi and comedy, this site
is a dream come true. It allows them
the freedom to have as much fun as
they want in creating their film and,
more significantly, it presents op
portunities for recognition and pay
ment. For more details on the sub
mission process and possible ben
check out
www.al
most moving song is “Ms. Jack
son.” It is an unusual sort of apol
ogy. Dre and Big Boi rap dis
patches to their estranged girl
friends’ mothers, revealing a man
ner of hurt, regret, and respect.
They say that they are sorry, and
they are doing their best.
The new initiative taken on
Stankonia can be summed up on
“Humble Bumble,” which features
Erykah Badu, the mother of Dre’s
child, Seven. On the track Outkast
raps, “the game changes everyday,
so obsolete is the fist and marches.
British
Speeches only reaches those who
already know about it. This is how
we go about it.”
All of this transfers over to Dre’s
outfits. He is one of the few male
artists to perform in a platinum
wig or genie outfits. He is on a
Music*
Backstreet Boys
Erykah Badu
Capone N Noreaga
Eight Bail & MJG
Enya
Everclear
Elton John
Tim McGraw
Rage Against
the Machine
Sugar Ray
level with George Clinton. Re
cently during an MTV perfor
mance, two guests were singled
out and underwent a Stankonia
makeover. They came back out
with red feather boas and patterns
straight out of the 70s. His coun
terpart, Big Boi, is very smooth
and has a deep voice that holds
down many of the slower raps on
their album. He maintains the
thug appearance on tracks like
“Snappin’ and Trappin’” and “We
Luv Deez Hoez.”
“Gasoline Dreams” is sure to be
s
52
o
s
but will be
played on the radio and sell a lot
of copies. To some true fans it
may be hard to take, but the ad
justment will come. This could be
an album that eclipses the innova
tion of groups like De La Soul, but
only time will tell.
DVD*
*Nsync
Chicken Run
Escape from NY
Gladiator
Gundam Wing
Neon Genesis
Britney Spears
X-Men
Em
Fid(
This editorial is about the news. Oh wait, wait, actually I’ve just
received word that this editorial is going to be about reporters.
Hold 0n...n0, it is indeed going to be about the news. Actually,
this editorial is about both.
In light of the recent debacle we have humorously termed an
“election,” and as part of one of the few publications in the country that
isn’t retracting any projections, I think it’s important to investigate what
exactly happened on election night 2000. In our earnestness to discover
who the new president-elect of the country was, news desks around the
nation began projecting winners and losers at unusually early hours.
You know this, and you know that we all still woke up the next morning
without one. But how can that be, when at 2:30 a.m., CNN reported
that Bush won? Were they lying? Were they cheating? Nope, they
were just wrong.
Believe it or not, the instrument that helped raise you since birth
sometimes disperses information that is not correct. Like your parents,
sometimes TV is wrong. I know this is kind of like hearing there is no
Santa, as a jarring statement like this tends to shake the very principles
it has instilled in you since your Sesame Street days—and if you recall,
Sesame Street was never wrong about anything. They taught you the
alphabet, for God’s sake. But a fiasco like the election coverage is a
perfect reminder not to believe everything you see.
Television is a business, and like all businesses, its existence hinges
upon its ability to make money. All too often, that is the ulterior motive
that can sometimes skew otherwise logical production and reporting
decisions. For instance, if MSNBC touted a winner and CNN didn’t,
you would naturally flip over to MSNBC to get the latest news. That
would make CNN lose ratings and, by default, lost money. It’s a game
of one upsmanship.
other
popular
track. It is
a hard gui
tar-driven
wake up
call where
America’s
problems
scribed in
more per
son a I
The other overlooked characteristic of journalism is that it consists of
people-completely fallible and only sometimes competent. Everything
you watch, read and listen to is filtered through a mind, not unlike my
own, that serves as a gatekeeper of the information in which you are
interested. This week I decided to run an article on Outkast, but that’s
not to say this is the only entertainment news of the week. It is your job
to question my decisions and dig further for the information 1 left out,
either unwittingly or intentional.
Usually, it is the practice of the Beacon editorial staff to explain the
meaning of their column titles in their last editorial. I’ll do that early
because I think it is appropriate here. I once learned that there is
something called a “watchdog function” of the media. It is the media’s
role in gauging the activities of society, celebrating some things, and
terms.
“Red Vel
vet” tells
the story of
what can
happen to
someone
who flashes
his jewels
and cars
like he is on
television
blowing whistles on others. I’ve taken that function and turned it
around on itself. Through my column, I hoped to employ common
sense to question the motives and ethics of the people who distribute
information and to actively engage their methods. For this reason, I
“Slum
Beautiful”
could be
the least
have called my column “Sic’ Em, Fido,” as I aspired to make you all
corny hip
hop love
think more about the onslaught of images thrown at you everyday. (Get
it? Watchdog—Fido?) My goal in writing almost 800 words each week
is to make you more skeptical of the institutions and practices that we
sometimes-most times-take for granted.
song ever.
Stankonia
plays to the
future of
This is not to say you should be cynical, and I wouldn’t encourage
you to lead such a negative and untrusting existence. Besides, you will
never be able to hate all TV or all movies or all books. And you
shouldn’t, you would miss out on some great stuff. Just remember that
there is a motive “they” don’t want you to see and a grand plan you may
unknowingly be buying into. Make sure you know what it is.
hip-hop,
by Deanna Symoski
Second
Thought...
A lesson in skepticism
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2000