By ANDREW 'DICKIE' SCOTT Film Reviewer ABS2O3@PSU.EDU Man of the Year Man of the Year is a political satire starring funny man Robin Williams as comedic talk show host turned presidential candidate Tom Dobbs. A successful comedy- news anchor, much like Jon Stewart, Dobbs is famous for his open opinion and questioning of politics using sarcasm and punch lines. Before filming one of his shows he is, talking with the audience when member stands up and suggests he runs for the Presidency; this idea is met with outstanding applause and cheers by the rest of the audience. Dobbs eventually declares his candidacy on-air to the shock of his manager and producer (Christopher Walken and Lewis Black respectively), who, at first think it is a joke without a punch line. Dobbs then goes out on his campaign trail trying to rally more Phoenix Wright allows the gamer to play detective, lawyer By OLIVER EISLER Staff Reporter OPESOOO@PSU.EDU Move over Clarence Darrow, because Phoenix Wright is on the case! The sequel to last year’s highly successful game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, provides players the opportunity to once again delve into the world of misadventures that encompasses the life of everyone’s favorite defense attorney, Phoenix Wright. Fate has smiled kindly upon Phoenix since we last left him at the end of the “Rise from the Ashes” episode of his last game. With his rookie days behind him, Phoenix has been elevated to the status of one of the top lawyers in Japan. To an American audience, the justice system of this game may seem frightening. Music Genres WYGHAUHULFZASICQPBET PAOYLITDHYCALIJYAWCQ KKSNUWHIUPOPSCUCCCNA JSPMHKPOHPIHTRLWIIAQ ESEAECIASLHBIAKNTMDH YJLXAGEHBMOKSWOAHGYM WYBKGRHTLYASHRLIBBUP IZPTGWEURXIOTMLBXOUU WSIAELYZTCBCDYYZYNLN AEKDRHJUAAELIRAEEYCK LEAADCKLGLYUSANXNHKR TLPNOYOREAFACRZCNBKY EDNGHXOOYVKFOONTYSNZ R.YXLI SHO JGLZ JPBJGAUV NDDGQPSVUAHUNMOMSGFY AFEIDOSEKCZJEENYUMBD tpeyyrtnuoczlttonrly DICK'S support. Despite all odds, Dobbs wins and becomes the President elect. The only problem comes from a computer programmer, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney), who found a glitch in the new computer voting system. She now has to tackle the moral dilemma of telling the truth or let Dobbs go and see if he can really facilitate a positive change in the American way of life. As stated before, this film is a political satire so it does play off of political stereotypes, however, sometimes it is difficult to tell which jokes are stereotypes and which have real substance. Long segments of the story line are deathly serious and dramatic but are broken up by the antics of Williams, Walken, and Black. This movie is not a laugh riot, funny yes, but nothing like the comedy routines of some of its cast. Robin Williams is great in his role of Tom Dobbs. Williams has proven over and over again that he is not a one-dimensional actor, proving it twice in this film. His comedic style entertains all crowds but then becomes a serious political candidate pushing for change in the system. Dobbs in his own words is a “jester,” a funny man who presents the flaws of the system and its leaders and that is why he has such a powerful following of fans/supporters. Williams, as well as Black, use quite a bit of political comedy in their actual comedy acts. Comedians don’t hold anything back when they decide to rant and rip into a topic and it’s that passion and honesty that make it funny, believable and gets people to think to themselves, “Hey, that’s a good point.” That’s To cover for this inconsistency of legalities, in the overseas adoption of the game, developer Capcom grimly warns: “Guilty until proven innocent. That’s the way the justice system works here. All trials start immediately and are mandated to last no more than three days. Prosecutors are free to introduce any evidence, fabricated or not, and manipulate witness testimony to highlight only those facts damaging to defendants, the truth be damned. The courts are no longer about protecting the innocent or punishing the guilty, but for convicting everyone.” Fear not for hope is on its way: Phoenix Wright’s mission is to remedy the situation. As a defense attorney, his duty involves preparing a vigorous defense for his client, but Wright is about absolute truth, and he puts everything he has on the line to get to the bottom of each and every case. the credibility the film uses to make it mdre believable that a comedian can be elected to office. However, comedians have the luxury of not having to follow through with their usually unrealistic and impractical ideas, no matter how good the theory. The point of all this is that comedians, though creative and open-minded, may sound like they can fix the problems, they don’t really belong on a “political” stage. That is another subplot to the film, knowing where you are best suited to make an impact. Humor not withstanding, the rest of the film was quite flat. Linney’s character, Eleanor Green, is neurotic/spotty at best and her involvement with Dobbs is very weak. Man of the Year is more like a mesh of other films, like the comedy of Kevin Kline in Dave and the drama of Michael Douglas in The American President. The constant flop between the humor of Dobbs and the suspense of Green is a headache and takes away from both aspects of the film. Man of the Year serves its purpose as a political satire, poking fun at the democratic system we know, love, and believe in (not counting the past two elections). All the jokes were very funny, and the acting of Williams, Walken, and Black was well done. It’s worth renting when it comes out on DVD, but don’t bother seeing it in the theater. I give this film 2 out of 5 nuts. Photo courtesy of Google Images Phoenix Wright allows the gamer to play the role of a defense attorney who also needs to investigate. “When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants.. .it’s for fun.” No truer words have ever been spoken. Um, uh, so Naeho Libre is the latest DVD release starring musician/actor Jack Black as Ignacio, a friar serving God in an orphanage somewhere in Mexico. Though he is a man of God during the day, he is