INSIDEBEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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Forget the GOODWhether you avoid them completely or onlyenjoy them in your house with the blinds closed,this week it’s all about the BAD and the UGLY.

Page 2 • Inside Beat Column October 22, 2009

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BY EMILY SCHACHTMANFILM EDITOR

I’ve been thinking a lot aboutgingers lately. I’m sort of partial tothem, having been one myselfsince birth. The thing is, we kindof get a bad rap. The expressionwas never “pesky blonde half-sis-ter” or “troublesome brunettenephew;” nay, the expression hasalways been “redheadedstepchild.” This phrase is oldenough that there are several sto-ries floating around as to its ori-gins. One naively suggests that thephrase comes from a threatshouted in the 1986 Charlie Sheenfilm The Wraith while another of-fers some gibberish about the me-dieval English custom of primae

In Defense of Gingers

EDITORIAL BOARD

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS TO INSIDE BEAT : Emily Gabriele, Marc Mance, Amanda Litchkowski, Elena LoBello, Amy Rowe, Peter Sperlazzo, Erin Sweeney, Natalia Tamzoke, Rosanna Volis and Tara L.Young.

Cover photo courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

MARGARET DARIAS.................................................EDITOR

TOM WRIGHT-PIERSANTI..................ASSOCIATE EDITOR

STACY DOUEK.......................................................................................ASSISTANT EDITOR

NIDHI SARAIYA...........................................................................................BOOKS EDITOR

ADRIENNE VOGT...........................................................................................COPY EDITOR

MICHAEL MALVASIO................................................................................FASHION EDITOR

EMILY SCHACHTMAN...................................................................................................FILM EDITOR

JASON STIVES............................................................................................................MUSIC EDITOR

TOM WRIGHT-PIERSANTI........................................................................................TV EDITOR

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noctis, but most seem to agree ithas something to do with thestrange and unlovable quality ofredheads. To this I reply, shutyour mouth! Not cool, conven-tional wisdom. Not cool at all.

According to my expertise thatI just gained from the last 20 min-utes I spent on Wikipedia, red hairis caused by a recessive gene onchromosome 16. Pheomelanin iswhat specifically actually gives thehair its pigment, and about fourpercent of Europeans have it.There is, however, a higher per-cent exactly in the regions youmight guess: Think Celts andVikings. Wikipedia actually offersa plethora of absolutely fascinatingand probably half-true facts aboutredheads (including a surprisingly

detailed disambiguation page. Ap-parently redhead is a breed ofNorth American duck, a 1959 mu-sical and a suburb in Australia?).But let’s move on.

At this point it seems like Ishould distinguish: There are allsorts of gingers out there, andwe’re not all created equally. Thisis not to say there’s a superior red-head, more to point out that gingercomes in all flavors. There’s thekinder, gentler titian, like that ofgenius late night host ConanO’Brien, Ron Howard, Seth Green,Nicole Kidman (when she man-ages to pry herself away from thebleach bottle), or Queens of theStone Age singer Josh Homme.There’s the darker, orangey red-head a la snowboarder Shaun

White, the rakish Prince Harryand Vincent Van Gogh. Then,there are the darker members ofthe gingersphere (my people),whose ranks include the awesomeChuck Norris and fierce TildaSwinton. And finally there are thefaux coppertops — the LucilleBalls, Rita Hayworths and AshleeSimpsons of this world — who justwant in on the fun. Not that Iblame them.

Of course, it’s not all great ath-letes and artists. For every AxlRose there’s a Carrot Top, and forevery Susan Sarandon there’s aLindsay Lohan. Historically wehave to claim Napoleon and Gen-eral Custer as ours, but we also getElizabeth I. Overall, though, we’rea pretty interesting bunch.

My point is this: Gingers areawesome. We’re rare. We’reridiculously adorable when we’relittle. And according to some,we’re a dying breed. On the firstweekend of every September, thecity of Breda, located in theNetherlands, throws a two-day cel-ebration called Redheadday. Iknow we missed the boat this year,but perhaps we should considercelebrating retroactively, if only tospite our somewhat turbulent his-tory and public image. So I say in-stead of being the redheadedstepchildren, relegated to eitherthe yellow-eyed Scut Farkus bullyrole or ridiculous Bonaduce noto-riety, we reclaim the phrase as adeclaration of how unique and di-verse a group we are.

October 22, 2009 Where the Wild Things Are Inside Beat • Page 3

BY EMILY GABRIELESTAFF WRITER

A classic children’s book transposed into a moviewith the hopes of being a classic better have a greatsoundtrack to accompany it. The soundtrack toWhere The Wild Things Are has undoubtedly

achieved that goal. All 14 songs on the album are composed by Karen O,lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, accompanied with a lot of kids. Allof the songs are very fitting for the movie. The soundtrack takes youthrough Max’s journey from the initial point of when he leaves his roomto the moment he returns. There are many different emotions weavingthrough the album, paralleling Max’s feelings during his journey, andletting the listener feel the same.

