by Lorena Coleman | Sep 28, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
Battle of the Sexes chronicles the infamous tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King in 1973. Academy Award winner Emma Stone plays King and Academy Award nominee Steve Carell plays Riggs. This star-studded cast also includes Elisabeth Shue, Andrea Riseborough, Austin Stowell and Bill Pullman. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the film follows one-time Wimbledon champ Bobby Riggs who, now age 55 and ever the gambler, challenges 29 year-old King, currently the No. 1 women’s tennis player, to a tennis match. Riggs claims he can easily beat King because she is a woman. While King initially turns Riggs down, she ends up taking his challenge, not to merely add another win to her record, but to take a stand for women’s equality and the liberation movement. Stone is inspiring as King, and Carell is charismatic as Riggs. Together, they bring an effective portrayal of the sports rivalry to the big screen. You could watch this film just to witness the banter between Stone and Carell, which is the perfect showcase of their expert acting chops and comedic timing. It brings a light and entertaining tone to the movie that at times can also be very dramatic. This drama is brought to life from the very beginning, when we are introduced to the main characters, and quickly uncover both King and Riggs have their share of issues. For Riggs, it’s a bad gambling problem that has led to problems with his wife and family life. For King, it’s being a married woman who is discovering she is falling for someone who is of the same sex. While the trailer...
by Lorena Coleman | Sep 20, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
“My grandmother always told me I have to be extraordinary to be considered average,” Actress Tisha Campbell-Martin told the audience in Collins Alumni Auditorium on Monday evening. “You have to be able to do it all to be great.” Campbell-Martin shared many empowering statements like this during her conversation with guest moderator Shannon Sanders, and she seems to have followed her grandmother’s advice. The multi-hyphenated actress and singer came to speak for The George Shinn College of Entertainment and the Arts presented Actress Insights: A Conversation with Tisha Campbell-Martin. The hour and a half event offered Lipscomb students, faculty and the general public an intimate look into the life of the multi-hyphenated actress and singer. Campbell-Martin, who has been in shows such as My Wife and Kids, Martin and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, had many stories to share over her four-decade long career, starting from the very beginning of it all. She talked about how she got her foot in the door with singing and acting and the moment she realized she wanted to make a career out of it, all starting with a singing competition she entered at age five. Her only goal was to win the second prize in the competition, which was a color TV. “At first, I was mad when I didn’t win second prize,” Campbell-Martin laughed, “Instead I won first prize which was a car. But then, I saw my mother crying and my father jumping up and down, and that was the moment I knew I could help people.” She said she realized then what she was supposed to do as an artist and wanted to make helping people...
by Jade Spilka | Sep 14, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The Miss America pageant’s on-stage question portion often sparks conversations regarding both country and world. This year’s pageant was held this past Sunday, and its winner, Miss North Dakota Cara Mund, was asked her opinion on the Paris Agreement by television personality Maria Menounos. “195 countries signed the Paris Agreement in which each country sets non-binding goals to reduce man-made climate change,” Menounos noted. “The U.S. is withdrawing from the agreement citing negligible environmental effects and negative economic impact. Good decision? Bad decision? Which is it and why?” Mund replied that she thought it was an overall bad decision, offering her thoughts on what she believed should have occured with the discussion. “Once we reject that, we take ourselves out of the negotiation table, and that’s something we need to keep in mind,” Mund said. “There is evidence that climate change exists. Whether we believe it or not, we need to be at that table. I think it is just a bad decision on behalf of the U.S.” Mund’s answer was well received by the audience and judges, but Lipscomb students had differing opinions on the matter. “I support what Trump did,” said Andrew Trent, a junior marketing major. “The deal was biased against America and was interfering with some of our jobs.” Trent explained that he does believe America should be taking steps to care for the environment, but he thinks that these steps should not be coordinated with Europe but instead should be independent efforts. However, other students agreed with the current Miss America’s stance. Mason Borneman, an aspiring lawyer and lifelong supporter of the Miss America...
