Friday, December 3, 2004
Wilson,
Review by Nick Hammond
staff writer
“Old School” is a near perfect comedy;
it’s dumb, funny and damn inspiring (at
least in the end). This is less a college
comedy than a comedy about guys able
to throw away all the commitments of
marriage and work for a short time in or
der to experience freedom again.
“Old School” follows the concept of
Animal House very closely, but there is
also a hint of originality to it, which
makes it a hair better than most of the
Counse
during stressful season
By Carolyn Tellers
Beacon assistant
The holiday season is one of the most
stressful times of the year. For many stu
dents, that stress can be doubled with end
of the semester final papers, assignments
and exams. Nicole Kirkpatrick, from the
Behrend Personal Counseling office,
gave some suggestions on how people
can reduce the holiday stress.
Kirkpatrick says that “contributing
factors to holiday stress include: unreal
istic expectations of family, of the per
fect gift, and of having enough money.”
Living in our rapidly progressive cul
ture, many may find it difficult to keep
up. Another problem that affects people
is Seasonal Affective Disorder, caused
by the decreasing daylight. For some
people, this causes serious depression
and help should be sought immediately.
Luckily there are some steps people
can take to manage their stress. One step
is to plan your Christmas shopping ahead
of time, rather than put something off
until the last minute. This includes hav
ing a manageable budget and staying
away from credit cards. Homemade gifts
are always a great idea. Put on some
Christmas music and bake some cook
ies to give a friend. They’ll appreciate
1. 1 Large Pizza with cheese and 3 toppings only $7.99
2. 1 Medium 1 topping pizza and an order of Cheesy bread
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3. Choose any 3 bread products (Cinna stix, Cheesy bread,
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4. 10 Buffalo Wings or Domino’s Pizza Buffalo Chicken Kick
ers and an order of Breadsticks only $7.99
5. 2 individuals size (8”) pizzas with 1 topping plus 2 20 oz
Cokes only $7.99
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Domino’s Pizza has 2 great locations here in Erie: 128
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dents and 3303 Buffalo Rd. (898-8400) serving Penn State
students.
Domino’s Pizza is open for lunch everyday at 11 a.m.
and is open late until 12 am Sunday thru Thursday and 1
a.m. on Friday and Saturday **.
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** Hours may vary seasonally
Vaughn, Ferrell is comedy at best
immature teen comedies that have come
around lately.
Mitch (Luke Wilson) comes home one
night to find his wife (Juliette Lewis) en
gaging in group sex with people she met
on the Internet. After the divorce, Mitch
packs up his things and heads for his new
home, a residence on the outskirts of a
local college campus.
According to his two thirty-something
and married pals Beanie (Vince Vaughn)
and Frank (Will Ferrell), the place can be
a gold mine. They could throw parties,
hang out with teenagers, and relive their
orso
the homemade taste as well as the time
and effort
Another way to reduce stress is to
make realistic expectations of people and
events. Don’t expect people in your fam
ily to act like the families depicted on
TV. “Nurturing yourself is important,”
Kirkpatrick advises. “Remember to
laugh and get in touch with your inner
child.”
Relax by taking a warm bubble bath
or listen to soothing music. Go out and
make a snowman or play in the snow.
Perhaps watch classic holiday cartoon
specials on TV. Avoid traffic and mall
congestion by shopping early or during
off hours such as weekdays. That alone
can reduce a great deal of stress, as well
as give you time for yourself.
Kirkpatrick warns against changing
your habits due to stress or the holidays.
“If you exercise, keep exercising. If you
eat three meals a day normally, don’t eat
five because you are stressed.” Also, try
to limit your consumption of alcohol.
If you are feeling stressed, please visit
the Personal Counseling office. The staff
is very friendly and easy to talk with. Call
898-6504, or visit the web page:
www.pserie.psu.edu/student/counseling.
Also, for more information visit http://
www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/
103.cfm.
DOMINO’S PIZZA VALUE MENU
Gannon, Mercyhurst and Penn State Behrend
students can now choose any item from
Domino’s Pizza’s new Value Menu for Only
$7.99*
▲
STUDBNT UP i
vice
era
youth. However, they’ve got a problem:
they have nothing to do with the campus
and so it is only a matter of time before
the College “jerk” Dean of Students (Jer
emy Piven) throws Mitch out of his new
house.
