Friday, September 7, 2007
Box Office Breakdown
Halloween (2007)
Superbad
Balls of Fury
The Bourne Ultimatum
Rush Hour 3
Mr. Bean's Holiday
The Nanny Diaries
Death Sentence
WAR
Stardust
The Simpsons Movie
Hairspray
Harry Potter
Underdog
Ladron Que Roba A Ladron
Becoming Jane
Chuck and Larry
Ratatouille
The Invasion
Transformers
*Statistics courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com
Kevin Bacon returns to big screen in Death Sentence
By Sam Levine
staff writer
sjls 122 @psu.edu
According to Death Sentence, anybody can
get away with murder. And if you do get caught,
chances are you'll only have to spend three to
five years in prison
In this film, which is directed by Jami
Wan, be prepared for anything. I went im
this movie with high hopes. When I cam
out of the theater I wasn't sure how to cla
sify this movie. Death Sentence is a MON
that tries to be too many things. Twi
fourths of the movie is an exciting thrill(
sporting outstanding and sometimes outs
geous chase scenes with over-the-top gu
slinging. Another fourth of the movie coi I never once
tains a serious drama that revolves aroui iught about leaving
Nick Hume (Bacon) as he desperately tri .t theater.
to protect his family by any means nece: 'he initial plot of the
sary. Finally, the last fourth of the mov vie is nothing spe
slips into the realm of the unintention.._ .1 but gets much
comedy; parts where the movie tries too Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence more interesting as
hard to be serious, overly dramatic, sec- CONTRIBUTED PHOTO the movie progresses.
tions dominated by cheesy dialogue where its Hume's high hopes for his eldest son, Brendan
suspension of disbelief is tarnished. (Stuart Lafferty), vanish instantly as Hume help-
Upstart band Fort Pastor makes
By Matt Schwabenbauer
staff writer
mjss3B7@psu.edu
Visitors to the Reed Union Building were treated to the diverse soul
ful sounds of Fort Pastor on Aug 31st. With members hailing from
Texas and all the way from Australia, Fort Pastor's music is just as
manifold as the band's history. Band members Brant Christopher,
Jeffrey Todd, and Jono Callow initially met at a festival called
"Greenbelt" in England. After forming Fort Pastor, the band recorded
their first album, titled, "Alive Inside" by sending tracks back and
forth over the interne, due to one member of the band living in
Australia at the time. With a studio album and extensive touring under
their belt, Fort Pastor have been playing together for two years. The
band describes themselves as "acoustic soul rock" with similarities to
other artists such as Rusted Root.
One of the most intriguing things about Fort Pastor is their use for
of unusual instruments. While they use the standard acoustic guitars,
they also employ the use of instruments such as a didgeridoo, darabu
ka, resonator guitar, djembe, and mandolin just to name a few. The
evening began with a song titled "Fall With Me" followed by a hum
ble greeting from lead singer, Christopher. "We are Fort Pastor...
Aug 31-Sep 2
However Death Sentence does not fail in all
respects. There were a few issues with the char
acter development, (there was actually a mon
tage scene in which Hume apparently learns to
be an expert marksman by studying the instruc
tion manuals that came with his weaponry), and
it's true that some of the scenes in the movie
PL LL! fT Li
$26,362,367
$12,466,846
$11,352,123
$10,412,835
$8,575,000
$5,983,365
$5,135,267
$4,231,321
$4,184,444
$3,074,156
$2,823,844
$2,770,000
$1,893,258
$1,687,676
$1,626,090
$1,613,871
$1,382,205
$1,201,679
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$1,148,698
could have been han-
d better.
vie, however, is
penseful, exciting,
d well, it is enter-
ning. I found
'self laughing at
tat were supposed
be very emotional
d somber scenes,
Please stay in your seats." Humor is one thing Fort Pastor loves to
incorporate into their live shows. "We like to have a good time up
there." Brant chuckles. Two songs into the set, guitarist Jeffery Todd
waits for the applause to cease and then chimes in with, "Having fun?
Thank you! Goodnight!" The group may be making jokes about their
Fun-loving band Fort Pastor entertained students in the union
building on Saturday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
popularity now, but the future holds great things for Fort Pastor.
Having just signed a recording contract with Koch Records, the band
Zombie's t,
By Scott Muska
student life editor
ni5082 p,ti .ed
In 1978. when the movie Halloween was released.
it became a phenomenon in the horror movie genre.
Michael Myers quickly rose to the top in the world of
fantasy serial killers. He struck fear into the hearts of
teenage girls and children with his strange white
facemask. shiny carving knife and his lack of a con-
~ c ience
Since the first film by John Carpenter there have
been eight sequels. The latest, Rob Zombie Is
Halloween, debuted over the weekend almost 30
years after the first movie and captured the record for
highest grossing Labor Day Weekend movie debut
ever.
