8
9
Friday, March 25, 2005
Fear fails
to come
full circle
By Nicole Southern
Photo copyright DreamWorks SKG
She’s back. The grotesque little girl known as
The Ring Two hit theaters on Friday, March 18.The film was directed by Hideo Nakata, the director
Samara, whose image still haunts those who saw
The Ring, has returned to the big screen in The of Ringu 2, the film on which the movie was based.
Ring Two. But this time, the chills sent up and
down viewers’ spines come from the theater’s air made a terrible mistake. When Aidan’s temperature ful Dorfman as Rachel’s peculiar son Aidan? The
drops almost six degrees below normal and she kid’s image says it all. Just looking at him can give
conditioning, not fear.
The Ring Two was released last Friday. Despite finds frightening pictures of him and Samara (Kelly you the heebie-jeebies. Both his eerie disposition
all the hype, it fell short of everyone’s expectations Stables) on his digital camera, it becomes clear to and creepy quiet voice keep the film from being a
and had viewers complaining about how their her that it is not just her little boy that she is seeing complete flop.
when she looks at him.
The plot was slow-moving and had a lot of
money could have been spent more wisely.
Rachel frantically tries to free her young son scenes that the film could have done without. For
The movie picks up with Rachel Keller (Naomi
Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) as from Samara, seeking help from others along the instance, the scene that featured a pack of deer
they attempt to build a new life for themselves in way. She even risks her own life at the end of the attacking Rachel’s car was a little too extraordinary
to be believable. The bathroom scene also proved
Astoria, Oregon, away from Seattle. All is well until movie to save Aidan’s.
Watts delivered a fairly good performance over the top, as water flew around Aidan and to all 50 Cent released his new album entitiled
the body of a murdered young man is found with
the same horrifically deformed facial features that throughout the film, never falling short but never parts of the room while a disgustingly discolored
have become all too familiar to Rachel. After break- exactly going above and beyond. She effectively Samara emerged from the bathtub.
If you’re looking for a good scare, I suggest you
ing into the victim’s house to steal the deadly tape, disguises herself as the “damsel-in-distress” yet
again
and
seems
to
have
perfected
the
looks
of
fear,
try
the
next theater over because you won’t find it By Joe Haubrich
she burns it in hopes of ending the “Ring” fiasco
terror
and
shock
throughout
her
acting
days.
With
here. You could even save your money by going
forever.
Strange things start to happen to Aidan not a more interesting plot, she could have taken the home and watching the Michael Jackson trial, now
G-Unit’s General 50 Cent finally
that’s scary.
long afterward, and Rachel realizes that she has movie to a new extreme.
And who could forget the weird and wonderreleased the egotistical and immature CD
The Massacre in which he commits career
suicide by taking shots at some of the best
droids from The Phantom Menace. The final episodes hip-hop artists, pushes the same gangster
By Vincent Civitillo
of volume one are better, as they depict a nine-minute image everyone already recognizes and
lightsaber duel between Anakin Skywalker and Sith- features some of the longest outros ever.
The record that was originally schedSurprising as it is in a series titled Star Wars, few apprentice Asajj Ventress, however, with little time to
actual battles are ever really depicted in the films.
develop the villain it’s hard to care when Skywalker uled to drop in early February with the
title St. Valentine’s Day Massacre fails to
Needless to say, in the 1977 film A New Hope, finally delivers her the final blow.
when several characters make mention of the great
If it’s hard to care about the bad guys, it’s even offer hip-hop fans anything new and
Clone Wars without ever going into detail about more difficult to attach one’s self to the heroes, who proves that 50 Cent might not be the
them, curiosity amongst fans was piqued.
are all (literally) the Jedi from Episode II who warmed apparent heir to Eminem’s throne as hipYears later, the prequel trilogy brought hope that the bench in the background shots to fill space. In hop’s most popular artist. Based on the
these monumental battles would be depicted, bring- this series they are invincible. They can fly and take success of other G-Unit members, he may
ing faith to fans who had always wanted to see them. on thousands of opponents at once all by themselves, not even be the best act in his clique. Sure,
Photo copyright Fox
Unfortunately, as it would play out, among the vast which beckons the question if the Jedi Knights are this fans have fallen in love with club favorites
“Candy Shop” and “Disco Inferno,” but
collection of great disappointments the prequel trilogy godlike, why are they only extras in the films?