Its first-released song, “All Is Love,” emits feelings of carelessnessand freedom, which is how Max feels when he starts on his journeyto a place where the wild things are. In it, Karen O and the kids sing“It’s a mystery/where you’ll find me, all is love,” explaining the emo-tions felt during the primeval stages of running away. Further intothe album, there is a track titled “Worried Shoes,” which tones downthe immediate feelings of excitement of running away and gives thelistener the worried perspective of Max. To end the album there is asong called “Sailing Home,” which is self-explanatory: The journey iscomplete. So give it a listen, and travel through another experienceof Where the Wild Things Are.

BY NIDHI SARAIYABOOKS EDITOR

In Spike Jonze’s new movie Where The Wild ThingsAre, a word is worth a thousand pictures. Otherwise, itwould be hard to explain how Jonze was able to turnMaurice Sendak’s original 10-sentence story into anhour-and-a-half-long movie.

Jonze’s creativity is astounding, taking the sim-ple story of a boy who was sent to his room for“wild behavior” into a heartwarming tale of onewho struggles with his parents’ divorce and hisolder sister’s abandonment. Max is no longer just adisobedient little boy, but a character that we couldall relate to, whether when he fumes at his familyfor being ignored or feels guilty for doing some-thing he cannot take back. We find ourselves root-ing for him as he runs away from home and triesto find solace by sailing away to an island full ofwacky monster personalities.

BY JASON STIVESMUSIC EDITOR

Directors are constantly plagued with appealing tothe general public; even more so when attempting toturn a 10-sentence story into a 90-minute journey. Forsome, like Spike Jonze, it can take the better part of fiveyears to balance out artistic appeal with a satisfyingproduct for the audience. Turning Where the WildThings Are into a movie was doubtlessly a challenge, butit was one that paid off across the board.

Although many people have tried and failed to bringadored books to the big screen untainted, here Jonzehas successfully managed to reinvent Where the WildThings Are. The story focuses on a young boy who es-capes into a world of strange beasts to escape his ownproblems. Though engrossing, it is quite the pill to swal-

BY NIDHI SARAIYABOOKS EDITOR

As if collaborating with Spike Jonze to create one adaptation ofMaurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are wasn’t enough,Dave Eggers recently released yet another version of the belovedchildren’s story entitled The Wild Things. As Eggers explains,after co-writing the screenplay with Jonze for the movie, Sendakapproached him and suggested that he write a novel that includeddetails that did not make the final cut. But Eggers was not contentwith that — he put his own spin on the classic and made it a bookfor all ages.

The Wild Things certainly has its ups and downs. Unlike themovie, this story did not have to be child friendly, and Eggerstakes advantage of that. His writing rests on a tenuous balance,treating Max like a precocious boy who cannot help acting likethe inexperienced kid he truly is. It brings a smile to your face asyou imagine adorable Max, sailing on a boat all on his own anddeclaring that “by his rough calculations, he had to be at leastseven million miles from where he left off.” Eggers also creates aricher plot by filling in some of the gaps of the film, such as thewhereabouts of Max’s dad. However, by introducing “grown-up”ideas, the novel — at times — starts sounding out of character forits young protagonist.

Despite a few serious moments, The Wild Things is an enjoy-able read. Eggers uses the same self-contemplating voice thathe developed in his famous A Heartbreaking Work of StaggeringGenius to bring us into Max’s world — a world full of personalwoes like a parent’s divorce, imaginary troubles like ruling amonster kingdom and angry little boy problems that can besolved by dinnertime.

WHERETHE

WILD THINGS

ARE

FANS OF THE FILM WILL LIKE...THE WILD THINGS

Dave Eggers | B

Karen O and the Kids | ATHE SOUNDTRACKTHE REVIEW

Spike Jonze | A-

low for any parent looking for a nice kids film to watchwith their young ones. Max (Max Records), the rebel-lious 12-year-old protagonist of the film, is the awkwardkid everyone has either known or been at some point intheir life. Themes of isolation and social acceptance runrapidly through Max’s life; he is bordering on adoles-cence and is unwilling to accept the loss of his childhood.

The world of the wild things is a brooding, dark andstrange environment for the lone beasts that Max en-counters. The beast that befriends Max, Carol (JamesGandolfini), carries emotional baggage mirroring theboy’s own. The rest of the characters, voiced by thelikes of Chris Cooper, Forrest Whittaker and CatharineO’ Hara, show to Max that regardless of where he goes,his problems will always follow him. The film looks andfeels like a more mature children’s book and does notloosen on the bizarre and bleak aesthetic that Jonze hascreated in his other films. The movie itself is not in-tended for children and may not deal well with faithfulreaderzs of the book, but needless to say, the movie isan appealing one — a mature fairy tale than even au-thor Maurice Sendak could not have possibly expected.

THE BOOK VS. THE MOVIE

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But for all of Jonze’s hard work, he neglected oneimportant detail: This movie is based on a children’sbook, and it should still appeal to that audience. Thefilm adaptation may have earned a PG rating, but it cer-tainly is not a children’s movie. The monsters ofSendak’s illustrations may have large horns and claws,but they are ultimately harmless. The movie monsters,however, punch through trees, attack each other andnearly kill Max several times. The charm of Sendak’sMax leading a monster parade through the forest is lostin the film as film Max’s kingly fun is constantly inter-rupted by trying to keep all the monsters happy. Worstof all, Jonze’s interpretation turns what should havebeen a young child’s carefree daydream into an isolatedforeign land where real life problems are intensified.

