New Songs,New Begininings

INSIDEBEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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FEIST • RAGE • PAPER CROWN • MUTEMATH • THE IDES OF MARCH • WANDA SYKES

Music Worth

Living For

New Songs,New Begininings

October 13, 2011Page 2 • Inside Beat

EDITOR’S RANT

Maggie Blaha, Spence Blazak,Christine Chunn, Josh Kelly,

Saskia Kusnecov, Alex Holland,Gianna Moscatello, Jason Pearl,

Divya Patibandla

FREDDIE MORGAN............................................................................TV EDITOR

EMILY GABRIELE.......................................................................MUSIC EDITOR

HEATHER TEDESCO................................................................THEATER EDITOR

ZOË SZATHMARY....................................................................FASHION EDITOR

JILLIAN PASON..........................................................................COPY EDITOR

KEITH FREEMAN.........................................................................PHOTO EDITOR

ALEX NATANZON............................................................................FILM EDITOR

DIANA CHOLANKERIL...............................................................ONLINE EDITOR

RYAN SURUJNATH...........................................................VIDEO GAMES EDITOR

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

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CONTRIBUTORS TO

INSIDE BEAT :

ZOË SZATHMARY....................................................EDITOR

RYAN SURUJNATH.....................................................ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ASHLEY PARK...................................................ASSISTANT EDITOR

Cover Photo Courtesy of livedesignonline.com

A Trip Down Memory LaneFREDDIE MORGAN

TV EDITOR

I have been struggling withthis column particularly be-cause I do not listen to Jack’sMannequin. Quite frankly,there’s not really much to say.They’re pretty popular and per-form sold-out shows regularly.Each member of the band hasan impressive musical back-ground. The lead singer, An-

drew McMahon, has fought(and won) a grueling battleagainst leukemia. That’s prettymuch the extent of my knowl-edge of the band.

I did, however, listen to Some-thing Corporate, McMahon’sproject prior to Jack’s Mannequin.I love listening to them when I’mfeeling rather nostalgic about myadolescence. They remind me offeeling angsty and misunder-stood, popsicle-stained mouthsunder a hot summer’s sun, booth

hopping at Warped Tour andsneaking out after my parentswent to sleep. Sometimes I’ll lis-ten to The Get Up Kids, Dash-board Confessional, and AlkalineTrio on repeat and think back tomy rough prepubescent years.

They say the music you lis-ten to in college is the musicyou’ll gravitate towards for therest of your life. On the onehand, it’s comforting to knowthat I’ve developed a certainkind of taste, especially be-

cause I subjectively believethat my taste is “good.” How-ever, it saddens me to thinkthat I’ll never be interested indiscovering new music. Mydownloads have dwindled andI’m no longer keeping tabs onall the newest Indie bands. Myparents still listen to Jimi Hen-drix, Miles Davis, and Mo-town, and the only albumsfrom the 80s they own areSting’s. Is this going to be me?Will my children think

OFWGKTA and The BlackKeys are “old?”

What’s most upsetting to me,though, is that I won’t turn onWashed Out or Mayer Hawthorneand think fondly of my collegeyears. I won’t turn on “Like a G6”and remember pregaming withcheap flavored liquor. Because ac-cording to what “they” say, I’ll stillbe listening to it all in twenty, forty,or even eighty years from now.And that’s the longest relationshipI’ll ever be in – with my music.

October 13, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 3

FASHION

Lauren Conrad’s“Paper Crown”

T O U R D E C H I C

BY MAGGIE BLAHASTAFF WRITER

Bicycles are becoming popularaccessories. Many women seem tohave fantasies about riding an old-fashioned bicycle with a wickerbasket to carry books, flowers andgroceries through the city of Paris.And in most European cities, the bi-cycle is the chosen mode of trans-portation, even though publictransportation systems are excel-lent. Men and women can be seenriding through the streets on solid-colored bicycles with wide tires andwicker baskets, ringing little bellsto warn pedestrians to bear left.

Riding a bike isn’t just a leisureactivity or rigorous workout, but formany people, especially women, it

BY DIVYA PATIBANDLASTAFF WRITER

Lauren Conrad takes the crown … the “paper crown,” thatis. The style icon and former star of The Hills is branding herromantic and effortless Californian style with the release ofher new clothing line, Paper Crown. Inspired by the papercrowns Conrad played dress up with as a child, the collectionis a rich mixture of soft pinks, black leather, cinched waists andflouncy florals. The garments themselves are pricey and quitesimple, but it’s still worth it to pick up a key piece or two of“LC” flair to incorporate into your wardrobe.

Must-Have Pieces

1) Camilla Sweater: For those days when all you wantto do is cozy up with a good read and sip tea, there’s no betterway than with this warm keepsake. A soft-blend that emulatesa sweater right out of Conrad’s closet, the look is comfy butstill put together. Pair with leggings and your favorite pair ofriding boots for a study session at the library.

2) Serena Legging (in black): Leather leggings mayseem like a no-no to some, but when done the right way, suchas with the Serena legging, edginess can be easily attained.Rock them out with your favorite pair of heels for a lookstraight off the runway.