has to offer, is the beginning of the Clone Wars at the
In addition, much of the dialogue is stolen most of the other songs on the album
end of Episode II and the conclusion of it in the begin- directly from the movies as to make comical reference, sound exactly the same. Dr. Dre and
ning of Episode III.
but it occurs far too often. For example, the line “I’ve Eminem tried too hard to outdo each
To bridge this gap, Lucasfilm teamed with Cartoon got a bad feeling about this,” which pops up subtly at other with their beats and their efforts go
By Lacey Korevec
Network to tell the story in Star Wars: Clone Wars, a least once a film in the movies, turns up at least three to waste thanks to 50’s slow delivery and
cartoon series that, like the prequel trilogy itself, tan- or four times in this series and is always greatly enunci- his lack of either depth or originality.
Once again 50 Cent tells the world
talizes and intrigues, but ultimately disappoints.
ated for effect.
After an especially intense few days
about
his money, guns and drugs. His
The series, which draws heavy inspiration from
While The Animatrix exists as an intriguing way
caused by technical voting difficulties,
head
became
a bit too enlarged after sellthe Matrix tie-in The Animatrix, concludes tonight at of bridging the gap between the Matrix films, Clone
graduate Anwar Robinson has safe7 p.m. with its final chapter. Made by the creators of Wars will do nothing of the sort for fans of the galaxy ing 11 million units on his last album, due
ly moved forward among the top ten
Samurai Jack, their influence is very obvious as many far, far away. The DVD, released this week, couples to the public’s sympathy for his near-death
American Idol finalists.
of the Jedi, particularly Mace Windu, have martial arts these tedious episodes with few special features and an experience and Eminem’s promotions.
On Tuesday, March 22, Robinson
skills they never exhibited in the films.
unbelievably boring audio commentary making Clone Listening to ridiculous songs like “Get In
performed the Chaka Khan song “Ain’t
My Car,” “I’m Supposed to Die Tonight”
With its format of three minutes per episode in vol- Wars an impossible recommendation, even for fans.
Nobody.” According to Fox, the wrong
and “Gunz Come Out,” we see that 50
ume one, it seems as though Clone Wars uses its short
telephone numbers were displayed for
is still as juvenile as ever. He thinks he
time-span as an excuse to produce lackluster action
the final three contestants, including
can kill all his enemies and he challenges
sequences with little-to-no character development.
Robinson. All of that evening’s votes were
them. How much more can listeners take
However, even the second volume, which upped the
disregarded.
of his gats, vests and hollow tips?
length to a comparatively epic 12 minutes, has been
The same performances were re-aired
The various colored bullet-proof-vests
a let down. The current season has only accomplished
on Wednesday, March 23 and new ele50
Cent
supposedly owns may come in
being an animated version of the Episode III opening
ments were included. Viewers were able
handy
after
all the time he spends on callscroll, which is typically only done in text because wastto re-vote. Robinson received more than
ing out some of the most popular artists
ing time bringing it to life would be unnecessary and
enough votes to keep him on the show.
in New York. Ja Rule is spared this time
boring.
Next week, Tuesday, March 29 the 10
around, but Jadakiss, Nas, Shyne and
The “stories,” despite their length, are difficult
remaining contestants will sing. Viewers
Fat Joe are all dissed on the track “Piggy
to fight through as the first ten episodes consist of
Photo copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.
can vote as many times as they choose for
Bank.” How convenient for 50 Cent to
little more than the stormtroopers fighting the battle
two hours after the show has aired.
release this track after all of these artists
Photo Copyright Aftermath Records
The Massacre on Wednesday, March 3.
‘Massacre’ half-dollar short
Disappoints fans, ‘Clone Wars’ does
Photo by Al Viciedo
Sophomores Kerry Bowers and Casey Jost rehearse as hosts of Alpha Psi’s The TerabaC CabareT, a
show that will introduce popular Broadway music sung by performers of the opposite sex.
