Did you ever think that the crumpled, mangled dollar in your pocket right now could hold the key to solving one of the nation’s darkest mysteries and lead you to one of the world’s most ancient treasures? National Treasure transformed the dollar into one of the many clues that led historians to the world’s most valuable treasure. The movie took one of the oldest childhood fantasies and brought it to life with respectable act-ing and impressive special effects. The movie opens as Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage), the youngest mem-ber of the Gates family, is let in on one of the most important secrets in United States history. His grand-father tells him of the prestigious society once known as the Masons, whose main purpose was to keep an extremely valuable treasure hidden away from the rest of the world to protect the country. One of his ances-tors had obtained the last remaining clue to the whereabouts of the trea-sure, and no one outside the Gates family was aware that it even existed. As an adult, Ben dedicates his life to unveiling the treasure. After find-ing another clue to the mystery, two of the members of Ben’s excavation team turn against him. The movie continues as the now separate teams of historians rush off to be the first to find the treasure. Cage delivered a great perfor-mance as a historian with a great passion for his cause. He put lots of emotion into his performance but unfortunately the part written for his character was not always credible. Cage’s leading actress, Diane Kruger, also gave a good performance in the film. Kruger portrayed a wom-an of great importance and intelli-gence with great success. National Treasure had eye-catch-ing visual effects and a creative and interesting storyline. Through special effects the movie is able to bring a whole new dimension to some of the nation’s oldest and most historical documents and places. It can serve as an educational tool or provide for an exciting night of adventure. Although the movie is not one of Disney’s best, it is well worthwhile. On a boring night with nothing to do, swing by the nearest theater and catch the next showing of National Treasure. It won’t disappoint you.

6 7Friday, December 3, 2004

By Brian Kibble

‘Collateral’ crashes into the BLC

Michael Mann has proven his talent as a director and his latest film Collateral, is no exception. Mann has created something of a rarity among today’s films—a character driven action movie. It started like any other night for taxi cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx). While on duty, he picks up a stranger by the name of Vincent (Tom Cruise). In the course of this one night, Max discovers Vincent is a contract killer and is taken for a ride he will never forget. Although some of the plot twists are predictable, Collateral is an action movie with car chases and gun-fights throughout, but the story always stays in focus and the characters seem like real people thanks to amazing performances by both Foxx and Cruise. This is Cruise’s first time in the villain role since his portrayal of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire and he clearly enjoys it and never goes over the top. Foxx gives an Oscar caliber per-formance, but with Oscar talk for his role as Ray Charles in Ray, his role in Collateral will probably be overlooked by the Academy voters. Mann has a slow pace for his movies, which is present here but not as noticeable as some of his other films. The

two-hour run time feels reasonable, giving the audience time to get involved in the story and not feel unsatisfied by the time the credits begin to role or get bored with a dragging pace. Mann’s stunning directorial style shines with the dark settings and lighting throughout the film. James Newton Howard gives another powerful score, heightening the emotions at just the right times. The score is never overbearing but it is not something memo-rable enough that one might be whistling it after seeing the movie. As with many movies today, songs have been placed in various scenes instead of score. Depending on the movie, this can be annoying, but Mann pulled it off nicely by choosing songs that fit the mood of the movie and the scene. With a wide variety of bands used such as Audioslave, the songs make the film all the more enjoyable. With an action movie centering on its characters more than the action, some moviegoers might be put off from watching it, but Collateral is enjoyable for anyone to watch. Film fans should definitely see the movie, as it is a testament to Mann’s directing talent.

Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have finally rejoined to form Destiny’s Child and produce their sixth album, Destiny Fulfilled. For three years, fans have been abandoned, in the dark, awaiting the trio’s return. After the group’s last multi-platinum album, Survivor, can it reignite its pop icon status? The answer is no. When the group split apart to work on their individual careers, the only solo project that launched successful-ly was Knowles’. Although, Rowland hit the charts with “Dilemma,” she and Williams left only a tiny dent in the huge music industry. Everyone has heard of Knowles’ debut album, Dangerously in Love, which has man-aged to sell over four million copies worldwide. The artist continued on her path to success by winning five Grammy Awards including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. With the new Destiny Child’s album, Knowles is the star. The album showcases more of Knowles’ multi-talents as a vocalist and producer, as she worked all the tracks. Destiny’s Child has become:

