INSIDE BEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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Potter and pals return to thescreen for some epic action

He’s back!

November 18, 2010Column Page 2 • Inside Beat

22nd:

PAST PRIZES HAVE INCLUDED DEVILS TICKETS, DINNERS, CONCERT TICKETS, AND GIFT CERTIFICATES.

PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCEDNEXT WEEK

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Monday, Nov. 22nd

Ciara Copell, Gianna M. Ste-fanelli, Inayah Bristol, JennaGrunfeld, Leah Felner, LivRen, Nicole Fucci, Rajesh

Sannidhi, Ryan Surujnath, Shama Huq, Zoe Szathmary

ARIBA ALVI.......................................................................................TV EDITOR

EMILY GABRIELE......................................................................MUSIC EDITOR

NATALIA TAMZOKE...............................................................THEATER EDITOR

ROSANNA VOLIS......................................................................FASHION EDITOR

AMANDA LITCHKOWSKI.................................................................ART EDITOR

NANCY SANTUCCI...........................................................................COPY EDITOR

RAMON DOMPOR..........................................................................PHOTO EDITOR

KATHERINE CHANG....................................................................FILM EDITOR

NIDHI SARAIYA..........................................................................BOOKS EDITOR

ASHLEY PARK............................................................................ONLINE EDITOR

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

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INSIDEBEATTHIS WEEK’S

CONTRIBUTORS TO

INSIDE BEAT :

STACY DOUEK..........................................................EDITOR

NATALIA TAMZOKE...................................................ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ROSANNA VOLIS.......................................................ASSISTANT EDITOR

BY NIDHI SARAIYABOOKS EDITOR

When we look back at the2000s, there have been manydefining moments that will live onin the history books forever. Thecontroversial election of formerPresident George W. Bush and therevolutionary election of PresidentBarack Obama; The emergence ofwebsites like YouTube, Facebookand Google, and Apple productslike MacBooks, iPods andiPhones; the birth of “Brangelina”and the death of Michael Jackson.But if there’s one thing that I’d likeour generation to be rememberedfor, it is as “The Harry Potter Era.”

The Harry Potter Erarant

Cover photo of Harry Potter and the Deathly

Hallows: Part I courtesy of Warner Bros.

It’s dif ficult to explain justhow Harry Potter became suchan international phenomenon.But no one will deny that HarryPotter radically changed the waywe looked at books. Until HarryPotter, readers worldwide hadnever preordered a book in mil-lions. We never would have goneto midnight release parties andwaited for hours in line to buy abook. We never would have readthousands of pages of text sowillingly. Reading books may beconsidered a dying art, butHarry Potter showed us (andpublishers) that there is still aworldwide audience willing toread a good book.

In many ways, the Harry Potterseries has also been the antithesisof our current fast-paced lifestyle.When J.K. Rowling took a three-year break between releasing Gob-let of Fire and Order of the Phoenix,we waited. When it turned out thatOrder of the Phoenix was evenlonger than Goblet of Fire, we did-n’t just Google the plot; we pa-tiently read the book for days.When Warner Bros. decided topostpone the release of the Half-Blood Prince movie, we waited —even though we weren’t too happyabout it. When it finally came out,we still went to the theaters indroves, breaking the record forhighest first-day ticket sales and

we sat through the two-and-half-hour-long movie without a grum-ble. The teasing and drawn-outprocess of waiting for the nextHarry Potter installment was tor-tuous at times and will continue tobe as we wait for the final movienext summer. But it is a testamentof our loyalty to our favorite boywizard that most of us have notabandoned him.

Probably the defining factor inour love of all things Harry Potteris that so many of us grew upwith him. We went throughgrowth spurts, crushes and firstdates with Harry and crew. Weeven got to see those changescinematically as Daniel Radcliffe

and Rupert Grint matured fromgangly boys into heroes with fa-cial hair, and Emma Watson grewfrom a bushy-haired girl into abeautiful young woman. After liv-ing more than a decade of ourlives with the Harry Potter char-acters, how could we not have avested interest in the series?

The end of “The Harry PotterEra” is looming, and it’s hard tosee something so defining to ourgeneration come to a close. But Ihave no doubt that Harry Potterwill go on to become a literary leg-end, and the fact that our genera-tion got to live through history inthe making is something for whichI will always be selfishly grateful.

November 18, 2010 Art • Books • Fashion • Theater Inside Beat • Page 3

BY SHAMA HUQSTAFF WRITER

Blonde, incredibly beautiful andan all-too short life that was brilliantlike a dying star — these are thethings that Marilyn Monroe is bestremembered for. As one of themost notable actresses of her time,her legend has long endured sincethen as a veritable pop culture sym-bol. In Fragments: Poems, IntimateNotes, Letters by Marilyn Monroe,a far more personal side of Monroeis revealed through her privatewritings, collected from journals,notebooks and scraps of papersfrom her journeys.