BAlpha
ROADWAY A NEW WAY
Psi presents ‘The TerabaC CabareT’
By Lacey Korevec
Never before have the Rider
lights come up on a group of
young men, decked out in gorgeous gowns and glittering jewelry, belting the song, “I Enjoy
Being a Girl.” Until now, that is.
The TerabaC CabareT, an
Alpha Psi Omega production,
will allow performers a chance
to take on roles they could never
play because of gender and race.
It will take place on Friday, April
1, and Saturday, April 2, at 8
p.m., in the Fine Arts Studio
Theater.
Junior Amy Toporek and
sophomore David Yashin teamed
up to co-direct the show.
“It’s basically a role reversal
themed Broadway review. It’s age,
gender and race reversed as well,”
said Toporek. “TCNJ did something like this a couple of years
ago and I thought, ‘Wow, what a
cool idea!’”
Audience members will not
have to use their imaginations
while watching performers take
on unexpected roles, according to
Toporek.
“Plan on seeing girls dressed
as guys and guys dressed as girls
in full-out dresses, heels, boas,
makeup, eyelashes and wigs,” she
said. “The show is going to be as
fun for us to perform as it will be
for the audience to watch.”
Rent, Hairspray, Footloose,
Avenue Q and Wicked are among
the shows that will lend songs to
The CabareT, Toporek said.
“It’s really important because
it’s not that often that we get to
perform these amazing songs that
are written for men,” she said.
The evening will feature cohosts Kerry Bowers and Casey
Jost, both sophomores. Their
roles will be to provide entertainment between each number.
“During one part [Jost] represents tragedy and I represent
comedy. I’m laughing hysterically
and he’s serious and ready to cry
his eyes out. Then, all of the sudden, we just start making out.”
Freshman Christina Farruggia
will perform two songs including “And I’m Telling You I’m
Not Going” from Dream Girls.
Singers were given the liberty
to choose their own songs with
only helpful suggestions from the
directors, according to Farruggia.
“It’s going to be everything,” she said. “It’s going to be
sad, hysterical, weird and even
shocking.”
Those who are not Broadway
buffs will still be able to enjoy The
TerabaC CabareT, said Yashin.
“It’s not like your seeing a
Broadway show,” he said. “You’re
just going to be seeing people
who are talented performing.”
Amidst the seriousness of
other productions that have taken
place this year, The CabareT will
provide humor without requiring much interpretation from the
audience, said Bowers.
“It’s going to be glitter and
pizzazz and better than the Easter
Day parade at some points,” she
said. “I think the audience is
going to leave shocked at what
Alpha Psi can pull off.”
Anwar jumps
into top 10
recently came out with albums of their
own. The only way that 50 will get the
retaliation he’s looking for is either on mix
tapes or through violence. That’s exactly
what a guy who has already survived
multiple gunshot wounds needs. There
hasn’t been a rapper so brash in the face of
danger since Tupac.
The attack of such pronounced hiphop icons comes as a surprise. Eminem
recently released a single “Like Toy
Soldiers,” where he discourages violence
and bad blood between artists, yet 50
Cent goes on to produce this album anyway. 50 Cent takes his mentor’s single and
makes it null and void with his own “My
Toy Soldier.” On the track, 50 describes
his army of soldiers who are going to terrorize the streets and protect their leader
against all enemies.
Some of the songs worth listening
to on the 22 track album include “Outta
Control,” “Ryder Music” and “Just a Lil
Bit.” The G-Unit Remix to “Hate It or
Love It,” a song that featured 50 Cent on
ex-G-Unit member The Game’s album
The Documentary, also appears on The
Massacre. 50 must have been thinking that
each and every song would be played on
the radio at some point because the outros
are all close to a minute long. For the most
part, the CD includes either club bumping music or ridiculous songs preaching
violence and objectifying women.
Millions will still purchase this album
because 50 Cent is already a legend. True
fans should, and will, be disappointed.
This is almost as big a letdown as Nelly’s
sophomore album Nellyville and Eminem’s
Encore. 50 Cent will soon be overtaken by
his young protégé Lloyd Banks if he keeps
attacking other rappers and doesn’t mature
by the time he releases his next album. He
should focus more on developing as an
artist instead of staging shoot outs in front
of Hot 97 studios to help boost album
sales.