by Tyler Lallathin | Oct 20, 2010 | Opinion
More than 500 million people have Facebook accounts, so it seems the new movie “The Social Network” would have a built-in audience. But even if you don’t do Facebook, you will probably still enjoy what I consider to be a great movie. The film focuses on the story behind the creation of facebook.com. I would not consider this a “based-on-a true-story” film as much as a “loosely-based-on-a-true-story-but-greatly-dramatized-for-Hollywood” film. The film tells the story of Mark Zuckerburg and his inspiration for the Facebook website. It follows the story from Zuckerburg, the site’s founder, sitting in his dorm room in college writing the code for the site, to moving its offices to California and growing it into the multi-billion dollar website it is today. The plot is not really about the website itself, but the confrontation between Zuckerburg and his colleagues. In the film, Zuckerburg is presenting his case in two separate lawsuits, and describes how the website came to be and how it grew. The film made an estimated $23 million on its opening weekend, despite much criticism about its factuality. While a Facebook account is not needed to appreciate the film, users would understand some jokes and references in the movie that others would not. Anybody can relate to the drama that the characters go through in this film. The film is 120 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for language, sexual content and drug and alcohol...
by Nick Hogan | Apr 23, 2010 | News Slider
In 2009, when singer, guitarist and co-founder of the Barenaked Ladies Steven Page left the band to pursue a solo career, many fans thought the band would never be the same. However, the band that Paul McCartney listed among his favorite bands on the current music scene in 2008 has proved their fans wrong. All the best attributes of the Barenaked Ladies are back in this album. Their strong harmonies, astounding songwriting ability, and hit potential all play a factor in their 2010 release “All In Good Time”, their first album since Page’s departure. Page’s departure only had a limited impact, since he and the other band members rotated lead vocals, and the band’s decision to continue without him seems to be a good one. The new album has a great mix of the Barenaked Ladies’ sense of humor, and their sense of in-depth songwriting. “You Run Away,” the album’s first song, was the single released prior to release of the album. There is a slow feel to this song, and it seems to have the greatest hit potential of any of the album’s songs. But the rest of the album is not to be underestimated. “Summertime” and “Four Seconds” are among the new songs that give a funky feel to them, and while not new to their musical style, they are not what people typically think of when they think “Barenaked Ladies.” If you’re looking for songs that sound just like the Barenaked Ladies you knew from the 90’s, I would suggest “Ordinary” and “I Have Learned”. Upon first listen, they don’t sound like a different band at...
by Wade Funderburg | Apr 20, 2010 | News Slider
“The Secret of Kells” is an Irish movie that was nominated for best animated picture in the Academy Awards, is an entrancing animated film that showed at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville. The fanciful storybook animation is reminiscent of Samurai Jack and Kim Possible, though the animators don’t hide from the two-dimensional look for the majority of the film. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how good it looks on Blu-ray. The plot revolves around a young Irish lad, Brendan, living in Kells, a community surrounded by walls. The walls are to protect the people from the Norse invaders whilst they complete a book that will “bring light to the darkness.” The plot is fairly simple and easy to follow overall, but a lot is going on in most of the scenes of the film and it can be hard to take it all in at first. It was, however, enough to grab and hold the attention of me, a college student. Though the “Abbot,” “brothers” and Celtic crosses would hint at Catholicism, the filmmakers seemed to avoid any kind of religious agenda. If you do your research, you will see that the Book of Kells is actually a heavily illustrated and ornamental book containing the four Christian gospels in Latin. I wouldn’t recommend the movie to people with small children, as I imagine a few scenes (such as when the Vikings attack, or when Brendan encounters the cave of Crom Cruach) might be too frightening for them. The soundtrack to the film was also incredible. Mostly featuring classic instrumental Irish folk music, it’ll definitely be one to pick...
by Dale Lipscomb | Apr 19, 2010 | News Slider
Two comedic geniuses unite for the first time on the big screen in the movie Date Night. Tina Fey and Steve Carell make Date Night a hilarious movie going experience. The PG-13 comedy goes beyond sexual humor to adding a message about love to the semi-romantic action-comedy film. The movie begins by showing how difficult marriage for Phil Foster (Carell) and Claire Foster (Fey) can be when kids and work take up all the time. One of the key moments in the movie is when the Fosters find out their friends Haley Sullivan (Kristin Wiig) and Brad Sullivan (Mark Ruffalo) are separating. Phil and Claire start to wonder if their marriage is in the same danger as their friends. Phil decides he and his wife are going to spice up their date night instead of doing the same routine. The Fosters claim to be another couple at a restaurant (played by James Franco and Mila Kunis) that did not show for their reservation. After enjoying several glasses of wine, two men mistake the Fosters for the couple whose reservation they took, and escort them out back for some questions. The real action begins when they are accused of stealing delicate information from a modern day mob boss. At this point, Carell and Fey begin their movie-long flee from the bad guys. Later, they steal a car, sparking an intense car chase scene, but not quite as classic as the Blues Brothers (1980) final car chase. The movie is filled with great jokes, some cleaner than others. Each comedic scene had the audience cracking up. One of the defining characteristics...
by Jesse Baker | Apr 18, 2010 | News Slider
Just in time for sunny skies Darwin Deez has dropped a self-titled album that displays a refreshingly unique style that will move your feet and put a smile on your face. If you happen to search Deez on YouTube, you will find he is the prototypical “hipster” that may look like he’s just having a bit of fun with music, but if you dig a little deeper into the album you’ll find a delightful collection that is far more impressive than his goofy videos might lead you to expect. The upbeat songs, mostly set to electronic beats are a throwback to popular 80s sounds used by Duran Duran, but you might also compare Deez’s sound to that of Cake or maybe even Jon Foreman with a drum machine. Although Deez may not be up to win any songwriting awards, the ways in which he is able to tell familiar tales of love with a completely unique spin stands out in a big way. How many other artists write love songs from the perspective of a nuclear fallout shelter? In “The Bomb Song” Deez pleads, “The sky is green / It’s been that way since they dropped the bomb […] Say you love me now / Maybe you will say you love me now.” Or in “Bad Day,” Deez sings his mischievous wishes for a romantic rival, hoping for everything from the last page of his 800-page novel going missing to rain falling in the open window of his car, because “every day ought to be a bad day for [him].” As playful and silly as Deez may be, the...
