SEE DEEZ
MUSIC REVIEWS
Lease Date: 1999
Genre: R & B Overall Rating ****
This trio of young divas are arriving on
the music scene prepared to stay. They
are whipping out everything in their
power, including youth, fashion and soul
Easy on the eyes as well as the ears,
Lisa, Andrea and Danielle sing about
what happens when you trust in God.
Simple Lyrics + Smooth Beat =Great
Buy. Worth every penny! Look for more
from these sisters. Those who preach the
word of Jesus Christ be heard long, loud
and clear. Amen!
For fans of: Janet Jackson, Erika
Badu, DC Talk
A 11101 1
1 04, Tti 161
Overall Rating: *****
I know it's been out for a couple weeks
but if you don't know: Pick it up! This
album is hot!! I'm talking sweet callabos,
tight beats and very smooth lyrics. This
has got to be one of the best soundtracks
ever. It's hot, so don't burn your fingers
when you pick it up!
For fans of: Lox, Beanie Sigel, Big
Tymers, Jay-Z
, s
.0 c • 61 / 4 -
( ‘ o
9 '
•~~b
~J`a'
Genre: Punk/Hardcore/Hip Hop
Overall Rating *****
This is the third album from Los
Angeles' rap-core band Downset. This
album is full of energy, musically as well
as lyrically. Downset stresses the impor
tance of unity and human rights. Their
Ratings Key
Horrible
I've Heard Worse **
Borrow or Steal It, Don't Buy It ***
I Would Probably Buy It ****
Stupendous ***
dewed by: DJ
gar
ist: Out of Eden
e: No Turning
el: Gotte
ords
Reviewer: J-Dub
Artist: DJ Clue
Title: Backstage
Mixtape
Label: Rockafella
Genre: Rap/Hip
Hop
Reviewer: Dirty
Artist: Downset
Title: Check Your
People
Label: Epitaph
Release Date:
Fall 2000
songs address issues of social impor
tance: women's lib, abolition of racism,
police brutality and chemical abuse.
Downset tries to remind their audience to
take pride in themselves as well as their
community, no matter their race, creed or
religion.
For fans of: Rage Against The
Machine
Reviewer: Tyler Durden
•
. •
44 1 41111111 C
01411.11111111
•
Overall Rating ****
"Our Time With You" is the amazing
debut from Chicago-based Relative Ash.
It's an album filled with hate, confusion
and brutal honesty. Most of the album
deals with the birth of the lead singer's
new son and the death of his father from
AIDS. The lyrics get personal and have
dynamics ranging from whiny whispers
to distorted screams. This band reminds
me of the Deftones except the quiets
are quieter, while the louds are more in
your face. If you are a fan of the new metal
movement, definitely pick this one up.
For fans of: Deftones, Tapßoot
Artist: Relative
Ash
Title: Our Time
With You
Label: Island
Genre:
Emo/Aggro
Rock
Cheap Seats & Sticky Floors
"The Way of the Gun"
By Steve Moses
Capital Times Staff Writer
Four years ago, Christopher
McQuarrie won an Oscar for his screen
play "The Usual Suspects" and hasn't
been heard from until his recent
directorial debut "The Way of the
Gun." I must say, this film is no
Academy Award winner! But a film
can still be good even if it is not
Oscar material
The film is rated "R" for pro
longed violence, gore, profanity and sex
ual references which are present from the
first scene to the final shot. The first
scene sets the mood. As Parker breaks a
woman's nose, you get the idea that
Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh
(Benicio Del Toro) are thugs that will do
whatever they want.
The plot gets interesting when Parker
and Longbaugh, while attending inter
view sessions at a sperm bank to see if
they are qualified candidates, overhear
that a surrogate mother, Robin (Juliette
Lewis), is having the child of a multi-
"Nurse Betty"
By Matt Mosely
Capital Times Staff Writer
Renee Zellweger gives a strong, well
defined performance in the wonderful
new film from Neil Laßute, "Nurse
Betty." She stars as Betty Sizemore, a
soap opera-obsessed waitress who flees to
Hollywood with the intention of meeting
her favorite daytime TV hunk, Dr. David
Ravell. After witnessing the brutal murder
of her car-dealing husband, (Aaron Eckart
in yet another great Laßute performance),
Betty becomes deranged and convinces
herself that she is Ravell's ex-fiancee.
Feeling compelled to reunite with her
long-lost love, Betty leaves for California
in a car stolen from her husband's dealer
ship. Unbeknownst to
her, the drugs her hus-
band was killed for are
hidden in the trunk. The
killers (Morgan Freeman
and Chris Rock) begin a
cross-country trek to find
the drugs, and Betty.
Once in California, the film starts pump
ing out the satire, resulting in a tank full of
laughs.
"Nurse Betty" is the third directorial
effort from Laßute (the first he did not
also write). Laßute's previous films
include "In The Company of Men" and
"Your Friends & Neighbors," two of the
darkest and most brilliant comedies of the
'9os. "Nurse Betty" is like a lime inside a
bubble gum wrapper. The look and feel of
the film is sweet and chewy like bubble
film reviews
millionaire couple. The thugs kidnap
Robin who was well protected by the
millionaire's security. After the kidnap
ping, a poor excuse for a car chase
occurs. O.J. Simpson's was better!
From this point forward, subplots
emerge. Joe Sarno (James Caan) who
works for the mil
lionaire family as the
"bagman," is sent to
Mexico to try to con
vince Parker and
Longbaugh to cut a
deal. The drama ends
at a Mexican brothel with Robin giving
birth amidst a hailstorm of gunshots and
gruesome scenes. When the shots ended,
I was surprised the place was still stand
ing. I recommend earplugs for this part
of the movie.
Ultimately, "The Way of the Gun" is
speckled with a few laughs despite its
macabre plot. As for the cinematic expe
rience, it's great! However, the dialogue
may have been better, and probably the
weakest point is deciding who to root for.
It's hard not to be sympathetic toward a
pregnant woman.
gum, but deep down the humor and issues
are as sour as a lime. It's a dark, dark
comedy.
Laßute is definitely one of the best
directors around. There is not one stunted
performance in the film. Chris Rock is
first rate as Charlie's wise-cracking side
kick Wesley, and Greg Kinnear is perfect
ly cast as Betty's soap obsession, Dr.
David Ravell.
Laßute, along with screenwriters John
C. Richards and James Flamburg, have
created a film that explores our obsession
with "stars." It deals with the mind, and
how we create our own realities based on
what we see through the media. Betty's
illness is rooted in "the image," her
mind's idea about what Dr. Ravell's life is
like becomes her own reality. The same
can be said for Morgan Freeman's
character Charlie, who suffers from
the same problem as Betty; through
a picture of her, Charlie becomes
obsessed with the idea of what
Betty is like. They're both fish out
of water, and that's what makes the
film so funny. The balancing act
played between the two characters and
their image -saturated brains is handled
perfectly.
"Nurse Betty" is easily one of the best
films so far this year. It has wit, style and
colorful, funny characters. It's undoubted
ly one of the great media satires, like "The
Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Pleasantville"
before it. "Nurse Betty" is one that
shouldn't be missed.
NM
110 it
, • 'l , ,
N. 4
Wi
REVIEWS