Jonze succeeded in adding realism and turningWhere the Wild Things Are into a movie for all audi-ences. But when a book is loved by readers aroundthe world for inspiring childlike wonder, why breakwith the original formula?

THE GOOD, THE BAThe fashion industry has been known to shock

its devoted fans regularly. But, as odd as a designer’svision may seem at first, we all usually come aroundto worship it. Enter Winkers. No single item in thefashion world has ever horrified me quite as much.Winkers are tackiness in its truest form. Winkers-design.com is a company that specializes in deco-rating pants. You mail in your pants and payanywhere from $149-$269 for either a set of eyesscreen-printed on the back or some other atrocitythat “winks” as you walk. “Your wink is the creasebetween your buttock and the top of your leg,” the

company advertises. There are different styles tochoose from, such as movie clapboards that openand close, ducks that “quack” and a pair of nauseat-ing owl eyes. Only in America could a trend like thisarise and be glorified with comments such as thisone on the company’s Web site, “It’s so hard to picka favorite — they’re all great! What a novel conceptand very well done. Keep up the good work andsense of humor!” If there is anyone out there willingto shell out over $100 to “wink” as they walk by, wewon’t be laughing with them.

— Rosanna Volis

I must be honest, unlike some of the other sec-tions in Inside Beat, music gets it all wrong on aregular basis by producing some of the biggestgarbage albums at least twice a month. While it’sbased strictly on opinion, I would like to point myfinger at some of the biggest of fenders. So far,2009 has produced some mediocre and, at times,over-hyped releases that not only have failed tosell exceptionally well, but failed to be worth asecond listen before chucking them to the near-est discount music store.

First, there was the less-than-stellar return ofGreen Day, who regardless of promising to forgepass the themes of 2004’s American Idiot, saunteredinto its abysmal, overblown and downright boorishcounterpart 21st Century Breakdown in May. Speak-ing of boorish returns, while I hate to rag on a manwho has brought nothing but great music out of theGarden State, Bruce Springsteen’s latest effort,Working on a Dream, was a nightmare. Overpro-duced at times with imagery about love and dreamsand whatnot, the album was just flat-out insulting to

someone brought up on a heavy dose of Born toRun and The River.

OK, so just to sway away from the mainstream,let’s discuss a myriad of junk released on the less-than-eager public. Don’t forget the Disney Companyand their constant pursuit to deafen us with acts likeDemi Lavato and the Jonas Brothers. What about theemergence of the music genre known as crunk core,delightfully and overly hyped by junk bands like Bro-ken Cyde and The Millionaires? And what aboutWhitney Houston? I think I should leave it at that.

— Jason Stives

UGLY

Sometimes our love ofknowing everything aboutcelebrities goes a bit too far. Asif tabloid magazines and gossipblogs aren’t enough, nowcelebrities (and desperateghostwriters) have been churn-ing out biographies left andright trying to make a quickbuck and market themselves.Even better, writers seize uponthe opportunity to compose bi-ographies for recently de-ceased stars becausesomehow their deathshave made their livesworth writing about.

But the sad truth is thatmost readers are willing topay up to read the life sto-ries of the rich and fa-mous. Sarah Palin’smemoir, Going Rogue, isalready topping preordercharts. Of course, not all celeb biographies areterrible. Kathy Griffin’s Official Book Club Selection and Sen.Edward Kennedy’s True Compass have received rave reviews. Most of thetime, though, you’re better off just watching E! True Hollywood Story.

— Nidhi Saraiya

WINKERS

SHAMEFUL TO THE EARS

WE EXPECTED

MORE

STAYTUNED

BANKING ON BIOS

Not all entertainment

is created equal.

Late night talk shows are in a golden era. Fans oftopical monologues, comical sketches and offbeatcelebrity interviews have almost too much good-ness to pick from. Conan O’Brien and David Let-terman, two of the most brilliant comedy innovatorsof all time, face off head-to-head at 11:30 p.m., fol-lowed respectively by Jimmy Fallon and Craig Fer-guson, both of whom are drastically underrated.

And yet, with all the incredible comedy beingbeamed into our homes, millions of Americans insiston settling. “No, don’t challenge our minds,” theyshout. “Don’t present us with anything original. Wewant the same jokes we’ve heard before, just withmore current names inserted into them. We wantwacky headlines!”

Those people are Jay Leno fans, and from coastto coast (but mostly in between) they chuckle athis non-offensive humor, Parade magazine-caliberinterviews and enormous face. They give him as-tounding ratings, ratings that earn him an un-precedented 10 p.m. slot for hisgrandparent-pleasing shenanigans.

Leno has worked hard to find a niche, and he’s dis-covered it in the dull-as-dishwater mass TV viewingpublic, people who’d rather watch another Law &Order spin-off than The Wire. Leno is the EverybodyLoves Raymond to Conan and Letterman’s ArrestedDevelopment — and sadly, he crushes them appro-priately in the ratings.

