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Senior Staff Writer

I walked into The Retriever Weekly meeting the other day and apparently, Dark Horse Comics (of Hellboy fame) sent TRW three comics, an unbound graphic novel, and the first couple pages out of another series. To be honest, I’ve been kind of playing favorites lately, mostly with DC Comics (of Batman repute). They may not be comic blockbusters but these issues contain really good stories.

B.P.R.D., Issue #2

First, Hellboy’s agency, Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, has received a limited series, King of Fear, running five issues, till May, and follows the working lives of six B.P.R.D. members. Issue 2, finds Liz Sherman as she returns to find the slaughter of the monks she stayed with years before to learn to better control her pyrokinesis.  Furthermore, she has come out of a coma after being possessed.

Liz Sherman has always been a major player in Hellboy and it’s nice to see her spotlighted. She is very worn down and declines help offered by her comrades, Abe Sapien (an amphibious man) and Andrew Devon (a paranormal scholar). Liz and Abe have great banter between them and it’s funny to see Liz hell-bent on doing what she wants with Abe acting like her fishy-Jiminy-Cricket.  This feels like the precipice of Liz’s growth, spiritually. After all, she has mastered her powers and needs to feed her soul—what her encounter (at the end of the issue) with the mysterious Memnan Saa, means is unclear.

Plus, B.P.R.D. member, Dr. Kate Corrigan, gets reunited with an (un-human) old friend.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow

Keeping in the theme of the paranormal spin-offs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Willow Rosenberg, gets a one-shot that occurs before the events of Buffy Season 8 (the continuation of the television series, in comic format).

Having never really followed the Buffy series, it appears that Willow is a goddess and has to go on a spiritual journey that starts at a train station, reminiscent of a certain wizard school, complete with owls and all.

She has to run the gamut of spiritual obstacles while scenes of her with her girlfriend, Tara, are inserted into the story. It should also be mentioned that there aren’t a lot of LGBT super heroes around and it seems Willow is a great character to fill one of those voids. At times, she seems doubtful, but she takes charge and lets her deceivers know that she doesn’t work for them, they work for her.

The art is by Karl Moline and (if you can get past going from TV to 2D images) isn’t a bad break from the television series. Willow looks exactly like Alyson Hannigan. But glancing back at the cover, by Jo Chen, I think a continuation of a TV series needs Chen’s realistic touch.

Mass Effect: Redemption, Issue #1

The third comic is part of the Mass Effect: Redemption mini-series. Written by Mac Walters, one of the head writers of the game, it spotlights the character Liara, who investigates the disappearance of the character Commander Shepard.

This is what a mystery comic should be, and while it would be nice to have previous knowledge of the game, it is not necessary. The plot can be a stand alone and anyone that loves a good mystery and is a fan of space operas will like this story.

The art is by Omar Fancia who reminds me of DC Comics’ Nicola Scott; he is able to draw the characters’ expression really well and doesn’t over exaggerate anatomy. It’s refreshing that more artists are actually learning how to draw females without creating floatation devices on their chests.

However, I do have a quibble with the end of the story. There is a part where Liara meets someone with useless information, the Illusive Man – really, the Illusive Man? It comes off as comical, rather than serious. While this may seem small, the names of characters shouldn’t always be right on the nose; for Omega’s sake, leave the reader with something to think about.

3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man

Leaving the arena of the tie-ins, the graphic novel, 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man by Matt Kindt is a true work of art.

I have an affinity for one-man stories. Kindt almost meets all the needs of an epic story that is bigger than its subject. The story follows the life of Craig Pressgang, who has a tumor on his pituitary gland and cannot stop growing. This is classic science-fiction at its best. Kitsch stylizes the elements of WWII to provide a great backdrop to the mania that the main character creates.

Kindt has a knack for great storytelling; he goes through the lives of three women in Craig’s life (mother, wife, and daughter). Brilliantly done because, like any big event in the 40s, it focuses on the event and not the actual subject, Craig is more a force. After reading the comic with articles inserted in between flashbacks, the tragedy that is the giant man, catches up to you, even before the end. But like any train wreck, you can’t look away.