3) Ascher Silk Shorts: Every outfit needs a focal point.In this case, the Ascher silk shorts are the main attraction.With a high-waist and ribbon tie, these shorts scream sophis-tication. Dress for work with a loose fitting top, or dress for anight out with black opaque tights.

4) Ryder Blazer (in camel): Every girl needs a greatfitted blazer. Look no further with this Ryder blazer incamel. It’s a perfect way to add working-girl charm to youroverall ensemble.

BY CHRISTINE CHUNNSTAFF WRITER

While feather extensions arecurrently in, there’s no reasonwhy only your hair should get allthe attention. Why not your wriststoo? To spice up your fall outfits,adorn your wrists with a featherbracelet or two. Autumn’s all aboutwarm colors and gold is perfect forcomplementing a red cardigan, amustard tunic, or a beige trenchcoat. If gold isn’t your thing,bronze works just as well. Featherbracelets or cuffs will not onlyperk up your outfit, but also giveyou that earthy element as leaves

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has become a way to commutefrom place to place. In certainneighborhoods of New York City(particularly hipster ones likeWilliamsburg, Brooklyn), retro bi-cycles have become really popular.Women can be seen riding them inbillowy skirts, sandals, boots andskinny jeans — a bike is akin to acute handbag. It can add a roman-tic element to an outfit and allows awoman to pedal to work with thewind in her hair and her skirt blow-ing lightly.

These large, old-fashioned bicy-cles are designed for commuting, sobike commuters don’t have to worryabout looking like they just took athree-hour long cycling class by thetime they get to work. The handle-bars are up higher than on a regular

sports bike, so a person doesn’t haveto hunch over, the seats are cush-ioned and there are even fendersand chain guards to protect clothingfrom splashing puddles. Bike shopseven sell accessories for riders todecorate their bikes. Riders can buystylish helmets that look like eques-trian hats, and wicker baskets thatcan accommodate books, pets andpicnic lunches.

U.S. bicycle companies havemodeled their bikes on Europeanmodels from France, Holland andDenmark. They are heavy andmany are only single-speed, whichmakes for a slow trip. But maybethat’s the point: taking your timegetting from point A to point B soyou can really see a city. It soundsso European.

strip off their green screens for ared and orange look before theyflutter to the ground. Feather ac-cessories are simple yet elegantand perfect for casual wear orgoing out. So remember, don’t justlet your hair hog all the featherygoodness, your wrists need somelove too.

2pcs bronze plated nickle free featherbracelet/cuff $6

(esty.com/shop/SupplyMall) Get two bracelets for under $10

— that’s a real deal. They’re chicand will flatter any outfit. Feelingcasual? Couple this bracelet withan off-shoulder shirt and your fa-

vorite pair of jeans. Feeling girly?Slip into a flower-print dress or aruffled top.

Alto-feather Fun Cuff $19.99(modcloth.com)

This golden feather cuff ismore expensive than the others,but suitable to those looking forsomething bold but not gaudy.Great for vintage tees or a classyblack dress.

Bangle Bracelet Feather & OrangeBead Charms $7

(etsy.com/shop/miguez) Perfect for those who just want

a little bit of adornment.

HOUSE M.D.

October 13, 2011Page 4 • Inside Beat

TV & THEATER

BY RYAN SURUJNATHASSOCIATE EDITOR

For the eighth time, Hugh Lau-rie reprises his role as the misan-thropic medical genius, Dr.Gregory House. With Lisa Edel-stein having been written off theshow and Olivia Wilde expected tofollow suit, many expect this seasonof House to be the last. Despite anew setting, the season premiere ofHouse fails to wholly impress.

After driving a car through hisex-girlfriend’s home and subse-quently fleeing the country, Housenow finds himself in prison. Theepisode, entitled “Twenty Vicodin,”begins with House having alreadyserved several months of his sen-tence. The prison’s parole board of-fers him the chance to be released infive days with one minor stipulation:he must remain out of trouble for therest of the week. This is a tall orderfor House under normal circum-stances, but now the disabled doctormust contend with lockdowns,homemade shanks and violent of-fenders. House’s problems stemfrom a faction of Neo-Nazis, who de-mand that he pay an exit tax in theform of the titular 20 Vicodin pills.While House tries to stay alive overthe next few days, a medical mysterypresents itself in the form of an in-mate (Sebastian Sozzi, Law andOrder) who displays signs of lupus.

Over the years, House has falleninto a predictable cycle, with everyepisode seemingly adopting thesame formulaic approach. For in

FOX, Mondays at 9 p.m. | C

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BY HEATHER TEDESCOTHEATRE EDITOR

Some of you may remember acover article that we did twoweeks ago entitled “Who SaysWomen Aren’t Funny?” In thatarticle we talked to Vinnie Brandabout his take on women in com-edy. This week we had the honorof getting to talk with one ofBrand’s favorite comedians,Wanda Sykes.

Inside Beat: What is yourbackground and how did you fallinto comedy?

Wanda Sykes: My back-ground is far from comedy. Mydad was a retired colonel and mymom worked for credit union.We loved comedy and welaughed a lot. I went to collegeand worked for the government,we grew up in the DC area andthat’s pretty much what you do inDC worked for the government.I was so bored and I felt like asquare peg in a circle hole. Oneday I was cleaning up my roomand saw in my yearbook and peo-ple had wrote to me saying that Iwas funny and that I should beon stage.