Beyonce Knowles and Friends. “Lost My Breath” opens up the CD with the trio panting in sync with a marching-band. The track is an instant club favorite as its heavy bass and raunchy style are able to get every-one dancing. Following the hit single is “Soldier” featuring rappers T.I. and Lil Wayne. Another hip-hop single, the song is about the girls looking for a “thug” to take care of them. “Soldier” is lyrically ridiculous, but will be a catchy tune on the airwaves. “Better be street if he looking at me / I need a soldier that ain’t scared to stand up for me / Known to carry big things, if you know what I mean.” The rest of the album is: blah. After the first two tracks, the CD begins its slow journey to the end. The usual upbeat, booty-shaking dance trio slows down to a laid-back R&B speed. On the third track, the trio loses its “Independent Women” stature with its song, “Cater 2 U” with Rowland’s near-rapping lyrics: “My life would be purposeless without you… / I’ll brush your hair / Help you put your do-rag on / Want a foot rub / Want a mani-cure / Baby, I’m yours.” Most of the songs are split where

each trio would sing, usually with Knowles leading, followed by Rowland, then Williams. And a harmonized cho-rus with all three singing is used to tie in all three solos. Every song is harmonized extensively, to the point that they may cause vomiting. Destiny Fulfilled is heavy on R&B melancholy ballads and light on pop music hooks. The CD shares a story about a relationship from beginning to end. Starting with “Soldier,” the group is searching for a man to sweep them off their feet. Then, “T-Shirt” is about how wonderful it is to wear your boyfriend’s T-shirt and the desire to be with him. In the middle of the CD, “Bad Habit,” the group falls madly in love. Finally, the group appreciates love through its loss with “Love.” Clearly, the album was created to shut the fans up, by completing its obligation to produce another album together. Hopefully, this is the last we hear from Destiny’s Child. A complete waste of money and time spent to buy it at the record store, Destiny Fulfilled is simply un-fulfilling.

Destiny’s Child new CD not a survivor

Destiny’s Child has reunited after its members attempted solo careers.

Photo copyright Sony Music

‘Spider-Man 2’ DVD worthwhile

WB delivers big quality to ‘Smallville’ set

We begin in Metropolis three months lat-er; the camera swoops over the revolving Daily Planet logo and careens downward, as though flying to our hero begging him to help those left in danger in the cliffhangers of last season’s finale. Only right now, he’s far from the hero. Clark Kent (played by Tom Welling), under the influence of mind-altering red kryp-tonite, robs a series of ATM machines and heads off to a luxury car dealership to get his ride for the night. This is the beginning of the third, and arguably best, season of the WB’s hit show Smallville. Although only about half of season four has aired, it can already be seen that the show hit its peak with the 22-episode collection that has just been released on DVD. In the third season, Clark must own up to the con-sequences of his actions under the spell of the red-kryptonite ring he chose to put on. In the process, he has jeopardized the health of his father, broken the heart of the woman he loves and set himself on a path that will eventually lead to losing his two best friends, Pete (Sam Jones III) and Lex (Michael Rosenbaum of Sorority Boys). These, however, are only Clark’s prob-lems; those of his friends are far worse. Chloe (Allison Mack), regretful of the pact she made with Lionel Luthor (John Glover), attempts to

claw her way out of his sinister grasp, only to find that the more she resists, the worse her life becomes. Pete, who discovered Clark’s secret powers the year before, is tortured for informa-tion by Clark’s enemies. And finally Lex, who is driven into a state of madness after being abandoned on a deserted island in a failed murder attempt, is driven further into dark-ness as he spends the remainder of the season combating his father and putting together the pieces of his damaged psyche. It is these problems that draw viewers in and advance the character development to a point where it has failed to reach throughout the rest of the series. Seasons one and two may have introduced us to the characters, but in the third, they grow up. Season three arrives home, remarkably, faster than a speeding bullet—only six months after the final episode aired—perhaps in des-peration over the anticipated loss of fans over weaker current episodes. Visually, these episodes are a giant step up from the previous sets; gone are the pixilated transfers that plagued the other collections as, at last, the WB is utilizing the technological capabilities of the medium. The same cannot be said for the audio mix though, a standard stereo track that disregards the greater poten-tial a surround experience would provide. While usually the lack of surround is not as big of an issue with television shows on DVD, the numerous action sequences in each