The graphic novel also is symbolic of the celebrities like Houdini and Billie Holiday, who were supposedly spies. His fame grants him recognition by the government who want to use him as support for the war.

His long extremities and bodily functions hinder the giant man, who is so out of place in society, he doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not. His wife thinks she is in love with him but really uses him as a cash cow and doesn’t realize the error she has made not thinking about the long-term consequences of high-profile marriage.

The ending was very strange, his daughter, ends the story by searching for him. He is the world’s largest man but it takes her days to find him. She tracks him through eyewitness accounts and pictures, much like Big Foot. Events that happened earlier in the story should have lead to the ending, not dropped it out in left field.

Troublemaker, Chapter One

Janet Evanovich (author of the Stephanie Plum series), has ventured into comics and is bringing all her witty humor and trouble with her.

Now, TRW has only received the first chapter out of the Troublemaker graphic novel and from the bat, the story builds up, even though nothing happens. Text boxes in front of a peaceful town provide a great contrast for the speaker, Alex Barnaby who says she has hid her best friends freight truck and her “friend Rosa [has] removed the dead body that was in the eighteen-wheeler’s storage compartment.”

The story seems to start with everyday humor that works itself to a frenzied climax, much like Evanovich’s other books.

The art is by Joelle Jones (Madam Xanadu) and is crisp and clear but a little zany like Evanovich’s stories.

Seems like a wild ride and it’s great that she has joined other novelists, like Jodi Picoult and Brad Meltzer, in the comics realm.

The sampler Dark Horse provides shows that they are producing good stuff and these stories are highly recommended for those venturing out of the Marvel and DC proper.

Staff Writer

On Thursday night, April 8^th, Bartleby and SEB cosponsored a ‘Rap Battle’ in the Commons Sports Zone. Three empty mikes held the stage for about twenty minutes as one of the Commons staff members announced that only one person had signed up to compete.

The winner would get two free WALE tickets. People waited patiently until another person signed up and the ‘rap’ battle finally began, at almost 8:25pm.

Sophomore Chris Coleman, and graduate student O’Smith grabbed the mikes and began to spit lines. Each contestant was granted one minute to freestyle to three different beats, each more creative than the next.

Best crowd pleasing lines: Coleman: “I’ve got more lines than Chinese got rice.” O’Smith: “steady like a boat.”

O’Smith won the WALE tickets. The low turnout came to a surprise since it had been advertised that the winner would receive TWO free tickets to the long-sold out WALE show.  Enough people roaming the UMBC campus brag about their rapping skills, some even freestyle around the dormitories, so where were all the rappers on Thursday night?

Maybe next year there will be a larger turnout and make the performance more entertaining, but in the meantime, maybe just come up with a couple of lines or so, and start practicing. You never know when the next ‘battle’ will be.

Tickets for the concerts will go on sale Wednesday, March 10 at the Commons information center.

For more information on this and other quadmania events, visit the UMBC Student Events Board website.

Staff Writer

Looking back on 2009, it’s clear that it was a mixed bag in terms of the films it saw released. The year started out surprisingly well, but gave way to a summer release schedule that contained both big surprises and huge disappointments, and a fall selection that ended the year on a very good note. In all, though, it was a year for surprises and innovation.

The following list of films is my top ten favorite films of the year. These aren’t necessarily the year’s best films, but ones that I loved and that stuck with me the most as the year went on. First, my honorable mentions, films that didn’t make the cut:

Coraline

Watchmen

Observe & Report

Adventureland (The first comedy this year starring Jesse Eisenberg to have “Land” in the title)

Star Trek

Angels & Demons

Bruno

(500) Days of Summer

Food, Inc.

Ponyo

The Informant!