—Tom Wright-Piersanti

Considering my love of all things absurdly hilarious,picking the single worst movie was not an easy choice tomake. Once a movie surpasses a certain level of sheermediocrity, it becomes fun — not for the caliber of its craft,but for the joy of watching how bad it gets. However, ifyou’re looking for something really terrible, there are theclassics: Plan 9 from Outer Space, Hercules against theMoon Men, and Manos: Hands of Fate are a few. There arethe up-and-comers like The Room and Transformers. Mypersonal favorite, though, is probably the neon-tinted 2005romp Domino. Tony Scott schizophrenically jumps aroundfrom a DMV employee’s (Mo’Nique) attempts to get onJerry Springer to explain her definitions of mixed race peo-ple like “blacktinos” and “chinegros,” to an unlikely bounty

hunter team composed of a shrill Keira Knightley,smarmy Mickey Rourke, and the mostly silent EdgarRamirez, to the coked-out television producer ChristopherWalken. Meanwhile, Brian Austin Green and Ian Zieringplay themselves, Lucy Liu is a hardass FBI agent, and TomWaits shows up briefly as some kind of desert-wanderingprophet. It’s terrible. And yet … it’s so bombastic and ob-noxious that it’s hard not to be won over by how much funeveryone seems to be having, even if the underlying mes-sage does seem to be that times are sacrifices must bemade. All of these films — Domino included — are un-doubtedly so bad they’re good and then probably badagain, but that doesn’t make them any less watchable.

— Emily Schachtman

Unwatchable, unbearableand unwearable,

here are the editors’ picks for the worst

of the worst.

AD AND THE UGLY

BADGOODLAUGHS VS. LAUGHABLE

SO BADIT’S GOOD

THE DOMINO EFFECT

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN(LEFT) AND KEIRAKNIGHTLEY (RIGHT)STAR IN DOMINO.

Broadway has been home to the greatest and most respectedshows of all time. But starting in February, Peter Parker may changethat as previews for Spider-man Turn Off the Dark begin. The show,which has been in the works for several years, claims it will "hurtle theaudience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected."I don't claim to be a theatre expert, but I am pretty sure Spider-manon Broadway is just as tacky as Wal-Mart on fifth. Spidey does have apotentially interesting soundtrack though — that is, if you feel like lis-tening to Bono's rendition of "Spider-man...Spider-man!" The super-star singer of U2 has already produced the music and lyrics for thewall crawler to belt out as he swings from set to set — a set that iscosting production millions of dollars to create. In fact, the total costfor this spectacle is close to $40 million, thanks to director Julie Tay-mor, whose claim to fame is bringing The Lion King to Broadway in1997. Although Simba did just fine on stage, chances are the man-turned-spider won’t fair as well. As of now, the cast only includes EvanRachel Wood (Mary Jane) and Alan Cumming (Green Goblin)— Spi-der-man has yet to be cast. The good news is if all goes well, it willonly take about 8,000 years to break even!

—Michael Malvasio

STARRING... SPIDER-MAN?

POTENTIALFAIL

propagated most by the editors of high fashiontomes. Tapered trousers in exaggeratedmenswear proportions were particularly pop-ular, especially when worn high-waisted witha belt or with a strong-shouldered blazer asseen on a stylist captured by Elle.

Another necessary staple for this season isthe crisp white oxford shirt, as proven byDree Hemingway’s stark pairing with skinnyblack leather pants and Kate Lanphear’s but-toned-to-the-top men’s shirt. Each paired the

blouse with a sharp blazer:Hemingway with a tuxedojacket and Lanphear with a tent-cut herringbone coat. The fa-vorite shoe choice for this lookwas a pair of towering blackheels — either minimalistpumps or powerful booties.

The ubiquitous nature ofleather on the fall/winter 2009-2010 runways clued us in earlythat tough would be in this win-ter. Show-goers did not fail topick up on the trend, as theyturned up in the front row aswell as backstage in leatherpants colored gray and black,motorcycle jackets, and enor-

mous, towering black platforms. The leatherwas matched most often with other blackpieces — mini dresses of black chiffon andoversized, slouchy knit tops. Model EditaVilkeviciute donned an eye-catching alterna-tive to the all-black ensembles with her ciga-rette-leg gray leather pants topped with a lilacloose-knit sweater. Emmanuelle Alt, fashioneditor of Vogue Paris, was striking in an an-gular white blazer with her T-shirt and blackleather skinnies combo. Heavy metal jewelry,studded bags and shoes werean essential touch to thislook, as done by modelsNatasha Poly and Sasha Pivo-varova, who carried chain-strap handbags and donned atangled silver chain-and-beadnecklace, respectively.

The true heavy-hitters offashion, including those whoare just as likely to be seen atthe couture shows in addi-tion to the ready-to-wear, fa-vored a ladylike, embellishedstyle. Giovanna Battaglia ofL’Uomo Vogue did it best ina nude lace top with a layeredpleated skirt outside the

tents in Bryant Park. The extravagance of thelace mixed with Battaglia’s leather pleatedhandbag and rhinestone encrusted sandalsepitomizes the opulence of this style. Theneutral color palette and Battaglia’s laissez-faire hairstyle balance the ensemble. EmmaWatson proved that a showier use of embel-lishment does not have to appear garish ortacky. She wore a mini dress studded all overwith small gold metal clusters outside theBurberry show, pairing it with nothing but

super-tall black platforms andswept-up hair.

