Features
Check out our list for the Best Albums of 2011. Our #1 pick was also my personal favorite for the year, M83′s “Hurry Up We’re Dreaming.” Hit the link for my blurb on it.
Check out our list for the Best TV Shows of 2011. I wrote the blurb for our #2 pick, Breaking Bad (which just barely lost out to Louie).
Class starts in 10 minutes, and the person sitting next to you smells kind of funny. You don’t want to talk to him, but looking over your notes from the last lecture doesn’t sound very appealing, either. Then it hits you: “Angry Birds Seasons” just released 30 new levels!
Before you know it, you’ve spent the hour trying to destroy that one pig hiding underneath a stone slab, smiling that stupid little smirk each time you fail, and class is already over.
We’ve all been there or have at least witnessed someone silently celebrating a 50-point move on “Words with Friends” or anguishing the sun setting on another “Tiny Wings” run. With the rise of the smartphone, so came the rise of the casual gamer.
Q&A with David Anspaugh, director of Hoosiers and Rudy
Born in Decatur, Ind., director David Anspaugh is a Hoosier to the core. ¶ After graduating from IU in 1970, Anspaugh moved to the West Coast to dedicate his life to filmmaking. After honing his skills on shows such as “Hill Street Blues” and “Miami Vice,” Anspaugh came home to direct two of our most beloved sports movies, “Hoosiers” and “Rudy.” ¶ Anspaugh chatted with WEEKEND about life at IU, what it means to be a Hoosier filmmaker, working with Sean Astin and, unfortunately, not working with Bobby Knight.
Reviews
The Duke Spirit “Bruiser” – The Brit-rockers of The Duke Spirit have been on the stateside music scene since 2005, releasing a couple of albums and playing pretty much every talk show Americans love and cherish.
It is quickly apparent with its third LP “Bruiser” that The Duke Spirit is looking for a little more recognition. But in an album that never really seems to take off, these Londoners might still have some work to do.
Childish Gambino “CAMP” – The recent news of NBC’s shelving of “Community,” a show with a fierce fan base but overall poor ratings, meant that a few actors will be having a bit of an extended vacation. For Donald Glover, who plays Troy in the comedy, it just means he gets to spend more time as his other persona – rapper Childish Gambino.
Angels and Airwaves “LOVE: Part Two” – Remember when Blink-182 broke up back in 2005, and you were all sad? Then Blink guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge formed Angels & Airwaves, which sounds pretty much exactly like Blink-182, and everything was okay again? Don’t we all.
They Might Be Giants “Album Raises New and Troubling Questions” – They Might Be Giants released its 15th album, “Join Us,” earlier this year. The band probably should have been content with that.
Deer Tick “Divine Providence” – ”We’re fuck-up men, we act like kids,” screams Deer Tick’s lead singer John McCauley on “The Bump,” the opening track from the folk-rockers’ new album, “Divine Providence.”
M83 “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” – Coming off of the magnificent “Saturdays=Youth,” it was hard to believe M83’s Anthony Gonzalez could ever top it. Gonzalez created a double LP of epic proportions with a run time of 72 minutes of pure bliss and called it “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” to prove us all wrong.
Evanescence “Evanescence” – Remember back in 2003 when Evanescence had hit tracks like “Going Under” and “Bring Me To Life” across the Billboard charts? Just barely? Figured.
We Were Promised Jetpacks “In the Pit of the Stomach” – While We Were Promised Jetpacks’ second full-length LP, “In the Pit of the Stomach,”is certainly a pleasant album to listen to, that might not exactly be a good thing.
Blink-182 “Neighborhoods” - It’s been close to eight years since their self-titled LP was released in 2003, but the Blink-182 dudes are back in a big way with “Neighborhoods,” an album nearly three years in the works.
St. Vincent “Strange Mercy” – Too often these days, the big names in the music industry pump out formulaic, over-produced pieces of garbage while resting on their laurels, knowing we’re all going to listen to them anyway.
If there is one thing that can be said for St. Vincent’s “Strange Mercy,” it’s that the album is certainly not a formulaic piece of garbage, and that’s the point.
Girls “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” – The first single released by Girls on the new album “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” is a nearly seven-minute ballad of unrequited love for a woman not yet met called “Vomit.”
The Rapture “In the Grace of Your Love” – Who says disco is dead?
Well, it probably is, but The Rapture’s third full-length LP, “In the Grace of Your Love,” delivers some pretty funky dance tunes reminiscent of an era long since passed.
Apollo 18 – “Apollo 18,” directed by newcomer Gonzalo López-Gallego, is based on the premise that Apollo 17, the last mission NASA conducted to the moon, wasn’t the last mission after all.
The Beaver- Sometimes we all just need someone to talk to. After a rough day, it feels good to unload our problems onto someone else for awhile.Walter Black (Mel Gibson) in “The Beaver” takes that idea a little bit too far as a depressed toy executive who completely retreats inside himself and allows Beaver, a hand puppet beaver, to do all his talking for him.
Win Win – Appearing in movies such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Big Fat Liar” and “The Illusionist” throughout the last two decades, Paul Giamatti has strung together a rather eclectic résumé
DVD – Dexter’s Killer Fifth Season – The wait is almost over — on October 2, “Dexter” is back for its sixth season on Showtime. For some, the wait would have been unbearable without the season five DVD to alleviate the suspense.