World’s Greatest Dad

Zombieland (The second comedy this year starring Jesse Eisenberg to have “Land” in the title)

The Princess and the Frog

Up In the Air

10. The Hurt Locker- The first great film about the War in Iraq, The Hurt Locker chose to avoid making political messages and instead chose to tell a story about the men fighting the war. It is an unflinching portrait of the adrenaline rush of combat, and the sort of distorted addiction the soldiers develop fighting. Here, we see men dealing with death at every corner. Every pedestrian they run across could be the enemy, and every abandoned car could yield a deadly explosive. They hate Iraq, and they hate fighting, but it becomes a part of their nature, a part they ultimately cannot escape. The Hurt Locker delivers a compelling story about men in a situation they can never mentally or emotionally leave behind, and it speaks more to the state of affairs in Iraq than any political diatribe ever could.

9. Fantastic Mr. Fox- Wes Anderson’s first foray into animation isn’t a completely surprising success. Anderson’s always been good with color and atmosphere, and that is evident in Fantastic Mr. Fox. What also makes Fox such a great film is that in it, Anderson uses his trademark quirk and dry humor to create something that is unabashed fun and also severely hysterical. In a year of entertaining and innovative animated films, Fantastic Mr. Fox also proved that animation doesn’t have to be cutting-edge to work. The stop motion techniques that Anderson uses are very primal, yes, but the simple quality of it all makes it more endearing and humorous. It is odd to great effect, and also reinvigorates Anderson’s style and running themes. Fantastic Mr. Fox is good, old-fashioned fun, and makes for a rich cinematic experience.

8. District 9- Just one of the few notable science fiction films this year was District 9. In the film, we are presented with a society of aliens, stranded on Earth for no other reason than their ship ran out of fuel and they are out of supplies. They need shelter, and so they are given their own shantytown in South Africa where the human citizens and government officials manipulate, discriminate, and abuse them. It is an excellent allegorical portrait of a culture being held into submission by its social betters, one that, despite its best efforts, is not allowed any leeway to lift themselves from their horrible conditions. Keeping them down allows the human population to keep things just the way they are, so why let them change that? The film uses an excellent mix of video documentary style and narrative film style to illustrate its bleak environment, and also accomplishes the difficult task of making the aliens’ problems the human element of the story. District 9 may not prove to be a timeless film, but it is extremely engrossing in its relevance to our age and in its execution.

7. Avatar- James Cameron’s return to narrative filmmaking promised innovation, and a step forward for filmmaking the likes of which have never been seen before. This was exactly what Cameron delivered. The world in Avatar is a completely immersive one, rich and detailed to the point that it passes for real. Its surroundings and its inhabitants breathe like no other computer-generated creation seen on film to this point. In terms of story-telling, Cameron does nothing new. It is the hero’s journey told as it has been told before, but with a different approach to its presentation. Instead of making the audience observers to the story, he includes us in it with the total richness of its setting and its cultures, immerses us in its unfolding, makes us a participant. Cameron was right. This film is a game-changer, and is beautiful, grand, and inclusive in its presentation. Welcome back, Jim.

6. Moon- One of the smaller science fiction films released this year, Moon starred Sam Rockwell as a man living alone on the moon harvesting energy for the population back on Earth. After experiencing a near-fatal accident on the lunar landscape, he discovers a terrifying secret about the truth of his solitary existence there. Moon is science fiction as it was done in the past. It is quiet, atmospheric, and meditative, something that gives it more of a chance to really fully delve in its meaning. It is science fiction that is gripping and thoughtful all at the same time, a provocative piece that ends with existential questions worth contemplating.

5. The Road- In my original review of The Road, I said I thought it was as good as the book. After revisiting the book, I’ve decided I was wrong, and that the film couldn’t possibly recreate the beauty of its rich prose. Despite this, the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece is a beautiful film in its own right. It perfectly captures the relationship between the father and the son, and knows that the story is one of this relationship, not of a post-apocalyptic future. That’s only the setting. Director John Hillcoat may not have recreated McCarthy’s prose, but film is not a medium of prose. It is a medium of image and sound, and what The Road manages to muster in both of those areas is truly wondrous.