IB: How did you get started?WS: I started in the clubs in

the DC-Baltimore area and juststayed in the area until I hadenough of an act to make a littlemoney and travel on the week-ends and then I was ready tomake the move and I moved toWoodbridge, New Jersey, to be

COMEDY ISN’T PRETTY: WANDA SYKES SPEAKS

many ways, this episode begs com-parison to the season six premiere,in which House endured a stint indrug rehab. Whereas the rehabepisode created a unique portrait ofa House who was trying to pick upthe pieces in his life, “Twenty Vi-codin” uses the same tired plot de-vices as any regular episode, albeitwith a new coat of paint. There evenappears to a new doctor (OdetteAnnable, Brothers and Sisters) whoadopts the role of the kind, humani-tarian female who inexplicably caresfor House. As usual, the episode’smedical mystery follows the sameprocedure: the initial diagnosis fol-lowed by strange symptoms that dis-prove that diagnosis, a psychologicalprofiling of House’s patient and col-leagues, a life-threatening, morallyquestionable procedure, a suddeninspiration, and finally, a definitive di-agnosis that no one else can reach.

Laurie maintains his standard ofhigh-quality acting, but it’s House’scharacter that is beginning to growstale. Perhaps he will undergogreater development when he in-evitably returns to a now Cuddy-lessPrinceton-Plainsboro, but as of nowit seems that House has notchanged at all. Though one wouldthink that time in prison would instillHouse with some sense of humility,he insists on being a jerk to theprison’s medical staff, his fellow in-mates and even the parole board.

With “20 Vicodin,” the writ-ers took what could have been anew theme and dropped theproverbial soap.

closer to New York. I tried tobreak into the club scene andthen from there you know youhave an agent and he would bookme in colleges and that’s kind ofwhere everything started. Thebig break for me was when I wasworking for Chris Rock to writefor his show and then to writeand then actually perform andedit and produce and all of thatstuff. That‘s where it took up forme and I did 5 seasons on hisshow and that was a big momentfor me

IB: What is your take onwomen in comedy?

WS: There are not a lot ofwomen in comedy and it is mosttypically and still considered aman’s game, but you know it’shard. Female comics kind ofhave to downplay their girly sidebecause comedy isn’t pretty. Itbugs me when people say thatwomen aren’t funny, because Iknow a lot of guys who aren’tfunny and I think if you look athow many comics are actuallyfunny you’ll see that there’s aneven proportion between menand women and I think it’s peo-ple being lazy if they approach itwith that attitude, and it’s usuallypeople who haven‘t seen femalecomedians... so I think it’sbulls*** basically. Men seem tothink and it’s easier for them be-cause you get on stage and if aguy gets up on stage the audi-ence doesn’t have a lot of pre-conceived notions, but whenfemale gets on stage she’s al-

ready five steps behind but funnyis funny!

IB: One of the things that youare known for is the way that you in-corporated “coming out” and deal-ing with breast cancer into your set.Can you tell us about that?

WS: When you’re on stageyou just kind of grow as a come-dian. At first I had all of thesethings that I wouldn’t talk aboutbecause I just wasn’t comfort-able. Once I got to the pointwhere I was like “I don’t care” itwas easier to talk about what’sreal...because when I didn’t itwould put up a wall between meand the audience and then Icouldn’t be as funny as I wouldhave been. So it is just so liber-ating to talk about me and what’sreal so I have a hard time hidingthings. Being straightforward isjust easier for me. I think it’sharder really to not talk aboutsomething personal, especially ifyou have something funny aboutit or if it’s on your mind, it’s kindof hard to keep it to yourself. Idon’t do things to be self ab-sorbed, but like the breast can-cer; I was debating should I talkabout it? And I did because I canmake light about it because that’show I look at life. I hope that Ican help somebody to getchecked or to show someonethat I got the double mastectomyand a month later I was on stage.And then with coming out and somany people have come up to meabout themselves or a familymember. It’s meant a lot to me.

IB: So then do you agree withthe people who call you a rolemodel?

WS: “Role model” kind ofmakes me uncomfortable, but Iget it, it comes with the territory.I don’t know, I guess that overallit’s easier being nice. I know I‘mloud and I have a big mouth andI say what’s on my mind and usu-ally when I say something it’scalling people out on hypocrisy.Overall, my philosophy is to treatpeople with respect and try not tobe mean to people.

IB: What is your favoritemedium to work in?

WS: My favorite thing isstandup, to write material and togo on stage and perform it. Myfavorite moment is to come upwith a great joke right on stage,when you stumble into some-thing that’s really funny, that’s myfavorite moment. Stand up is thehardest thing out of everythingmovies, TV, everything, but it’sthe thing I enjoy the most; it’s themost powerful. It’s just you onstage with a mic in front of thou-sands of people and you’re mak-ing them laugh. That’ll makeyour nipples hard, it’s a rush, youhave the power, you control themood in the room it’s great.

IB: Tell us about this showand this tour.

