REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW // BLUE VALENTINE
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There is an extraordinarily misanthropic saying that happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet. Derek Cianfrance's anti-date movie Blue Valentine would seem to validate that cynical boast, unfurling with all the sting and vicious intimacy of a freshly opened wound. The film opens amidst the ruins of a rapidly crumbling marriage. Dean (Ryan Gosling) is an amiable layabout who is seemingly content with his directionless path through life, wishing only for his wife's love, his little daughter's happiness and a job that permits him to start drinking at eight in the morning. Cindy (Michelle Williams) is an ambitious medical student who finds that her initial attraction towards Dean's slacker charm has wilted into bitter resentment and even outright physical repulsion.
In a last-ditch effort to resuscitate their devastated love life, the unhappy couple check into a sleazy sex hotel and struggle to recapture the physical and emotional fireworks that held them in dual rapture for the better part of their five years together. As the evening unfolds, the film periodically flashes back to happier
times, outlining the entire trajectory of their romance from their tender first encounter to their sexually-charged courtship to the painful circumstances that preceded their wedlock and paved the way for future discontent.
Perhaps Blue Valentine's most engrossing quality is its heightened sense of impartial benevolence. Cindy and Dean might be deeply flawed and emotionally crippled, but both are intrinsically good at heart and the audience is never asked to take sides against one or the other, merely to observe and reflect. Williams and Gosling's performances are nothing short of a double revelation, especially because their dialogue here was largely improvised after living together in-character while the cameras rolled.
We feel every sling and salve,every ounce of misplaced rage and misguided atonement. In life,and especially in a film this adrift in vicarious suffering,these are the moments to savor.
// LANDON MCDONALD
MUSIC REVIEW // BARDO POND – 'BARDO POND'
Bardo Pond plays a grungy style of psychedelic drone rock. The prolific group has released nearly 20 LPs since forming in 1991 and is known for long and sprawling songs with heavy reliance on repetition and sustained soundscapes. It's like Mogwai's brand of post-rock but less progressive and more concerned with a trudging, dark kind of shoegaze. Many of the records confront esoteric topics such as space, drugs, sex and spirituality.
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On the band's latest self-titled offering, the subject matter seems to remain the same and the heaviness is still far-out and ear-wrenching. But Isobel Sollenberger's sweet cry softens the blow. The opener "Just Once" begins with a simple backbeat that allows twisted guitars, harmonica and flute to wander listlessly before really launching into chaos - heavy bass repetition and screaming hot guitars burn for another four minutes. The second track, "Don't Know About You" is much more aggressive with heavy riffing and thick distortion underneath Sollenberger's
muttering: "If Jesus is comin' / Well, I'm willing to wait / I don't know about you / But I'm willing to wait." It's menacing and not as uplifting as the lyrics might suggest. After repeating that lyric and the same basic structure a few times the song dissolves into the next track with a pair of strumming acoustic guitars and ambient swells on top. It makes sense that the song is titled "Sleeping," as it's Bardo's softest moment on the record. The next track must be the demented dream that goes with the slumber. "Undone" is nearly rhythmless for the first half, with Sollenberger's strange phrases and penetrating guitar noises along with it. It's the album's longest track at 21 minutes — drums don't even come into play until exactly the halfway point. The final ten minutes are spent plummeting through noise; this is not for the faint of heart.
This beautiful and haunting monster will put you into a trance and send you through heaven and hell along the way.
★★★★ // ALEX TRETBAR
Contributed by Kylie McMains/The Daily O'Collegian
Sophomore forward Carolyn Davis got into four trouble early and played just 16 minutes. She scored nine points for the night.
her in check in the second half, allowing her to score just two more points the rest of the night. In the second half the Jayhawks evened up the rebound total, grabbing 19 compared to Oklahoma State's 20.
"I thought the post players made some ad-
I think we're very careful. I think as a team wins comes we get closer and closer as a team and more confidence in each other. That is what we need right now, we need to stay together and just have that confidence," Jackson said in an interview with 1320 KLWN.
