Friday, October 3, 2008
This week in art history
October 3,1955: The Mickey
Mouse dub premieres on ABC,
and is a children’s variety show
featuring a newsreel, talent and
comedy segments, cartoons
and, most famously, the
Mouseketeer Roll Call.
October 4,1918: Sometime, a
musical with Mae West pre-
mia's in New York City. Her
lata roles include Night After
Night , My Little Chickadee, and
She Done Hon Wrong, die
movie in which she delivered
the lines “Why don’t you come
up and see me some time?” and
“When I’m good I’m very
good, but when I’m bad I’m
better.”
October 5,1969: Monty
Python's Flying Circus begins
airing on the BBC. A British
sketch comedy show that made
fun of the oddities in the British
lifestyle. The cast was well
Heroes returns with a villainous vengance
By Neil J. Peters
assistant arts editor
njpsoX3@psu.cdu
If you’ve been living under a
rock for the past two weeks, or if
you’re a loser, you may have
missed the first two weeks of the
greatest show on TV. No. I’m
not referring to Grey's Anatomy
(however watching it does aid in
talking to women). I’m talking
about the hit NBC drama
Heroes. If you read my prior
article about the season pre
miere, you'll know how incredi
ble Hayden Panettiere is and
how she is the main contributor
to the shows performance. Even
though she steals the spotlight, it
still takes a team to win a cham
pionship. Besides having more
eye candy than a Victoria’s
Secret fashion show, the show
actually pumps out a pretty awe
some episode every week.
As I said earlier, as of October
3, the show will be going to its
forth episode. So if you have
missed the first three and arc
considered a parasite to society,
fear not! There is still hope for
your poor, retched soul. Simply
keep reading, as I'm about give
you a free recap of the season
thus far.
“The Second Coming”
Four years in the future, all
people with special abilities are
being hunted down and impris
oned. This timeline's Peter
Petrelli travels back in time to
the present to re-rewrite history.
Viewers find out that he is the
one who shoots his brother,
Nathan (the finale of Season 2).
Present day Peter and Matt
Parkman pursue the rogue hero,
only to have Matt teleported to
Africa and present day Peter's
mind placed into the body of an
imprisoned supervillain.
“The human mind
when it comes
it is when it tries to
that
educated, most of which were
Oxford and Cambridge alumni,
and used their intelligence in
there comedy sketches, often
referencing literature and phi
losophy.
October 6,1927: The Jazz
Singer, the first “talkie,” pre
mieres in New York City.
Produced by Warner Bros., A 1
Jolson, the lead actor, sings six
songs throughout the film with
the help of a vitaphone sound
on-disc system.
October 7,1982: Cats, an
immensely popular musical
composed by Andrew Lloyd
Webber, debuts on Broadway at
the Winter Green Theatre. Cats
ended its run on Broadway on
September 10, 2000 leaving
behind a legacy of award win
ning performances and compo
sition.
Meanwhile, the sinister Sylar
attacks Clare Bennct in her
home, w here he steals her regen
erative powers. Miraculously,
she survives, but with the inabil
ity to feel pain. Nathan survives
the gunshot, saying he has been
sent back to spread peace in the
name of God. Hiro and Ando
discover a formula in Hiro’s
father's sale that has the power
to destroy- the world. Thev are
instructed to keep it safe, only to
have it stolen by a villain
endowed with super speed.
“The Butterfly Effect"
Mohindcr injects himself with
a serum derived from Maya’s
blood and obtains his own super
powers, only to wake up the next
day and find that his skin is peel
ing off. While in the hospital.
Nathan is approached by Tracy
Strauss, a woman resembling the
Las Vegas stripper. Nikki
Sanders. She wants him to
retake his post as state senator.
Elsewhere. Svlar attacks The
Company in an attempt to steal
as many powers as possible.
Elle Bishop and Noah Bennet
manage to stop his rampage, but
at the cost of a mass supervillain
breakout. Present day Peter, still
Hayden’s character, Claire
Bennet, takes a dark turn in the
it shows
Evelyn Waugh
future.
inspired enough
inventing horrors;
invent a Heaven
itself cloddish.”
October 8,1971: John
Lennon releases his album
Imagine in the United
Kingdom. It quickly became a
hit with its title track, reaching
#1 in the UK and #3 in the US.
In 2003, Rolling Stone maga
zine listed Imagine #76 in their
list of the 500 greatest albums
of all time.
October 9, 1973: “The King
of Rock n’ Roll,” Elvis Presley
and his wife Priscilla divorce
after six years of marriage.
They met in 1959 at a party in
Germany where Elvis was sta
tioned. At that time Elvis was
24 and Pricilla was only 14
years old. They became close
and, afta a long courtship,
were married on May 1,1967.
contributed by David Stull
dassl22@psu.edu
trapped in the inmate's body, is
forced to play along in order to
survive. His mother, Angela
Petrelli. takes over the company,
fires Elle and reveals that she is
secretly Sylar’s mother.
“One of Us, One of Them”
Future Peter appears to
Nathan and reveals the future to
him. Nathan contacts Tracy and
takes her up on her offer to
retake his senate seat. After that.
Tracy heads off to New Orleans
to find out about her past and the
woman Nikki Sanders, who she
is often confused with.
Elsewhere, the escaped super
prisoners (with Present Peter
still in towj try to rob a bank as
a chance to trap Noah, "the man
with the Horn Rimmed
Glasses." Angela appoints Sylar
as Noah's partner to foil the rob
bery attempt. However, thing go
horrible awry when Future Peter
saves his Present day counter
part (who was trying to save a
capured Noah from the other vil
lains) while he stops time. Noah
is overpowered but is narrowly
saved by Sylar, who. despite
Angela's praise against it. steals
the powers of a villain to feed is
insatiable hunger.