WS: It’s funny, because mystand up has always kind of beena snapshot of what is going on inmy world; and it’s funny becausethey kind of evolve. At first thebig hour I did was pretty political

and then I did Sick and Tired andthat was very political and thenIm’a Be Me and that was morepersonal because that was aboutcoming out and getting marriedand having kids; and now my kidsare two and a half and it’s justfunny how it’s changed — myview and how it’s taken over mylife. I used to be on top of newsand know what was going on andnow every morning for mechecking the news is looking upto see “Is Obama still president?Okay, good” and then I go on inmy day. My friends will say “Didyou see so-and-so?” and I say noand it’s so funny how out of theloop I am, so that’s pretty muchwhat my show is now, family andgetting over breast cancer.

IB: What is your advice for as-piring comics?

WS: Write and just get onstage as much as possible at thecoffee house or something andalways take advantage of oppor-tunities. The more comfortableyou are on stage the audiencefeels it and also it will help withyour performance and your writ-ing because you’ll feel more com-fortable with trying new things.It’s always changing, there’s nocomics who have started onstage and kept the style...it de-pends on the material.

Sykes is currently touring andwill be coming to the State Theatrein New Brunswick Friday, Octo-ber 14, 2011 at 8pm. Ticketsrange from $35 to $85.

GAME OVER

October 13, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 5

VIDEO GAMES

BY JASON PEARLSTAFF WRITER

There are few places in theworld where it’s culturally accept-able to brandish a plastic handgunand pretend to kill everything thatmoves. In fact, arcades are proba-bly the only place you could do sowithout becoming an expert ondifferent varieties of straitjackets.Unfortunately, the numbers of ar-cades and arcade games havebeen in steep decline with the ad-vent of more powerful home con-soles, leaving fans of genres likelight gun shooters with fewer andfewer options.

For the past two console gen-erations, video game store shelveshave been inundated with sportsgames and first-person shooters.The monotony may be broken upwith the occasional RPG or action

BY RYAN SURUJNATHASSOCIATE EDITOR

With its newest title, Rage, de-veloper id Software decided topublish the game exclusivelythrough Bethesda. This is worthmentioning because in some ways,Rage bears similarities toBethesda’s Fallout series. Bothfeature gritty, post-apocalyptic set-tings and both adopt a distinctiveblack humor that pokes fun at theend of civilization. However, Rageis not a carbon copy of Fallout; itis a unique title that features solidFPS action.

Rage does very little in the wayof narrative. The player is amonga band of survivors of a 2029 as-

id Software | B

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RAGEteroid impact who have beencryogenically preserved under-ground so they may repopulatethe Earth. The player’s characterawakens from this sleep to findthat the rest of the people whowere part of this project havedied. With no other option, theplayer ventures to the surface,where he is met by a bleak land-scape. As he ventures about thewasteland, the player is con-fronted by a faction known as TheAuthority, which seeks to find himfor his knowledge of the cryogen-ics program. Unfortunately,Rage’s main narrative is too weakand characters are too forgettableto make the player care what hap-pens as the game progresses.

The weak plot is especiallydisappointing considering howmuch effort went into making thegame look and sound as artisticand believable as possible. Thevoice acting is rather strong anddialogue is well written. Graphi-cally, Rage is one of the finest-looking titles to date, bothartistically and technically. Ragemanages to make the apocalypselook breathtakingly beautifulwith its dusty landscapes, rockyplateaus and ravaged scenery. Fa-cial animations are suburb, aseven the most subtle of move-ments are registered by thegame’s engine, yet in spite of allthis, the game runs smoothly onthe PlayStation 3. PC gamers

should be aware, however, thatthere have been a myriad of prob-lems associated with out-of-dategraphics drivers; pop-in anddrops in frame rate can reach cat-aclysmic proportions if these arenot properly updated.

Rage’s gameplay is primarilycentered on FPS sequences bro-ken up by driving portions. Thegame features a very average se-lection of guns, ranging from pis-tols and assault rifles to rocketlaunchers. There is, however, adistinct emphasis on weapon cus-tomization, as players gain accessto an arsenal of specialized ammu-nition types, such as mind control-ling crossbow bolts. Shootingsequences are always fun, due in

part to the realistic physics; ene-mies react to every bullet andblunt weapon impact. NPCs play-ers encounter in Rage are ratherintelligent. Enemies take coverand move around to actively keepthemselves alive and seem tostrike an interesting balance be-tween aggressiveness and self-preservation. Driving sequencesplay out similarly to those in Mo-torStorm or Twisted Metal, andserves as nice distraction fromshooting sections.

Its horrid plot aside, Rage is awell-crafted FPS. Stellar graphicsand solid mechanics make itworth picking up for console own-ers, though PC gamers may wantto wait for a few patches.

adventure game, but arcade sta-ples like light gun games, beat ’emups, and shoot ’em ups have beenleft by the wayside. While few ar-cade games manage to get portedover to home systems, they’reoften bare-bones packages with nonew functionality. Outside of majorfranchises like Metal Slug or TimeCrisis, most classic series haven’tseen a new entry in years.

