Entertainment

Golden Dragon Acrobats

Photos courtesy of cpinfo@berekeley.edu

Dimka Atanassova
Staff Writer

Twenty-five centuries of Chinese acrobatic traditions attract and amaze audiences around the globe with their breathtaking and graceful athleticism and ancient folk art.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats (GDA) are one of the many touring companies, who hand-pick the best of some 100,000 rigorously trained from age four gymnasts, trick-cyclists, jugglers and tumblers. They made May 15, 2010 a once in a lifetime experience for the packed theater at Moraine Valley College.

Dorothy Menker Theater was already the preferred "arena" of Shangri-La in 2001 and the Peking Acrobats in 2005. However, GDA's repertoire was a one-of-a-kind kaleidoscope of gravity-defying display of contortions, executed with ultimate grace and dazzling authentic costumes, but also manifestation of 32 years in the making of a unique theatrical experience and flawlessly precise choreography thanks to its founders, Danny and Angela Chang.
       
Their November 2005 Broadway debut led to six-weeks standing ovations and critical acclaim. The GDA have performed in over 65 countries on five continents.
         
The 90-minute program contained eleven themed acts presented by 25 young, award-winning prodigies of the body and mind.
       
The opening number, "Thousand Hand Dance" displayed from the mist five elegant women lined up behind each other and complimented by tantalizing music. In a slow ritual motion, they contorted their bodies making one body look like two and their gracefully flying hands look countless. It was a serene intro to later explosive, dangerous and tantamount in extremity Asian ancient art that mesmerized, causing wonder and suppressed gasps of fear from Westerners.
       
The tensest act and an acrobatic staple was "Tower of Chairs." The build up of six chairs mounted and with successful addition of each new chair the execution of standing upside down on one hand was almost agonizing to watch. The hushed audience seemed to yell at the daredevil aerialist with broad smile to stop this stunt. His death-defying feat was "crowned" with balancing movements atop the precarious 20 feet pagoda with chairs positioned at 45 degree angles. Without a safety line, he awed with one-hand stands while his feet almost touched the proscenium arch.

Razor-sharp precision and pure artistry was demonstrated in all-male daring stunts. As the show progressed and the patrons kept holding their collective breath, the young diplomats of the spirited culture of mind over matter suffered only minor blunders while, at lightening speed, they tumbled, twirled, backwards somersaulted, and performed marshal arts through vertically stacked hoops. The upper hoop center was placed about a foot and a half taller the leapers themselves!
         
The reminder that the GDA indeed put their rubber-band bodies at risk heightened the excitement during particularly difficult stunts.
       
Equally pleasing artistic balance was showcased by doll-like girls not breaking props to smithereens in Act III, where five umbrellas and square tables were overturned and spun while jars and balls were tossed and jugged.
       
Next, a stunning stunt was "Bowl Balancing Girl." She laid on rotating platform with a single wine glass perched on her nose. Gradually, she was handed-out six small candelabras to balance on her upturned soles and palms, swirling and flailing her forearms, and she contorted in boneless poses.
       
A relief from the intensity of the suspenseful exploits was "Pas De Deux" (the only ballet piece) and the new numbers—the jovial "Diablo Yo-Yo", "Swaying Board" seesaw and Spinning Wheel, in which clown-dressed hearty artists entertained on large double hoops.
      
In the all-time favorite "Bicycle Family," ten fellow performers joined a daredevil cyclist to form a balanced human pyramid and brought the festive pageantry of a Chinese carnival.
         
Moraine Valley patrons were blown away by the jaw-dropping routines, exuberance and seemingly impossible dexterity of the Golden Dragon Acrobats.
         
It was amazing, astounding artistry and a triumph of discipline and harmony between mind and body—an ancient concept of the Orient.

Dimka Atanassova can be contacted at dimka68@yahoo.com

Toy Story 3

Photo Courtesy of rottentomatos.com

Cassandra McEllen
Staff Writer

The new installment of the Toy Story movies opened up to sold out theaters and a number one spot at the box office, and yet surprisingly the last movie of the trilogy lives up to all the hype.

The Toy Story gang is at it again as Buzz, Woody, and the gang entertains audiences in their new adventure.

The movie begins with a flash back of Andy playing with all the toys in a fun loving imaginative combination of the opening scenarios of the first two movies. Woody is once again scheming, but this time in desperation for Andy to play with them. They have been left in the toy chest alone, as Andy has grown up and is getting ready to go to college.