also Nacho the Lucha Libre wrestler at night, using his winnings to provide for the orphans he cares for so much. Concealing his identity from the elder priests because Lucha is strictly forbidden, he teams up with Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez) and joins the world of the Lucha. The ensuing antics involving his training, fan following, and possible love interest make for a very entertaining and humorous film. Nacho Libre is the second big release from director Jared Hess who first met success with the amazingly popular Napoleon Dynamite. The filming techniques CLASSICAL JAZZ LATIN GOSPEL BLUES FUNK ROCK PUNK POP COUNTRY ELECTRONIC SKA REGGAE HIPHOP CONTEMPORARY ALTERNATIVE RAP DANCE TECHNO DISCO Picks Nacho Libre In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, players were given the opportunity to guide Phoenix through five such cases, with several bound together to uncover one of the greatest mysteries of his tiifte. Now, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All gives players the chance to uncover even more mystery and an even greater adventure. However, in order to do that, a player must understand how to maneuver his way through the game. In order to be a good lawyer, one must have good detective skills. The menu for THE CAPITAL TIMES and characters reflect the director’s style and offbeat humor. Much like Dynamite, the plot of Nacho Libre seems to take quite some time to develop, making it seem much longer than its lhr. 3 lmin. running time. By the end, however, it all comes together in glorious success. An interesting fact: since the release of Napoleon Dynamite, Hess has refused every script that has come his way until this one; it looks like it was perfect for him. The rest of the cast fits perfectly into their roles as well. Jack Black is hilarious delivering serious lines in a bad Hispanic accent (which borders a bad Italian accent sometimes). Coupled with exaggerated mannerisms and gestures, he is by far over-animated as a friar but ideal as a Lucha, basically perfect for this movie. The film even incorporates his talents as a singer, letting him belt out a few lyrics and playing some “air trumpet.” Again similar to Napoleon Dynamite, most of the characters and extras have a lot of silent screen time, just blindly staring into the camera with a dumbfounded look. The action scenes really bring out the humor in the film. Though Black is not known for physical comedy, he throws down some pretty impressive wrestling moves and doesn’t mind showing off his rippling [no], cut [no], round [and hairless] body. His training involved wearing undersized sweat pants, pelting himself with melons, and wrestling livestock. Of course, none of this made him or his partner better Detective Work has four options: Examine - when Phoenix is in his investigative mode, he can examine his surroundings to look for clues; Move - lists all the locations Phoenix can travel to from his current location; Talk - Phoenix will frequently run into people while he’s investigating; Present - the player can have Phoenix present evidence he has collected to an interested party to elicit more information. “Present clues” are the easiest hints to miss, since the clues of what to present to whom can be lost in a line of dialogue. If you ever get stuck; it’s probably because you have overlooked presenting someone with an item from the Court Record. Once in the courtroom, Phoenix has to cross-examine each witness in order to expose his lies. This is done by not only presenting the right evidence, but unveiling it at the correct moment exactly when the lie is perpetrated. The Judge will only brook spurious 2 |||s 9 6 3 4 2 1 _9_ 3 6 5 5 _9 7 8_ 4 1 7 6 _3 4 | 51 | | I |1 | TO SOLVE: Each row, column and 3x3 block must the numbers 1 to 9 without any duplicates November 6, 2006 For the correct answers, please visit us in the Capital Times office, fc-121 Olmsted. contain wrestlers so they are pretty much beaten and humiliated in every match, but the people love them so they get paid and keep coming back for more. The bonus features are just as entertaining as the film, mostly because the cast and crew share the same sense of humor as Black and ham it up behind the scenes for the cameras. Among the usual interviews and technical background, the features delve into what Lucha Libre wrestling is and how Black and Jimenez had to prepare for the physical demands of the ring. Though it may not look it, Black did have to go through a lot of training for this role. There is even some casual footage of Black between scenes joking around but still trying to look serious. Most interesting is the information that this film is based on a true story, a Mexican man who was a priest by day and wrestler by night. It adds an element of credibility to the film. All in all, this is a good comedy, nothing to really bust a gut laughing but still keeps you going consistently. It is also great to see the skilled use of the fart sound effects, not too many as to kill the joke but not too few that you forget the humor. It’s like a warm blanket, just right (I don’t know what that means). Anyway, I would strongly recommend seeing Jack Black in Nacho Libre. I give this DVD 4 out of 5 nuts 0000 allegations for so long; present irrelevant facts times and the trial will end immediately in favor of the prosecution. The testimony can be reviewed as often as you wish, during which you will have two options: Press - Phoenix will needle the witness about the current statement whenever you choose the “Press” option; Present - most often, a witness’s falsehoods can only be exposed with decisive evidence that directly contradicts his testimony. When the time to reveal the truth arrives, press “Present” in the upper right comer of the screen, choose the piece of evidence that refutes the witness’s claims, and Phoenix will be one step closer to clearing his client and uncovering the real perpetrator. Do you think you have what it takes? If so then purchase Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All when it is released in the US this holiday season.
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