reviews
MUSIC: The Fray, The Fray
It's been nearly four years since The Fray indulged fans with its mellow, cinematic sounds. Now the band is back with its self-entitled sophomore album in hopes of intriguing fans once more.
The Fray swooned, courted and wedged its way into the hearts of music lovers with songs such as "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head." The Fray's attempt to bring the same melodious sounds that were first produced is now a disappointment.
Almost each track starts off with the tuneful sounds of the piano, with the exception of "Syndicate" and "Absolute." Later the rich timbre of lead singer, Isaac Slade, flows through, followed by the guitar and drums. The Fray aims for a more dramatic sound, but fails to pull it off with the repetitive, dreary tunes.
In the first single, "You Found Me," the group's attempt to swoon fans was thwarted by the not-so-poetic lyrics of finding "God on the corner of First and Am仕ad/ where the West was all but won." In "Happiness," the lead vocalist makes an unpleasant sound by slurring the words for more than a minute while the chorus and instrument tune out each other. Ballads, such as "Ungodly Hour" and "Never Say Never," drag on as dull and repetitive.
Overall. The Fray does not produce the hit-making songs such as on the first album. The album is dull and lacks originality, falling into the endless category of temporary music with lack of variety. In the words of the Fray in "Never Say Never";"Pull it together again."
Brieun Scott
BOOK: Lisa Genova, Still Alice
Words such as "heartbreaking" and "haunting" come to mind after reading Lisa Genova's debut novel Still Alice. Thoughts about who I was, what makes me me, and what it would be like to lose it all followed me for days.
When respected Harvard professor Alice Howland begins forgetting things, she thinks it's the onset of menopause. But after consulting her physician, she is devastated with her diagnosis: early-onset Alzheimer's. Experiencing the memory-stealing disease through the intelligent and practiced mind of a renowned psychology professor, readers can expect a pleasant change of point from the usual caregiver's perspective. However, don't expect to learn much about the schematics of Alzheimer's itself. Even though Alice is married to a biologist, the science of what's happening to her is barely skimmed in comparison to the focus on her emotional and situational dilemmas.
As Alice wrestles with handling the difficulties of her dementia, Genova explores the relationships we choose with lovers, family and our careers. The unexpected ending might satisfy some and upset others. Either way, the story spotlights the struggle of those living with this still-mysterious disease. Though the dialogue is lumbering. Still
Alice is a thought provoking pioneer in the unexplored land of fiction narrated someone affected by Alzheimer's.
Meghan Nuckolls
MOVIE: Milk
In celebrating the life of Harvey Milk—the first openly gay elected official to hold a major political office—the filmmakers behind Milk portray a real man who cared about real issues without glamorization. Sean Penn's Harvey Milk is centrally located in the gay rights movement of the 1970s; not so much a leader but a projection of a moving force that grows as Milk and his team gain more and more ground at a time when homosexuality socially registered as deviancy.
For such a lyrical film, Milk strangely lacks intimacy to its titular character. We are given scenes between Harvey's inner circle and pillow talk between his lovers, but these scenes never develop much about him; rather they serve to reinforce the role he plays in the movement. Director Gus Van Sant shoots Milk from a distance, giving the viewer an odd mix of detachment and fascination.
This may have been a goal writer Dustin Lance Black and director Van Sant had in mind when constructing the movie—to put Milk's message of acceptance at the forefront—but this lets the film slip into biopic tropes and character sketches.
However, as a portrait of a person in context, Milk succeeds. Sean Penn again
proves himself as one of the United State's best living actors and the supporting cast delivers excellent performances.Van Sant's use of archival footage deepens the movies sense of place and time, which let Milk's actions resonate more in a film that is culturally relevant.
— Chance Dibben
Milk is playing at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts Street.
MOVIE: Push
This is not an action movie. Push is the marriage of X-Men and Heroes set in gritty Hong Kong gone bad. You have the watchers (fortune tellers), the stitch (a healer), the movers (telekinesis), the pushers (plant thoughts in your head) and a set of angry, screaming Chinese brothers who can cause a brain to bleed. The intent of the movie is another issue. It seems a select few in the world have the previously mentioned abilities. The U.S. government wants to round them up, inject them with a catalytic-type drug to make their abilities stronger, and create an army. The only problem is that each person they inject with this drug dies seconds after the injection. Kira, played by Camilla Belle, is the one exception. Agitated, she steals the drug and escapes from the institution.
In comes teen rebel Cassie Holmes—a watcher. Played by Dakota Fanning, Cassis is a no-nonsense kind of girl who can see her impending doom. She teams up with Nick Gant (Chris Evans), a mover, to take down those responsible for the drug in order to alter the future into a better tomorrow.The enemy, played expertly by Djimon Hounsou, in turn wants to take the drug back to U.S. government.
Between gritty Hong Kong, the different abilities and the constant switching of
loyalties, Push tries to be something it is not. It is not The Matrix as it tries to be, and the only action comes at random moments that often prove unnecessary. The one good thing I can say about this movie is that Fanning is no longer a child. With this movie, she transitions beautifully into the world of teenage angst.
Mia Iverson
22
Push is playing at Hollywood Theatres 14,6200 Sixth Avenue in Topeka.
February 12,2009