Being college students, it isdoubtful we have the resourcesto dress as flawlessly as thesewomen who have made styletheir living. However, lookingat their ensembles, you cantake away the concept of howthese stylistas have made thetrend their own and which sta-ples are worth investing in thisseason. We may not always getthe looks on the runway, butthe industry insiders and theirfashion choices give us ideasthat we can easily use for inspi-ration this season.

October 22, 2009Fashion • Film • TVPage 6 • Inside Beat

BY AMANDA LITCHKOWSKISTAFF WRITER

There is one hit reality televisionshow that breaks the mold of large-chested dimwits fighting for a burnt-out celebrity’s love: Project Runway.

Originally one of Bravo’s tal-ent-oriented reality competitions,Project Runway gives amateur andprofessional designers a changeto show their collections atBryant Park during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Eliminated one by one througha hodgepodge of challenges thatmake viewers wonder what exper-imental drugs the show’s produc-ers are taking, the designerssketch, sew and often cry theirway through the world of fashion.

Runway, in its sixth season, hasundergone some slight alterationssince last year. Delayed due to athree-month lawsuit, Runway isnow part of Lifetime’s program-ming. The Bluefly.com accessorywall has now changed to that ofMacy’s, the L’Oreal hair studio toGarnier, and the grand prize of afashion spread in Elle magazine to

Since the first episode there have been a handful of designers who standout. Runway is currently at episode 10, with seven contestants left, and Iproject that the top two will be:

Carol Hannah WhitfieldA pint-size

peppy 24-year-oldfrom Charleston,S.C., Carol Han-nah is a freelancedesigner whotaught herselfhow to design and sew. Her expe-rience lies in wedding dresses, buther color choices, originality andflawless garments have placed herin the top designers twice and kepther out of the bottom to date.

Irina ShabayevaTruthfully, I’d

rather Altheamake it to BryantPark, because sheis the sole contest-ant who has man-aged to makethree-piece garments for numerouschallenges, but Irina has become thejudges’ favorite, with two wins andtwo top placements. Irina does havetalent and her functional, patternedpieces often steal the spotlight.

Project RunwayNew Channel, Same Attitude

BY ERIN SWEENEYSTAFF WRITER

The past month’s whirlwind of spring col-lections for 2010 in New York, London, Paris,and Milan presented us with countless trendsand themes to look forward to once warmweather arrives again. Of course, we still facethe styles of winter 2009-2010 in order to dressfor the coming months of cooler weather. Thelong month of shows did give us inspiration fordressing before next spring inthe form of the parade of showattendees — from editors tostylists to models — and theirfabulous interpretations of thecurrent season’s trends.

The best street-style pho-tographers and bloggers cap-tured the fashion elite deckedout in their most newly ac-quired ensembles. Three dif-ferent looks emerged as thefavorite styles of this season:tailored dressing, tough-girlchic and embellished glam-our. The highly structured at-titude of the tailored, moremasculine-inspired look was

Street Style: Wearing the Trends

from love blooming after an unex-pected one-night stand to the lovebetween a father and daughter.

The film is comprised of severaldifferent stories that find a way toconnect with each other. One in-stance is of a smooth, quick-talkingwriter (Ethan Hawke, Dead Poet’sSociety) trying to pick up a woman;she later bumps into a man (ChrisCooper, The Bourne Identity), whois working through marital issueswith his wife (Robin Wright Penn,Forrest Gump). These types of in-terlocking stories create a sense ofunity between the characters, butalso give viewers the sense thatthere is love happening all aroundthe Big Apple.

In another story, Hollywoodicons Cloris Leachman (High Anx-iety) and Eli Wallach (The Holiday)give touching performances as anelderly couple hobbling their way

BY EMILY SCHACHTMANFILM EDITOR

If trying to describe filmmakerGreg Kerr’s chimerical first work,Unremembered moves in the samecircles as films like Memento andMulholland Drive. It presents an in-tricate look at the blurred line be-tween dreams and reality along withthe devastating effects of being quiteliterally a man without a past. Unre-membered is screening at the NewJersey Film Festival this weekend,so Kerr answered a few questionsabout his science fiction adventure.

Inside Beat: What inspiredthis story?Greg Kerr: I have a deep interestin science and science fiction. Inthe realm of science fiction, I pre-fer high concept stories as op-posed to pulp — I’m a 2001: ASpace Odyssey fan as opposed to aStar Wars fan. There is a place forlow concept science fiction, but itisn’t in my personal video library!

But honestly, I can point to a pre-cise moment that inspired this story.

BY ELENA LOBELLOSTAFF WRITER

Where to find true love? It’s aquestion asked by almost every-one at some point, and accordingto New York, I Love You, the an-swer is New York City. New York, ILove You, based upon the film of asimilar idea called Paris Je T’Aime,was first released at the TorontoFilm Festival in 2008 and is nowopen in limited release.