While it’s not likely that therewill be any sort of resurgence of ar-cade popularity, Xbox Live Arcadeand Playstation Network have pro-vided a venue for new games madein the arcade vein. Modern releaseslike The Behemoth’s side-scrollingCastle Crashers and the indie multi-directional shooter I Made a Gamewith Zombies in It! proved to be crit-ical and commercial successes,showing that it may not be gameover for arcade games just yet.

So tell me about People and Things, what is different about this album from your previous two?

Like anything, the approach was a lot different than what I was used to. For all the Jack’srecords I’ve built the songs around the piano and the vocals. With this one we kind of wentback to band practice. With Something Corporate, we worked the songs up in a similar fashion,but I was at such a different point in my life back then.

I felt the need to get back to some of the things that maybe I have neglected a little bit in mypast, especially what I didn’t talk about during The Glass Passenger. A lot of our [Jack’s Man-nequin’s] late night conversations are about things with more depth and longevity. You know,we’re all in our late 20s moving in and settling down, so yeah, that definitely has brought onsome differences in our music.

How has working with Sire/Warner Brother Records been for you? Why the switch from theMaverick record group to Sire – what’s different between the two?

To be honest, it’s pretty different due to the effect of the evolving record business. It’s hard tomake records in a major label world, there’s no question about it. I’m lucky that I work at arecord company where they respect an artist’s creativity. But it can be frustrating from time totime. At the core of the system, they support rock bands.

What are your expectations for this album, Jack’s first album peaked at 37 on the charts, TheGlass Passenger peaked at eight on the charts, what about People and Things? What does thisalbum possess that’s going to make it hit No. 1 or at least break through into the top 5 on thecharts?

If I’ve learned anything about this business, it’s that attaching any expectation to anything youdo is a mistake. You do it because you love it and hope that other people love it too. I try andclose my eyes to what the industry is doing and make songs. The most power that you have inthis business is a good song. That being said, if it went top 10, I’d be totally happy.

What songs on this album are most personal to you?

To be truthful they all come from a pretty personal place. “Platforms” talks most holisticallyto my life and where I’m at right now — if you want to get inside my head that’s the song tolisten to.

When you say, “I’m running short on inspiration” in your single “My Racing Thoughts,” do youever look back in retrospect and wonder ‘What was I thinking?’

I live my life from inspiration to inspiration, and when I get a lull in that I get really down. It is areal regular part of my world to have those moments. Those moments scare me. It’s the insecu-rity of a lot of artists; when’s the next thing coming IF it’s going to come. I’m about as humanas they come — what I put out there from day to day is often the best of me.

If you could give a sentence of advice to anyone who is struggling in his or her life whatwould it be?

It gets better. I don’t know what else to say, but it does. It’s always easy to think that your worstmoment will linger on, but it won’t.

2010

2006Mahon founds the “Dear Jack, a NPO that raises funds forarch. Jack’s Mannequin’s sin-d Tape”, hit number one onSpot Top 20 Countdown.

05agnosed with acute lym-leukemia.

ses its first album, Every-McMahon receives a stem-

sister, Kate McMahon.

Sept. 30th, 2008Jack’s Mannequinreleases its sopho-more, conceptualalbum, The Glass

Passenger.

Oct. 4th, 2011 – People and Things, Jack’sMannequin’s third album is released.

Nov. 3rd, 2009Dear Jack, a docu-mentary that chroni-

cles McMahon’sbattle against

leukemia, is released.

WE SAID, HE SAID

October 13, 2011Page 8• Inside Beat

FILM

BY SPENCE BLAZAKSTAFF WRITER

The Ides of March just mighthave the best cast of any movie inrecent memory, and this is why ithurts a little more that it doesn’tlive up to its talent factor. Its good,but it just isn’t as good as it couldhave been.

The movie follows GovernorMike Morris’s (George Clooney,Burn after Reading) campaign forthe Democratic Party’s presiden-tial bid. It has all come down tothe state of Ohio. The main char-acter is Stephen Myers (RyanGosling, Drive), the charming,second in command on the Morriscampaign who has the power tomake every female intern within a2-mile radius melt whenever hepouts his lips.

Stephen is a valuable piece inthe game of the primary for bothsides with the head manager ofMorris’s campaign, Paul (PhillipSeymour Hoffman, Capote), try-ing as hard as he can to hold ontohim, while the rival campaignmanager (Paul Giamatti, The Il-lusionist), is trying to use mentalhead games to win Stephen overto his side.

Cover ups ensue, politics cor-rupt the incorruptible, and darkglances are shot at enemies andfriends alike. The Ides of March’sgreatest triumph lies in the per-formances of its cast. Presidentialcandidates pitch the same plat-forms every four years, but forsome reason, people keep comingback and getting enchanted allover again. Clooney recognizesthis and plays such a good candi-date that the audience is practi-cally handing him a blank checkfor a campaign contribution afterthe first debate.

BY ALEX NATANZONFILM EDITOR

Dream House starts off as a cap-tivating movie with enough intrigueand suspense to properly scare thepants off of viewers, but slowly andsurely morphs into a predictable,head-smackingly clichéd picture.With poor screenwriting and littleemotional investment in centralcharacters, Dream House ends upbeing the confused love child of TheShining and Shutter Island.