Born Norma Jeane Mortensonon June 1, 1926 and given up im-mediately to a foster family, Mon-roe grew up fast. She married JimDougherty at the young age of 16to escape a future of foster familytrade-offs. This is where her writ-ing starts, with a typed analytical in-sight into her life as a teenage wife.Her writing here is amazingly ma-ture, discerning and highly poeticin form. Despite many jaded ob-servations, she remained strongly

BY RAJESH SANNIDHISTAFF WRITER

Popularity comes in degreesand, while some things are justdestined for fame, others aremeant for cult devotion. For every20 people whose eyes light up atthe name of The Beatles or Saw,only a couple will shine for ThePixies or Let The Right One In.This is true of art, food, music andjust about everything else.

As novice readers of William Gib-son’s Zero History will discover, it’spretty true of science fiction as well.The story is an espionage thrillerthat has us following punk-princess-turned-detective Hollis Henry andthe ex-addict Milgrim. They work to-gether to root out a secret under-ground brand of anti-fashionclothing at the behest of HubertusBigend, the wealthy head of a mar-keting agency who isn’t happy tohave competition. Gibson, whosenewly semi-classic novel Neuro-mancer established him as a found-

BY ZOE SZATHMARYSTAFF WRITER

The name says it all. Cheekbones carvedout of marble, pale skin and white-blonde hair,Lara Stone is a Dutch stunner. With the looksof a cold, ruthless Bond girl, Stone is definitelyone of the fashion world’s top models, appear-ing in multiple designer ad campaigns andrunway shows each season.

Lara Catherina Stone was born to a Dutchmother and English father on Dec. 20, 1983.Raised in the Netherlands, Stone was scoutedin the Paris Metro at the tender age of 12. Shequickly entered modeling competitions, sign-ing first with Elite Model Management in 1999and IMG in 2006.

In a world of beauties, Stone still managesto stand out. Despite being 5’10, she wears asize 7 shoe, which gives Stone a noticeablydifferent runway walk from that of othermodels. Cathy Horyn, The New York Timesfashion critic, has quipped, “She walks likeLurch.” Stone has admitted to having a dif-ferent gait; fashion designers even have togive her specific footwear so she doesn’t fallon the catwalk.

Stone is also frequently compared to ’60sFrench bombshell Brigitte Bardot. Bothwomen are blonde, buxom and have noticeablegaps in their front teeth. “They say in Frenchthat it’s good luck,” Stone has remarked. Thisseems to be true — Vogue Paris has donemany photo shoots with Stone, even dedicat-ing the entire February 2009 issue to her. WMagazine declared her “the most-wanted faceof the moment” in August 2009. She has alsobecome a favorite of brands like Calvin Klein,Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Versace,MaxMara and Prada, to name a few.

Despite her success, Stone has not avoidedher share of personal woes. She was admittedto rehab for alcohol abuse in 2009, and fa-mously donned blackface for a controversialVogue Paris shoot that same year. Last month,Stone won a lawsuit against French Playboyfor publishing unauthorized nude photos.

Happily, though, Stone recently marriedBritish comedian David Williams. She is alsothe new face of the fragrances “Versus” by Ver-sace and “Infusion D’Iris” by Prada, and hasan exclusive contract with Calvin Klein. Itseems as though Stone’s star will only con-tinue to get brighter in the fashion world.

An ensemble of youthfulartists presents a cross-culturalmusical celebration, blendingspiritual singers and dancers tounite the global community dur-ing the holiday season.Dec.10-18; $40

BY AMANDA

LITCHKOWSKIART EDITOR

The unbelievable:A work of art that

actually injured viewers.

The culprit:Doris Salcedo

The down-low:Salcedo’s piece “Shibboleth” wasn’t originally meant to hurt

people. Even so, the 548-foot-long crack in the lobby floor ofLondon’s Tate Modern proved to be dangerous. In the firstmonth of the crack’s display, 15 people tripped and injured them-selves despite the numerous signs stating “Warning: Danger ofFalling” placed around the museum’s entrance. London news-paper The Times claimed that at some points in the piece, therewere big enough gaps for a small toddler to fall into.

The unnecessary fun facts:Four of the incidents were reported to the UK’s Health and

Safety Executive. In December 2007, the New York Times pub-lished a 1,000-word story on the dangers of “Shibboleth.” Mostof the museum-goers interviewed made fun of those whotripped on the crack.

Seriously … Falling for art

What were they thinking?COURTESY OF THE GUARDIAN

New Brunswick Theater:December Shows BY NATALIA TAMZOKE

ASSOCIATE/THEATER EDITOR

Need a break from trekking out to see shows in New York? Check out works being staged in New Brunswick theaters.

