Delivering American University's news and views since 1925 | Tuesday, November 28, 2023
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On Oct. 20, Kendrick Lamar and the National Symphony Orchestra performed a one-night-only show at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage to an audience of nearly 2,500 people.
Director Ridley Scott proves once again that he’s a science fiction genius with “The Martian,” his adaptation of the book of the same name by Andy Weir. Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting”) plays botanist Mark Watney, one of the astronauts on Ares 3, a manned mission to Mars. The mission ends tragically when a storm hits the planet. Thought dead, Watney is left behind on Mars and must survive and find a way get rescued.
Director M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Visit” redefines the found footage, or pseudo-documentary, genre of horror in a way that will delight viewers. Refreshingly funny and beautifully shot, the film follows 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and 13-year-old Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) as they visit their grandparents for the first time in their lives. Their mother (Kathryn Hahn) hasn’t spoken to her parents in 15 years and Becca, who loves making movies, decides to make a documentary to unearth the reasons behind the estrangement and remedy their relationship.
NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith didn’t always want to work as a journalist. In the sixth grade, Keith won a writing competition where she wrote about how she wanted to pursue a career as a volcanologist and study volcanos when she grew older. After her victory in the writing competition, her local TV station wrote a story on her, and her interview with the station ignited her passion for journalism.
Enchanting and graceful, Studio Ghibli’s “When Marnie Was There” takes place in the lush, rural seaside town of Kushiro, Japan. The film, based on the British novel “When Marnie Was There” by Joan G. Robinson, follows 12-year-old Anna Sasaski, voiced by Sara Takatsuki (“GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka”). Early on in the film, Anna suffers a stress-induced asthma attack, causing Anna’s foster mother Yoriko, voiced by Nanako Matsushima (“Ringu”), to send her away to Kushiro to live with her aunt and uncle, the Oiwas. Their loud, boisterous and kind nature encourages Anna, who considered herself quiet and shy, to explore her surroundings and make new friends. In a heartwarming and charming tale about loneliness, friendship and the value of family, the audience joins Anna on her journey of self-discovery.
Director Andrew Bujalski’s unusual yet charming film “Results” takes on the world of personal trainers and their clients, addressing the relationship between physical and emotional strength. Trevor, played by Guy Pearce (“Memento”), owns the Power 4 Life gym in Austin, Texas, a gym that promises to help clients achieve four things: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual power. He has a tense relationship with Kat, played by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”), a personal trainer at his gym who is also his ex-lover. For both of them, fitness and healthy living is a way of life.
Director and writer John Maclean’s first feature film “Slow West” follows a relaxed pace, keeping true to its title. But despite the minimal dialogue, sparse settings and slow plot development, the film manages to hold the audience’s attention through the warm and unconventional relationship of naïve 16-year-old Jay Cavendish and gruff desperado Silas Selleck.
The crime drama “Aquarius” premieres on NBC on May 28 at 9 p.m. EST, and the entire series will be available online on NBC’s website on May 29. The show takes place in Los Angeles in 1967 and stars Gethin Anthony (“Game of Thrones”) as the criminal turned aspiring rock star Charles Manson. David Duchovny (“The X-Files,” “Californication”) plays a middle-aged homicide detective named Sam Hodiak, and Grey Damon (“Friday Night Lights”) plays a young vice cop named Brian Shafe. When the 16-year-old daughter of Sam’s old girlfriend goes missing, Sam and Brian go undercover to find her. They quickly realize they’re in over their heads when they delve into the new counterculture of the 1960s and discover the underground drifters that Charles controls.
“Where Hope Grows” follows the journey of Calvin Campbell, a washed-up, former professional baseball player who has turned to alcohol as a remedy for his feelings of inadequacy. He struggles to communicate with his teenage daughter, who is disappointed in his alcoholism and unemployment. But everything changes when Calvin goes grocery shopping and meets Produce, a young man with Down syndrome, who teaches Calvin to see things through a brighter lens.
AU students want to be a lot of things: policy makers, doctors and lawyers are only a few. But, what would AU students do if they had the choice to risk it all for a different career? The Scene answers this question with a look into strange, unassuming and brilliant careers.
AU’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking hosted its 10th Annual Spring Film Series in conjunction with the D.C. Environmental Film Festival from March 24-31 featuring short films by students, panel discussions with experts and film screenings.
Despite the night’s heavy topic of unethical wildlife filmography, the general atmosphere in McKinley’s Doyle Forman Theater was light-hearted on March 24. Chris Palmer, founder and director of AU’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking, launched his new book “Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker” and announced the winner of the Eco-Comedy Video Competition.
AU Players is putting on the first annual New Works Festival which will feature works written, directed, performed and produced by AU students on March 20 and 21. From a modern day take on the “Divine Comedy” to a piece inspired by the law of conservation of energy, the pieces are varied and original. There will be three performances in total: a 10-minute play, a one-act play and a musical.
For the month of February, students from AU and University of the District of Columbia collaborated on a Harlem Renaissance-themed photo show in honor of Black History Month. The exhibition, on display in Studio Gallery on R Street, was co-curated by School of Communication professors Bagus Himawan and Leena Jayaswal, who both teach film and media arts.
AU students want to be a lot of things: policy makers, doctors and lawyers, just to name a few. But, what would AU students do if they had the choice to risk it all for a different career? The Scene answers this question with a look into strange, unassuming and brilliant careers.
Even after more than 27 years worth of performances, the Kennedy Center’s production of “Shear Madness” still manages to be fresh and entertaining.
The camera pans over the serene and quiet landscape of Timbuktu, Mali, moving across the flat, brown land and focusing in on a sprinting gazelle which, moments later, is violently shot down by religious extremists. This is the first look that viewers get into the aggression and terror that are creeping into this once peaceful community.
When Yaniv Dinur was a kid, he loved to write and had a notebook that he filled with stories accompanied by illustrations drawn by his father. He’d share this notebook with his classmates and aspired to become a writer. But at the age of 13, Dinur decided to pursue what he loved most: music.
Halfway through the second leg of his “From the Bay to the Universe” tour, Oakland native G-Eazy performed some of his newest songs and also shared a sneak peak of his new music video at 9:30 Club on Jan. 20. The sold-out show featured G-Eazy’s fellow Bay Area musicians including Kehlani, Jay Ant, Kool John of The Heartbreak Gang and Marty Grimes.
AU’s Chamber Orchestra performed “A Little Night Music from Israel and America," a reflection of conductor Yaniv Dinur’s experience as both an Israeli and as an American, on Nov. 20.
