Entertainment
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” - Voltaire
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Make Way For The Black Parade e2
By Liv Perrino
My Chemical Romance rhythms and classic MCR vocals.
(MCR) arrived on the music And despite the fact that the lead
scene in 2004 with their second singer still insist on smoking
album Three Cheers For Sweet (the only addiction he still has).
Revenge. Three amazing hits his vocals are amazing.
— Helena , I M Not Ok, I This latest effort includes ideas
Promise and The Ghost of explored in the earlier Three
You , were released from this Cheers For Sweet Revenge and /
album, getting MCR out of Brought you Bullets, You Brought
the underground and into the Me Your Love. The Black Parade
black light of punk stardom, takes on some of the issues that
The band has now released a were addressed in these earlier
new chart topping album, The albums, like depression. “When
Black Parade, which has two hit you look in the mirror and don’t
singles; “Welcome to the Black like what you see/you can find
Parade” and “Famous Last out first hand what it’s like to be
Words”. me” the band relates to this in the
The band members Gerard Way, song The End. And fair warning:
Mikey Way, Ray Toro and Frank if you have a fear of cussing,
lero are all from New Jersey death and hell related themes,
with drummer Bob Bryar is from then this is not the album for you.
Chicago. In fact the members This album has a PARENTAL
that are from NJ say that this is ADVISORY for a reason,
their home so much so that the My Chemical Romance started
rhythm guitarist Frank lero had out on the underground scene
“NJ’" tattooed inside his lip and in and aroimd New Jersey and
another tattoo on his arm also has now is headlining tours around
those letters incorporated into the globe. However, their
the design. Lead singer Gerard success didn’t come e£isily. Lead
Way and bassist Mikey Way (yes singer Gerard Way battled with
they are brothers) along with the alcoholism and was on anti
lead guitarist Ray Toro. The only depressants for many years. His
person in the band that is not for battle with chemical dependency
NJ is the drummer Bob Byre, was won with the help of the
who replaced Jersey native Matt band and to this day he is still
Pelissier. This band is very close sober.
knit group and if something During the recording
happens with one of the members of The Black Parade, Mikey
it aflfects the entire band. Way had a mental breakdown
These two songs are heartfelt and and had to leave the recording
go much deeper than many of sessions, and the band. With a
the songs on Three Cheers For lot of therapy and through his
Sweet Revenge. This album goes realizing that the band was there
in a different musical direction for him, he was able to get his life
than the last album, but it works, straightened out and is now back.
This album still follows the But for a while the band feared
life on the murder scene, how that he was not coming back,
vampires are coming to get you This put a lot of stress on the
and that death is all around you. band members, who didn’t know
This band certainly has a death whether they should wait for
obsession, so once again there Mikey to return or get someone
are songs about the afteriife and to replace him. Their patience
dying. But this album also has paid off, and they were relieved
songs about love and how hard when he did return. Today you
split ups can be, such as “I Don’t can see him rocking on his bass
Love You” (“would you have with a new look and lots of
the guts to say I don’t love you confidence,
like I did yesterday”. Or you This band has the power to save
are with someone and want to lives and not just the lives of the
say something but are keeping members but of the f>eople who
it quiet, (“I see you lying next listen to their music. The band
to me with words I thought hears on several occiisions from
I’d never speak” Way sings in fans that the band’s music pulled
“Famous Last Word”). This them out of a really low time in
album, however, has something their life or actually saved their
that the previous album did not life. However, they are really
have. There are ballads “Cancer” just geeky guys from NJ who
(that will most likely become a made it. The band saved the lives
single) and “Disenchanted” to of all the members in it, and they
name two. say that it has the power to save
As far as the new album goes, your life - if you believe in it.
it’s hard hitting from start to Album rating Five skulls out of
finish - a solid album with driving five!!
Moviemaking Trends -The Illusionist
The Illusionist is a decent period
romance mystery. What’s
interesting though is that there
are two other films out right now
that have something to do with
the same topics: stage magic and
mystery. It’s like Hollywood
is peeking at one-another’s
quiz papers and turning up all
the same answers.
Remember when Deep Impact
(1998), Contact (1997), and
Armageddon (1998) all came out
within a year of each other? Let
us not forget The Fifth Element
(1997) and Independence
Day (1996) that were also
larger than life depictions of
great danger and alien threat.
Western civilization was
quickly approaching the daunting
millennium turnover and while
all the Y2K fanatics and computer
persons were running in circles,
Hollywood was preparing itself to
cash in. The trend was established.
There was a popular theme.
Movie-goers were hungry for it.
Reid Mosher
The Illusionist is one of three
2006 films which revolve around
the topic ofstage magic and feature
magicians as main characters. The
other two are The Prestige and
Scoop, which share two actors:
Hugh Jackman and Scarlett
Johansson. The Prestige and The
lllwsionist are both set in the past;
Scoop is set in modem times.
The Illusionist is draped in
mystery and is a testament to
the power of forbidden love.
It also borrows concepts trom
IbsL Sword and the StmsL
and Romeo and Juliet. But
that’s ok, it is Hollywood.