Linda Eder – The Holiday Show

Best known for originatingthe role of Lucy in Broadway’sJekyll & Hyde, Linda Edermakes an appearance at theState Theatre to sing favoriteholiday standards.Dec. 10 at 8 p.m.; $32-$57

[title of show]

Two struggling writers de-cide to write a musical aboutwriting a musical. StarringLauren Kennedy, Tyler May-nard, Susan Mosher and SethRudetsky.Nov. 16 – Dec. 12; $26.50-$57.50

Holiday Jubilee!

State Theatre: George StreetPlayhouse:

Crossroads Theatre:

FRAGMENTSMarilyn Monroe | A

William Gibson | B-Zero Histor y

Top Model:Lara Stone

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STYLE.COM

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ing father of cyberpunk sci-fi, is notone to take us into his genre by hold-ing our hands and wading usthrough the warm, shallow waters ofcharacterization and scene-setting.Rather, the expository details are de-livered in the blink of an eye and wefind ourselves splashing around thedeep end before we even know it.

The language does a fantastic jobof painting the complexity and colorof an information-age world. Opento page one, and you’ll find a carthat’s “pearlescent silver … glyphedin Prussian blue” and “a smoothersimulacrum of its black ancestors,its faux-leather upholstery a shadeof orthopedic fawn.” And that’s justin paragraph two. Although thestory technically takes place in thepresent or a time very close to it, it isvery much a product of its writer’shome-genre. Weird science, infor-mation overload and far-reachingmega-corporations are all verymuch the rule of the day in thisbook, even if that day is our own.

A good way to tell whether you’llenjoy this book is to ask yourself

what the word “cyberpunk” meansto you. If you’ve heard the term anddabble in some sci-fi standards likeAsimov and Bradbury, you’re proba-bly better off going back to Neuro-mancer to get your feet wet. Truegenre-philes might want to start withPattern Recognition, the first book ofthe unofficial trilogy that Zero His-tory belongs to. On the other hand, ifall you know of science fiction comesfrom overhearing Battlestar Galac-tica DVDs that your comp-sci room-mate plays in the background, bewarned. You may not be ready forthis brave new world.

optimistic in outlook and it is easyto see how someone with such anenduring personality would go onto become one of Hollywood’sbrightest stars.

The rest of her writings arearranged chronologically, with a ma-jority written during her marriage tothe famous playwright ArthurMiller. Her writings are accompa-nied with many rare and previouslyunreleased personal photographs.These photos are stunning andlovely in their intimacy, many show-ing Monroe with various novels inhand, reading in pure delight andlooking far happier than she everdid posing sensually for the camera.She was a veritable bibliophile, hav-ing kept a library of nearly 400books during her lifetime, whichcontained everything from Dos-toyevsky and Milton to contempo-rary writers of the time such asHemingway, Beckett and Kerouac.

But her intelligence and sensitivenature were quickly outshined byher gilded glamorous image in Hol-lywood. Beyond her light wordplayand charming remarks were alsodarker, more turbulent undercur-

rents of a woman who suffereddeeply from depression and a never-ending fear of disappointing thosearound her. Arthur Miller once fa-mously wrote about her, “She was apoet on a street corner, trying to re-cite to a crowd pulling at her clothes.”

Her life cannot be summed upsimply by her movies, photographsor notorious legend. But it is thanksto these fragments that we are ableto see beyond the surface to thelonely and vulnerably beautifulwoman beneath. In his song “Can-dle in the Wind,” written 10 yearsafter her death, Elton John sums itup best, “Goodbye Norma Jeane …loneliness was tough, the toughest roleyou ever played/Hollywood created asuperstar, and pain was the price youpaid… your candle burned out longbefore your legend ever did.”

The Beginning of the End

Over the years,the literary epicof Harry Potterhas flown fromthe pages ontothe big screen.

Tomorrow night,the first part of

the final installment,Harry Potter

and The Deathly Hallows, will

make its debut to millions of fansanxiously await-ing the prophetic

fate of the leg-endary boy who

lived.

BY NIDHI SARAIYAB OOKS EDITOR

Harry Potter has always been the hero of the series,but that didn’t mean that he got to call the shots. Sincehis birth, Harry Potter has always had two men dictatinghis every move: Lord Voldemort, the murderer of hisparents, and Albus Dumbledore, the wise old man whoalways protected him.

In his first year, Harry embraces his newfoundmagical heritage, making new friends, becoming thestar seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, help-ing to raise a dragon and learning a little magic onthe side. But Harry’s biggest adventure is when heencounters Lord Voldemort through the guise of Pro-fessor Quirrell and prevents Voldemort from gainingimmortality by destroying the Sorcerer’s Stone.

