Scene

News

Galactic delivers fan expectations

By Tyler Budde | October 16

When you name your band Galactic, expectations precede you. Galactic was well aware of those expectations when they performed at the 9:30 club Sunday night. The New Orleans-based ensemble is centrally comprised of a saxophonist, drummer, bassist, keyboardist and guitarist.

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News

Fanning, Okonedo keep film real

By Caitlin E Moore | October 16

The normal checklist for a trip to the movies includes popcorn and soda. However, if you're planning to see "The Secret Life of Bees," replace those refreshments with several boxes of tissues. Based on Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling novel, "Bees" is about Lily Owens, a young girl who runs away from her bad home life in 1964 and finds herself in the shelter of three black sisters.

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News

Top five mavericks at AU

October 16

You know, there are lots of people and things at this great university that could maverick their way in or out of nearly every ... thing. The Scene really has a way of reachin' across the aisle and takin' the best from here and there and findin' out just what's right.

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News

'Happy' Hawkins shines

By Donny T Sheldon | October 16

In a radical departure from his somber social realist films, Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" is an effervescent comedy that questions how difficult it is to truly be happy. The film chronicles the trials and tribulations of Poppy, a charming and unwaveringly optimistic primary school teacher, as she blissfully carouses through her North London life.

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News

Impressive 'Maggie,' 'Rise' sinks

October 13

Rise Against "Appeal To Reason" (Interscope Records) Sounds Like: An album worth forgetting History teaches us that punk and politics mix pretty damn well. From the Sex Pistols' release of "God Save the Queen" during her Silver Jubilee to today's Bush-driven leftist tirades, punk's mainstay focus has always been on the way politicians rule the world.

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News

Fairies transform stage into 'Dream'

By Ruben Luong | October 13

The Rude Mechanicals' production of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" last weekend provided a refreshing and delightful segue into the highly ironic mid-fall season, inviting audiences to enjoy the famous playwright's fusion of fantasy, love and humor.

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News

'Rocky' remains queen of cult

By Jordan Coughenour | October 13

Beginning in the late 1970s, doing the Time Warp and throwing objects that ranged from toast to toilet paper became a notoriously scandalous right of passage into the unascertained realms of sexual exploration - all because of the classic cult flick "The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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News

Horror series plot lacks sophisticated graphics

By Michael Conte | October 13

Horror games have certainly blossomed as a genre since the days of "Resident Evil." "Silent Hill," the second great horror series that emerged on PlayStation, relied on disturbing images and sound design to craft psychologically scary atmospheres, rather than simply having zombies jumping out of dark corners.

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News

Crooner connects, jokes with students

By Traci J. Brooks | October 13

Neon lights, a sound board and a stage replaced the Tavern's usual décor of tables and chairs Saturday night, while fans began lining up an hour before the doors to welcome Josh Kelley and Sam Grow to AU. Kelley paired his college sense of humor with his pop-rock sound to create a show that could be described more as a dialogue between band and audience than the typical one-sided performance.

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News

Trends fade, ink lasts forever

By Brittney Dunkins & Kristen Pionati | October 13

Tattoos are the most permanent fashion accessory one can buy. They are essentially just like a belt, earrings or necklace - except you can't take it off. If you are thinking about getting a tattoo, consider why you want one. Is it because "everyone" has one, or do you want to make your parents angry? Or do you want to make a personal statement with a beautiful piece of artwork on your body? The latter is a more sensible reason to get a tattoo.

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News

'Game Party 2' ups ante

By Kristen Bhoghosian | October 13

Wii gamers nationwide who find themselves searching for something fun to play with three other people may have eyed last week's release of Midway Games' "Game Party 2." "Game Party 2" features a mix of 10 different group games, including darts, arcade-style basketball shooting, trivia and a Wii version of beer pong.

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News

Comedy not just another race to finish

By Caitlin E Moore | October 13

A recent surplus of teen comedies, a wildly successful genre that appeals to varying audiences, have infiltrated the box office. However, in an attempt to be daring and original, most are falling into a formulaic pattern that is instantaneously predictable from start to finish.

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News

DiCaprio, Crowe uncover nation's 'lies'

By Jordan Coughenour | October 9

Director Ridley Scott, known best for "American Gangster," "Black Hawk Down" and "Gladiator," poses one of the questions that has become the 'Great Divide' inside the American government in the first minutes of his new political thriller, "Body of Lies:" "Do we belong there, or do we not?" Much like the lawmakers that continually dance around issues, Scott chooses not to answer the inquiry directly, but has rather composed a gruesomely vivid and disturbing cinematic love note to the waning American spirit.

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News

Dates to please both jokesters, romantics

By Mia Libido | October 9

A friend of mine was trying to advise me on all of those unwritten rules of dating - how people, even though they complain like hell about it, love the chase. Or even how a small thing like a text message at the wrong time could be a disaster. I was thinking about this and wondered, what fostered these ludicrous rules? Is it the media, with shows and movies portraying over-analytical characters plotting and scheming their next moves? Or is it some natural instinct of ours to be so curious to stalk our prospective mate for hours on Facebook? Listen, all I'm saying is I know there are a ton of different ways to handle a situation, and a lot of different personalities out there.

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News

'Bear' launches tour, celebrates third album

By Katrina Casino | October 9

Minus the Bear's third full-length album, "Planet of Ice," hit stores in August 2007, and after two supporting tours that took the band from coast to coast, the experimental indie five-piece isn't finished yet. Dave Knudson (guitar), Cory Murchy (bass), Alex Rose (synthesizer, drum machine, vocals, electronics), Jake Snider (lead vocals, guitar) and Erin Tate (drums) began a 37-city tour Wednesday.

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News

Generosity translates in every language

By Laraine Weschler | October 9

This past week, I lived in a fishbowl. I swam around in circles while snot-nosed children pressed their fingers to the glass, intrigued by the way my scales gleamed in the sun. I have never felt so naked. After bouncing over dirt roads in the bed of a truck for several hours, I was greeted by the sound of bare feet pounding over hard red clay.

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News

Convoluted plot confuses 'world'

By Hilary Leister | October 9

Edmond Gosse, a famous English critic, wrote in 1888 "'The Way of the World' is the best-written, the most dazzling, the most intellectually accomplished of all English comedies, perhaps of all the comedies of the world." Unfortunately, I would have to disagree with Gosse's synopsis.

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