Daniel Craig (Casino Royale)plays Will Atenton, an editor work-ing for a publishing company in

Dream HouseJim Sheridan | C-

THE IDES OF MARCHGeorge Clooney| B

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New York. Will quits his job andmoves to the suburbs with his wifeLibby (Rachel Weisz, The ConstantGardener) and his two youngdaughters in order to spend moretime with his family and work onhis novel. Things turn awkward asstrange noises, hostile neighborsand shadowy figures outside thehouse plague the family. Will soonlearns that the Wards — the familythat lived in the house before —were murdered and the accusedfather was the only one who sur-vived. After some snoopingaround for clues, Will comes to thepsychiatric institute where the

husband, Peter, was being held,and learns the horrible truth —that he himself is Peter Ward. Forthe past week he has been living inthe rundown house, interactingwith apparitions of his dead wifeand daughters. With the aid of hissympathetic neighbor Ann (NaomiWatts, Eastern Promises) Petermust discover the truth about hispast and find his family’s murder,even if it is himself.

Dream House actually pos-sesses the formula for a captivat-ing thriller — but the moviecrawls along so slowly that plottakes a turn for the worse when

the audience is forced to dealwith the new sub-plot of Peter’sstruggle for sanity and the truth.While twists in films can be quitesatisfying, this one is just point-less — any experienced filmgoercan see this change-up comingfrom a mile away.

There is not enough emo-tional investment in the charac-ters, either, especially in NaomiWatt’s persona. The audiencenever really cares about whathappens to them. The real disap-pointment is the fact that thereis nothing really scary about themovie; if the plot fails to capture

emotion, then at least throw theaudience a bone and have thedecency to scare them silly. Theonly commendable aspect of thisconfused and scattered pictureis a fine performance by DanielCraig, who excels at playingboth the composed Will and theemotionally damaged Peter. Itseems that Dream House had thepotential to be a decent thrillerbecause all the pieces werethere. But perhaps during thescreenwriting stage of produc-tion, a rogue writer came in mid-script and decided to muckeverything up.

Hoffman and Giamatti are twoof the best actors in Hollywoodtoday, and they lose themselves intheir performances, making youwish they had even more screentime. Hoffman gives a one-twopunch to the world of cinema thatbegan with his tough-as-nails per-formance in Moneyball. MarissaTomei also appears as a New YorkTimes reporter who brilliantly cap-tures the cut throat, self-helpingnature that a hard news reporterneeds to survive in the modernjournalistic world.

As for Gosling, he has begun toshape a career that is looking verysimilar to Leonardo DiCaprio’s.Ever since The Notebook, Goslinghas slowly been building up morecredibility for his actual actingchops rather than just his goodlooks. Along with Drive and CrazyStupid Love, Gosling has had anexcellent year with three captivat-ing performances, and his workhere makes this writer curiouswhat else he has up his sleeve.

The movie is also the latestentry into the “Clooney-noir”genre, where George Clooneyputs his hand into every aspectof the movie. While it is re-spectable to love one’s work thatmuch, the directing comes off asa little bit “blah” and the script’swittiness just winds up falling flata lot of the time.

All in all, The Ides of March isgood, but it is just missing some-thing. The underlying theme ap-pears to be not much more thanhow politics can change a personseemingly made of unbendablemetal, as well as the horribleprice of getting ahead in theworld. Think of it as a Thanks-giving turkey. It looks great, butthe stuffing is little more thanmixed nuts.

PHOTOS COURTESY ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

October 13, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 9

FILM

BY SASKIA KUSNECOVSTAFF WRITER

“Life isn’t like in the movies,”Alfredo says to Salvatore as theysit by the scenic Italian waterfront,“Life … life is much harder.”

Giusppe Tornatore’s 1988film Cinema Paradiso is a cine-matic masterpiece about grow-ing up, falling in love and thedif ference between being suc-cessful and being happy. Thefilm at large is a flashback of Sal-vatore Di Vita’s life as pint-sized,teenaged “Toto” in post-WWIIGiancaldo, Italy. The flashbackis triggered by the news that oldSalvatore’s childhood father fig-ure Alfredo (Philippe Noiret)has died.

Toto (Salvatore Cascio)spends his childhood hangingaround Alfredo’s projectionbooth at the “Cinema Paradiso”and buying movie tickets withhis family’s milk money. Hegrows up in a small, very reli-gious and politically-chargedItalian town where movies arecensored and Stalin jokes arenever a sore subject. Toto isseen as a pest until he has tostep up to the projector at thenew Cinema Paradiso when theold theater burns down. The fireleaves Alfredo blind but still par-adoxically able to guide youngToto as he grows up and is ex-posed to the harsh realities oflove, life and loss.

In addition to crafting a beau-tiful story, Tornatore is sure topaint an accurate picture of thispost-war Italian village and soci-ety at large. It is largely male-dominated; the women rarelyappear outside except as silentor nagging wives and mothers.Large mobs of lower-class citi-zens, hungry for entertainment,populate the streets outside thetheater. In the early days of theCinema Paradiso, the town’sMinister screens the movies be-fore they are shown to cut outrisqué lip locking. By the timeToto takes over the film projec-tor, this practice is gone and wesee the transition of the theaterfrom a boy’s club to a belovedescape for women, men andchildren alike.