In the subsequent five years, Harry’s role in thefight against Voldemort thickens, though he is com-pletely unaware of it. From saving his best friendRon’s sister from being possessed by Voldemort inThe Chamber of Secrets, to rescuing his godfatherSirius Black from the clutches of Voldemort’s keyfollower Peter Pettigrew in Prisoner of Azkaban andwitnessing the resurrection of Voldemort in a cor-poral form in Goblet of Fire, Harry’s life becomes in-creasingly inter twined with Voldemort — yetDumbledore still keeps Harry from the truth. It isonly in Order of the Phoenix, when Harr y’s igno-rance leads him into yet another dangerous en-counter with Voldemort, which costs him the life ofhis beloved godfather.

In Half-Blood Prince, Harry starts to fight Volde-mort alongside Dumbledore, as they discover Volde-mort’s horcruxes, a technique of splitting one’s soulby murdering someone and then storing that pieceof it in a vessel. After having successfully destroyedone horcrux each, Harry and Dumbledore return toHogwarts where Voldemort’s Death Eaters ambushthem and Dumbledore is murdered.

Now, in Deathly Hallows, Harry has the chance totake control of his own destiny. This time, Harry andhis friends are on their own to finish Dumbledore’smission, scouring Britain for Voldemort’s horcruxesand destroying them one by one. Then Harry alonewill have to face Voldemort and see if he can kill theman who has always escaped death.

From Harry’s first year at Hogwarts to his war with Voldemort

THE SORCERER’S STONE

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

PRISONER OF AZKABAN

THE GOBLET OF FIRE

ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

BY NICOLE FUCCISTAFF WRITER

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I,Harry, Ron and Hermione leave Hogwarts behind andgo on a quest for seven horcruxes. Horcuxes are dark

magical objects in which a wizard leavespart of his soul. In order to create a Hor-

crux, one must commit murder. Hor-cruxes were first introduced in Harry

Potter and the Half-Blood Prince andcontinue to be the predomi-nate theme in subse-quent titles.

1. Tom Riddle’s DiaryThe diary of a young Lord Voldemort first

made its appearance in the possession ofGinny Weasley in The Chamber of Secrets.Through the diary, Tom Riddle could control her. Thediary is finally destroyed when Harry plunges a basiliskfang into its pages.

2. The Gaunt RingThe ring belonged to Tom Riddle’s rela-

tives on his mother’s side, who were directdescendents of Salazar Slytherin. It wascreated with the murder of Tom RiddleSenior, when Voldemort was ignorant tothe fact that the ring’s stone was the Res-urrection Stone.

3. Slytherin’s LocketIn The Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore and Harry travel

to a cave once visited by Tom Riddle as a boy. They hopeto retrieve the locket, but the Inferi in the lake try to

stand in their way. Instead, they find a fake locketalong with a note signed by a mysterious “R.A.B.”

4. Hufflepuff ’s GobletThe goblet is made of gold and is emblazoned with a

badger. The goblet is first mentioned in Harry Potter andthe Half-Blood Prince in a memory Dumbledore showsHarry and was hidden in the Lestrange family vault inGringotts Bank.

5. Ravenclaw’s DiademRavenclaw’s diadem is discovered by Harry in the

Room of Requirement during Harry Potter and theHalf-Blood Prince. It was created with the death of anAlbanian Peasant, and is ultimately destroyed by Vincent Crabbe.

6. NaginiNagini is Voldemort’s snake that makes

appearances in almost every installment.In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall-lows, Harry discovers if Nagini iskilled, Voldemort is nothing but amere mortal, able to be killed.

7. Harry PotterIn Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry

overhears a prophecy made by Professor Trelawney, stat-ing, “Neither can live while the other survives.” Thismeans that in the end, either Harry must kill Voldemort orVoldemort must kill Harry.

BY LEAH FELNERSTAFF WRITER

Lit and Film:

BY LIV RENSTAFF WRITER

For fans of the Harry Potter books, the greatest thrill in seeingHarry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part I may lie in comparingtheir visions of the text to what is on the silver screen. Although therearen’t many dramatic, plot-twisting changes, Director David Yatesprovides plenty of additions and omissions to make the movie adap-tation a work in its own right.

In the opening scene, Yates begins the film with the introduction ofRufus Scrimgeour as the new Minister of Magic, rather than the book’sfirst scene at Malfoy Manor. Producers of the film confirm that the firstmoments of the movie is Scrimgeour’s speech on the potential for timesto “grow darker still” for Ministry employees.

More drastic, however, is the change in events during the Battle ofSeven Potters. As Harry and disguised Order of the Phoenix membersattempt to safely remove Harry from 4 Privet Dr., they are ambushedby Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Rather than have Hedwig in hercage, she is allowed to fly beside Harry. And because of this added de-tail, the Death Eaters realize that the real Harry is the one accompaniedby the snowy owl, while in the book, Death Eaters discover the realHarry through his signature use of the expelliarmus spell. Hedwig is stillkilled, but instead of falling to her death in her cage, she dies as sheshields Harry from a spell.

