Marcu 22, 2005

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

CD Review: New Wave Makes a Comeback

Movie Review: Be Cool

Directed by F. Gary Gray Starring John Travolta, Danny DeVito, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Christina Milian, Steve Tyler

Tim Wakelin

A&E Editor

There was a time when movies would cast a star line-up because the script was of some kind of brilliance and required only the best to make it shine, or at least the plot had some sort of potential. Well I am not sure that we still live in those times but I am sure of one thing, Be Cool has fallen short of providing the experience that the movie’s cast is quite able to deliver. Be Cool is a sequel to the 1995 comedy Get Shorty, which starred John Travolta, just as this sequel does.

Travolta returns as the suave and cunning Chilli Palmer, a movie director from Hollywood, California. Early off in the movie however, we see that Travolta has changed his direction from the first film and has taken an interest in the music business. This is of course where the audience gets the first taste of the plot to come, and I won’t try to make this glamorous folks. Travolta comes upon a female music prodigy (played by the up and coming hip hop diva Christina Millian) who he aids in getting a record label, and whose success he fights for throughout the rest of the movie...seem simple? That’s because it is. The owner of the record label that Millian gets signed to is played by Uma Thurman, but do not think that

the reunion of Travolta and Thurman will yield some kind of Pulp Fiction feel, because, believe me, it does not even darken the doorway. As this scandalous plot thickens, we are taken into the seemingly corrupt underworld of California’s movie and music scene. Hete «. We: get introduced to Vince Vaughn, who plays the part of a twisted record label co- owner who thinks he is black, not your typical idea ofa character sketch for a Vaughn character, nonetheless he plays the part quite convincingly. “The Rock” plays Vaughn’s sidekick, and assumes the role of a gay bodyguard who is struggling to make it big in Hollywood. As Travolta’s character assumes the part of saving the day and winning over Thurman’s character, we become familiar with even more twisted record label owners, one of whom is played by Cedric the Entertainer. Andre 3000 from Outkast makes an appearance as one of Cedric’s mobsters, and have to say I was half-impressed with his acting. Of course there are other quick cameos by the likes of Steve Tyler, Seth Green, and Danny Devito, but these quick-in/quick-out placements of famous singers and actors did nothing

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THE CADRE ¢ 10

with The Killers Mark Cameron Contributor The Killers are 80’s New Wave bands’ a quartet who formed in like The Smiths, New

2002 in Las Vegas. Consisting of vocalist/ keyboardist Brandon Flowers, guitarist David Keuning, bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, they had a hit early last summer with the infectious rock/dance tune, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and their CD ‘Hot Fuss’ followed shortly afterwards. I had been meaning to pick up ‘Hot Fuss’ for a long time, but I was hesitant; there is always the fear that a non-established band with a new CD could only release one good song while the rest of their music would not live up to expectations. But, the band proved that theory wrong when they recently released their follow-up single, ‘Mr. Brightside,’ a song about a relationship gone bad, which has the same appeal as ‘Somebody Told Me.’ 2 for 2 boys. Not bad. How does the rest of the album hold up? Pretty well, actually.

With influences spanning the likes of —

Order and The Cure, The Killer’s sound is retro, but it does not sound dated. Each song is full of synthesizers, but guitarist David Keuning lays down enough guitar tracks to keep things interesting. Standout tracks include the murder tale ‘Jenny was a Friend of Mine,’ ‘All These Things I’ve Done,’ ‘Midnight Show’ ‘On Top’ and their wicked new single, ‘Smile Like You Mean it.’ The only weak song here is the last one on the CD, the melodramatic ‘Everything Will Be Alright,’ where Flower’s vocals are so layered he sounds like Cher. (But, if you like that kind of thing, go nuts!) Is ‘Hot Fuss’ all killer, no filler? Not quite, but it is a fun record, which is a wortha spin in your MP3 player, CD player, 8-track, ghetto-blaster, or whatever you crazy kids are using to listen to music these days!

Tim Wakelin — A&E Editor

Usually I would open with a line implying that the movie I am reviewing has fallen somewhat short of the potential it oozed upon my first sight of its preview. Well I decided to save it until the end this time, opening the doors to the notion that you, the reader may form your own opinion about the film from my description, where after I will offer mine. That being said, I have but one name to mention... Bruce Willis. Of course everyone will have some

Movie Review: Hostage

opinion, good or bad about Willis as an actor, but for those of you who enjoy his films, you may be slightly disappointed about the conclusion I will arrive at following my description of this film. The film is of course Hostage, which was released in theatres March 11th.

At first I struggled not to view the film as another Die Hard, upon reaching the five minute mark, Willis

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