Arts

Arts

Top Ten | Artists Who Should Release Posthumous Material

March 4

On Feb. 24, in collaboration with Boot Camp Clik, (allegedly) deceased rapper Tupac Shakur released "One Nation." Is he actually dead or just hiding out in Mexico, plotting an epic comeback? Anyway, in honor of this (supposedly) posthumous material, we've come up with a list of dead artists we'd like to see release some new stuff. Because if Pac can do it, why can't they? 10. Alfred Hitchcock: We at the Daily Arts Department can't deny that we love movies, but we also have to admit that we've been seeing a lot of crap hitting the silver screen lately. All we ask is that Freddy return and give us another masterfully suspenseful thriller to make us feel better after hearing that the Miley Cyrus concert movie netted $13 million during its opening weekend. 9. Humphrey Bogart: Few men this talented exist in Hollywood today, and that's a pity. Humphrey epitomized the classy actor, and maybe if he were still around, we'd get some thoughtful mysteries or timeless romances. Here's lookin' at you, kid. 8. Elvis: There's something a little less than dignified about dying on the toilet. First off, folks are bound to make jokes about "The King" kicking the bucket on a "porcelain throne." But don't you worry, Elvis, we know that you would've gotten your life together had you survived drug addiction and declining health. Heck, you probably could've brought rockabilly into the ‘80s, and who wouldn't have loved that? 7. ee cummings: lowercase       letters     are so in       style    so is odd spacing and lack            of punctuation 6. Marilyn Monroe: It's sad that someone so beautiful died so tragically. And okay, maybe she wasn't that great of an actress, but she kept gossip magazines interesting — nowadays, they only make women who look like her in the plastic surgery O.R. 5. Shel Silverstein: We admit that his poems are a little weird and creepy for children, but who cares as long as kids are reading? Plus, he encouraged children dying when they don't get what they want ("Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony"), so as long as we're on the receiving end from our parents, he's okay with us. 4. Kurt Vonnegut: As Vonnegut proved, you can't have "slaughter" without "laughter." Maybe if he were still around, we could find more to laugh at in our grim and often too-serious world. So it goes. 3. Mozart: To classical music fans, he is one of the greatest composers ever. And even if you don't know anything about classical music, you've definitely heard of him and can probably identify one or two of his melodies. The fact that his is still a household name shows that he's still got it. Although "it," in this case, could have been rheumatic fever... 2. Jimi Hendrix: Not only did this "Voodoo Child" play a right-handed guitar lefty, he also managed to be one of the greatest rock performers of all time, despite (or perhaps because of) a "Purple Haze" of LSD. If he hadn't choked on his own vomit at the age of 27, which is like postulating "If 6 were 9…" if we're talking hypotheticals, we wouldn't have to "Wait Until Tomorrow" for a "New Rising Sun" of phenomenal rock. 1. Shakespeare: The man who brought us angst-ridden teenagers and a psychotic man out to get revenge for his mother's death has provided so much inspiration for Hollywood. Think about it... "O" (2001), "Ten Things I Hate About You" (1999) and countless others are based on his plays. Wouldn't it be nice to get some new material? Maybe he can write us some sonnets for the gay marriage ceremonies, or another play based on what really happened between him and Sir Francis Bacon...

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Arts

Mikey Goralnik | Paint the Town Brown

March 4

In the past, I've voiced my ruthless contempt for Hugh Grant, who is the single most annoying person in film not named Ben Stiller. However, I'll have it known that close behind him on my Hollywood hit list is John Cusack, who is every bit as sniveling and charmingly, pathetically puppy-like as his British counterpart, but who nonetheless has one redeeming achievement: "High Fidelity" (2000).