Another significant change is Peter Pettigrew’s survival in the MalfoyManor. While in the novel Pettigrew is told to kill Harry, he hesitateswhen reminded of his “life debt.” Pettigrew’s silver hand, a “gift” fromVoldemort, senses the deception, which causes Pettigrew to stranglehimself. In the movie, however, Pettigrew does not die, but is merelystunned by Dobby the house elf. Writers allegedly believed the self-mur-der to be too graphic, and leave the potential for further exploration ofPettigrew’s death in part II.

Additional changes are mostly of minor details, visual enhance-ments, new character developments and additional scenes for dra-matic ef fect. With these changes, Yates leaves much room formissing pieces to fall into place with Part II of Harry Potter and theDeathly Hollows. With these alterations, it is up to the audience todecide their effectiveness.

Magical Mysteries: The Fun Facts Behind the Scenes

Seven Murders, Seven Pieces: The Horcruxes

M. Night Shymalan and Guiellermo del Toro were both interestedin directing the last two movies.

Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double, David Holmes, was seriously in-jured on the set when performing an aerial sequence. Holmesfell to the ground following an explosion and sustained a seri-ous back injury.

The character Griphook was originally played by Verne Troyer,but in the last installments, the character will be played by War-wick Davis who also plays Professor Filius Flitwick.

Although Emma Thompson has said that she would not be re-turning as Professor Sybil Trelawney for this film, it was re-ported that she had finished two days’ worth of filming as thecharacter after all.

Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) was originally not supposed to re-turn for the last few films because of his character’s arrest andimprisonment at the end of the fifth book. But when he met withJ.K. Rowling, he “begged” her to let him out of prison. All shesaid was “you’re out, chapter one!” and he was convinced to signon for the last films.

More than 500 wands were created for the film. They had to besigned in and signed out before and after every use. Most of themcame back broken or not at all.

Reading Between the Lines

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

November 18, 2010Film • TV • Video GamesPage 6 • Inside Beat

BY INAYAH BRISTOLSTAFF WRITER

If it’s Halloween time, you knowit’s time for another Saw movie. Saw3D marks the seventh and final in-stallment of the popular franchise.

The movie starts, shockinglyenough, with the murders being

BY CIARA COPELLSTAFF WRITER

Due Date is the perfect light-hearted comedy, starring RobertDowney Jr. (Iron Man, SherlockHolmes) as Peter Highman, anoverworked man racing home towitness the birth of his son. Peteris placed on the “No Fly” list dueto a misunderstanding involvinghim and aspiring actor, EthanTremblay, played by Zach Galifi-anakis (The Hangover). The pairmust make the 2,000 mile tripfrom Atlanta to Los Angeles to-gether in a rental car, and the re-sult is painfully funny.

Due Date

BY JENNA GRUNFELDSTAFF WRITER

The USA Network has beengetting more and more popularrecently with hit shows like Royal

Call of Duty: Black Ops

COURTESY OF LIONSGATE

Todd Phillips | A-

BY RYAN

SURUJNATHSTAFF WRITER

Call of Duty:Black Ops is possibly the most an-ticipated game release of the year.Following the immense success ofInfinity Ward’s Call of Duty: ModernWarfare 2, Treyarch, anotherbranch of Activision, manages to re-tain familiar mechanics that are nowindicative of the Call of Duty fran-chise while adding a few new twiststo give Black Ops a unique feel.

Black Ops takes place during the’60s, following CIA operative AlexMason as he conducts covert ops inVietnam and other locales aroundthe world. The story is compellingand is told through a series of flash-backs, which gives the narrative afragmented and chaotic tone thatdoes a good job in keeping the

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

Kevin Greutert | CSaw 3D

Burn NoticeUSA, Thursdays at 10 p.m. | B+

Treyarch| A-

COURTESY OF USA

COURTESY OF GAMEINFORMER.COM

committed outside in the openwhile bystanders just watch on thesidelines. This type of openingmakes you slightly excited fromthe get-go, as it is so different fromthe settings of any of the past Sawmovies. But that thrilling sensa-tion only lasts a few moments be-fore the camera cuts to the dark,

damp torture chamber that we’vegrown used to with the Saw saga.

The movie then jumps to twoof the antagonists from the lastfilm, Hoffman (Costas Mandylor,Picket Fences) and Jill (Betsy Rus-sell, Chain Letter), when Jill is es-caping Hoffman’s clutches andHoffman gets ready for the next“game,” which centers on Bobby(Sean Patrick Flanery, The Boon-dock Saints II: All Saints Day), aman pretending to be a survivorof the Jigsaw murders. Afterdoing a lot of self-promotion,Bobby finds himself in the samesituation that he allegedly “sur-vived” from. And so begins thegore and torture-fest that the Sawmovies are infamous for.

