In the opening scene of "The Fourth Kind," viewers are warned by Milla Jovovich's character, "some of the images you are about to see are extremely disturbing." Unfortunately, they are disturbing for all of the wrong reasons. "The Fourth Kind" is a complete mess of a film: poorly written, poorly acted, poorly shot and, frankly, insulting to the audience.
True to its name, the SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of "Reckless" is just that. Director Scott Edmiston's interpretation is reckless in its spirit, script and style, exemplifying the show's invocation to take risks despite the potential repercussions. The show's morals and life lessons are not purely inspirational. "Reckless" writer Craig Lucas (writer of "Prelude to a Kiss," 1990) created a quirky, tragic and incredibly honest script that culminates in a surprising climax for a Christmas-centered play.
On Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, virtually every news source I visit on a regular basis had a story that was related to fish or shellfish on the front page — and no, they were not just all food blogs. I am officially dubbing this day Front-Page Fish Features Wednesday. (The alliteration would have been perfect if it were a Friday, but humor me.) There were articles about the beginning of the annual scallop harvest on Long Island in The New York Times and a piece about tainted imported Asian catfish from The Houston Chronicle — a source which I don't actually check regularly, but a friend e-mailed me a link to it.
A deft and distinct musician, one-man act Bibio rightly earned his reputation as a genre-dabbler with his Warp Records debut "Ambivalence Avenue" last June. Each track played like a cut from an eclectic mix tape, colorfully mixing Simon and Garfunkel-esque harmonies, wobbly dubstep bass and vintage funk samples. Four months later, Bibio released his latest album, which seems more content with looking back than pushing forward. Although "The Apple and the Tooth" features four new tracks, the remaining eight are remixes of songs from "Ambivalence Avenue."
Throughout history, political groups have used mass-produced publications to spread their messages. While the written word in these publications is important, oftentimes the caricatures and satirical drawings interspersed throughout the text are among their most influential and memorable features.
When The Strokes kicked off the garage rock revival in New York at the turn of the millennium, it seemed like they were on their way to becoming a permanent part of the 21st century's musical canon. Here we are, only eight years later, and although the boys from the Lower East Side have been working in the studio together again, it seems that all five of members of the band have moved in very different musical directions.
I headed to New York this past weekend to escape a dawning sense of ennui prompted by a few too many late, lonely nights slogging through work in the Tisch Reading Room. When I started to hear bottom-floor stacks teasing and taunting me, I knew I had to get out. The obvious cure, I thought, was a 60-hour trip to the country's cultural epicenter: Manhattan.
Remakes of old television shows are all the rage, but only once in a while do the suits behind these productions get it right. The latest remake to hit television is ABC's "V," based on the 1983 science fiction miniseries of the same name about seemingly friendly aliens who invade the major cities of the United States. The aliens, otherwise known as the Visitors (or Vs), spread a message of hope to the jaded earthlings in an attempt to become the saviors of mankind. Bringing science fiction to primetime, this show, with its exciting drama and subtle political messages, maintains the perfect balance between intelligence and entertainment.
"Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew" floats somewhere between exploitative voyeurism and a chance for sick people to get better. Audiences watch with bated breath as celebrities discuss childhood molestation, rape and crippling sex addiction.
Last Thursday, November 12, Tufts Concert Board brought Brother Ali (Ali Newman) and The Cool Kids (Antoine "Mikey Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll) to Tufts University for a performance in the cage at Cousens Gym. Before the show, Nick Gang and Mitchell Geller got a chance to talk with the artists together. Though Ali and the Cool Kids come from different places stylistically, and hold seemingly opposing places in the world of hip-hop, they presented a fascinating picture of where hip-hop comes from, where it is today and where it's heading in the future.
Georges Bizet may not have received many congratulations on his new work when the curtain fell on "Carmen's" premiere at the Opéra-Comique in 1875, but the Boston Lyric Opera deserves many for their fresh and exciting take on one of the most-performed operas in history.