When the toys are accidently thrown out, they devise a plan so that they are never lonely again. They hide in a box to Sunnyside daycare where they are met by an old bear, Lotso, who embraces the toys with open arms and promises them a lifetime of play and care. The toys soon find out that not everything is as it appears as the façade of the daycare leaves, and the toys are trapped in at the bottom of the toy food chain. Their desperate escape plot takes them all over the city into the deep dark place where no toy wants to go.

The movie starts out slow with the basic plot but comes around about a half hour in with a few twists along the way. The new cast brings with it new laughs with a bunch of new toys for the new generation of Toy Story fans to fall in love with. While the new movie isn’t the same caliber as the original, it is entertaining in its own way. Those who loved the original two movies and are new to the trilogy will embrace Toy Story 3 and fall in love all over again.

Cassandra McEllen can be contacted at mcellenc@student.morainevalley.edu

Bionic - Christina Aguilera

Photo courtesy okmagazine.com

Liz Richardson
Copy Editor

Bionic is meant to be an album of opposites, the melding of synthetic and organic. However, it’s doubtful that Christina Aguilera meant for it to be a meld of terrible and fantastic.

Aguilera shines with soulful ballads and gains attention with her raunchy radio hits. Few of either are seen on this album. The beginning of Bionic is full of synthesizers, autotune, and crap. The title track “Bionic” is simply pointless. “Glam” and “Elastic Love” are songs that had potential, but were ruined by bad decisions in the mixing department.
 
Only hot single “WooHoo,” a hilariously dirty and catchy tribute to cunnilingus, can save the first part of the album. It’s a great and addictive song, thanks to Nicki Minaj’s collaborative effort. “Desnudate” is also a saving grace and is worth a listen. The rest? Painfully boring attempts at being relevant in this era of terrible digital music. The Christina Aguilera that made “Dirrty” a mainstay wouldn’t stand for this, and she shouldn’t.

However, around the middle of the album, things change. The “My Heart (Intro)” plays, in which Aguilera’s son tries to sing like “mama,” and every song after is full of love, not autotune. “I Am” is simply beautiful. The lyrics are heartfelt and the music is minimal, but absolutely perfect. But after “I Am,” the album goes back to being pointless. A few attempts at upbeat songs come after this switch, such as “Vanity,” a truly annoying song about high self-esteem. None of them work, and all of the songs included on the Deluxe Version—comprised of 24 songs—aren’t worth the money or effort.  
 
If the album were composed of “WooHoo” and the ballads, it would get a solid five. However, Aguilera has added so many songs that are both pointless and terrible that the album becomes a total chore to listen to. Aguilera is seemingly trying to be everyone in the music business but herself on Bionic, with songs that sound strangely like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and M.I.A. tunes. Aguilera needs to go back to her roots to win the heart of the changing industry. Bionic is a poor attempt at a comeback album, but a great attempt at blending in with the mediocre music industry.

Liz Richardson can be contacted at liz.richardson212@yahoo.com

Human Centipede (First Sequence)

Photo courtesy of worstpreviews.com

Laura Joy
Graphics Editor

The Human Centipede is a horror film about a surgeon with an obsession to create a Siamese triplet, conjoined through the digestive system from mouth to anus.  Yes folks, you read this correctly.  Here's a picture to help describe the surgeon's intentions, just as he shows his victims... er... "patients" in the film.

There isn't nearly as much gore when compared to higher grossing films of the horror genre, but the director went to great lengths to ensure that it was medically accurate.

The special effects were amazing.  Every stitch, every tear, every ripping of flesh and veins is believable and beautifully executed.  I'm sure having a doctor on set helped this immensely.

Speaking of doctors, Dieter Laser was selected for the role of the surgeon, Dr. Heiter, and plays the most brilliant crazy I have ever seen.  Laser portrayed his character's insanity so intensely it set my brain on fire.  His acting was one of the best parts of the film, and is something you have to see to believe.

Photo courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

On the other hand, the story was incredibly slow and dull.  It didn't help that the supporting actors weren't very good, either.  I'd hardly call them supporting.  It was torture.  It seemed like it was never going to end.
This film was so shocking that Roger Ebert didn't even give it a rating, and many people felt as though they needed therapy to forget what they had seen.  On a more positive note, I felt it was refreshing to see a horror film that didn't constantly throw nudity and boobs in my face.

The only point this film exists is to shock, revolt, and horrify you.  People seem to forget this while reviewing the film.  It wasn't created to win an Oscar. All this aside, it's difficult to watch, but a must for a horror movie night with your friends.

Just as the title suggests, there is a sequel is in the works, set for release sometime next year.  No one knows anything about the plot as of yet, but it's promising to be "100% medically Inaccurate."

