Scream 4 offers revamped killer, recycled thrills

Erin Blatney Staff Writer The Ghostface killer is back with a vengeance in Wes Craven’s newest installment to the Scream franchise, Scream 4. With tons of edge-of-your-seat scenes and blood galore, it is the perfect slasher film for today’s generation. Craven, the man behind the three other Scream movies, takes Scream 4 back to where it all started: the small town of Woodsboro, 10 years after the original killer began his spree. Main character Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, returns to her hometown on a book tour and her presence sets off a string of murders around the town by the notorious Ghostface. No time is wasted when it comes to gore, and barely…

Jumping in to Portal 2

Chase Porter Staff Writer Portal 2 has opened my eyes. For years, first person shooters have dominated the gaming world and now, finally there’s a shooter game that is still is loads of fun without shooting up virtual bad guys. Portal 2 is fun, visually appealing and well crafted. It rarely has a slip within the game play and plot. The attention to detail is extraordinary and you will have a blast playing this game for hours. “Personally, I don’t think the game would be as fun if you haven’t played the first game but you can still have a lot of fun playing through the puzzles and jumping through portals without knowing what’s going…

Arthur falls short of original

Chris Cummins Staff Writer Arthur, a remake of the 1981 comedy of the same name, follows the exploits of a drunken billionaire and trust fund baby, Arthur Bach, played with gusto by Russell Brand, and his nanny, Hobson (Helen Mirren), as the former navigates the high life of New York in a drunken haze, and as the latter cleans up what’s left of his parties. This arrangement seems to have worked out quite well, as a spinning headline of tabloid adventures can attest to, until Arthur is summoned to a visit with his cold and domineering mother Vivienne (Geraldine James), a female titan of industry, who threatens to cut him off from his considerable fortune,…

Review: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Chris Cummins Staff Writer Writing is concerned with questions. Everything that follows from a pen, literary or otherwise, is written with the purpose of answering some query, of finding steady ground. Sometimes, an answer is forthcoming, and the writer is able to find resolution to a question, and find the world a less unsteady place because of it. However, just as frequently, he finds no answer, and it is in this unfortunate shape of existence that the bulk of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, takes place and gives us an answer to the unanswerable through the simple, understated shrug of its shoulders. At first glance, there doesn’t seem…

The Strokes make all the right moves with Angles

After not releasing any new music for nearly five years, fans of The Strokes were elated to hear that the New York-based group was recording its fourth studio album. That was back in 2009, and finally in March, The Strokes dropped Angles, an album that sees the band forgetting the past and moving in to the future. The Strokes, made up of Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti, got its big break in 2001 with the release of its first album, Is This It. Its success started off slow, garnering more attention in Europe before America joined the bandwagon. Two more albums and one extensive break later, consisting of…

Sucker Punch fails to produce a knockout

By Wren Culp Staff Writer Reality is a prison and only your mind can set you free. Everything your mind creates to escape reality, you control. But the question remains, can Sucker Punch control its own world? Sucker Punch follows the story of Baby Doll (Emily Browning), a girl locked away in an insane asylum after being framed by her stepfather for the death of her younger sister. In the insane asylum, she meets Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung), all girls seeking the same thing: freedom. While in the asylum, the girls are instructed to dance as a way to let go of the harsh realities…

Newest Jane Eyre adaptation redefines Brontë classic

Rebecca Neumann Entertainment Editor After an excruciatingly long week of limited releases in Los Angeles and New York City, Charlotte Bronte fans across the rest of America are finally able to see the newest film adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The movie is worth the wait. It stays loyal to the themes of the novel but makes some key changes to broaden the viewing audience to a wider group of people. For instance, whereas the two main characters in the story are meant to be plain-looking in the novel, the actors cast in the film both have better-than-average looks. Luckily, this is the farthest the movie strays from the original themes of Charlotte Bronte’s…

Lykke Li gets emotional with new album

Erin Blatney Staff Writer She has collaborated with Drake, and had a song featured on the The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack, but it is doubtful you have heard of this Swedish sweetheart. At 24, Lykke Li has had a pretty fruitful career, and her new album, Wounded Rhymes, is yet another addition to her growing repertoire of amazing music. Recorded in Los Angeles, Wound Rhymes features a wide range of emotion and versatility. The album is sad, happy, romantic and everything in-between, and the excellent thing is she is able to sing about the same things as everyone else without having it sound like something played before. Starting things off quickly with the track…

Cut Copy shows dancy side with new album

Some people may shy away from music described as “’80s dance-pop”, myself being one of them, so I was a bit hesitant when purchasing Cut Copy’s new album Zonoscope.  There was no need for any skepticism, though, because Cut Copy proved that dance-pop has the ability to sound good. Zonoscope is Cut Copy’s third studio album and the perfect soundtrack for summer. And while it is not yet the summer season here in the U.S, Zonoscope can temporarily make you forget we had a snow day not too long ago. With its airy tunes and dance floor grooves, there is never a dull moment on the album. The album kicks off with the six minute…

Unknown: a horrible case of déjà vu

By Wren Culp Staff Writer/Web Mananger Oh, what a career Liam Neeson has had. Going from being a fork-lift operator to a considerable actor, Neeson has soared into the spotlight with countless hits like Schindler’s List and Taken, and now he has returned to the big screen with his latest movie, Unknown. As a movie buff, I noticed the trailers for films are often better, just as good or worse than the movies themselves. But when I saw the trailer for Unknown, I definitely didn’t know what to expect. The trailer shows Martin Harris (Neeson) get into a car accident while in Germany and almost drown before he is saved by the cab driver. When…