I The Behrend Beacon
suberose - adjective - of the nature of cork; corklike; corky
Whenever I want to remember random thoughts, I write them on notes and pin them to my friend Jeff By the end of the semester, Jeff was rather suberose!
National Treasure: The Book of
Secrets set to release this year
By Gabrielle Saitto
staff write,
gpssll2oo p,4t
Earlier in 2007. Jerry Bruckheimer Films and
Walt Disney Pictures made the intelligent
decision to create National Treasure: Book
of Secrets. The mop ie \\ ill he a sequel to the 2004
film National 'Treasure. In the first National
Treasure. Benjamin Franklin Gates. played h\
Nicholas Cage. is just one of a lone line of treasure
seekers. Previous famil \ members have all tried to
protect a \var chest hidden b) the Founding Fathers
after the Revolutionar \ War. When he learns of a
plan to steal the Declaration and find the treasure.
his only option is to
steal it first. With the It was directed by Jon Turteltaub,
help of his grandfather. who also directed the first National
played by Jon Voight Treasure, and co-written by Cormac
and Abigail Chase. and Marianna Wibberley, and
played hy Diane Gregory Poirier. The film is produced
Kruger, he goes on a by Jerry Buckheimer. Hopefully the
hunt throughout the film will he able to do as well as the
entire country to find first. Originally, there were no plans
cryptically hidden
to create a sequel, but due to the sue
clues. one of which is cess of the first film, definite plans for
on the hack of the a second movie were made in 2005.
Declaration of The first film earned $347.5 million
Independence. As he worldwide.
gets closer to finding To promote the film, Walt Disney
the chest. he realizes Pictures and Mercedes Benz has even
that not only does he
created a sweepstakes. In this sweep
have competition, but stakes, there are five cities around the
that he is also being world which you can visit. If you
closely followed by the visit each of these cities, you have a
F. 8.1. chance to earn an entry into the Grand
In the new trim ie. Prize Sweepstakes, which gives you
National Treasure: the chance to win a Mercedes-Benz
Book of Secrets. C 350 Sport Sedan, in addition to
$50.000 worth of treasure. Also,
Cage's character Ben cos - mm - 11T) PitoTo
every two weeks a new City of the
Gates sets out oa a new National Treasure's sequel. named The
Week Sweepstakes begins, and if you
global mission to find Book of Secrets. releases Dec 1 1.
hidden treasure. A
missing page from the diary, of John Wilkes Booth also get a chance to win $50,000. Ages 12 and
is found. and in it. Gate's ureat-urandfather is
Older are eligible to participate, so all college stu-
are welcome to try their luck. National
accused of being a conspirator in the death of dents
Lincoln. Abraham
Alan attempt to prove the inno-
Treasure: Book of Secrets is due to be released in
cence of his great-grandfather. Ben goes on a trek theatres on Dec. 21. 2007.
following clues from Paris to London. and then
•••••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Upcoming releases:
Novies
Beowulf
—Dec. 16—
This legendary story
offers a new, unique
view of the warrior
Beowulf as he clashes
with the evil demon.
Grendel.
Rating: PG-13
.Music
Nine Inch
Nails
-Nov 20-
"Year Zero
Remixed"
1 - ;1 -
Mr.Magorium's
Wonder
Emporium
—Dec. 16—
A strange and wonder
ful toy store comes to
life in this movie star-
ring actor Dustin
Hoffman.
Rating: G
The Killers
-Nov 20-
"Sawdust"
(B-Sides)
ri-r 7 l-r j r n i, \ Ti r\jr -r- 7 1-, T r r i
i ±_t_si l r-Ll.i i 2/11_1 1 1 i I
hack R) America
journey, Ben disco
new informatio
about his family. ai
well as discovering
some of the world's
moq aniating hid
den trea,,ure
Filming
National Treasur
lace in areas
Alexandria, Virginia,
Paris, Mount Rushmore,
MIMI
Vernon Estate
;The Pact - an unforgettable read
• By Aeriale Kramer
• •
• .s . tqff write,
• daks 10 I (a psu.edu
• it , Pact doesn't portray a moral,
• nor does it teach a lesson.