4. A Serious Man- This film is the Coen Brothers in top form. It is dark, bitingly funny, and suspenseful all at once, something only the Coens have ever been able to achieve. In A Serious Man, one could say they unfairly torture Larry, their semi-unwitting protagonist, and put him through a hell he does not deserve. Then again, though, isn’t life the player that’s being unfair to Larry, and aren’t the Coens just letting life go through its motions with him? With A Serious Man, the Coens make one of the best films they’ve ever had their name on, one that doesn’t just fit in their rich repertoire but one that also stands out. It is an example of their writing, visualization, and execution coming together almost perfectly to create a hilarious, thought-provoking picture of life taking its toll on a man who may or may not deserve the problems rushing down upon him.

3. Where the Wild Things Are- In his adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s ten-sentence storybook Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze took the core theme of the book, one of growing up, and expanded it to be a truly engaging portrait of childhood. Where the Wild Things Are is not a fun film to sit through. It runs the gamut of emotions, and goes from one place to another almost at random. This only serves to better portray the film’s protagonist, though, a young boy who is having trouble accepting that he is not the center of the world in the lives of those around him. He creates this world of imaginary monsters in his mind to cope with growing up and to cope with the change occurring around him, and these monsters change as he begins to see how things really are. Where the Wild Things Are is a moving and endearing film about childhood and growing up, one that hopefully will find the appreciation it deserves in the future.

2. Inglourious Basterds- Let me get this out of the way: Inglourious Basterds is a great film about myths and truths, and how these things can mar each other or take the place of the other completely based on who is relaying the story. That said, I loved every minute of this film. I loved the tense, twenty-minute conversation that opens the film. I love the introduction to the Bear Jew. I love the David Bowie-set scene with Shosanna preparing for the film premiere. I love the scene where Michael Fassbender talks about there being a special rung in Hell for those who waste good scotch. And I love, totally and completely, the final shot of the film. Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino at his best since Pulp Fiction. His mixing of film styles and his message don’t get muddled here, and actually serve each other well. Here, he creates his own version of history that paints the picture he wants to paint. Everything that is and has ever been great about Tarantino is in this film, and is also great on its own. Also, to talk about this film and not mention Christoph Waltz’s searing and grand performance in the role of Hans Landa is a crime. Inglourious Basterds is one of the year’s few must-see films.

1. Up- Pixar has always had a way with making heartfelt stories with characters who audiences would follow to the ends of the Earth. Up is probably their best effort at doing that to date, and is quite possibly their best film, period. It isn’t simply a film about an elderly man living up to his younger promise, or living up to a promise made to his late wife. It’s about an elderly man seeing the adventure that was always before him, the adventure he was experiencing before but never knew it. Up is silly at times, yes, but to no fault. Its light-heartedness is only there to make its characters more endearing, and doesn’t take away the emotional core of the film, probably the heaviest and most affecting Pixar has ever crafted to date. It is funny, exciting, and touching all at once, a film that is as beautiful to look at as it is to witness. Up is a true classic, and one that won’t be so easily forgotten.

That’s my top ten. Now for my five least favorite films of 2009.

5. Couples Retreat- Couples Retreat is not a horrible film, but I’m including it on this list because it is not the film it clearly wanted to be. It seemed like it wanted to be a film that analyzed and explored relationships in all their facets. Instead, it took a less risky route and decided to be just another mainstream comedy. It isn’t shot very well, the story isn’t remarkable, and the jokes are really quite standard. Couples Retreat could have been an insightful and fun film. Instead, it turned out to be bland and forgettable.

4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon- I think I’m beginning to understand the appeal behind the Twilight series. It’s wish fulfillment. It’s a story that many see as the ideal love that they look for and can’t attain. The problem is, the ideal love they look for in the story isn’t there. The fact is, the story itself is empty of meaning. Bella is an empty character with more fake baggage than one would ever want to live up to, and Edward is really a mentally abusive person. New Moon did nothing to give me any more meaning as to their wanting to be together, and really only made it more ridiculous and unlikable. How do I get behind a character who manipulates another person the way Bella does Jacob, or even Edward does Bella? How do I get behind characters if I don’t know the reasons for their actions? New Moon is a film that plays out with empty meanings, one that tries to give itself meaning at times, but draws from sources that only make it come off as pretentious. The next film could improve upon it, but it won’t. That kind of film wouldn’t sell.