episode where Clark uses his abilities to fight off an enemy or rescue a friend would come to life in 5.1 and make the set a flawless release. Supplemental features include an array of deleted scenes, a featurette on the production and the second volume of Chloe Chronicles, the AOL-exclusive mini-series that follows Chloe as a reporter attempting to make sense of the strange happenings in Smallville. Audio com-mentaries are also included on three episodes that range from the informative to simply entertaining. Smallville: The Complete Third Season is a perfect example of why the home theater market is ready for a next-generation format. While a two-hour film can get away with using only eight gigabytes of space to produce a stun-ning video and audio presentation, a 22-hour TV season is usually not quite as lucky. Scrunched as best as possible onto six discs without necessitating the need for more (and thus a higher price tag), the WB has released as high-quality a release with Smallville as the DVD medium will allow at an affordable price. The casual viewer will likely find no fault with this collection, but the home theater aficionado might be slightly disappointed with the lack of surround on a series that would clearly benefit from it.

Disney’s new treasure shines

By Allen Huang

By Vincent Civitillo

By Brian Kibble

Photo copyright 2004 DreamWorks Distribution

The thriller Collateral, starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise will be playing in the BLC Theater this weekend.

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Photo copyright Walt Disney Pictures

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By Nicole Southern

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Is it possible for a sequel to surpass the original in quality? The Empire Strikes Back and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers did. Although the debate is still out on last summer’s megahit Spider-Man 2, one thing is for sure: it is a great movie that will not disappoint fans. Now Spidey has swung his way onto a 2-disc special edition DVD. Spider-Man 2 continues the story of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and how his masked alter ego has affected his life with his loved ones. Peter decides to give up his amazing powers and try to live a normal life. This is complicated with the arrival of the comic book’s best supervillain Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina). Spider-Man 2 lives up to the original. With a continu-ing story instead of a clone of the first, the relationships between Peter and the other characters are explored more in depth, allowing for further character develop-ment that make them seem real. The DVD comes in 2.40:1 widescreen or a fullscreen version is also available. The video quality is just like the Spider-Man DVD, which means it unfor-tunately contains digital grain. But just like the first film’s DVD, it is not noticeable unless one actu-ally looks for it. The audio comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is clear through out the film, with the dialogue, score and mechanical arms clearly heard amongst each other. Sadly, there is not DTS track present, which would have packed an extra punch for an action film such as this. The extra features on the first disc include a commentary with director Sam

Raimi, Maguire, producer Avi Arad, and co-pro-ducer Grant Curtis. Raimi and Maguire sat down

to do their commentary just two days after the film was released and fans can be thankful Maguire was with Raimi.

The first film’s commentary with Raimi was filled with quiet moments where he would just

watch his film but Maguire talks to him and asks him questions, which gets some results. Arad and Curtis chime in whenever the other two are quiet and sometimes they seem to be cutting them off, but over-all a very good commentary and a huge improvement over the one done for the first film. There is a second commentary as well, dealing with the technical side of making the film. “Spidey Sense 2” is a feature that has facts and trivia pop-up during the movie with information on the filming and the comic book. There are four “Web-i-sodes” which were online featurettes. Both are fun and informative for fans to check out. Rounding out disc one are bloopers, previews and Train’s “Ordinary” music video.

Disc two contains “Making the Amazing,” a 12-part documentary covering everything from pre-production to the premiere. Just as good, the

featurette “Hero in Crisis” is a look into Peter and his personal battles. “Ock-Umentary” is obviously on Doc Ock, a look at his trans-

formation from the comics to his film appearance. There is also a featurette on the women in Peter’s life and another

featurette that is a multi-angle look at a scene from the film.

Finishing off disc two is an art gallery, some information on the Spider-Man 2 video

game, and weblinks, which includes a site counting down to the May 4, 2007

release of Spider-Man 3. For any true believer out there, Spider-Man 2’s DVD will not disappoint. With a great movie and extra material that is just as good as the ones on the first film’s DVD, more than just Spidey fans should get their webs on this set.

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Photo copyright Sony Music

Destiny’s Child’s new album Destiny Fulfilled falls short of expectations.