Directed by more than 10 dif-ferent directors, includingShekhar Kapur (The Four Feath-ers, Elizabeth: The Golden Age),Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala,Vanity Fair), Brett Ratner (RushHour) and Natalie Portman, andstarring a countless number ofbig-name actors, the film touchesupon all kinds of love. It exploreseverything related to the emotion,

New York,I Love You

Natalie Portman, BretRatner & others | A

Greg Kerr: A Man ‘Unremembered’

across town to celebrate their 63rdwedding anniversary at Coney Is-land. All of the feelings sparkedfrom their first date through thedecades they have spent togetherare recollected, and the impres-sion left from the life these peoplehave shared is awe-inspiring.

That sweet story is juxtaposedwith a comedic tale of two youngpeople getting to know each otheremotionally — and physically — ata young man’s prom, where he isset up on a date with his local phar-macists’ daughter. The young manis played by Anton Yelchin (CharlieBartlett, Star Trek), the pharmacistis played by James Caan (Elf, TheGodfather Trilogy), and his promis-cuous/aspiring actress daughter isplayed by Olivia Thirlby (Juno).

Other big-name actors includeBradley Cooper (The Hangover),Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Na-talie Portman (V for Vendetta) andmany others that bring their ownunique style to New York and itslove affairs.

New York, I Love You giveseveryone hope that even in thebig city, love can be found aroundany corner. There are someheartbreaking stories and someuplifting ones, but none that leavea viewer without the feeling thatsomewhere in life is their ownpersonal love story.

one in Marie Claire (thanks tojudge Nina Garcia’s career change).

Despite the corporate sponsor-ship changes, Runway still deliversa reality program of substance tocreativity-starved audiences na-tionwide. Fashionistas, trendiesand queer peers flock to witnesspoor judgments in taste (a hexa-gon-patched silver hoodeddress?), fabric nightmares andTim Gunn’s signature wisdom:“Make it work.”

This season’s designers seem tobe safely coasting on acceptability,compared to former seasons’ high-energy contestants’ unique piecesthat blurred the line between outra-geous and stylishly advanced.

It appears that Runway has al-lowed its entry requirements tobecome a bit lax, but the programcontinues to provide viewers withan inside glimpse into the high-tension world of fashion where de-signers make garments out ofnewspaper and Heidi Klum dis-misses you from competition withan “Auf wiedersehen.” It may bedramatized, but it’s the closest wecan get.

I had just returned from a trip visit-ing a friend in Vietnam in January2002. I picked up some flu bug on theplane home, so I was exhausted andhad a high fever. That first nightback, I had a really unusual dreamthat revolved around the conse-quences of a person who has no past,but whose past history grows in re-verse — from the present backward.

IB: Two main female charac-ters in the film are Callie andPenelope. Do you see TheOdyssey as an influence onyour story?GK: The Odyssey was a huge in-fluence on this story. Unremem-bered doesn’t follow the plot ofThe Odyssey, but it is thematicallyconnected to it. Like Odysseus,John is attempting to return hometo his wife Penelope, but he’strapped, not on a physical island,but an island in time.

IB: There does seem to be a lotof physics involved in thestory. Do you have a back-ground in physics?

GK: In my youth, I had planned to bea scientist and started college inphysics, chemistry and biologyclasses. I did quite a bit of personalphysics research online and inbooks to support the script. Unre-membered is an homage to thedreams I had as a youth — or maybeit’s just the scientist in me assertingitself on my creative subconscious!

Much of the research moved mebeyond science into philosophy is-sues and Jungian concepts aboutdreams, which I used to bridge thegap in the film when it wasn’t possi-ble to explain it all through science.

My feeling is even though thereis a lot of physics discussion, it’s fairlysimplified in the movie compared tohow complex it can really get. Forthe non-physicists who appreciatetangible scientific complexity, Unre-membered has much to offer.

Unremembered is being screened at7 p.m. by the New Jersey Film Festi-val at Scott Hall 123 on the CollegeAvenue campus on Oct. 25 and Oct.30. For more information, visit theWeb site at www.njfilmfest.com.

October 22, 2009 Film • Music Inside Beat • Page 7

BY AMY ROWESTAFF WRITER

The FlamingLips stray awayfrom the struc-

tured concepts of their previousreleases with their eighth album,Embryonic. Although the albumhas an astrological theme to it, ob-served from song titles “AquariusSabotage,” “Gemini Syringes”and “Scorpio Sword,” it playsaround with a larger concept:good versus evil. However, thistheme gets lost along the way ofthis 18-track-long odyssey.

The album opener, “Convincedof the Hex,” is quite listenable —especially its groovy, waveringbass line. However, most of Em-bryonic’s songs are really long jamsessions with repetitive riffs andindustrial drum beats.