On a side note, The Human Centipede also influenced a spoof of the popular arcade game Centipede.  http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/537029

Laura Joy can be contacted at LJoy827@gmail.com

Crystal Castles - "Crystal Castles II"

Matt Mireles
Staff Writer

Canadian duo Alice Glass and Ethan Kath have put out their second self-titled effort on April 23, 2010 and it definitely is what a good follow up is supposed to be.

Castles’ debut album came in early 2008 to some mixed reviews, generally stating that Glass’s vocals clashed with Kath’s synthesizers, resulting in the album being declared by many music publications as a collection of near-unbearable noise.

Fast forward to 2010; the members seemed to have tweaked their sound for the better even though they are known to have their backs turned against the mainstream. That being said, listening to any material by Crystal Castles requires a very open mind.

Going through some of the fourteen tracks included on the disc, we first hear “Fainting Spells” which starts off as a noisy album opener but then shifts to a steady drum beat along with Alice Glass’s chaotic-sounding vocals. The second track, “Celestica”, is a step in a different direction in that the sound morphs into trance-y synths backing up a more lyrical (and listenable) vocal. “Year of Silence” samples a mid-90s song from female vocalist Stina Nordenstam with some varied results.

Moving on, we hear ”Baptism”, a four minute and thirteen second piece that epically ties synth beeps and boops with dark-as-the-night lyrics. The suggestively titled “Pap Smear” throws in a club-friendly vibe that would fit appropriately with a night drive through the city streets.  Finally, “I Am Made of Chalk” makes extensive use of distorted vocals and dreamy sounds to create a nightmarish lullaby song that sends off the album.

When it comes to Crystal Castles, you will either love their music or you hate it. Like most electronica groups, there is no such thing as saying, “they’re okay.”  With this disc, however, there may be some stuff that people who does not often listen to electronic-type songs. “Celestica”, “Pap Smear”, “Not in Love”, and possibly “Birds” may grab an avid music listener’s ear. “Crystal Castles II” is available at iTunes, Best Buy, or at any other place you may usually pick up records.

Matt Mireles can be contacted at mattyd177@yahoo.com

Get him to the Greek

Anthony Rojas
Editorial Assistant

About three years ago, Judd Apatow and a bunch of his buddies created a fresh new style of comedic cinema. The Apatownian comedy style (dubbed after the producer) involves much more conversational and down-to-Earth humor than the classic “comedy”; in fact, the screenplays for most of these films probably read like two guys in a room just shootin’ the bull, and that’s exactly what the writers are going for.

The newest addition to these eminent films (which began with “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin and really kicked off with the 2007 film “Superbad”), “Get Him to the Greek” shines with the same sort of revered stoner humor that the rest played with. However, this time Jonah Hill exchanges his role of Seth, the brash man in “Superbad”, for the quiet, careful character of Aaron Green, who has been charged with escorting his idol, Aldous Snow (the nihilistic rock star from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) to the Greek Theatre for a comeback performance that could save not only Snow’s career, but also Green’s record label, which has fallen on hard times.

The film kicks off with the facts: Aldous Snow’s new CD is garbage and the record label (run by Puff Daddy/P.Diddy/Sean Combs/that guy you wish you could party with) is losing money and needs a quick fix or everyone’s out of a job. So Aaron Green meets Aldous Snow in England and antics are fit to ensue.

Whether or not the dialogue is sharp and the acting is perfectly pitched or rimming with chemistry between the leads is a futile matter because we’ve been raised by Apatow to know they’re all perfect. At first, though, the movie lacks any substance; it’s just a little romp about an unbridled rock star and a timid fan guy losing control. Funny, but not the touching comedy routines we’ve been led through before by films like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or “I Love You Man”.

Without giving away anything, though, this changes. The end of the journey remedies every doubt you might have about whether this movie can stand up against its counterparts, and you might even have more respect for Aldous Snow, not necessarily as a person, but as a character. As a creative idea, Aldous Snow is to the Apatow films what Neal Cassidy is to the beat generation: an embodiment of the whole idea behind the movement (and to me the Apatow films are their own movement).

The rock star is the greatest ideal of what all these male characters can achieve, the final threshold for all these very basic men that like to rock out and smoke pot, and Russell Brand breathes unbelievably true life into the character. But he’s just a basic man like the rest, and this is the heart the film brings with it. Basically, this is proof that spin-off movies aren’t necessarily taboo and a product of laziness; they can be done right, as long as they’re in the right hands.

Anthony Rojas can be contacted at anthonyrojas15@yahoo.com