Weezer has come a long way from its days on the indie rock scene of the mid-'90s in L.A. As word leaked out about the chic geek from the underground, Weezer evolved to a national alternative rock poster child. Now, with the release of its seventh album, "Raditude" (2009), the band continues to evolve — into exactly what, fans don't know. And it seems entirely possible that front man Rivers Cuomo doesn't know either.
Can hope and love overcome incredulity and the difficulties of reality? The new film "The Horse Boy" tries to answer this question as it documents a family's journey to Mongolia to find a cure for its mentally challenged son, Rowan.
Alert your friends. Send out a mass text reading "LOL" — Laughs of Love, that is. Cheap Sox Improv Troupe and Major:Undecided Sketch Comedy band together this weekend to lead the second annual Laughs of Love (LOL) Comedy Festival in support of Seeds of Peace, a charity which brings teenagers from troubled regions of the world together to teach leadership and mediation skills.
At first glance, rapper Shwayze seems a lot like every other rapper to recently hit the club scene. The first single from his new album, "Let It Beat," is a pulsating, rhythmic wasteland of auto-tune and dirty lyrics. "Get U Home" features lyrics like "Take me in the bathroom/ Take my clothes off/ Make love to me up against a dirty wall" and paper-thin innuendos about the rapper's "handgun." But it's a mistake to judge the artist Shwayze as a whole or the entirety of his work by this single.
"Sesame Street" recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and The Daily Arts Department was stunned to realize just how old Big Bird, Burt, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Elmo and the rest of the gang are. That got us thinking: What other things have been gathering dust without us realizing it? 10. Rivers Cuomo: Mr. Cuomo (yes, "Mr.") is almost 40 and is far too old to wear tattered sweaters or Buddy Holly glasses. 9. Us: We're in our 20's now. When did that happen? Oh well, at least most of us are old enough to drink. 8. The Matrix: It seems like just yesterday that Neo had to decide to take either the red pill or the blue pill. It's been 10 years, though, and now he's probably deciding between Viagra and joint-pain relievers.
Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," released last summer, started a growing buzz that she would be the fourth woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Achievement in Direction. Jane Campion is garnering similar Oscar talk for her historical romance, "Bright Star" (2009) and Best Actress hopefuls Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep were both featured in female-directed films by Lone Scherfig and Nora Ephron, respectively.
The third time is not necessarily the charm for Jared and Jerusha Hess, co-writers of "Napoleon Dynamite" (2004), "Nacho Libre" (2006) and now "Gentlemen Broncos" (2009). Fans of "Napoleon" in particular will be mildly disappointed with the duo's latest film, which utilizes the same awkward underdog equation that has come to define the Hesses' work, though "Broncos" introduces a few new, pleasant variables.
Jared Hess, co-writer and director of oddball comedies "Napoleon Dynamite" (2004) and "Nacho Libre" (2006), crafts movies of striking originality. His latest film, "Gentlemen Broncos" (2009), is an offbeat story about plagiarism that includes a sci-fi subplot, awkward romances and even more awkward bodily malfunctions. The Daily had a chance to sit down with Hess to hear his thoughts about the film as well as some hilarious behind-the-scene secrets. Question: So your first film, "Napoleon Dynamite," was a completely love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie. But at the "Gentlemen Broncos" screening last night, the audience was in stitches for a good portion of the evening. What do you think made this film so accessible compared to "Napoleon?" Jared Hess: I think a lot of it had to do with the main character. With Napoleon, a lot of people could not relate to him on any level and just thought that he was this obnoxious teenager. But with this film, I think the main character is maybe the most normal character ... and he's surrounded by a lot of really strange personalities and people. I think people could identify with him more and therefore it allowed them to laugh at things a little bit more. Q: Was that accessibility something you considered during your filming, or did it just work out that way? JH: Yeah, you know, we don't really think of it like who we're going to be alienating. When my wife and I are writing, we try to create something that she and I have always wanted to see before on-screen, and you kind of cross your fingers and hope that there are people out there like you. And "Napoleon" shows that there were, which is great. So "Broncos" was the next installment. Q: The film had a lot of gross-out body humor, but I think that the one scene that made the entire audience recoil was when the snake defecated all over Dusty's (Mike White) shoulder — what was that and how did you do that?