•
• However, what it does do for its
• readers is make them question the idea
•
• of trust. How well do we know our
• loved ones? This novel leads readers
•
• into a compelling suspense that leaves
•
them on the edge of their seats begin
•
• ring with the very first page.
• • Jodi Picoult is a renowned author
• who started her journy towards fame
• with The Pact. Author of her latest
•
• New York Times bestseller, Nineteen
•
• Minutec. Picoult
• manages to write
•
novels that leave
•
• her readers with
•
experiences that
• could hit close to
•
• home. The Pact
• also delivers
•
complex rela
• tionships, a try
• ing
courtroom
•
• case, and a peek
• into the life of a
•
• teenage prisoner,
•
who could he
•
•w r ongly
•
accused.
• The gripping
; first scene effec
• Lively entails the
,• trials and trihula-
• tions that are
•
• vital to the plot, CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
• keeping the pace The Pack, by JodiTicoult, redefines its
•
of the hook mov- readers' definition of trust.
• , ftly. The
ing swi
•
Pact is the story of two families, who
• are not unlike many families we see
•
today. As next-door neighbors, the
• Hartes and the Golds have been close
•
since they met. Their children, Emily
• Gold and Chris Harte, grow up to be
•
• best friends. It is no surprise to the
• families when their children grow into
•
• teenagers and begin showing signs of
• raging hormones. Eventually their
•
• tight-knit relationship proves to be
• more than just a friendship. Picoult
•
• provides the necessary details to prove
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Nicholas Cage.
American Gangster lives up to
expectations in movie debut
you into the movie and alter it ends you would never
believe you just watched a nearly three hour movie.
The plot revolves around Frank Lucas, a druglord
in the New York area, and Richie Roberts, one of the
only cops in New York at the time that actually took
the law seriously and didn't take bribes from the crim
inals. Frank Lucas takes New York by storm almost
immediately after the death of his mentor Bumpy
Johnson by providing a superior product at a lower
price than the competition. He does so by getting his
heroin right
from the
By Jeff Deßello
staff writer
jjdso4s@,psu.edu
This weekend I had the distinct pleasure of get
ting to see the new film American Gangster.
starring Russell Crowe and Denzel
Washington. Well first of all, on a less enthusiastic
note, Erie's largest movie theater, Tinseltown, decides
that on opening night of the movie they would only
show it on one screen. Not aware of this at the time, I
show up for
the movie 90
minutes early
and to my sur
prise the last
two showings
of the night
were in fact
sold out.
Which made
unhappy man
and prompted
me to include
that little bit in
Tinsettown
Now, on a
much more Denzel Washington, left, and Russell Crowe give excellent performances in
enthusiastic American Gangster. The duo give the movie some respectable star power.
note, w
actually got to see the movie the day later it was
amazing. Probably the best movie that I have seen all
year. The stars of the movie Denzel Washington, as
Icas, and Russell
as Richie Roberts
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Russell Crowe.
that they've been "soul mates since
they were born".
Picoult effectively guides the reader
through thier building relationship
through flashback. She then proceeds
to move from the past into the present,
describing Chris panicking in the
emergency room, asking for Emily,
wondering where she is, only to have
his parents tearfully inform him that
Emily is dead.
Chris tells the police that he and
Emily had made a suicide pact: they
were planning to kill themselves
together. The novel moves through
Chris' story; prosecutors and defense
attorneys gathering
evidence to support
Chris and tear his
story down. The
reader also gets to
know Emily's side
of the story while
she was still alive,
tracing her steps
into the meaning
behind what truly
happened and how
close Chris' story
was to reality.
The novel is
certainly compli
cated. The old
friendship between
the two families
quickly disintigrate
upon Emily's
death. Could the
one person who
loved her enough to
die for her have
cold blood?