3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine- You know what’s a good idea? Making an X-Men prequel that tells Wolverine’s origin story. You know what’s a bad idea? Making the film look like a children’s playset when it’s clearly going for a dark, gritty tone, stuffing the film full of unnecessary and unimportant characters while telling an uneven story, and holding the film to lazy production values. Seriously, if someone told me three years ago after the disaster that was X-Men: The Last Stand that the next stab at molding the legacy of the X-Men characters on film would tell Wolverine’s origin story poorly, I would’ve stuck with the hints we had gotten during those cutaways in X2: X-Men United.

2. Paranormal Activity- Many films end up being all hype and no delivery. Paranormal Activity is a prime example of this phenomenon, even though it has made back well over 5,000 times its original budget of $15,000. How this movie is being sold as one of the scariest movies ever made escapes me. The scares are all cheap, and are based simply on loud thumps and objects moving by themselves. The characters, whose dialogue was improvised throughout, are poorly realized, and give the audience no reason to want them to survive. The film itself is poorly structured, and alternates between scenes of night time scares followed by the characters reiterating what we just watched happen and then arguing about it. Think about it though. Could we expect anything more from a film that had to depend on night-vision footage of a considerably young audience reacting to it rather than showing actual discernible footage? This film did not deserve the hype surrounding it, nor the success it received.

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- There are some movies that are made for the audience to leave their brain at the door so that they may simply enjoy the ride. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was such a movie, but in the end, it still failed to entertain even with its brainlessness. It is a film that is quite literally without a plot, and therefore is without any entry point for the audience to invest itself in the subsequent action beats. Even if an audience is to leave their brains at the door, they should at least have reasons to invest in the film’s characters. Instead of a plot, it gives us characters who have no traits and go through no development during the film, and are simply meant to move to different locales for the sake of advancing the film towards bigger, badder explosions. The humor is tasteless in a way that is offensive to anyone’s intelligence. It is simply a film of clashing metal and explosions. The problem here is that despite the focus being on the action, the framing is focused so tightly on it that it simply becomes bright metallic colors flying at each other and making loud noises. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a film without any substance, and it made nearly $400,000,000 at the box office. This is the highest grossing film of the year. Let’s hope for a better victor in 2010.

Comments may be sent to daniels7@umbc.edu

Staff Writer

All Time Low, the royalty of the teen-rock scene, jammed at Rams Head Live this past December. They performed to a sold-out audience that consisted of cougars, men passed their prime, and teen emo kids.  Along for the ride, were the opening acts, Runner Runner and DNA which somewhat supercharged the crowd for their popish idols who returned home after a stint on the road and for a rest during the holidays.

The first band to take the stage was DNA, who did not garner an energetic response from the crowd. Dan Book (lead singer) tried to dance around with some awkward movements while Alexei Misoul (the other half) sat looking pretty in his shiny blazer playing the drums.

After a brief intermission, five silhouettes took the stage; the crowd did respond energetically and made this writer wonder if ATL had added a fifth member. But it was Runner Runner who made the night because lately it seems that good opening acts are hard to come by. Sometimes one wants two high profile bands rather than just an up and coming one. But Runner Runner proved that this was the way it should be. They sang their fast-paced song “So Obvious,” which was so obviously dedicated to the teen (pre-teen) girls in the front.

After a brief stint (RR was gone too fast) ATL burst onto the scene with their hit single “Weightless,” which pumped the crowd and the infectious voice of Alex Gaskarth (lead vocalist) sent the hearts of emo girls a flutter.

Jack Barakat, lead guitarist, had a pretty intriguing microphone display. Groupies and young girls’ bras hung on the mic and were ceremoniously added. Barakat even commented that a purple bra was (jokingly) given to him by Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens player).

Now, all this time this writer thought that “Coffee Shop Soundtrack,” was the only song that really spoke to him but it turns out it is a cult favorite as everybody put up their index finger and jammed to the spirited anthem.