Meanwhile. Hiro and Ando
track down the Haitian in an
attempt to find the second half of
the mysterious formula. They
are captured and placed in Level
5 with the other villains at The
Company. All the while. Matt
Parkman stumbles about the
African savannah and is saved
by a native, who claims to have
known of Parkman all his life. It
is revealed that the mysterious
native has the ability to paint the
future and depicts the world
exploding form the inside out.
He says that the future has
changed for the worst since the
Future Peter teleported back.
in
yj
Wanted doesn’t live up to hype
By Nathan Carter
contributing writer
nrcso69(s' psu.edu
“I’m Wesley Gibson, and I am
the most insignificant person in
the twentieth century,” said
James McAvoy, starring in
Wanted. Another action flick
with a twist, this film tries to be
the combination of the Matrix
and Rush Hour, while throwing
in a surprise from Angelina Jolie.
Wanted, directed by Timur
Bekmambetov, centers around
the mundane character Gibson
(McAvoy), who works his day
to-day job in a cubicle analyzing
financial data and making
reports.
His dad left when he was a
child, he’s nearly broke, and his
boss epitomizes the typical
power-hungry office hound.
Does that sound a little bit like
Neo from the Matrix to you?
Remember Neo (Keanu Reeves)
being pulled from a cubicle in
that film, as well? Anyway, he
hates his job, his girlfriend is
cheating on him, and his best
friend is the backstabber helping
her to cheat.
One day when he's getting a
prescription filled at the local
pharmacy, he is confronted by a
woman named Fox (Jolie). She
blatantly informs him of his
father’s death, and that his father
used to be a skilled assassin for
an organization called the
Fraternity. He denies it, claiming
he doesn’t know her from any
where.
From this scene on, the movie
spirals into near non-stop action
with a fairly all-star cast that
includes the likes of Morgan
Freeman, as Sloan, the leader of
the aforementioned Fraternity:
Angelina Jolie, as Fox, Sloan's
right hand assassin; the rapper
Common, as “Gunsmith;"
Thomas Kretschmann as the vil
lainous ex-assassin Cross; and
David O’Hara, playing Gibson's
father, Mr. X.
As Gibson begins to fill in his
father’s shoes as a member of the
Fraternity, we see the true heart
of the film: the special effects.
Gun shots in this film are taken
Rootßerry act brings laughter to Bruno’s
By Catherine Frisina
contributing writer
cmfs244@psu.edu
When I received an e-mail last
week describing a juggling act
involving saw blades, sword
swallowing and flaming chain-
saws, I knew this was something
I would not want to miss.
So I set out for Bruno’s at 8
p.m. last Friday, hoping to be
entertained by Team Rootberry.
What happened next was seri
ously remarkable. Bill Berry
was juggling machetes, saw
blades, and knives, all with a
sword in his throat!
Now, even though I was sit
ting there gagging because I was
witnessing a sword slide down
someone else’s throat, 1 was
truly impressed by the act as a
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Manners if Civility
“Faculty members have the right to
set reasonable standards of conduct
in prder to safeguard the educational
Penn State Faculty Senate
Angelina Jolie and co-star James McAvoy pack heal in just about
every scene throughout the movie.
in slow motion, and, in some
cases, even depict the bullets
being disassembled in mid-air.
The car chases are extravagant
and well-staged, with amazing
special effects - including a
Dodge Viper flying over a set of
cop cars in slow motion.
According to www.wanted
movie.com. Ales Blabolil. the
head of special effects, worked
on this film for four months
straight.
“1 wanted to show a new-age
form of flare." said Blabolil.
"I’ve never seen a film where a
bullet was slowed down and dis
sected in mid-air before, and I
decided there should be one."
Special effects and gimmicks
aside, this film seriously lacks
the potential to pull in audiences.
They brought some interesting
humor to Behrend. 1 was laugh
ing, and. to be honest, it takes a
lot to make me laugh. Jonathan
Root and Berry appear to love
being on stage. They were able
to joke around with each other.
“...then again, Bruno’s
has a pretty low ceiling
and I can see why flam
ing chainsaws could be
considered a
fire hazard. ”
which created a relaxed atmos
phere. and that was good to
have, considering all of the
sharp objects that were being
thrown around.
They had a lot of audience
process.”
The Behrend Beacon I
The acting is very low key. and
the plot points were nearly stolen
from works of the past. The idea
for the main character is stolen
from The Matrix, the way he is
trained stolen from Ramho. and
the film's attempt at comic relief
from that of Rush Hour.
Overall. 1 give this film a four
out of ten with no recommenda-
tion to anyone over the age of
12. The special effects might
convince the children that this
movie is great, but isn't fooling
me. At the end. I was left with an
unanswerable question: Why did
you do this film. Morgan
Freeman? I lined you in A'/'w the
Girls and no. you go and do this
to me. For shame. Morgan
Freeman. For shame.
participation, w hich 1 consider a
good thing because I’ve heard
it's good to be able to laugh at
yourself sometimes. Berry had a
girl from the audience pull the
sword out of his throat! I almost
lost it everywhere but everyone
else expressed their enjoyment.
The duo juggled machetes
around another girl from the
audience, and she survived with
out a scratch. 1 was disappointed
there were no flaming chain
saws, but then again. Bruno's
has a pretty low ceiling, and 1
can see why flaming chainsaws
could be considered a fire haz
ard.
So was it worth the time away
from studying to go watch the
show? Yes. If you weren't there,
you missed out an impressive
and exciting performance.