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Arts

From the Office of the Tufts Daily

March 4

 Dear Fabolous,     What's a tactful way to say this? Maybe: "Sit the next few plays out, bud?" We caught wind of the 500 pounds of sweet, sweet herb in the locked compartment of your bus, and admittedly, you weren't actually on the bus when the goods were found, but both drivers arrested implicated you. And sure, their stories might be a little hazy, but come on, with all that weed on hand, they could have gotten curious, and who would've noticed the difference? This isn't exactly looking great for... wait a second... 500 pounds?     Are you freaking kidding? By Arts Department calculations (and we promise you, we're good at math, really), that's roughly enough ganja to stay baked for the next 1,000 years. So, Fab, that couldn't have all been for you, now could it? Ugly legal phrases like "felony possession" and "intent to distribute" start to spring to mind, and that's just a serious buzz kill.     Listen, we understand that peer pressure can be tough. After all, many of today's most successful rappers have built their careers around songs about the drug deals of their respective pasts. Just look at 50 Cent, who was dealing at the age of 12, and Jay-Z, who only quit selling the rock when Roc-A-Fella began selling records.     Fabolous, the cops are leaving you alone for now, but what about next time? We think you should keep a low profile for a while, and consider moving down to sub-felony levels of possession. If you can't just say no, you could always come hang out in Massachusetts, where you'll only get a $100 fine as long as you only have under an ounce.     And maybe, you know, if you feel like it, you could drop by Spring Fling. Keep it real, The Daily Arts Department

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Arts

Miss March' stars talk to the Daily about making the move from sketch comedy to film

March 4

                    The Daily recently sat down with Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger of the popular New York City-based sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know (WKUK) to discuss their film, "Miss March," scheduled to release on March 13. The movie's plot centers around Eugene (played by Cregger), who wakes up in a hospital to find that he has been in a 4-year coma since prom night. His sex-crazed best friend Tucker (Moore) reveals that Eugene's virginal girlfriend is now the centerfold for Playboy. The film follows the two on an outrageous road trip to the Playboy Mansion to try to win back Eugene's girlfriend's heart and integrity. In expected WKUK humor, characters such as Horsedick.MPEG, a mega-star rapper, enrich the comedic experience. Lorrayne Shen: What was the biggest jump from sketch comedy to making a feature-length movie? Trevor Moore: The writing process was probably the most different … When you're doing a sketch, sketch is really the perfect medium for comedy because you take a subject, jump in with your best eight or nine jokes and leave. You don't have to segue; you don't have to really care about character development or anything. So, when you're doing a movie, there's this whole different dimension to think about — which is, you know, people are going to spend 90 minutes with these characters, [and] they have to like them. So you have to make sure that these characters have something [where] the audience can empathize with them, that the characters grow throughout the film and that each scene isn't just a tangent to get a laugh out of the audience — that it actually pushes forward the story or it pushes character development in some way. LS: If you were Playboy centerfolds, what would you include in your bio? Zach Cregger: That I made a movie about Playboy and it was really weird. I like pizza. TM: I'm one of the only Playboy centerfolds to be male. LS: Tell me about the dynamic when meeting Hugh [Hefner] and being in the house. TM: It was cool. It was fun. We originally tried to do the movie without Playboy's involvement because when you're dealing with a company as iconic as that, you don't know how serious they will be about protecting their image. We had Robert Wagner playing Hefner, and he did an awesome job, but when we showed it at a test screening, the movie did great until the end when Wagner would come out, and there was just a disconnect with the audience. Hefner is an icon in his own right. ZC: You could hear the whole audience be like, "What?" TM: So we went to Playboy sort of with our tail between our legs, and they showed it to Hefner, and luckily he not only liked the movie but wanted to be in it. And he didn't really have any notes. He only had one question: "I notice you say a girl's ‘busted.' What does that mean?" and we're like, "Oh, it means she's not pretty." And he's like, "And kids will know what that'll mean?" And we're like, "… I think so." And he was like, "Alright, I'm fine with it!" And that was his only note. He was really cool; I mean, we had Sarah Jean Underwood, she was Playmate of the Year 2007, and she toured with us for a week and she was telling us Hef was really nervous about doing the movie and the whole day before was really going through his lines. It's the biggest speaking role he's had in a movie; there's a whole scene in the end that's crucial. It's kind of cool because he's like an 82-year-old guy — doesn't need to do this movie, you know. He's doing fine, financially. He really just did it to help us out. He came and was prepared and was really awesome. LS: How would you guys describe "Miss March?" ZC: It's a dark, disgusting movie that pushes itself as far as it can and disguises itself as a funny road trip movie — at least I hope. TM: [It's] a little different because we kind of actually wanted it to have a point and be about something. The original script that Fox gave us was about these two douche-y frat guys that just wanted to get laid. So we kind of changed them. The idea was that both of them had the same problem: They both put sex on a pedestal. But they have the problem from opposite sides of the spectrum. Eugene is terrified of sex and it's hurting his relationship because he can't take it to the next level. Tucker is obsessed with sex and what he believes is the Playboy image, and he has a girl that is probably perfect for him but he can't accept it because he doesn't think he's lived enough, that he has enough notches on his belt. So it's two opposite views on sex that are rooted in the same problem and those two characters finding a middle ground in the movie. Hopefully, because of that, we can take the jokes farther, a little more gross, a little more extreme, and the movie is not just an excuse to gross people out. Hopefully it grounds a lot of the crazy stuff. LS: Is there a WKUK movie in play? ZC: Yea, definitely. We're finishing a script for a WKUK movie. And that's really the reason that the other guys aren't in this movie. We kind of want to keep that brand sacred, and we didn't want people to think that this was a WKUK movie. Because that will have more of a feel of the show, that it's crazy and anything can happen, whereas this is more grounded in this movie. TM: So if people go see this movie, maybe we can make a WKUK movie. ZC: That should be the tagline. If you want a WKUK movie, you gotta suffer through this one. LS: Does anyone in your group serve as a sounding board, to say, "This can't work?" How does the writing process work? TM: I don't think there's any subject that's too sensitive as long as the spirit is right, as long as it's not malicious. A lot of time we'll talk about a lot of sensitive things, but a lot of times it comes with a sort of child-like wonder, a sort of innocence. And we tried to bring some of that into the movie. An example would be the Tucker character, who probably does the worst stuff of everybody. I mean, he stabs his girlfriend and watches a girl die and doesn't tell anybody. But you still sort of like him because he's oblivious to it all. He's in his 20s but he's still like a kid. The guy who's doing the worst stuff has to be the most innocent character. LS: I have an obscene amount of comedy troupes in my school, like twelve. What advice do you have for getting into the business? TM: Destroy and sabotage the other eleven troupes. There should only be one troupe. ZC: Yeah, we killed people. You have to kill people. And blow people! TM: Machiavelli.