Edited by Jacque Weber
SOFTBALL
Bond of Hull sisters strengthens play on the field
BY HANNAH WISE hwise@kansan.com
Sophomore twins Rosie and Maggie Hull have been playing together since they could throw a ball.
"Softball is a game where it is hard to go out and play by yourself." Rosie said. "You needed another person to play catch or
you always had your teammate there and your best friend there to help you"
Their father was instrumental in the beginning of their softball career by taking them out to play catch together from an early age. Growing up, they learned to throw with both arms and hit on each side of the plate, even though they are both right handed off the field. Now, Rosie throws with
her right and Maggie throws with her left.
"We would just switch gloves all the time and it wasn't until high school when we decided to stick with one," Rosie said.
The twins' shared experiences have helped them grow as athletes. During their junior year of high school, Maggie tore her ACL playing basketball. A month later, Rosie also tore her ACL
playing basketball at almost the same spot on the court as Maggie had.
"I can't tell you, when it happened it was like it happened to my other half," Maggie said. "Literally, I felt like I knew exactly when she went down that it was ACL. I could just tell from the pain that she was in."
FACTS ABOUT THE HULL TWINS MAGGIE ROSIE
They did rehab together. They were on crutches together. It bonded them more than ever before. As twins, Rosie and Maggie have learned over the years to stop trying to fight their differences and embrace their similarities.
"We have really been through it all together and we know how hard the other has worked our entire lives and so we can just share in this joy together," Maggie said.
Their differences stand out most on the softball field.. Rosie is a slapper and leads off the batting line up for the Jayhawks. Maggie is a power hitter and sits in the sixth spot.
"When you're out there on the field and you're in uniform and sometimes there are batting helmets and all this stuff." Rosie said. "It is cool to be out on the softball field and to see our differences about the game be brought out when we are at the plate."
They had a strong freshman
season for the Jayhawks. Rosie managed 55 hits and 21 runs with a .350 batting average. Maggie had 38 hits, 13 runs and a .253 batting average.
The offseason gave them the opportunity to be stronger and faster. After just ten games, they are on track to surpass their previous season stats. Rosie has 12 hits and 12 runs with one home run. Maggie has 12 hits and 11 runs with two home runs. They are two major offensive threats for the Jayhawks and can only become stronger over their junior and senior seasons.
Their number one goal going into recruitment was to play softball for the same school. Being able to both play for Kansas was a dream for the Hulls.
"Maggie really is my number one fan," Rosie said. "She is the one who gets it, the one who is always pulling for me, always so happy when I get hits and when I do my best. It's the same for我 I am just as happy when she gets up and does the job as when I do it myself."
And when Maggie found out that Rosie was going to get the hit-away signal for the first time in her college career, she was so excited. That hit-away signal resulted in Rosie's homer.
Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
Teams with talent are underachieving, small schools are confusing people with their stellar records yet IV-like schedule, and the top eight or so teams have separation anxiety with the rest of the pack. The top four teams all went down last week, the first time that's happened since 2003.
Look up at East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State and future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo. The guy could be in a coma and make the Final Four, accomplishing the feat six of the last 12 years. Izzos squad has been mediocre to bad all season, sitting on the bubble since Christmas it seems. Want to bet against this probable 11-seed?
knows.
Maybe smaller schools like BYU and San Diego State can make a run? They've hung around the top 10 all season, beating up on powerhouses like Air Force and Wyoming.
So when the experts on ESPN tell you who's primed for an early upset, or which dark horse will make a deep run, don't listen. They don't know this year, and neither do we. If you must donate your $5 and fill out a bracket, don't waste your time doing research this year. Do what every bracket champion does: Pick the coolest mascot and hope for the best.
When you drop down the rankings a bit, you see teams like North Carolina and Kentucky, a pair of teams with more McDonald's high school All-Americans than the McDonald's All-American game this year. They've underachieved somewhat, but who wants to bet against those teams early in the tournament? The talent could surprise anyone for one game.
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— Edited by Brittany Nelson