Eventually, Gaskarth took to the stool and sang a heartfelt “Therapy,” which had Blackberries and flip phones swaying with a lighter-like glow. A teen girl had a glossy look in her eyes as he slowly belted out the lyrics.

Two things ATL does well at shows is punctuating every sentence with an expletive and saying anything they want on stage. “Next time you’re in a store, talk like you’re on stage to the store clerk,” Gaskarth heavily suggested.

While the mix of songs was enjoyable, the concert was very short (just counting ATL) the lines that snaked out of Rams Head would make one think that the show would have been longer, but a tour that calls itself “Glamour Kills,” says it all.

While the show wasn’t that long, it was enjoyable and was a great welcome-back party for the Maryland based band.

Comments may be sent to roderek1@umbc.edu

Staff Writer

Ram’s Head Live! received a taste of the Hurricane, when the band

Switchfoot played to a modest crowd on Monday night, Dec 2.  The show was titled

‘A Night with Switchfoot,’ and that is just what it was; the group hung

out with the crowd and made it the people’s show. The concert was also

doing a good deed. Attendees were encouraged to bring canned goods that

supported the local food bank.

As the crowed eagerly watched the stage and cheered for tour staff members

as they performed the sound check, they did not notice that vocalist Jon Foreman was

ascending up to the balcony. The lights dimmed and then flooded Rams Head

and the people were confused that only four of the five members were on

stage. Then Foreman’s voice rang out signaling the beginning of their song

“Needle and Haystack Life” from their new album Hello Hurricane. The crowd

on floor level screamed. The catchy song was just the tip of the iceberg

of a very entertaining show.

If there is an emotion to describe Switchfoot, it is love. They hide that

behind an exterior of shaggy hair and a rock persona, but most of (if not

all) their songs focus on love. In the case of “The Sound,” Foreman said

“This song is dedicated to John M. Perkins (an American civil rights

activist).” “I like to go to places I haven’t been before, hate is met

with hate and racism with racism, love is what you need.”  Guitar riffs

and a heartbeat-like rhythm of a song sent a message about love and

listening to the sound “of a heart beat,” to stop the anger.

Undoubtedly, the most popular song off the album is the title track,

“Hello Hurricane,” which had the crowd pulsing and jumping. The song is

pure Switchfoot—but grown up. The song of the album is a little bit calmer

than the performance version. The song is a metaphor of a strong and

damaging love, but as the lyrics go “Hello hurricane, you can’t silence my

love, I’ve got doors and windows boarded up.”

In every show there is that one drunken fan; this time the drunken fan was

ready for the holidays, adorned with a Santa hat. She danced to herself and

would prove to be as entertaining as the headlining band.

“I love pianos, let’s hear it for them,” Foreman said. “This song is about

my mother, she taught me how to play the piano.” He sat down to sing a

slow song that most of the attendees could relate to (mostly families).

The shaggy haired vocalist described the song “The first part is about the

breath of life and the bridge is about the bond.” There were no lighters.

After a very brief intermission (enough time to order another club soda),

the band was back and this time with a grin on their faces. “We’ve only

performed this song twice; don’t know if that is good or bad. We’ll see

what you think,” Foreman laughed. The Spanish holiday hit “Feliz Navidad”

was sung and it threw the drunken Santa lady into such a tailspin that in

the front of the crowd a Santa hat became airborne.

The band played all their tracks off their new CD and then came back to

their former one, The Best Yet. The crowd really started rocking out with

the always ubiquitous “Dare You to Move,” and the hit song “Stars.” This

regression showed a stark contrast to their younger heydays and their

roots in their faith. During this part of the show the drunk woman sobered up.

The band exited the stage after a couple more songs and as the lights

faded to black, the chant of the crowd asked for one more song, and like a

good band, they came back out and delivered.

The Hello Hurricane tour proved to be a perfect storm on a cold Monday

night and left concert-goers wanting more.