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Arts

Ludacris confirmed to headline Spring Fling

March 4

Rapper Ludacris will headline this year's Spring Fling concert on April 25, Concert Board confirmed yesterday.

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Arts

New MFA exhibit shows cultural tension

March 3

The Japanese art scene in the 1930s, known as the Showa era, was dominated by the rapid modernization and fierce materialism that ripped through Japan. After the fire of Tokyo in 1923, the government took advantage of the destruction to revolutionize the capital. Massive department stores and Western hotels were built, as the Japanese government focused on attracting international tourists for the first time. The fixation on Western capitalistic culture permeated the Showa era art, which reflects a tension between those who embraced the government's ambitious goals and those who opposed it.

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Arts

Posters spark discussion

March 3

Posters that were put up last week over an on-campus mural with messages that many interpreted as deriding the queer community have provoked just what the student who posted them wanted: discussion.

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Arts

Jonas Brothers' 3D new concert film targets (surprise) teen girls

March 3

The "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" is pure pop crap, the kind a 13-year-old girl will love now but will forget in a few years (or months, if she's lucky). It has no lasting quality. Nevertheless, tweens and teens alike are sure to adore getting up-close and personal with the Jonas Brothers through a movie that makes them feel as if they had a front row seat to the Jonas Brothers' 2008 summer concert tour, "Burning Up."

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Arts

U2's latest release harkens back to the glory days but fails to create anything new

March 3

A new U2 release is always a momentous occasion. After five years without anything new from these Irish rockers, "No Line On The Horizon" hit shelves in North America yesterday. A bit of a departure from 2004's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," parts of this new record harken back to U2's '80s roots with soaring vocals, delay pedals and driving rhythms.