As with the previous six films,Saw 3D leaves you questioningwhat’s morally right. Do you save

the lives of others or yourself?Bobby must confront this kind ofquestion — but he doesn’t havemuch time to think about the an-swer. He’s given 60 seconds to per-form tasks that obviously can’t becompleted. And as if the moviewasn’t lacking already, the endingwas left almost at a cliffhanger.This leaves you wondering if thisis really the end of the franchise.

Saw 3D wasn’t completely hor-rendous. The writers tried to addsomething to the movie by pro-viding a medley of flashbacks thathelped to tie the various aspects ofthe plot together. For example,several flashbacks give insight toBobby’s past and why he felt mo-tivated to lie about his involve-ment with the Jigsaw murders.There are also flashbacks thathelp you understand the slight

twist that the movie takes at thevery ending with Hoffman andone of the characters from one ofthe previous movies.

However, the problem is, theSaw franchise had no business inreaching a seventh movie. Oncethe original Jigsaw (Tobin Bell,Mississippi Burning) was killed,the movies should have stopped.Moreover, the movies havestarted becoming a bit predictable.In order to give the movie an edge,it was made in 3D, but there wasno need for it. There were barelymoments where the 3D effectswere used, and when there were3D effects it was just blood andknives. The movie is a good watchfor fans of the previous movies,but to those who haven’t been avidfans, the movie might not seemworth the money.

Galifianakis and Downey Jr. makea great team. The film is a tribute totheir acting abilities, as the vast ma-jority of the movie is just the two ofthem in a car. Galifianakis plays therole of an awkward loner, a role hemade famous in The Hangover, flaw-lessly. Viewers can see his insecuritythroughout the movie, and his awk-ward charm eventually wins over theaudience. Downey Jr. perfected hisrole as a cynical smartass and his con-stant ridicule of Galifianakis makesthe movie entertaining.

The hijinks don’t stop through-out the film. The audience is con-stantly kept laughing with sceneslike a disabled man beating Peterwith a stick as Ethan stands idly by

and Ethan visiting a “pharmacist” hefound on Craigslist to get weed forhis glaucoma. The film also includessome over-the-top scenes like thepair accidentally drinking Ethan’s fa-ther’s ashes and Ethan breakingPeter out of Mexican imprisonment.

However, the overall plot of DueDate isn’t anything special and theending is predictable. Though, thefilm is kept interesting by the dy-namic between Galifianakis andDowney Jr., Academy Award winnerJamie Foxx (Ray, Dreamgirls) also ap-pears in a supporting role. Foxx playsPeter’s good friend — who happensto also be the rich ex-boyfriend ofPeter’s wife. When Ethan discoversthis, he immediately causes problems

between the two friends of 20 years.Peter gets paranoid and begins todoubt his wife’s loyalty, which makesfor an interesting plot point. Thoughhe only appears in a few scenes, Foxxadds to the overall outrageous com-edy of the movie.

Due Date constantly keeps theaudience laughing and Galifianakisand Downey Jr. are perfect together.

Though the plot is predictable, thefilm is entertaining throughout,partly because of its outrageoushumor. Due Date is enjoyable foreveryone who doesn’t mind watch-ing incredibly awkward scenarios.The film would definitely make agreat date movie as it has somethingfor everyone and is easily a greatchoice for a night at the movies.

Pains and Covert Af fairs, butBurn Notice is the hidden gem inthe USA family. The series, cre-ated by Matt Nix, has proven it-self to be more than just a funsummer show.

Now in the middle of its fourthseason, Burn Notice has found itsstride with the familiar formula ofa season-long story arc in additionto smaller, episode-long ones.After an intense summer finale,Burn Notice is back to answersome of the questions we were leftwith in August.

Michael Westen (Jef freyDonovan, Changeling) used tobe one of the best spies in thebusiness until he was “burned.”Now blacklisted from CIA activ-ities, Michael is stuck in hishometown of Miami. With himare old friend Sam Axe (BruceCampbell, Cloudy with a Chanceof Meatballs), “it’s complicated”ex-girlfriend Fiona Glenanne(Gabrielle Anwar, The Tudors)and Michael’s neurotic mother,Madeline Westen (Sharon

Gless, Cagney & Lacey). To-gether the somewhat morallygray team uses their skills,training and natural wiles doingside projects to help people whoare in trouble. In their sparetime, they help Michael in hisdesperate search to find the peo-ple who burned him.

Half-action and half-clever writ-ing, Burn Notice is definitely full ofentertainment. The cast does astellar job of bringing the charac-ters to life. Donovan is more thanbelievable as a Jack Bauer-meets-Veronica Mars Michael Westen,and is excellent at portraying thesubtleties in Michael’s personality— his intensity, his intelligenceand his humor, which often comesthrough the most in the show’switty voiceovers and “spy-tips.”Campbell and Anwar are great as

well, though Anwar’s American ac-cent does leave something to bedesired. Sharon Gless is theshow’s real scene-stealer asMichael’s mother, whose complexpast relationship with her son al-lows her an influence over himeven as they fight.