This gives Beanie an idea. What if they
started their own fraternity? Then they
would have a legitimate on-campus af
filiation and Mitch would be able to keep
his new home. They begin recruiting fra
ternity members, or in other words, the
outcasts of the college. Other people, in
cluding an 89 year-old man, get recruited
Roll the world up with ‘Damacy’
By Nick Hammond
staff writer
How do you define creativity? Easy,
say “Katamari Damacy.” That’s it.
You’re done. Katamari is all you need.
No wordy explanation, no descriptive
imagery, no pronunciation guide and
no sentences using it in practical con
versation. It’s creativity in two words
and happens to be some of the most
fun the universe can offer for just $2O.
What exactly is “Katamari
Damacy?” It all starts when your fa
ther who is a comically abusive alco
holic and also the King of the Cosmos,
goes on a wicked bender and manages
to break all of the stars in the sky. Want
ing to get someone else to clean up his
mess, he gives you a Katamari, which
is a ball that, when rolled over objects
that are smaller than it, causes them to
cling to it. Then Rainbow Roads you
to Earth with a little Katamari. Now
you need to collect some junk so dad
can make up some new stars to replace
the ones he busted.
You roll the Katamari about collect
ing cats and thumbtacks, some people
and then an octopus and maybe
Godzilla or something. Each time you
grab something with the Katamari, its
size increases. This way the more junk
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as well. But their dealings with the “jerk”
Dean are far from over.
Directed and co-written by Todd
Phillips (Road Trip), Old School is stu
pid fun that fortunately never lowers it
self by putting in excessive gross-out
material. But that doesn’t mean the com
edy isn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Phillips and co-writer Scot Armstrong
throw in a few surprises, one-liners and
some priceless material involving
cinderblocks, streaking and women suck
ing carrots.
The result is one of the most consis
you get by pushing it around, the big
ger it gets. Eventually it’ll get so big
that you can pick up buildings and is
lands and clouds and thunderstorms
and everything.
“Katamari Damacy” is that idea on
a disc. It's an astonishing, simple, out
rageous embodiment of creativity and
style. It controls like a nimble tank, re
quires the use of exactly no buttons,
and is all about one little star guy push
ing an ever expanding Katamari around
the world. He rolls on and picks up
whatever happens to be there.
It’s a box of hilarious, clever joy, and
at the same time it happens to be so
enchanting it’s nearly impossible to
look past, even if you’re just idly walk
ing by. Amazingly, all this game offers
is the Katamari, a time limit, and a
complete lack of restraint. Roll on!
Everything in the world is bound by
weight and size, lighter objects in
crease diameter and can be picked up,
but may be too large and awkward to
handle easily, causing the Katamari to
roll at odd angles. And then you just
keep rolling, swiveling the analog
sticks to tightly round comers, racing
to reach new areas or to cross fields
with wayward cows or circus balanc
ing acts on their far ends. It’s great
because of scale. It’s great because of
Equals
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»WHENs
STARTS NOW, BUT WILL HAVE
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FINALS WEEK
» BRING US YOUR BOOKS:
IN CURRENT EDITIONS
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The Behrend Beacon | 7
tently funny teen comedies I’ve ever seen.
At times, your chest will hurt from laugh
ing so hard. This is only a reminder that
you’re watching three of the best comic
actors in the business. Luke Wilson, Will
Ferrell and Vince Vaughn show so much
comic accuracy and charm that you liter
ally feel like jumping out of your seat and
rooting for them.
To proclaim Old School rocks is all fair
and square. If you see this movie, you
will not regret it. Overall, I give this
movie a rating of 5 out of 5.
diversity. Yet, if only there were more.
In terms of graphics, it’s painfully
bland at a glance, but marvelously
scales to become ridiculously detailed.
It’s cluttered, animated wonderfully,
and broken up by mind-blowing
cutscenes that make little sense. It fea
tures towering, but blocky humans that
wander about constricting environ
ments; then, it suddenly features tiny
people who humorously flail around
after they’ve been caught on the
Katamari that continually rolls, de
vouring trees, cars and anything else
in sight.
It’s not the most technically brilliant
collection of scores ever devised, but
not since Mario created its everlasting
tune have we heard tracks so catchy
and so genuine. Add to them the ultra
satisfying shouts of surprised pigeons,
cats, mice, cows, people and giant
monsters make when they’re rolled up
into the recesses of the Katamari and
you have something that’s just incred
ible.
Katamari Damacy is something
that’s fun, something that’s happy and
something that’s so well put together
and so enjoyable, whatever faults it
may have fade behind the laughter and
smiles it so effortlessly creates.