Friendships are destroyed, hearts
are broken, and the meager line that
separates the lies from the truth are
intact only by a thread.
The Pact is an enthralling read, a
novel that readers won't forget quickly,
or put down easily. If you are craving a
good, suspenseful read that provides
startling insight into characters that
will stick with you for the rest of your
life, The Pact won't let you down.
on amazing per
trmances. With The
tovie being close to
tree hours long, you
lay expect to be
)red by the plot and
le long breaks with
tnything really hap
if you think that you
are not correct. The entire
movie is filled with action
and plot twists that keep
SNL rising in popularity
By Samuel Levine
staff writer
MIE=I
Saturday Night Live, the groundhreaking sketch comedy
show created and produced by Lorne Michaels, has come
under heavy criticism in the past few seasons. Stars like
Will Farrell, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey left the show's fans
uneasy with replacement cast members.
But is the show finding a revival through Internet mediums
such as Youtube? SNL's newest creation. SNI. Digital Shorts are
short segments shot entirely with consumer grade digital video
cameras and edited with personal computers. Many of these
segments have found their way to Internet stardom. The first
breakthrough video to reach a high level of Internet success was
titled "Lazy Sunday": a rap performed by then veteran cast
member Chris Parnell and newcomer Andy Samherg. The skit
featured the two rapping about their Sunday afternoon, in which
includes a trip to a bakery where they purchase cupcakes and
see The Chronicles of Narnia at a local cinema. Upon its release,
"Lazy Sunday" was made available online through free down
loads on iTunes, and was
viewed at least five million
times on youtube.com,
The success of "Lazy
Sunday" was repeated
through other digital
shorts, such as "Laser
Cats", "The Shooting", and
"Young Chuck Norris - ,
among others. Along with
the videos are various fan-
made parodies and recreations. What had become a popular
Internet innovation had suddenly become one of Saturday Night
Live's best assets in the ways of promotion.
The show had, over time, reclaimed its popularity and leg
endary status. However despite its recent success found on
Internet media, it will now be more difficult to access videos
online. This is due to complaints from NBC Universal and many
of the clips have already been taken off Youtube due to accusa
tions of copywrite infringement. The same had happened when
competitor Viacom had ordered that clips of it shows had been
taken off the popular video website. Videos and various clips
and now only be viewed (legally) on NBC's official website for
SNL to which Michael's does not understand. "I think it's sim
ple for me," Michaels said in a statement. "If the work is good,
I want the most number of people to see it period."
More and more networks are embracing the Internet as a new
media for showing their programs: many television shows could
be viewed online as early as last year. At the time of this writ
ing, many network executives refer to this type of program dis
tribution as experimental, as they claim to he unsure of how
much revenue it is capable of producing. Studios distributing
their shows over the Internet is currently the main focus of the
current writers strike which threatens to stop production of
many television programs.
Friday, November 9, 2007
coNTßißu . rro PHoTo m e n
Blue Magic to all of New York. cutting out many of
the previous dealers including the Italian Mafia. As
you can imagine. they weren't thrilled about that. On
the other side of the law Russell Crowe's character
Richie Roberts. w ho doesn't fit in with the other city
officers of the area, takes a federal position to assist in
the war on drugs. His major concern is finding out
who is the major supplier of drugs in the city and take
him down. To his surprise he finds out it is not in fact
the Italian mafia. hut a black man who apparently
came out of nowhere to run the streets.
If you like good movies at all. then I'd say you have
to go see American Gangster. Del initel is one of the
best movies to come out this year. and one of the best
movies ever in its genre m my opinion. Even if gang
ster movies aren't sour thing give this a shot, I het
you'll like it.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Above: SNL's long time logo.
source,
Vietnam.
He had the
heroin
shipped
American
Military
planes in
the coffins
of fallen
soldiers
Having
pure prod-
uct uncut
by middle-
allowed
him to pro-