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Arts & Entertainment The Bank Job More Than Just Stratham Violence By Aaron Isaac Feldstein Editor-In-Chief When going into the cinema to see a Jason Stratham film, it is easy to think of his recent streak of all fight, no story action films. What tends to be forgotten are the story driven movies that earned him his success. British movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch utilized Stratham’s acting skills and not his ability to be a punching bag, like his Hollywood-esque movies War and Transporter. Well, with his new movie, Bank Job, Stratham has returned to the movie type that made his name known across the States. And all he had to do was go back to his British roots. The Bank Job takes place in 1970s England, where a black activist, cleverly named Michael X, has some incriminating photos of the Princess of England. When he threatens to use this against the country, the government gets involved and tries to make sure the pictures don’t see the light of day. So it dispatches car dealer and petty thief Stratham to do it. Stratham and his friends are brought on to set up the heist, although they think it is only for the money and jewels in the safety deposit boxes. What ensues is a complex, yet easy to follow bank heist movie filled with corruption, HAM radio operators, the phrase pooh-pooh land and a kidney stone that passes at the most inopportune moment. The film had a nice pace to it, getting into the story right The Bank Job Local Showimes UA COURT STREET STADIUM 12 108 Cour St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 Times: 12:00 p.m, 2:35, 5:15, 7:45, 10:15 REGAL BATTERY PARK STADIUM 16 102 North End Ave., New York, NY 10281 Times: 12:00 p.m, 2:25, 5:00, 7:35, 10:10 By Jordan Axt The Chronicle (Duke) Erykah Badu has always been one to buck trends and create her own style, whether in her neo-soul music or audacious and colorful fashion choices. Her newest release, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, continues Badu's habit of defying expectations. The album, Badu's first release in five years, is the initial volume in a two (or perhaps three)part series in which Badu attempts to "talk for my race and my planet." Taking one look at the album's cover creates similar hopes of passionate social commentary, as drawings of weapons, syringes and dollar signs all float above the singer's pensive head. Unfortunately, Badu's work fails to make good on the promises of her album cover. Not only do most of her tracks seem uninspired and poorly produced, even her best songs fall short of the ardent and relevant discourse (Terry (Jason Statham), Kevin Swain (Stephen Campbell Moore), Guy Singer (James Faulkner), Bambas (Alki David) and Dave Shilling (Daniel Mays) in THE BANK JOB. (Photo credit: Jack English) off the bat. The movie doesn’t hesitate and take its time introducing everybody before getting to the reason the audience paid $11 to see it. However, director Roger Donaldson could’ve made the character introductions a little more in depth. As quickly as the plot was thrown at the audience, so were the characters. As the story moves forward, the characters are quickly introduced, along with their backgrounds and how they relate to the others. This is juggled with attempting to keep up with the film’s story line. I would’ve liked a quick five-minute scene that let me know the relationships of everyone. This missing fact didn’t hurt the film, but it could’ve made it a little better. The actors in the film did a nice job, but no performance stands out as Oscar worthy. Daniel Mays delivers the only noteworthy performance. Mays, who in America would be best known as Pilot No. 3 in Pearl Harbor, plays an actor and is definitely the comedy relief of the film. His cheeky antics, quick comedy and childish smile make the audience like this guy and really root for him. It also helps she had guaranteed. "Soldier," with its smooth, simple beat and perfect vocals, still remains too vague and broad Seawanhaka Seawanhaka that the films his character stars in are the type parents shouldn’t take their children to see. The final part of the film that struck me was the filming. Donaldson, whose films credits include Cocktail, No Way Out and Dante’s Peak, has a tendency to do close ups of the characters during conversation. The close ups Donaldson used made the audience focus on the character, but nothing else. However, the shots didn’t do anything to reveal who the character was, and just seemed like an attempt to do something different. If so, it didn’t work. The other part of the filming was how Donaldson followed characters going from point A to point B. Normally in films the director shows the character going somewhere, and in the next shot they are at the destination. In The Bank Job, Donaldson follows the character up the stairs, through the door down the hall, up the next stairs and onto the roof. It is a shot back to Italian Neorealism films that made this popular, but in this case, you want the story to move. This type of filming really seemed that they were trying to fill time to make the movie longer. This film doesn’t jump off the screen like a heist movie should, but it doesn’t put the audience to sleep either. In fact, the audience I was with was yelling at the screen, cheering when something went right, booing went something went wrong, and laughing when it realized the type of films Mays’ character makes. Overall, I feel this is a movie worth seeing. I wouldn’t put it top on the list, but one that should be seen for its historic value if nothing else. And if you’re interested in going because you want to watch Stratham headbutt somebody, be patient, you’ll get your five minutes of Jason Stratham being Jason Stratham. Erykah Badu visits 'New Amerykah' to be taken as a serious treatise on life in America. Badu peripherally mentions "Iraqi fields," "falling towers" and "broken levees," simply condemning every controversial political situation without ever giving her own position or solution to The nation's problems. Furthermore, some of Badu's work is just bubbly pop music-enjoyable, catchy music, but pop music nonetheless. The album's first single, "Honey", offers "daring and provocative" lyrics like "You're so sweet/All I gotta do is add a little lemon/You're my favorite drink/You make me think." In other words, this could easily be a Mariah Carey song (yes, I know Mariah Carey also has a song called "Honey"). By attempting to create an album that produces a serious dialogue about issues in this country, Badu becomes another example of an artist biting off more than she can chew. Be sure to appreciate New Amerykah for what it is -a nice soul album-and not for what it wants to be, a serious and critical approach to modern America. March 12, 2008 Page 14