When we last saw MichaelWesten, he had just discoveredthat there is a list somewhere ofthe people responsible for burn-ing him. His meeting is am-bushed and Michael is shot in theshoulder. The last moments in-volve Michael crawling from a carwreck, trying to control thebleeding in his shoulder and wit-nessing someone taking the brief-case that contains the key to thelist of people. Michael Westen hassurvived much worse, but it issure to be an explosive season.

player interested. The missionsthemselves are varied and takeplace over different locations andenvironments, while level design isbrilliant and memorable. The cam-paign will take about seven to ninehours, depending on difficulty.

Mechanically, the game is over-all pretty good. Character modelsare not as impressive as in ModernWarfare, and it’s less cinematic andfluid as Modern Warfare 2, but theenvironments are detailed and at-tractive. The AI, though not awful, isstill prone to do some pretty stupidthings. Most notably, friendly AIseems to have a nasty tendency towander into the player’s line of fire.This is usually not a problem, as plotspecific NPCs are unable to die, butit can be annoying when they yell atyou to “Watch your fire!” A fewsmall matters aside, the focus on thecampaign is an improvement overModern Warfare 2.

Though the campaign providesgreat entertainment, similar to Mod-ern Warfare 2, the multiplayer is whatdraws many to Call of Duty. Witheach level, players gain experienceand access to new weapons and op-tions that allows them to customizetheir class. Weapons and accessoriesare plentiful and are typical to the ’60sera in which the game takes place.There is one major difference interms of the level system: Once aplayer unlocks a weapon, they cannotuse it immediately, but only after pur-chasing it with COD points. For ex-ample, if a player wants to unlock theAK-47, they must first reach level 38to gain the option of purchasing it andthen they must pay 2,000 COD pointsto be able to use it. Fortunately, CODpoints are easy to acquire. They areearned by killing enemies, leveling upand completing matches. Further-more, COD points can be gambledby taking on challenges. Though it

may strange to Modern Warfare vet-erans, the COD point system is easyto get used to, but it seems to dis-courage experimenting with differentcombinations of weapons and perks.

In addition, the Nazi Zombiemode makes a return from Callof Duty: World at War. In this hi-larious one-four player co-opmode, players assume the role ofJohn F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon,

Fidel Castro and Robert McNa-mara as they fight throughwaves of zombies in the Penta-gon. This extra add-on is a greataddition that adds more value foryour purchase.

Black Ops is a great game. Itdoesn’t exactly shock and awe thepublic in the same way Modern War-fare 2 did but is still worth playingdespite a few small problems.

November 18, 2010 Music Inside Beat • Page 7

BY EMILY GABRIELEMUSIC EDITOR

Los Angeles has brought yet another talented artist to the sur-face — Holly Conlan. Currently touring with singer/songwritersSara Bareilles and Cary Brothers, Conlan is building quite the fanbase. She has already been noticed for the single “OK,” off of herEP Bird, which made its debut on multiple television shows. Con-lan’s melodic voice and tasteful piano playing relentlessly draws inlisteners. Having a classical composition background, her musicalcreations have turned into more of an indie-pop feel.

Last year, Conlan released her LP, Fascinator. The 13-trackalbum shed a different light onto the artist’s abilities. With lyricsthat convey deep insight into her emotions and musical arrange-ments that reveal her roots, the album is evidence of Conlan’smaturing disposition.

Conlan has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with many othertalented artists previous to Bareilles and Cary Brothers, such as KatyPerry and Colbie Caillat. As this singer/songwriter gains more ex-posure, she is sure to gain the ears and respect of all those who giveher music a listen. Stemming her notability from 2007’s CMJ musicfestival, it’d be a shame to miss out on this artist on the rise.

BY EMILY GABRIELEMUSIC EDITOR

What are the perks of continu-ously creating music for 22 years?There’s the experience, thegrowth as an artist and, to BenFolds, having long-term fans. “It’sreally wonderful to see peopleafter a show who saw a gig 15years ago. It’s also great to talk toa 20-year-old who tells me theyhave heard my music since theywere five. Haha, wow.” With somuch experience and with such agreat accumulation of fans, Foldsshows no signs of quitting thebusiness anytime soon.

Currently working with NickHornsby, Folds is touring and pro-moting his newest album, LonelyAvenue. He’ll be performingnearby at the Wellmont Theater inMontclair, N.J., on Thursday, Nov.18. What group of people doesFolds like performing to the most?College kids.

“I’ve always said they are at theheight of their musical awarenessin some ways. They have the timeand energy to take it in, they’re

BY INAYAH BRISTOLSTAFF WRITER

For anyone who enjoyed KidCudi’s unconventional approach torap in the past, Man on the Moon II:

The Legend of Mr. Rager is definitely an albumworth having. His second album introduces you tohimself — Scott Mescudi, the man behind thestage name of Kid Cudi.