There are some enlighteningmoments on the album, as seenwith the whimsical “Evil.” The

BY MARC

MANCESTAFF WRITER

Forget andNot Slow Down

are the exact words to describeRelient K’s latest appropriately-named album. It was as if RelientK suddenly grew up, leaving nohint of the poppy and quirky gui-tar riffs over tongue-in-cheek —often cheesy — pop culture-filledlyrics they have been known for intheir previous releases. Instead,they got a little serious. Metaphor-ically speaking, after 10 years ofplaying fun, catchy music, they es-sentially are forgetting the oldways, while not slowing down themusic at all.

And that is boldly put forth inthe opening and title track of thealbum. Hit play, and off the batdrums and guitar blare out, andlead singer Matt Thiessen sings,“How many times can I pushaside/is it time I befriend all theghosts of all the things that hauntme most.” A lyric like that will sig-nal a long-time Relient K fan with

BY PETER

SPERLAZZOSTAFF WRITER

In the late’90s, Built to

Spill was arguably one of themost famous and influentialindie rock bands. Their uniquestyle inspired countless bands,such as Modest Mouse andDeath Cab for Cutie.

Today, Built to Spill is stillgoing strong. With the release ofThere is No Enemy, the band’ssixth studio album, Built to Spillhas proved once again that theyare a band that can stand the testof time.

BY TARA L. YOUNGSTAFF WRITER

When people try to do impressionsof Marlon Brando, they usually havethree go-to quotes: “I’m gonna makehim an offer he can’t refuse” from TheGodfather, “STELLA!” from A StreetcarNamed Desire and “I coulda been a con-tender” from 1954’s On the Waterfront.

Brando almost didn’t take the role ofTerry Malloy because of his personaldislike of Elia Kazan, the film’s director.Kazan had just testified at Sen. JosephMcCarthy’s hearings, outing Holly-wood stars as Communists and gettingthem blacklisted, which ended some po-tentially promising careers. The mate-rial for the screenplay, written by BuddSchulberg, came from a series of ex-posé articles written by Malcolm John-son about the corruption of the NewJersey waterfront and the daily dangerfaced by the dock workers.

The movie opens with the murder ofJoey Doyle. His body is hurled off of anapartment building rooftop in New YorkCity. The sound of Joey’s scream beforehis body hits the pavement draws theresidents’ attention to what has just hap-pened. The most outspoken about find-ing justice are Joey’s distraught sister,Edie (Eva Marie Saint, North by North-west) and the local priest, Father Barry(Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named De-sire). All of the other “witnesses” aremostly apathetic dock workers whoview Joey’s death for what it is — a mes-sage to stay silent, to not testify against

Embryonic | C+

Relient KForget and Not Slow Down | B-

Builtto

SpillThere Is No Enemy | A-

Wa

terfron

t

On The

The Flaming LipsCOURTESY OF LAST.FM

COURTESY OF LAST.FM

COURTESY OF ALMOVIEPHOTO.COM

There is No Enemy is ver yreminiscent of the band’s olderwork, and contains many of theelements that made Built toSpill such a tremendous force inthe music industr y. There isplenty of the band’s trademarkheavy guitar rif fs and indie jam-ming here, as well as some newelements such as horns andvocal harmonies. FrontmanDoug Martsch’s lyrics areever y bit as aggressive andangst-ridden as they have al-ways been, and the album dealswith some pretty complex is-sues. In “Pat,” for example,Martsch laments a deceasedfriend, and in “Oh Yeah,”Martsch sings some truly

soulful lines that are per fectly accompanied by squealing guitars.

Perhaps the only fault withThere is No Enemy is that it is sim-ply nothing entirely new. Thealbum is somewhat of a musicalanachronism — the low-fi, grunge-inspired feel of There is No Enemyseems as if it would be a perfect fitin the late ’90s, but appears some-what antiquated when comparedto today’s music.

Still, it is a great album andstands as one of Built to Spill’sfinest works in recent memory. Fora rock music fan looking for analbum that is raw, emotional and in-tense, there is no better place tolook than There is No Enemy.

a message saying, “Did they justsay something deep?” But itserves as a clear statement thatin this new album they are trudg-ing into new waters.

The lyrics are the most emo-tional and personal they haveever done, and not the clichéboy-loves-girl they are best at.Thiessen takes his words andfleshes them out with such heartwhile he sings lines like, “I don’tneed a soul/without you/ I’m stillwhole/you and life remain beauti-ful.” Musically, it is the most cre-ative they have done. With notaste of palm-muted powerchords, at times they sound likea full-out rock band, and othertimes they sound like a smoothand soothing indie band. Thealbum rarely slows down — ex-cept for the intro and endingtracks, where it acts like a mo-ment to really take the previoussongs to heart.

Surely it’s a change to get ac-customed to, but with each listen,it will sink in more. One thing isfor sure: Relient K’s progressioninto this type of music has been asuccessful leap of faith.

tune employs symphonic soundsof the pipe organ and front manWayne Coyne’s vulnerable vocalsto communicate a regretful croonabout changing the past. The tran-sition from this track to “AquariusSabotage” is displeasing. The sab-otage begins with a strange clutterof noises, juxtaposed by a gentlecooling-off with strings and a bit ofhardly-audible dialogue.