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Arts

Joaquin Phoenix chooses between 'Two Lovers'

March 2

To get a real grasp on "Two Lovers," it is imperative that one leaves any preconceived image of Williamsburg hipsters palling around the streets of Brooklyn at the door. The Brooklyn featured in "Two Lovers" is the insular Brighton Beach, where the exciting colors of Coney Island have been replaced by overcast skies and dysfunctional, love-struck New Yorkers with the bleakest of futures.

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Arts

Zach Drucker and Chris Poldoian | Bad Samaritans

March 2

Happiness has a simple formula: go to Ticketmaster.com, rock out at a cool venue and leave with ringing eardrums and good vibrations. Concerts are indelibly etched in our memories. But what if we told you that you could have a similar experience for a tenth of the price? What's the catch? You'll have to wear goofy glasses and risk getting trampled by a horde of teenage girls.

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Arts

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus fails to move forward

March 1

Even for those who have never heard the name "The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus," the band's hit single "Face Down" almost certainly rings a bell. In 2006, on the strength of the aforementioned song from this Florida-based quartet's debut album "Don't You Fake It," The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (RJA) quietly made a splash with emo kids and pop-punkers alike. After extensive touring, the guys have returned with their sophomore effort "Lonely Road" (2009).

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Arts

Bowie fans can reminisce with compilation of seven years' worth of his classic tracks

February 26

Americans can rest easy tonight because "The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987," the Bowie compilation they have undoubtedly been waiting their entire lives for, has finally been released, or actually, re-released. All jokes aside, this is a great album. It's perfect for people low on either cash or Bowie albums from the '80s. The compilation features some of Bowie's best tracks outside of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" (1972). "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" (1980), "Let's Dance" (1983), "Tonight" (1984) and "Never Let Me Down" (1987) are all represented in the 19 songs on the disc, along with a separate DVD featuring music videos and a handful of singles. Don't worry -- "Under Pressure" is included, too.

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Arts

In Cambridge, two artists question individuality and influence

February 26

Artists continually draw on outside sources for inspiration, and their personal experiences always influence their work. Regardless of the results, influences from the world around the artist are impossible to avoid. "Davis, Cherubini, In Contention," the collaboration between sculptors Taylor Davis and Nicole Cherubini at MIT's List Visual Arts Center, takes this theme to new heights. Instead of simply drawing on one set of ideas and inspirations to channel into their work, the two artists work together on each piece so that two different sets of influences are directly infused into each finished product.

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Arts

MFA looks back at filmmaker Godard

February 26

Jean-Luc Godard once said, "All you need for a good movie is a girl and a gun." With his 1965 release "Pierrot le Fou," the audience is given both, wrapped in the same bold and avant-garde package that is quintessentially French New Wave. The film is universally stimulating with its mélange of artistic, historical and literary references, while still fluid enough to be thoroughly comprehensible. This spectacle packs as much punch as an Andy Warhol print, but instead of soup cans and celebrities, "Pierrot" portrays what Godard asserted as "the last romantic couple." The film is part of an ongoing Godard retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA).

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Arts

From the Office of the Tufts Daily

February 25

Dear Jay Leno,

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Arts

Mikey Goralnik | Paint the Town Brown

February 25

I like all kinds of electronic music, but I have simply never been able to enjoy techno, particularly minimal techno. I know it's probably a little uncouth or whatever, but I like raunchy, head-nodding, ruthless music, and techno always seems too dainty for me. It's the sonic equivalent to someone with spiked, frosted tips, too much cologne and $150 jeans: highly stylized, very sophisticated, but kind of cheesy. It's the Scarlett Johansson of electronic music, and I'm a Christina Ricci man; my taste in electronica bears that out.

