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REVIEWS
MUSIC: Taylor Swift, Fearless
WithTaylor Swift'slist ofaccomplishments and awards gained throughout the past two years,her new album,Fearless,is appropriately titled."Fearless" is the perfect description of Swift's ability to boldly reveal her thoughts and emotions with lyrics that are familiar to her fans without being cliché.
Swift's music speaks to every emotion. When she's in love, she sings about it, and her adoration shines through. When she's upset about a break-up, she sings about that, too, and her sad or angry feelings are as equally heartfelt as her happy ones.
"Love Story," the album's first single, is an adorable and enchanting, well, love story. The song even has a reference to Romeo and Juliet's clandestine romance. The album's title track describes a head-over-heels relationship that makes her feel fearless, and "Change" is a rewed-up anthem calling for a revolution. On the sad side of the album, "Forever & Always" expresses Swift's disappointment in a failed relationship, and "Tell Me Why" is a fast-paced tune with an angry message about a boy who knows how to "ruin someone's perfect day." Her lyrics read like a page in a diary, and her music is easy on the ears. Her country isn't too country, and her pop isn't too pop.
Swift is a new brand of teenage superstar. Unlike some of her rehab-ridden contemporaries, she continues to propel herself forward with maturity and dignity. Her songs' subject matter is youthful, but her ability to write songs that appeal to so many is mature. Her humble honesty and genuine attitude make Fearless a truly enjoyable album.
Amanda Sorell
MOVIE: Quantum of Solace
The James Bond franchise received a much needed overhaul with 2006's Casino Royale. The film moved away from the campy tricks and drab dialogue that had started to be Bond film staples, and toward a deeper and more violent type of film. The newest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, increases the smash-and-grab violence of its predecessor, but fails to deliver much else.
Daniel Craig plays James Bond, a British intelligence agent who is just as focused on serving the queen as he is any pretty lady within a city block. As in previous Bond films, Agent 007 is both cool and sexy Craig plays him well, bringing a lost and brooding mentality to the role. He does seem a little one-dimensional, however, but depth is hard to come by when you're busy shooting sub-machine guns while clutching the wheel of an Aston Martin.
The problem with the film is not in the acting—which is spot-on—but in the story.The plot is as confusing as it is vague, with mentions of an underground group simply known as Quantum, which is never revealed. Bond himself has not developed further from Casino, and love interest Camille, played well by Olga Kurylenko, is hardly developed at all.
The film's main attraction may also be its biggest drawback: the special effects. The computer-generated brawls and exploding buildings look exquisite, but feel like they don't belong in a James Bond film. Sure, they make you gasp and make your eyes light up, but they leave you wanting more.
Where is the James Bond everyone knows and loves? It seems the raw suspense and tactfulness developed in early Bond films and echoed some in Casino are gone.What is left are detailed effects and a drab story that takes the plot nowhere.
Quantum is meant to be the second film in a trilogy, but it fails to build on the film before it. For Bond fanatics, this movie is worth seeing, but for everyone else, you won't miss much by avoiding this one.
Mark Arehart
MUSIC: Lady Gaga, The Fame
In many ways, Lady Gaga is Justin Timberlake's new female counterpart. Like Timberlake's 2006 release, Future Sex/Love Sounds, her album The Fame is a futuristic voyage of spaceship rock, full of electropop hooks and dance floor come-ons.
Many people are familiar with her fabulous first single, "Just Dance," an instantly catchy track that's nearly impossible not to dance to. There are many more like it on this almost entirely upbeat album, including the easy-to-sing-along-to track "Boys Boys Boys," the Mariah Carey-esque "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say);" and "Starstruck," which features an obligatory rap from Flo Rida. The only slow track is the electric guitar and piano driven "Brown Eyes."
While the album is great for a night out, it does leave the listener with a sense of a void, similar to what one might feel after too much partying. There's glamor and intrigue on the surface, but listeners will only find an empty hole as they try to delve
deeper.The music, just like one of the song titles, is all about feeling "Beautiful, Dirty. Rich."
The Fame is the Paris Hilton of albums: it might be a good time for awhile, but you'll ultimately move on to something else.
—Elise Stawarz
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November 20,2008