REVIEWS
MOVIE REVIEW // THE GREEN HORNET
> Hollywood hits, indie flicks and everything in between
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If the movie-going public is suffering from superhero fatigue, blame it on films like the new Seth Rogen vehicle The Green Hornet. What could have been a vry send-up of comic book cinema quickly devolves into a series of limp visual gags, seemingly ad-libbed dialogue and unlikeable characters. The film's transgressions seem all the more grievous given the glut of talent involved, notably Superbad scribes Rogen and Evan Goldberg and director Michel Gondry, whose creative mojo has floundered since helming Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004.
The plot kicks in with the death of newspaper mogul James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), a tragedy that leaves his hard-partying son Britt (Rogen) charged with the task of running his media empire. At first the spoiled Britt, whose abject self-loathing and banal daddy issues make him seem like Tony Stark's bitchy little brother, has no intention of succeeding his old man.
But that quickly changes when he befriends Kato (Jay Chou), his father's former manservant whose skills include a mastery of all martial
arts and the ability to make Rogen clap his hands and giggle with stoned delight every time a new trick is revealed. After a drunken scheme to desecrate the elder Reid's grave results in the thwarting of a gang of muggers, the two are soon patrolling the streets of Los Angeles as masked vigilantes.
The Hornet's adversary is an insecure crime lord, played with manic gusto by Christoph Waltz in a role that goes nowhere despite the Oscar winner's efforts to overcome the anemic material. The idea of a super-villain going through a midlife crisis is a hilarious concept, but it doesn't work here. The weakest actor in The Green Hornet is Cameron Diaz, who all but exhausts her slick as the Hornet's token cougar of a secretary. She's the personification of the movie itself: overexposed, underwritten and way too eager to please.
// LANDON MCDONALD
MUSIC REVIEW // SMITH WESTERNS - DYE IT
BLONDE | 2011 (FAT POSSUM)
> KJHK's weeklv guide to sonic consumption.
Smith Westerns released their debut LP The Smith Westerns on HoZac Records back in June 2009, and despite the album's extreme (likely unlistenable to some) lo-fi recording quality, listeners latched onto the damaged guitar hooks and feel-good garage-pop aesthetic. The group maintains its unique take on pop with the latest offering Dye It Blonde, but the album is noticeably crisper and less drowned in chunky distortion. I fell in love with the blaring, compressed guitar tones on the debut LP, but simply attributed them to the method of recording. Dye It Blonde is cleaner but it still offers that charming dirt.
Opener "Weekend" begins with a bubbly lead guitar lick that recalls '60s pop and '70s glam. The sound is in line with that of present-day dirty garage rockers Black Lips, but the Westerns come off as less destructively drunk and more concerned with the beautiful simplicity of youth and the young love that comes with it. The guitar tone on "Fallen In Love" is up one of the darker alleys of The Beatles' trademark sound (think Taxman) and "Helter Skelter"), and "Smile" resides in David Bowie's vein of glam-pop.
Many of today's bands are undoubtedly
recreating the vintage tones and styles of their chosen predecessors, particularly within the modern revival of garage and psychedelic rock. Smith Westerns may look far into the past for influences, but the subject matter on Dye It Blonde is that of timeless youth and bittersweet boy-girl tales. On "End of the Night," singer/guitarist Cullen Omori boils young desire down to a simple phrase: "Everybody wants to be a star on Saturday night."
// ALEX TRETBAR
★★★☆
FORMALDEHYDE belongs in your Biology Lab.
METHANOL belongs in the antifreeze in Your Car.
ACETIC ACID belongs in floor wipes to clean up a spill at The Union.
All three were in your last cigarette.
If you're ready to quit smoking, Kansas Tobacco Quitline and Student Health Services' KanUquit counselors are ready to help you quit.
KU Student Health Services
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(785) 864-9573
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Sophomore forward Thomas Robinson and his seven-year-old sister Jayla arrive at funeral services for their mother, Lisa Robinson, Thursday at Antioch Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
Thomas and Jayla gain support of thousands throughout Jayhawk nation
BY ANDY MARSO editor@kansan.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thomas Robinson got out of a black limousine and immediately went to comfort his seven-year-old sister Jayla, who was waiting outside Antioch Baptist Church Thursday morning.
Jayla's hair was done up in meticulous braids with blue beads at the tips. She clung to her brother's waist and scrunched down against the fur lining of her parka's collar.
basketball team. Robinson's grandmother died in late December and his grandfather died less than three weeks later. Then, last Friday, the most shocking blow — his mother, Lisa Robinson, died from an apparent heart attack at age 43.
By the end of the day Robinson's pain would bring together the people from this neighborhood on the east side of Washington, D.C., and the entire Kansas men's basketball team. Together, in a modest red-brick church, they remembered Lisa Robinson and sought to comfort Thomas, Jayla and their brother Jamah.
Javorn Farrell played with Robinson at Riverdale Baptist High School in Maryland. Now a sophomore guard at the University of Massachusetts, he had a game Wednesday at St. Bonaventure University, but caught the first flight out of Buffalo, N. Y., Thursday morning to attend the funeral.
Robinson's family and friends arrived throughout the morning, driving through half-plowed
streets after a storm dumped several inches of snow on the District the night before.
Just before noon, Robinson's current basketball brothers
"When I got the news, I was heartbroken," Farrell said. "Thomas is like a brother to me."
SEE ROBINSON ON PAGE 5A
Members of the basketball team stop to console teammate Thomas Robinson, left seated, during funeral services for his mother, Lisa Robinson, Thursday at Antioch Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDEX
Classifieds...11A
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...3A
Sports...12A
Sudoku...4A
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contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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SIMIEN | 12A
No.23 jersey to be retired during game tomorrow
Watch Saturday's halftime as Wayne Simien's Jersey is ceremoniously raised.
DEPRESSION | 9A
Learn how to beat those blues
Winter can be a dark time — for the skies and the mind. Read about how to lighten up and defeat Seasonal Affective Disorder.
1
Former Associate Athletics Director Blubaugh admits to involvement in the athletics ticket scandal and now faces prison time.
SCANDAL|9A
进
Ticket defendant pleads guilty
SEE SPEECH ON PAGE 5A
CELEBRATION
History brought alive for Kansas Day
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BY ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON amcnaughton@kansan.com
The year was 1861 and a tumultuous year it was.
After nearly a decade of fighting and debates regarding slavery, Kansas had become known as "Bleeding Kansas."
At the height of those battles and in the midst of the uncertainty that faced the nation, President James Buchanan signed the bill admitting Kansas, a free state, as the 34th state in the Union.
Kansas Day on Jan. 29 will mark the sesquicentennial, Kansas' 150th birthday, as well as the 134th observed celebration of Kansas' statehood. Events and activities statewide will help commemorate the day.
"Kansas Day is a good opportunity to raise awareness of our state and make people proud to be a Kansan," said Mary Madden, the director of education and outreach for the Kansas State Historical Society and lecturer in the Museum Studies program at the University of Kansas.
Madden, who is originally from Cleveland, but came to Kansas to
求
SEE TRIBUTE ON PAGE 9A