The album starts strong with the track titled,“Scott Mescudi vs. the World”. The song featuresCee-Lo Green, who describes the album in a nutshellduring the song when he says: “This is a journey, intothe horizon.” The entire album can be viewed as ajourney, as it lets you see through Cudi’s eyes andpermits a glimpse into where the rapper is mentally.Cudi is dark, raw and honest in his songs — creatingan essence of attraction for listeners.

You get to see a deeper version of Cudi with anumber of songs on this album. In the song“GHOST,” he confesses, “I’m mostly confusedabout the world I live in/they think that I’m lonely,well I probably am.” “Marijuana,” perhaps themost interesting song on the album, captures lis-teners from the star t with its haunting pianomelody. Cudi sings, “Marijuana had my back/myback,” when describing the connection he feelswith the drug.

As a whole, the album is full of substance. It cap-tures the madness and confusion of the world thatCudi lives in and lets you experience it as he does.Cudi seems to be figuring out who he is as a personand as an artist, and the fact that he lets his audiencein on all of that makes the album a very good one andone worth listening to.

BY GIANNA M. STEFANELLISTAFF WRITER

Anticipation filled the air at Rutgers University Pro-gramming Association’s concert event on Nov. 11 as asemi-filled audience patiently waited for Ra Ra Riot’sarrival to the stage. After sitting through a boring andcompletely unoriginal opening band, Ra Ra Riot in-stantly caught the audience’s attention with their vari-ety of instruments, bright and spunky clothing styles,and bursting energy. Though they are a relativelyyoung band, as soon as they stepped on stage youcould tell they were all about their music. They playedhits like “Can You Tell” and “Dying is Fine,” and eachmember of the six-piece band proved to be not only ex-tremely fun but also tremendously talented.

Since most members play multiple instruments, itwas insanely impressive to watch them switch aroundinstruments and vocals. The band’s collaborativestyle and large sound truly displayed how well-rounded and versatile each member is. As the leadvocalist, Wes Miles’ voice sailed smoothly over thecollision of sound including a violin, cello and various

Man on the Moon II:The Legend of Mr. Rager | A

BenFolds

Local CornerRa Ra Riot at Rutgers

TwentyYears Later,He’s Still

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COURTESY OF MYSPACE.COM/HOLLYCONLAN

COURTESY OF BENFOLDS.COM

COURTESY OF RARARIOT.COM

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now old enough to comprehendenough of what’s going on andthey need it.”

He passionately believes thatuniversity students best receivehis music, and apparently he isn’tthe only one. Rolling Stone maga-zine included Folds on the list ofcollege students’ favorite artists.

What is it that makes Folds’music so appealing? Maybe it’s hischarming voice that accompanieshis magical pianist skills, or maybeit’s his willingness to collaboratewith virtually any artist. “I takethings on sort of a day at atime. Katy Perry and I have beenthreatening to go into the studioand make a song at some point.”

With such a widespread varietyof artists, it’s inevitable for musiclovers to find some works by Foldsthat will fulfill their interests. Hisquirky sense of humor and easy-going attitude undoubtedly defineshis character and creates a sense ofcomfort between him and his fans.When asked what his next en-deavor will be, Folds respondedwith wit and said, “A cooking show.Then I’ll launch a new perfume.”

instruments of percussion, their orchestral feel waseven more moving and beautiful live than on theirrecordings.

In the middle of their dynamic set, Ra Ra Riot sur-prised their audience by breaking the carefree andupbeat mood with a haunting ballad on their sopho-more album “Orchard”. Cellist Alexandra Lawn, onlead vocals, took the audience on an intense, emo-tional ride with her stunning performance of “You andI Know.” Because of her passionate tone and bluesyvoice, her stage presence sent chills to everyone lis-tening.

Ra Ra Riot’s mass appeal and complete aurora onstage stemmed from how individually different theyall are. The moment they stepped on to perform, theyeach contributed their own element of personality.While Rebecca Zeller, the violinist stayed completelyfocused and into her music, quirky Mathieu Santosdanced around with his bass. Their noticeable per-sonas complemented each other and added to thecontrolled chaos on stage. Ra Ra Riot’s exhilaratingperformance was enough to have fans screaming fora second encore.

Gameloft’s Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is as challeng-ing as it is unforgiving. Featuring a virtual joystick and but-tons for attacking, blocking and jumping, Warrior Within hasa very similar control scheme to Gameloft’s other action ti-tles. Setting Warrior Within apart, however, is an additionalcontrol in the top left corner that controls the Prince of Per-sia’s Sands of Time. The Sands grant the Prince his temporalabilities, allowing him to speed up, slow down and reversetime among other things. Using these powers will help thePrince through 12 chapters of intense combat and some ofthe best platforming on the iPod Touch.

—Jason Pearl

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

App o

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eek Prince of Persia: Warrior Within