by LeBron Hill | Sep 3, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb students and alumni gathered in Shamblin theatre on Friday for the College of Entertainment and Arts’ first speaker of the year. Film and TV writer Allan Heinberg has written for films and TV shows, such as “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Wonder Woman.” He’s also written comics for both DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment. Heinberg started the night talking about his upbringing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, being both Jewish and openly gay. After graduating high school, he soon realized that Tulsa was not the place for him, so he attended Yale University to study acting. While at Yale, Heinberg was active in his craft. He auditioned for and performing in many shows, but he felt his true passion was writing. After graduating from Yale, the “Wonder Woman” writer spent 10 years on Broadway performing. In that time, he experienced the woes of being an actor while starring in “Laughter on the 23rd Floor.” Soon after that, he decided that acting wasn’t for him. After appearing in two other plays, he decided to reevaluate his career. It was then that the GLAAD Media Award winning writer chose to transition to behind-the-scenes and become a writer. During the Friday night event, he analyzed some scenes from “The Catch” and “Wonder Woman.” He explained that his style of writing is based on realistic relationships. He gave an example of that in a scene from “The Catch.” Heinberg conveyed how the characters’ relationship between each other affects the tension in the scene. Relationships being his focus, Heinberg told the audience that his message in the movie was not action but connection. He then credited his years of acting for helping his ability to write the best stories...
by Lorena Coleman | Sep 1, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb students exhibited a variety of reactions to pop star Taylor Swift’s new single, “Look What You Made Me Do.” Swift dropped the single at midnight August 25, informing her followers via social media that “Look What You Made Me Do” would be the first single off her upcoming album titled “Reputation.” The announcement sent waves of excitement and anticipation through Swift’s fans across the internet as well as in the conversations across campus. Sophomore Lexi Cummings from the Contemporary Music program said “Look What You Made Me Do” is much darker and repetitive than Swift’s traditional sound. “I think that she is perhaps mocking the traditional pop song mold,” Cummings stated, “or maybe trying to re-create her persona once again.” The single is the latest tune by the songstress since her album “1989” was released three years ago this November. Other than a collaboration in 2016 with Zayn on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” and a Super Bowl party performance, Swift went off the grid, working on her sixth studio album and plotting her return to the spotlight. While Cummings heard the single when it was first released, she said she liked it better after seeing the music video. “While the beginning definitely had me startled, I feel like she definitely created a vibe that went well with the persona she was trying to portray. You can definitely tell that the song is a lashing out however, mostly at Kanye, though I’d argue it’s aimed at a general ‘haters’ crowd as well.” “Look What You Made Me Do” is quite a direction change for Swift, who got her start in country music and is...
by Erin Franklin | Aug 9, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The 48th Annual GMA Dove Awards nominees were announced on Wednesday morning at Lipscomb University, with Zach Williams and Lauren Daigle leading the nominated artists with five nominations each. Daigle has won big at the Dove Awards the past two years. At last year’s ceremony, Daigle won Artist of the Year, just after clinching the New Artist of the Year award the year before. Daigle was not nominated for Artist of the Year this time, but she is nominated for Songwriter of the Year (Artist). Williams, however, did succeed in securing a nomination for New Artist of the Year. Writer and producer Wayne Haun grabbed the most nominations overall, with six. Bernie Herms and David Garcia followed with five each. GMA executive director Jackie Patillo announced that this year’s theme for the Dove Awards is “Sound the Remedy.” Last year’s theme was “Love Amplified.” “Gospel Music is the only genre that is defined by its lyrics, and we believe that the message in our music is God’s remedy to the world,” Patillo said. The Dove Awards will take place on October 17, 2017, returning to Lipscomb’s Allen Arena for the fifth consecutive year. The show will air on Trinity Broadcasting Network on October 22. Artist of the Year Chris Tomlin, sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records for KING & COUNTRY, Word Entertainment Hillsong United, Hillsong Music Australia/Sparrow Records MercyMe, Fair Trade Services TobyMac, ForeFront Records New Artist of the Year Bri (Briana Babineaux), Marquis Boone Enterprises/Tyscot Records Micah Tyler, Fair Trade Services Social Club Misfits, Capitol CMG Label Group Steven Malcolm, Word Entertainment Zach Williams, Provident Entertainment Group Song of...