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Arts

Tufts student bands to compete for spot in ROCKUS Battle of the Bands semifinals

February 25

Tomorrow night, four Tufts student bands — The Gentleman's Bet, FunkSoulLove, Navigator, and The Situation — will compete in a Battle of the Bands at Tommy Doyle's Pub in Harvard Square. The winner will represent Tufts in the final round of the ROCKUS Battle of the Bands on April 14 at Boston's Paradise Rock Club. The competition is sponsored by Veritas Records, a student-run record label at Harvard University, and Rolling Stone Magazine. WMFO broadcasted the preliminary round of the competition live on air this past December and will be running the event at Tommy Doyle's tomorrow night.

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Arts

Venue Profile | Boston concert-goers find something near 'Paradise' in a fun downtown venue

February 25

Paradise. For many, this word elicits an all-too-stereotypical image of palm trees and sandy beaches. But to the music-savvy Bostonian, Paradise is a hip rock club and lounge situated near the Pleasant Street T stop on the Green Line's B train.

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Arts

Top Ten | Couples that should get back together

February 25

 This week it was announced that Andy Richter, Conan O'Brien's former sidekick, will be joining Conan again after a nine-year hiatus. When O'Brien takes over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno later this year, Richter will act as the show's announcer. We couldn't be more excited. This addition to O'Brien's show is off the scale, the Richter scale, if you will, and in light of this announcement, we at the Daily Arts Department present the top ten couples that should reunite. 10. Romeo and Juliet: These crazy kids would be together if they weren't so darn emo. Too bad getting back together is complicated by the whole "suicide" thing. Juliet may have taught the "torches to burn bright," but she and her love were not the brightest torches in the mausoleum. 9. Simon and Garfunkel: Yes, we know that technically you did reunite and give a performance a few years ago, but that isn't what we're talking about here. Everyone knows that you still hate each other's guts, and we want the old Paul and Art back. It's not too late to build a bridge over the troubled water of your animosity. 8. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart: On election night, we got a little taste of the comedic genius when these two powers combined. Bottom line: Stewart comes off as a little too preachy without Colbert, and Colbert comes off as a little too pompous without Stewart. C'mon guys, put your polar-opposite political views aside and reunite. 7. Will and Grace: Sure, they could never get married, but theirs was a relationship for the ages. Will and Grace's hilarious interactions and priceless musings over their mutual inability to maintain a long-term relationship were the stuff of legend. And, lest we forget, without Will and Grace, there's no Karen and Jack. 6. Harry and Cho: Dating your best friend's little sister is a little weird, Harry, not to mention the Weasleys are like your second family. We liked you much better when you were nervously kissing Cho rather than passionately making out with that red-headed strumpet. 5. Ben Affleck and J Lo: Okay, this is kind of a joke since Bennifer #2 is far superior to this one, but these two were the precursor to the "Brangelina" craze sweeping the nation. Besides, if they got back together they could spend ridiculous amounts of money on matching Bentleys and humongous pink diamond engagement rings, as well as make ridiculously awful movies like "Gigli" (2003). 4. Crockett and Tubbs: We may be a little young to remember these Dapper Dans from ‘80s hit show "Miami Vice," but we miss them nonetheless. From their drug busting adventures to the snazzy, white-linen suits, pastel t-shirts and sockless shoe-wearing ways, Crockett and Tubbs were meant for posterity, not for syndication. 3. Paris Hilton and Anonym-ity: Ms. Hilton, let's stop to reflect here for just a second: How are you famous, again? The fact that we all know about your visit to the slammer, your search for a new best friend and your favorite pet is really quite sad. The world would probably be a better place if you checked in for an extended stay at one of your family's hotels. 2. MTV and music: With shows like "A Double Shot at Love," "Engaged and Underage" and "Sex ... with Mom and Dad," one has to wonder what ever happened to the "M" in MTV. We're kinda sick of idiotic reality stars and incestuous sexual undertones. Can you get back to playing music? Or do we have to switch over to, gulp, VH1? 1. Daisy and Gatsby: Okay, so "The Great Gatsby" probably would have lost its emotional punch if the titular millionaire and his beloved got back together, but wouldn't it have been nice? Also much less of a mess for the pool cleaner...

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