Friday, September 14, 2007 Box Office Breakdown 3:10 to Yuma Halloween (2007) Superbad Shoot 'Em Up The Bourne Ultimatum Balls of Fury Rush Hour 3 Mr. Bean's Holiday The Nanny Diaries Stardust Hairspray Death Sentence WAR The Simpsons Movie Harry Potter Underdog Becoming Jane Chuck and Larry Ladron Que Roba A Ladron Death at a Funeral *Statistics courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com West and Jackson fight record sale battle By Scott R. Niuska student life editor psu edu Hip-hop superstars Kanye West and Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, have begun what will be arguably the biggest battle in music history. Both immensely popular musicians released their eagerly anticipated third lull-length albums on Sept. 11. The two artists have been verbally sparring throughout the past month over who will sell the most albums. There have been many highly-publicized instances of "beer' between artists in the rap genre, more common- ly referred as battles, bi there has be( nothing yet this magn tude. stakes are ve) high, becaw the higher seller will crowned the king of hi hop. Jackson h more to los it seems, since claimed that he would retire from his career as a musician if he fails to move more records than West in the first week of sales. Jackson has been in top form, allowing his signature cockiness to show through as it never has in the days leading up to the release of his record, Curtis. "My first album was the highest-selling LP of 2003, he told music magazine Rolling Stone. "That album sold something like 1.14 million in four days. Jay-is last album sold something like 1.6 total. Kanye works for Jay-Z. Kanye is a work er bee. He's never been able to generate a fraction of the interest that I have." He even went as far as to compare himself to a gorilla, when he said in the same interview that, "I'm King Kong. Kanye is human. Humans run when they see King Kong, because they're scared." He has also insinuated that all of the current hype surrounding West and his third full-length album, Graduation, should be r'EMEI fa' Li rir Sept. 7-9 attributed directly to the attention he has gotten him with his retirement ploy. West, who is known to have a tendency for obnox ious outbursts (he said that he believed George Bush didn't care about black people at a concert shortly after Hurricane Katrina and flipped out at a European awards show when he didn't win), has been surprisingly quiet throughout the entire process, letting Jackson run his mouth. Jackson does, after all, have more to lose. West has made no comments about retiring if he doesn't win the sales battle. This battle involves two artists who are extreme ly popular in their genre, but very different. Jackson comes off as the tougher of the two stars, —felling often to his 'ficult childhood tt included drug :aling and a drive-by tooting during which was hit with bullets Lp-hop. He is often !en wearing peculiar CONTRIBUTED PHOTO clothing that isn't normally seen in the world of hip-hop style, or any where else for that matter. In the video for his most recent single, "Stronger," he wears a pair of aviator glasses with plastic bars going over the lenses. He is also known for the complexity of his lyrics that often discuss political issues and controversial sub jects. One of his most well known songs, "Jesus Walks," deals mostly with his religious beliefs. Though Jackson and West obviously operate on opposite sides of the spectrum, it will rarely be argued that they are innovative, influential, and entertaining artists. That's what makes this battle so heated. They have split the world of hip-hop basi cally in two, and given the consumers the opportu nity to decide who has a wider fan base. On Thursday night, West was currently in the record sale lead over Jackson, with country music star Kenny Chesney closing in at third place, hint ing at the possibility that by Sept. 18, West and Jackson won't have the top and second spot. $14,035,033 $ 9,513,770 $ 7,551,822 $ 5,716,554 $ 5,673,850 $ 5,652,852 $ 4,883,334 $ 3,413,785 $ 3,194,396 $ 1,800,127 $ 1,745,369 $ 1,676,156 $ 1,494,499 $ 1,319,878 $ 1,031,339 $ 881,071 $ 853,910 $ 834,060 $ 728,952 $ 721,041 e times. His lyrics ,us mostly on 'alth, women, and )lence and are more lantly harsh than West comes off the pretty boy of iPhone becomes more affordable for Behrend students By Liz Carey staff writer eacs I 111Vpsu.cdu Penn State Behrend students are among the thou sands of eager consumers preparing to take advan tage of the new price drop for Apple's iPhone. Freshman Communication major. Keegan McGregor explained, "No one is denying that the iPhone is a cool gadget hut before the price drop. when it was $6OO, I could never imagine spending so much on a phone, but now that it is only $4OO I might look into it." This seemed to be the general reaction to the CFO of Apple Computers Inc., Steve Jobs, press confer ence when he slipped the news of the price drop in with the release of a whole new generation of iPods. After the price plunged there were pleat) of prospective buyers who were delighted to rush out and purchase an iPhone. proven on Sept. 10 when the millionth iPhone was sold, only 79 days after its initial release. Unfortunately, not everyone was as excited; previous buyers felt swindled out of their $2OO and Jobs received hundreds of complaints. Upon receiving the infuriated e-mails. Job's decid ed to reimburse every iPhone owner; S2OO if he or Question of the Week: Whose record would you buy first? A) 50 Cent B) Kanye West C) Kenny Chesney D) The Bacon Brothers *E-mail answers to: mjss3B7@psu.edu Cell phone troubles at Beaver Stadium By Matt Schwabenbauer assistant student life edam mjss3B7o , psusedu Cell phone and communication issues abounded at the Penn State/Notre Dame game on Sept 8. The game was held at Beaver Stadium in University Park, and was a big win for the Nittany Lions. This game was, indeed, a big event for the entire town. The streets were packed the ni before and the d. after with fr waiting in antici tion for the match. It was ne ly impossible count the num of tailgaters on way to the stadiu and equally as h, to tell one persi from the next just so happened that this game was "white-out night" for Penn State fans meaning everyone in attendance was urged to wear white. Because of the similarities in dress, it was easy to get separated from the group you went to the game with. Adding to that issue, cell phones rarely worked. With the substantial amount of people in attendance at the game, the cell phone networks were flooded with usage, rendering them feckless. The first thing that is noticeable when coming in to view of the field is the wall of bright white wrap ping around the whole of Beaver Stadium. The sec ond, is the constant deafening roar of the crowd. With 110,078 in attendance of the game, all cheer ing in unison, trying to talk to anyone around you is pointless. At a few points during the game, the The Behrend Beacon I EMMICIISIMMOMIIMUNIMIESTINSIMI for e% \ (MC ekk. Apple's reign began in 1999 when the iMac con quered the computcl world. 'll' , Ao years later the iPod stole center stage h\ lent \ cluing the music nation. and !tow it is ruinoi ed that the iPhime will dominate the inohile phone Icahn: hut it was never a secret that ;\pple products are expensive. $599 for a phone seems outrageous for most people, especial ly for the a \ crage college student who desperately desired the newest technolop, hut could not afford the high prices. his is proven hy taking a survey of students asking simple question. "Do you know anyone ho actually has an iPhone?" Only one in six did. phis helps to show that the main customer for the Mimic is not college student. In a public letter fobs explained the main reason behind the pace drop sa\ ing. - Firsi, I am sure that \‘c are making the correct decision to lower the ice of the tit;l3 iPhone from $599 to $399, and that no‘\ is the right time to do it. iPhone is a break through product. and \A e have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition. and noes it will he affordable by even more customeis. - This excerpt from Jobs letter explains that Apple wants the iPhone to he in a lot of stockimis this holida‘ season. crowd was so loud that Notre Dame couldn't hear the count. and jumped off sides. In some ways, it wasn't the Penn State defense or the fact that this was his first starting game that was the biggest obstacle for freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen; it was the Penn State crowd. In fact, the whole Notre Dame team had their hands full at the game. Their only touchdown was scored due to an interception thrown by Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli. Not an optimistic it to the season for CONTRIBUTED PHOTO re tying Beaver Stadium. They had overcome the "Fighting Irish," winning 31-10. This was a big win for the Nittany Lions, advancing them to he the number 12 ranked team in the nation. The small town of State College enjoyed a celebratory night with packed streets and bustling restaurants, everyone commending the big win. It wasn't until early the next morning, when everyone had to return to business as usual, when the excitement died. The rest of the season looks bright for the Nittany Lions. starting off with a 2-0 record. It remains to be seen if Penn State can keep this momentum going all season, but facing off against Buffalo this week shouldn't be much of a challenge. lire Dame coach arlie Weis, but at great retribution Penn State fans. us game was an [portant and satis mg victory for the Itany Lions, con lering they lost 41- to Notre Dame t year in South nd, Indiana The crowd oiced while em
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