The film sets the stage for thepoignant Hollywood momentswith montages of cinematic lovescenes as well as the kiss thattakes place between Toto andhis beau in the rain. His ro-mance with this unattainablebanker’s daughter, Elena (Ag-nese Nano), characterizes theuniversal desire to find true loveand solace in the ease of childishpassions. From the moment hefirst captures her on film to herepic declaration, “I’ll meet you atParadiso,” their love is as idealand out of reach as those ro-mances Toto streams from hisprojection booth.

Cinema Paradiso is a truly bril-liant film with universal themesand relatable messages. It alsoposes questions that every col-lege student probably pondersfrom time to time. For example:What is the difference really be-tween doing what you love andloving what you do? Is home stillhome, or are there really “onlyghosts” there now that you’vesomehow fostered a home awayfrom home? And what’s the pointof coming down from the cloudsor out of the cinema if what you’recoming down to is uncertain?

CLASSIC FILM: Cinema ParadisoCOURTESY OF NETFLIX.COM

October 13, 2011Page 10• Inside Beat

MUSIC

BY DIVYA PATIBANDASTAFF WRITER

Fashion is often music’s part-ner in crime. Inside Beat takes alook at some of the hottest cloth-ing brands that bands wear and en-dorse while rocking out on stage.

Glamour Kills — A front-run-ner in the pop-punk music scene,Glamour Kills Clothing was firstintroduced to the masses at theBamboozle Music Festival inSpring of 2005. Founder MarkCapicotto founded the companythat same year, creating colorfuland eye-catching designs. Themerchandise sold consists ofitems such as T-shirts, tanks,cardigans, denim, skate gear andvarious other accessories. Thecompany’s logo, a pig with wings,is often spotted on the merchan-dise itself. Glamour Kills hascome a long way with endorse-ments of bands such as All TimeLow, Cobra Starship and HeyMonday. Whether you’re lookingfor a slouchy crop-top or a plainlogo tee, Glamour Kills caters toall music lovers alike.

Jac Vanek — Known for herrubber bracelets seen on thewrists of many concert-goers, JacVanek has gone from OceanCounty-native to music culture

BY GIANNA MOSCATELLOSTAFF WRITER

T h eNew Or-leans-basedalt rockb a n dMutemathr e l e a s e dsomething

truly special with its third full-length album, Odd Soul. Whilediehard fans of their first or sec-ond albums may not be in aurallyfamiliar territory, Mutemath’snew musical direction will proveto be undeniably infectious if lis-tened to with unbiased ears andan open mind.

The musical approach on OddSoul is truly original. It sounds asif the band members took a timemachine back into the 1970s, im-mersed themselves within theblues rock sound and then wrotethis album with their own signa-ture 21st century spin on it.

The album starts out with thetitle track “Odd Soul,” which is afunky, sonic bombardment fromstart to finish. The song is filled

Mutemath Mutemath

I’M WITH THE

Odd Soul | A-

BRAND

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COURTESY OF KILLBRAND.COM

COURTESY OF AOL.COM

with Paul Meany’s distinctive lyricsand vocals and his raspy melodiessoar above the chaotic instrumen-tation grooving below him. Whilemuch of the album continues inthis fashion, each song is distinc-tive, featuring unique melodies andsurprising instrumental twists.More laid back and contemplative-sounding songs such as “All orNothing” and “In No Time” arereminiscent of their earlier works,and they are interspersed through-out the album perfectly.

The heart of the Odd Soul liesin Meany’s vocal communicationand interplay between the bluesyguitar and bass rif fs as well asthroughout Darren King’s ingen-iously executed drumming. Al-though the band’s sound drawsimmediate comparisons betweena vast array of classic rockgroups, Mutemath never comesoff as a copycat band. The albumsounds more like a modern hom-age to the great rockers of thepast than it does a simple tributeto them. At the end of the day,Mutemath has crafted a com-pletely refreshing approach onthe modern-day rock sound.

phenomenon. Inspired by a con-cert that she attended at the age of15, Vanek started out her businesssmall with one bracelet that read,“Ruthless.” Demand for her prod-ucts has grown substantially sincethen, allowing Vanek to designmany other bracelets featuringsome band collaborations. Vanekalso sells T-shirts, tanks, sweatersand accessories. As said by Vanekherself, all of the designs andproducts, “have a reasoning andinspiration behind them, fueled byemotion, desire and drive.”

Kill Brand — Created by JonnySmith, former musician of theband Tokyo Rose, Kill Brand hastaken the punk scene by storm.While on tour, Jonny spray-painted“K-I-L-L” across his shirt, and itwas an instant success. Since then,the shirts have been screen-printed with the signature logo.Since leaving Tokyo Rose, Jonnyhas continued to promote hisbrand at various music festivals.While a lot of the garments featurethe signature “Kill” logo, others in-corporate already existing brandname designs of other companiesand recreate them in a new way.Kill Brand offers everything frompopping comic book-like designsfor men, to girly floral and tribalprints for women.