The question is: What are the
execs thinking about now? What
do they have in mind? Might
they be performing a “sleight of
hand” with our movie dollars?
Almost a decade after our
obsession with global devastation,
we are returning to more intricate
mysteries that jog our inner
detective and astound our senses.
We seem to be interested (as far
as Hollywood is any indicator)
not so much with those things
that we cannot possibly ignore,
(Cue meteorite, tidal wave, alien
invasion), but with investigating
deeper into that which we do
not see or can not explain. Cue
Edward Norton. Cue Scott
Penrose and James Freedman,
Eidward Norton’s trainers for The
Illusionist, who were among the
magic consultants for the movie.
But are we really interested in
these things? Are we willing to
be made to believe we cannot
trust our eyes; to be reminded
that we do not see everything,
even when we are looking
directly at it? The important
part is that we are looking.
On a broad scale, this trend says
that we are no longer running
from the events around us,
rather we are looking deeper into
them trying to find the strings.
I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Demetri Martin, These Are Jokes
Emily Threlkold
If you combined Dane
Cook’s self-confidence,
Zach Galifianakis’ pointless
musical accompaniment,
Mitch Hedberg’s complete
lack of segue skills,
and Steven Wright’s
observational one-liners,
you’d get something closely
resembling Demetri Martin.
“Every fight is a fix)d fight
when you 're a cannibal"
Demetri dropped out of
NYU’s School of Law to
pursue stand-up comedy, and
it shows. He has his own style,
and his own way of looking
at things. His comedy is
intelligent and silly all at once.
"The show starts right... now!
Dating is difficult, black
people and white people
are different, also airplane
fimd /.V unacceptable... Yes!
That's three Jokes in five
seconds. This is awesome. ”
These Are Jokes was recorded
at the Paramount Theater in
Austin, and is about an hour
long. Most of the CD - tracks
with names like “The Start”
and “Some Jokes” - are
straight forward stand-up.
But Demetri also brings his
musical ability into several
tracks. In “The Remix,” he
tells different versions of
some of his old Jokes while
playing a glockenspiel
and a keyboard. On “One
Story,” he plays acoustic
guitar and tells how he spent
one of his summer days.
“Sames and Opposites,”
the only song that Demetri
actually sings, revolves
around odd connections
between completely different
things. "A musical is like
a burlap sack; / wouldn't
want to be in either"
“Personal Informatioti
Waltz,” probably the best
track on the CD, centers on
Demetri’s personal opinions.
It’s told over music, and
Will Forte, of Saturday
Nipht Live fame, makes
an appearance so hilarious
that even Demetri can’t
stop himself from laughing.
The CD closes with
three songs that feature
Demetri’s mother and
grandmother giving advice
and telling stories. They’re
interesting, but not exactly
funny. You’ll probably only
want to listen to them once.
The DVD, unlike a lot of
comedy DVDs, is packed
with content. It comes with
his 2004 Comedy Central
Presents special, as well
as a commentary track he
recorded with his mother
and grandmother. The
special showcases aspects
of Demetri’s humor that his
CD couldn’t, namely his
“material enhancers,” which
are basically illustrated
punch lines. It also includes
some of Demetri’s animation,
footage of some of his older
stand-up gigs, as well as
several of his drawings,
photographs, and songs.
Considering all you get
for the asking price, the CD/
DVD set is well worth it. It
even comes with a poster
featuring some of Demetri’s
drawings which is perfect for
covering up at least a part of
your boring white walls. If
you’d rather get a taste of
Demetri before shelling out
fifteen bucks, iTunes has his
Comedy Central Presents
special for only $1.99, and
he offers several video
clips at his official website.
(www.demetrimartin.com)
American Idol 2007
Thomas Martin
For the past 6 years “American Idol”
has crowned the most popular new
singer in the country. This season
is just starting out and already has
24 young hopefuls. Out of the 24,
you have Paul Kim, Gina Glocksen,
Melinda Doolittle, Antonella Barba,
Blake Lewis, and Lakisha Young.
They are my top “idols”. The past
weeks we have seen the amusing and
brilliant auditions from seven cities.
Only 125 make it to Hollywood. This
week we get to see the beginning to
the 24 contestants that have made it to
the last round of “Hollywood Week”.
Paul Kim, 23 years old, California
native, and former pool boy wowed
the judges with his fantastic voice.
Gina Glocksen, 22 years old, an
Illinois native and former dental
assistant sung “Black Velvet” and got
her “golden” ticket to Hollywood.
Melinda Doolittle, 28 years old, and
former backup singer sang “For Once
in My Life” and earned her golden
ticket. Antonella Barba, 20 years old,
and New Jersey native auditioned
with her best friend and sang “Higher
Ground” and got the green light
from the judges. Blake Lewis, 23
years old, and former beat boxing
champion from Washington State,
sang “Crazy” and beat boxed himself
right into Hollywood. The final
contestant that I believe will make it
to the top 12 is Lakisha Young. She’s
27 years old, an Alabama native who
sang an Aretha Franklin song, got
some “respect” from the judges and
got a place in the top 24 on season
6. American Idol comes on every
Tuesday at 8, and Wednesday at 9.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite
contestant. Be there-or be square!