Embryonic does contain theLips’ quirky charm. “If” presentsus with Coyne clearing his throatand singing “People are evil it’strue, but on the other side/they canbe gentle too, they decide,” in a high-pitched voice. This childish andcutesy track reveals an underlyingconcept early on in the album.

Embryonic is definitely an im-provement from the Lips’ lastalbum, At War with the Mystics.The album is a product of theband’s always changing sound,and it certainly takes listeners on astrange trip.

the “union” leader Johnny Friendly (LeeJ. Cobb, The Exorcist).

Later that evening, Father Barrypreaches to his congregation about whythey should testify against Friendly inorder to better their work conditions. Hefigures if everyone sticks together, themob cannot “eliminate” all of the work-ers at once, and progress could finally bemade for the dock workers. In the backof the meeting is Terry Malloy (Brando),detached from his working brethren be-cause he holds a comfy position on thedocks, thanks to his brother Charley’s(Rod Steiger, Dr. Zhivago) spot asFriendly’s right hand man.

Terry used to be a prize fighter. Heended his career when he took a divebecause his brother told him to, andhe has been working on the docksever since, doing favors for Friendly’screw. Terry is not intelligent enoughto be a schemer, nor eloquent enoughto express his love for Edie, who hestarts to romance. Terry relies mainlyon his survival instinct, second only tohis blind devotion to his brother. He isthe anti-hero.

When he discovers someone close tohim has betrayed him, Terry’s stoicshell begins to crumble. Enter the fa-mous quote above, although it’s thepoignant follow-up line to: “I couldabeen somebody, instead of a bum,which is what I am,” which is trulyheartbreaking. It is after this revelationthat Terry becomes the protagonist in amore traditional sense. He stands up forall the repressed workers and decidesto testify against Friendly.

On the Water front won eight Os-cars, including Best Actor (Brando),Best Supporting Actress (Saint), BestDirector (Kazan), Best Writing, Storyand Screenplay (Schulberg) and BestPicture. This movie will not disappointand is fully engaging from the mo-ment the first frame hits the screenuntil the very end.

October 22, 2009TheaterPage 8 • Inside Beat

Wherever You Are George Street Playhouse | C

BY NATALIA TAMZOKESTAFF WRITER

Theater legend Arthur Laurents is atit again. Well, not quite.

Best known for his work on musicalsGypsy and West Side Story, the 92-year-oldTony Award winner brings his newestcreation, Come Back, Come Back, Wher-ever You Are, to the George Street Play-house. Though Laurents has shownmastery in some of his earlier works, hisnewest drama is, unfortunately, not a di-amond in the rough.

Come Back, Come Back, Wherever YouAre is the story of Sara, a young womanwho, coping with the loss of her husbandPaolo, is able to take back her life bysinging. With the plot focusing on her re-lationship with her in-laws and the all-too-cosmic encounter with a new suitor, the

Her style is emotional yet cold, and herlines are delivered meticulously and withmeaning. John Carter (Richard) andLeslie Lyles (Michelle) genuinely exhibitthe complexities of their struggle to copewith the death of their son and brother, re-spectively. Jim Bracchitta (Dougal) playsSara’s new love interest with vibrancy.

A disappointing comparison to therest of the cast, Alison Fraser (Sara)never seems to suit the lead role. She isconsistently affected and quirky, makingher character unrealistic. As the onlysinger in the show and with two Tonynominations under her belt (The SecretGarden and Romance/Romance), onewould assume that her singing should beat least somewhat decent. However, hervoice cracks and screeches as she sings“Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” and “TheBest Things in Life are Free.” One wouldhope this is just a character choice but, ifso, a disappointing one at that. Also,Fraser sets up a carefree, air-headed per-

sona for her character that eliminates anydepth the lead character might possess.

Probably the most disheartening partabout the show is the script. Between thedetached characterization and the lack ofa strong conflict, the show drags. While itdoes pick up at intervals, the show isshort of a hook to keep the interest alive.Furthermore, Come Back, Come Back,Wherever You Are runs 90 minutes with-out an intermission, making it even moredraining for the audience. Between theexcessive expositions, unfitting use ofprofanity and superficial writing, the castseems to carry this show on their backs,burdened by its incoherency.

While the show has potential to bemeaningful and heartfelt, it must first ad-dress the audience’s need for a moreeventful storyline. The characters arecoping — but so what? Come Back, ComeBack, Wherever You Are needs to rethinkits approach and relay a story that cancapture an audience more effectively.Co

me B

ack,

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Feeling like a

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action never seems to rise or fall and be-comes a stagnant story grazing thethemes of love and loss.

Despite the mishaps, many elementsare masterfully employed. The staging ofthis show is simple yet effective. By mak-ing use of a revolving stage, the transitionsbetween scenes are fluid and well-paced.A central theme in the show appears to bethe use of the color blue, which is notablyreflected textually and visually. Addition-ally, the music is sentimental, jazzy andperformed with precision by ChristopherHowatt (music director/pianist) andDanny Stone (bass).

The actors are, for the most part, ex-cellent. Shirley Knight, whose long careeras an esteemed actress is reflectedthrough her multiple Tony, Emmy andAcademy Award wins and nominations,shines as Sara’s mother-in-law Marion.