Arts & Entertainment STEVEN STRAIT as D’Leh in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ epic adventure “10,000 B.C.” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures) 10,000 Below Average By Michael Ng Staff Writer If you were wondering what life was like in 10,000 B.C., apparently there was plenty of trash talking, pep rallies, sarcasm and deep romantic poetry, and it was all done in English, with British accents. In spite of a ridiculous and inaccurate portrayal of the movie’s time period, 10,000 B.C. is a tale about a young hunter’s quest to save the love of his life. The movie revolves around D’leh (Steven Strait, The Covenant) a young hunter who falls in love with Evolet (Camilla Belle, When a Stranger Calls) the second he lays his eyes on her. According to the Old Mother of their tribe, the two are destined to be together. In the midst of a rather peaceful day, a group of mysterious and powerful warlords come into their village and begin to kill or capture everyone. Amongst those caught was Evolet, whose beauty draws the warlord’s attention and quickly makes his intentions known. With the love of his life in the hands of a cruel warlord, D’leh and the few remaining hunters of his tribe set forth on an unforgettable journey to save the rest of their tribe. There were many moments that will crack a smile on your face, not because anything funny was said, but rather due to the movie’s insanely ridiculous attempt at portraying life in 10,000 B.C. which caused a lot of “huh’s?” to run through the audience’s minds. If you block out the oversized creatures and the 10,000 B.C. setting, the plot would actually be quite interesting. But unfortunately the movie doesn’t do that, and the heroic tale of D’leh, whose character draws some resemblance to Jack Bauer, was ruined. The action scenes were lacking and poor whenever there was a fight. You would 10,000 B.C. Local Showimes UA COURT STREET STADIUM 12 108 Court St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 Times: 11:00 a.m, 12:00 p.m, 1:30, 2:30, 4:00, 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:40, 10:40 THE PAVILION 188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Times: 12:00 p.m, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00 REGAL BATTERY PARK STADIUM 11 102 North End Ave., New York, NY 10281 Times: 12:00 p.m, 1:20, 2:30, 4:10, 5:10, 7:00, 8:00, 9:45, 10:45 Seawanhaka expect to see some hardcore fight scenes between armies of people similar to the movie 300, but instead, giant elephants with tusks take up most of the screen and become the focal point, while the humans were barely recognizable. Also despite several big fight scenes in the movie, it was a nosebleed from an elderly woman that provided us with the only glimpse of blood in the movie. The lack of blood in a war with swords and arrows seemed shameful, and would make the WWE proud. The movie is written, produced and directed by Roland Emmerich, who created The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. If you’re a person that likes the CGI experience then this movie will definitely please you. The scenery is amazing and the enormous creatures in the movie looked realistic. But the plot is weak and doesn’t give you the edge of your seat feel like Emmerich’s previous movies. The movie also lacks any star power with the most recognizable actor being Cliff Curtis who played the Deputy Director in Live Free or Die Hard. Screening Room Weekend Box Office 1. 10,000 B.C. - $35.7 Million 2. College Road Trip -$14 Million 3. Vantage Point - $7.5 Million 4. Semi-Pro - $5.9 Million 5. The Bank Job - $5.7 Million 6. Spiderwick Chronicles - $4.8 Million 7. Other Boleyn Girl - $4 Million Theater Releases 03/14 Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! Doomsday Funny Games Never Back Down DVD Releases 03/18 Enchanted Atonement Love in the Time of Cholera The Mist Southland Tales Revolver Recording Studio Top 5 Singles 1. Usher ft. Young Jeezy - “Love In This Club” 2. Flo Rida ft. T-Pain - “Low” 3. Chris Brown - “With You” 4. Rihanna - “Don’t Stop the Music” 5. Sara Bareilles - “Love Song” Top 5 Albums 1. Janet Jackson - “Discipline” 2. Erykah Badu -“New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)” 3. Jack Johnson - “Sleep Through the Static” 4. Webbie - “Savage Life 2” 5. Alicia Keys - “As I Am” Television Ratings Top 5 Week of February 25, 2008 1. American Idol - Tues. (FOX) 16 Rating - 28.6 Million 2. American Idol - Wed. (FOX) 15.7 Rating - 27.6 Million 3. American Idol - Thurs. (FOX) 14.9 Rating - 26.2 Million 4. Oprah’s Big Give (ABC) 9.5 Rating - 15.7 Million 5. Deal or No Deal - Mon (NBC) 9.2 Rating - 15.4 Million Compiled by Nielsen Media Research March 12, 2008 Page 15 March 12, 2008 Vol. LXXXI, Issue 7
Page 1 and 2: Seawanhaka Celebrating 80 Years of
Page 3 and 4: Few, if any, college students know
Page 5 and 6: NEWS JOB ANNOUNCEMENT DO YOU WANT T
Page 7 and 8: Election 2008 Race Clouds Democrats
Page 9 and 10: Kuhr’s Corner By Jonathan Kuhr Ne
Page 11 and 12: Arts & Entertainment LIU Presents P
Page 13: Arts & Entertainment Music Dept. Br
Page 17 and 18: Arts & Entertainment Hollywood Happ
Page 19 and 20: Tough Love Vs. Man’s Point of Vie
Page 21 and 22: ack up by two. Nainima then put up
Page 23 and 24: Sports LAX Continues to Struggle, D
Page 25 and 26: Sports LIU Adds Women’s Bowling T
Page 27 and 28: Long Island 67, Quinnipiac 63 Long

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