October 13, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 11

MUSIC

Local Corner: Unbearable Slackers

BY SASKIA KUSNECOVSTAFF WRITER

In the ’ 90s, a small-scale inde-pendent band named Dispatchmiraculously made it into themainstream with a chart-toppingsong entitled, “The General” —most commonly known to peopleas the take-a-shower-shine-your-shoes song. The music scene’snewest solo indie-rock artist,Chadwick Stokes, wrote thecatchy tune. After dropping out of

Artist of the Week: Chadwick Stokes

BY ALEX HOLLANDSTAFF WRITER

Ska has always been a populartype of music in the Garden State.From local upstarts The Waf-flestompers to scene veteranssuch as Catch-22 and StreetlightManifesto, New Jersey is nostranger to the upbeat genre. Con-tinuing in the tradition is a bandfrom the little town of Madison,N.J., — Unbearable Slackers. Thisenergetic group is the epitome ofvibrant music that evokes an en-tertaining time.

While the band has only beenaround for a year, UnbearableSlackers has shared the stage withnoteworthy bands such as Catch-22 and Survey Says and will beopening for one of Ska music’sbiggest acts, Big D and The KidsTable in the near future. “I’m veryexcited to be able to play in frontof Big D. It’s been such a ridefrom where the band started to

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where we are now,” said leadsinger Rob Hammernik. Along-side Hammernik is drummerMark Spelker, guitarist Josh Her-shkovitz, trumpet player SpencerPeles, trombone player, JohnCortelyou, bassist Greg Gecik Jrand saxophonist Christopher“Schetty” Schetelick.

Unbearable Slackers is a bandthat writes what it’s all about. In atime where bands talk politics, theMadison-based band is about en-tertaining audiences to the best ofits ability. “We are a band that wantsto leave our audiences with a posi-tive experience, and we have beenable to do that with every show wedo.” With songs such as “Red CupRevolution,” “Good Ol’ Days” and“Skankin” U.S. energizes audi-ences with their catchy choruses,dance hall beats, and powerfulsong writing abilities. The band iscurrently touring throughout NewJersey and is looking to record anEP sometime soon.

college to play music, he joinedDispatch and founded State Radio.While still affiliated with these po-litically charged indie bands,Stokes has also released two soloalbums, Simmerkane I and Sim-merkane II.

Chadwick Stokes is not only agifted hippie/jam rock musician,but he’s an activist as well. Hefounded the organization, CallingAll Crows, and before everyshow he invites audience mem-bers to engage in community

service. A lot of his own music, aswell as his work in State Radio, isplayed at benefit shows. Addingto his résumé, he was deemed“Humanitarian of the Year” at theBoston Music Awards in 2008,and with the benefit of playingsmall venues, he is able to fosteran intimate and personal rela-tionship with his fans.

A lot of Stokes’ songs are alsooriented around current eventssuch as the shooting of TroyDavis, which he commemorated

with the emotionally infusedsong, “State of Georgia.” The rel-evance of the song’s lyrical con-tent and the catchy acousticchords make Stokes a great listenfor anyone who likes to be en-gaged as well as entertained bythe music that they listen to.

Stokes’ style is a delicate mix-ture of Neutral Milk Hotel andBlur — with a distinctively indie-alternative sound, strong cho-ruses and distinctive chords.While his presence is definitely

noted in Dispatch and StateRadio, nothing compares to thelatest album Simmerkane II,which showcases the talent thathas somehow slipped under theradar. He launched his solo tourfor his album in August and isnow heading around the country,spreading the love for both thecommunity and good music. Thisbushy-haired talent could bebringing his retro jam rock tunesto a venue near you, so keep anear out!

October 13, 2011Page 12• Inside Beat

MUSIC

BY JOSH

KELLYSTAFF WRITER

M u s i -cians areartists thatpaint on a

canvas of silence, and Leslie Feistdoes just that quite beautifully.What was slowly introduced to thepublic via a series of shortYouTube clips, Metals, Feist’sfourth studio album, has arrived. Atthe opening of the album, you getan air of adventure and explorationthat’s reminiscent of early TomPetty. As the album progresses, shecomes into her own with a soundthat can be paralleled to that of Ala-nis Morissette or Fiona Apple.

Feist really makes the crooningfemale style work for herself —she keeps the listener submersedin her world from start to finish.“How Come You Never GoThere,” the first single, isn’t fairly

Feist Metals | A-

indicative of the album’s true na-ture. The song conveys a Feistthat is familiar, but the rest of Met-als doesn’t seem to follow suit.This album is a true product of itsenvironment; it was recorded inthe mountains out west andthroughout the album there is aclear reflection of natural themesreferring to landscape, animalsand to the ways of love.

Her voice can be interpreted asa constant contradiction; itswarmth and resonance is reminis-cent of another time, while she stillmaintains an aura of freshness.Notable tracks on the album in-clude: “Caught A Long Wind,”“Undiscovered First” and “Anti-Pi-oneer.” Metals can be uplifting andcalming; it can create a sense ofaudible nirvana; it can be a sober-ing testament to the ways of ourworld. Feist took great care incrafting what may be consideredher best album to date. This albumis not one to pass up — it’s defi-nitely worth a buy.

INSIDE

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