This newest and possibly final installment in the
now legendary Michael Myers saga served as both a
remake of Carpenter's initial offering and a prequel
to the whole series. The first hour of the movie is a
biography of Myers that portrays the events that con
tributed to his insanity. It explains most of the mys
teries that have loomed over the Halloween series for
as long as it has existed, like his abnormal and abused
childhood and what event initially pushed him over
the edge to commit his first of many murders. It even
explains the significance of the unorthodox white
facemask that he wears seemingly at all times.
It is very satisfying to any fan of horror movies or
the Halloween films in general to finally have most of
their questions answered about Myers' past. hut that
is unfortunately where the positives end. Zombie has
a widely recognized reputation as one of the most
vulgar and repulsive moviemakers ever and in that
aspect he did not disappoint with his version of
Halloween. Even in a culture that has become
lessly witnesses his son's murder at the hands of
a gang headed by Billy Darley (Garrett
Hedlund). Convinced that he will not he able to
find justice from the courts, Hume takes it upon
himself to find his son's murderer and bring him
to justice. The story is not deep on it's own mer
its, it is in fact Bacon's character that gives the
movie most of it's substance.
Acting is as good as it comes in this movie.
Kelly Preston and Jordan Garrett do a fine job
playing the roles of Helen and Lucas Hume.
Unfortunately, not much time is given to their
characters and they simply remain one-dimen
sional as the two play the parts of a grieving
family.
A pleasant surprise is John Goodman's pres
ence as Bones, a sleazy arms dealer who sup
plies both the protagonist and antagonist with
their firearms. The had news is that Goodman's
role is far too short, with perhaps only 15 min
utes of screen time. If only half of the movie was
devoted to his character.
Death Sentence is a good movie but it just
never hits that sweet spot moviegoers will he
expecting. Feel free to give it a try however.
Even if you don't love it, chances are you'll get
a laugh or two.
on Halloween f
stop at Behrend
plans to release their next album titled "Beautiful Imperfection" on
Oct 9th. The CD will be available in most music stores and from the
Koch Records website. In support of the album. Fort Pastor plans on
going on a 50 date tour.
Music isn't the only thing that Fort Pastor is passionate about. They
also created an organization called "Social Justice Army" which
focuses on aiding communities and solving social issues. Some of the
activities that Social Justice Army have volunteered for are helping
homeless shelters, volunteering at food banks, and other various com
munity service activities. According to the Social Justice Army web
site, "The mission of The Social Justice Army is to inspire, rally and
organize others to serve one another by providing opportunities to
serve as a group within their local communities, thereby building
hope, conviction and courage in themselves and those they serve."
Despite only having been an organization for eight months, the organ
ization has over 2,000 members and has contributed 60,000 hours to
community service.
Having just played at Penn State Beaver and Allegheny University,
Fort Pastor plan on visiting numerous college campuses across the
country. The first single from their new album titled `March Out" will
begin airing on the radio next month. For more information about Fort
pastor or The Social Justice Army, visit their website at www.fortpas-
tor.com
-ni-ni
rll
extremely desensitized to sexuality and cursing in
movies. you would he hard-pressed to find someone
that is not immediately taken aback by this movie, or
at least surprised. The very first scene establishes
that Michael's childhood is by no means nurturing or
normal. This becomes apparent when his mother's
boyfriend expels some of the most appalling lan
guage possibly ever spoken in an R-rated movie.
It is at that point that a viewer can tell that Zombie
is going to overdo it with at least the language, hut it
doesn't stop there. The rest of the movie is simply a
blur of violent mutilation and frontal nudity, which is
what many horror fans venture to the theaters to see.
The problem with this movie is that the murders and
events are extremely predictable. It is a rarity in this
film for the viewer to he so frightened or startled that
they jump out of their seat. but there are plenty of sit
uations that are just plain disturbing.
A great deal of the language and over-played vio
lence in this movie are not at all necessary to the plot,
which weakens considerably after the first few scenes
when the viewers figure out the remainder of Michael
Myers' childhood secrets. The rest of the movie is
just a slathering of very violent bloodshed and vulgar
phrases that Zombie obviously included in the film to
supplement his shock and awe approach to film mak-
If you're a fan of the original Halloween films, you
will most likely not enjoy this movie. It seems as
though Zombie has totally disregarded the previous
movies and turned his new production into something
that is geared toward consumers that simply want to
see people murdered in unfathomably gruesome
ways. If that's the kind of movie you're searching
fr, or would like to frighten your date to death,
Zombie's Halloween may he a suitable way to spend
two hours.
Question of the week:
What is your favorite
Kevin Bacon film?
A) Footloose
B) Mystic River
C) Hollow Man
D) Stir of Echoes
E) Other
Last week's winner: The Wilson brothers
The Behrend Beacon I
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO