| AlBehrend Beacon I 111fllPP I II March 19 2010 11 m, V | www.thebehrendbeacon.com w—--. w CAMP Li!:: v.v, Daniel Smith / The Behrend 4 Bafikppund designfrom Creative Coml^k jMijmSKs jez.atkiHHk . . - ll MUSIC A dwindling voice Recent music trends show a definite loss of vocal emphasis. If you've heard late 50s or early 60s rock and roll, guitars were prominent but not dominant; strong emphasis was still placed on vocals. Since then and even more frequently nowa days, we are seeing a huge wave of "band" music. By that, 1 mean all members of a band focusing their talents to the best of their abili ties, essentially making the best of the music. In my opinion, the vocals “fall” with these deci sions, or aren't were. modifican(*rWwf|Mek vocal soundings because the artist inherently distorts their voice to make a new and original sound. An example of this would be T-Pain’s ca reer, as well as several other recent hip-hop artists and the slightly lesser known Modest Mouse or Tom Waits. It isn't that these artists aren't good at what they do. They are just cre ating a new trend of voice modification. Simply put, the band no longer looks to em phasize the singer, but downplays him or her in most cases. Folk and "Indie," what I listen to most, are great genres that are showcasing this. Low-fi recording is one way that I can think of off-hand that seems to be coming up a lot. The Mountain Goats built the majority of their rather prolific, early recording career on low-fi sound, most notably with the album All Hail West Texas. That album sounds a lot like if you combined a CB radio with their vocalist John Darnielle's pattern of amazing lyrics. Fleet Foxes, recently in the folk spotlight, cre ate what has come to be called a "gentle wooze" in their harmonic folk, which sounds rather slow and rigid in a loose composition. Iron and Wine, on the other hand, battles this The famous tale of Alice’s Adven tures in Wonderland has been adapted many times. This year, though, we see a whole new side to Wonderland: Tim Burton’s side. Anyone who is familiar with Tim Burton knows that his imaginative ge nius clearly sets him apart from other directors and artists, and his movies are more memorable than the numer ous blunders that continue to occupy the screen. Unlike some of the other trash, Burton’s films have fantastical and dark elements that put viewers in a different world. People who see his movies and can appreciate them rarely leave the the ater disappointed. Those who are dis appointed will have just cause to be. The actors and actresses cast to play or voice Burton’s characters are integral to making his productions a success. It is no wonder that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter continually appear in Burton’s films. Alice In Wonderland is proving to be another success (ticket sales wise) in Burton’s long list of successful films. Still holding the No. 1 spot at fbe bOX office, Alice appeals to mostly,,. NAT-A WOIMUinD: HOT 50 everyone, but whether or not it can ?live up to Burton’s other films and the hype that has been built around it is still in question. SHANNON EHRIN calture editor Burton’s adaptation takes place many years after Alice’s first trip to Underland, or as she calls it “Wonder land.” Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is grown up and in a stage of her life when she is to become engaged to a horribly needy man with all kinds of problems. At what is supposed to be a surprise engagement party, Alice spots the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) hop ping through bushes. Confused by his appearance, she tries to chase after him, but quickly loses track and leaves her search. 'When proposed to, Alice looks out into an intimidating sea of white that is her mother, sister, and a hundred others, waiting for her response. In-* stead of answering, she awkwardly excuses herself and runs away, fol lowing the White Rabbit down into the rabbit hole. Once in Underland, Alice learns that she must defeat the Jabberwocky to restore Underlain} to a better state. After she goes all around Underland and finishes off the Jabberwocky, ysSS'®'-- ' ' belief of declining vocals considering the singer, Sam Beam, is the main focus of that music. It shows on their album Shepherd’s Dog, released in 2007, which marked their gradual shift to a style that’s less "folky” and more "indie” in its focus on voice. However, even with this trend in “band as a whole" movement, the instruments are becom ing great windows into the lives of their players. Dead Confederate, who I’m calling a modern day Nirvana, has a grunge-folk song called Wrecking Ball. It has simple day-in-the-life lyrics with a ballad-type chorus. In my opinion, it shows the true heart of Hardy Morris from his Seattle upbringing to the project he started JW [battles Nftvana’s shadow. The simple in a song that grinds so orig inally at points is a work of genius. Contrarily, you have artists that are strictly in strumental, as in Andy McKee. McKee works to bind acoustic slaps with well-timed picking to create an amazing and relaxing sound, where you are literally left with the name of the song for guidance. Since he has titles like When She Cries and For My Father, his audience receives the notion of hardship. Yet the majority of his songs end on peaceful tones. The point I’m getting at is that music is ex panding. In the "mainstream" sense, music is slacking, creating simple words and power chords that bands like blinder, Nickelback, and Three Days Grace pounce all over and throw rather unfairly into the teenage ears of their lis teners. However, when music is devoured by truth and stands with real meaning, I am forced to look at folk and indie. They stand as the most personal genres and whether they utilize types of voice modification or not, they are carving a new niche and 1 feel everyone should be a part of it. It took 10 years for a sequel to Boondock Saints to get made, and it only took me six minutes to nearly want to gauge my eyes out and slice my ears off. It may very well have the single worst opening to a film in the history of cinema: gratuitous ass-shots, terribly stilted acting, a forceful attempt at writing badass dia logue, and iftusie. Boondqck Saints 253R1l Samf£ Diffimay be the trashiest movie #ftr ‘ This is the new Bret Michaels solo album of film. This is the Buckcherry of film. Any one who could like a movie like this might as well be wearing a t-shirt sporting a large rooster labeled “I love my cock” and a sign on their forehead that reads 'T think I’m a badass, want to see my sweet tribal tattoo?” The “characters" are painfully over-the top to the point of annoying ridiculousness. If random dick jokes and f-bombs are what makes good characters nowadays, then di rector screenwriter Troy Duffy is the new Shakespeare. If you wear a backwards white hat and cut-off T-shirts to the gym to work out, and LOVE beer pong then stop reading immedi ately and go out and see this movie. It is made for you. It was made to rip someone like you off and to make you wish you were as totally “badass" as the lead characters are. I wish there weren’t people like you out there, but sadly there are. If there wasn’t an audience out there for a movie like this, the Alice decides to return to the above world. Alice in Wonderland is nothing spectacular. No doubt the visual ef fects live up to all the hype, but the plotline is a bit rushed and anti-cli matic. Obviously, Alice would not be killed and good wois triumph oveV evil, but there a*e hotßXciting twists-' and turns. Even though this was an entirely new Alice, albeit with the same characters, you can see where everything is goingftbd how it will turn out in the end. : ' r Wasikowska’s her British accent vincing, but sh* which is more thi actresses. I was 1 would finally givt good name, const past actresses ha' worthy performai was just annoyinj was probably su) some sort of > change, but the o\ ably changed was Johnny Depp‘s' Mad Hatter w%5 green eyes were but he was dewoi BOONDOCK SAINTS 2: TRASHIER THAN FIRST WOHD safe and she goes and leaves him in Underland. ‘ ./ v , Meanwhile, the Caterpillar solem (Alao Rickman), is prottyolh tached from everything, as he usually is, but this time it’s not in a good way. h His role in particular film iejrind th< of silly, but Wouldn’t be thi Svithout abuse. < ' ' The only time that hi world would be a much better place. This takes place eight years after the first abomination ended. In this time the charac ters have become more generic, terribly acted and plain boring. DAN KINEM If that wasn't the nail on the coffin, then the loss of Willem Dafoe (who played Paul Smecker in the original film) is. At some points this felt like a Three Stooges episode ripping off the films of Quentin Tarantino and written by Soulja Boy. The shots and shootouts in the film are 20-time rip-offs, sh6ts lap shoptouts from the rWn *rifr'tloii?g ! them even worse to boot, but tTTeyTvere'ail rip-offs to begin with of every action movie before it. If the documentary Overnight, which re vealed the director Duffy to be a drunken self-congratulatory hack and semi-mentally retarded buffoon, didn’t scare away any pro duction company from financing this, actu ally watching the first film should have. Troy Duffy is more than just a talentless hack, he is a brainwasher corrupting the heads of 16-year-old boys (or 20-somethings that still think they are 16) into thinking saying cool lines before they imagine killing someone is what makes them a real man. Anyone who cites either this or the first film as "the best movie EVAR” can immedi ately be written off as a mindless drone without a brain. This isn’t entertaining. This isn't funny. This isn’t good art. This is mind numbing drivel that should never have seen the light of day. If a third film ever comes to fruition I will have lost all faith in mankind. or ti Ali to bi 10 Ti ntly. All iere book, migh > far ames and wl ice to irns inti ff to Chii . her. The '’s caterpillai Alice in Ted' casth movie grii REVIEW
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