Comments may be sent to roderek1@umbc.edu

Staff Writer

I don’t understand the appeal behind the Twilight series. I have always found it very shallow and uninvolving. The characters are poorly developed blank slates, and spend most of their time brooding. We are never given any sort of explanation for or exploration of the relationship between the human and vampire central characters. We are simply meant to accept their love for each other because the characters say it exists.

The first Twilight film was awful. Not only was the story contrived and weightless, but the production values were poor. The visual effects were defective, the editing was distracting, and the cinematography was abysmal. The entire film looked as though it were being shot through the filter of a cinder block. The acting was even more distracting than these aspects. As vampire Edward and human Bella, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were completely devoid of emotion, and were given simple, unimportant character details on which to build their performances. These details would often be contradicted later once other traits were introduced. Truth be told, these elements made the film enjoyable only because they created humor where it was not intended. Twilight was a shoddily conceived film, and should have been much darker and more introspective.

The film’s sequel, New Moon, is somewhat of an improvement in terms of the series’ production values. The cinematography is far better and could actually be considered laudable. The visual effects are more seamless within the film’s universe. The soundtrack is less distracting than it was in last year’s predecessor, where the music often stuck out and ruined the effect. There’s one scene in the film that works in part because the music enhances it so much. There’s even a moderately notable performance from one of the cast members. These elements, however, do not a good film make.

The main problem with New Moon is that it continues the series’ illusion that it can get by simply on saying that things are the way they are, and that’s that. Edward and Bella’s relationship is one composed of giant, empty words punctuated by long, detached stares. There’s no meaning behind any of this, and we’re meant to accept it simply because they say they love each other. In a film that hinges on a heavy relationship, one would think the filmmakers would at least try to give it reasons to be.

The characters in New Moon are a bit more fleshed out than they were in Twilight, but are still wholly distasteful. Bella is the biggest problem in this area. In the first film, she was faceless, an empty portrait on which the filmmakers threw irrelevant characteristics. In New Moon, she is a tad more dimensional, although not by much, and is actually very unlikable. In this film, we are subjected to her acting on dangerous impulses to get the attention of Edward, who, quite honestly, doesn’t treat her very well and is a threat to her. To fill up this hole, she uses another boy, Jacob Black, who cares for her and treats her with the respect she deserves, only for her to lead him on to keep him around and make herself feel better. Having a mentally unstable heroine would be understandable if this heroine made steps towards ending her instability. However, Bella only continues her delusions and drags her loved ones into them, something a protagonist we’re supposed to get behind and root for shouldn’t be doing.

Then there’s Edward. Edward is a terrible character. He has no personality, no character traits, and no greater purpose. He is only an object for Bella to pine over. We are never given any concrete or even abstract reason for Bella to be in love with Edward because we are never given a bigger picture of Edward. We’re told that he is tortured and that he hates himself, but all we see is him pouting and sulking rather than making any realistic shows of self-hatred and low self-worth. Most of this problem lies in Robert Pattinson’s performance, one so devoid of any real meaning that it only makes the character more unreachable.

New Moon still does nothing in the way of making its story meaningful. Edward and Bella’s relationship is once again portrayed as a constant. As mentioned before, no deeper reasons are given for their love. We are instead given scenes of them whispering to each other about how they’d die without the other. There’s no tension in their relationship, and no characteristics to it. As in the first film, they spend most of their time staring blankly at each other instead of having any actual consequential moments or conversations. When Edward leaves Bella, her heartbreak is understandable, but her reaction, sitting in a chair at a window for three or four months in a row, is uncalled for. Why would she be reacting so severely when there was nothing there? What did Edward have that made her so complete? What did Bella have that made Edward suppress his deeper urges in order to be with her? These questions are once again left unanswered, and leave the film’s events without any importance or relevance. The story then tries to compensate for this absence of consequence by trying to liken itself to Shakespearian tales, which only makes it come off as pretentious.

New Moon also comes off as very silly at points where it shouldn’t and introduces non sequiturs that take credibility out of the story. Conflicts between characters are resolved too quickly and are presented as “aw, shucks, wasn’t that silly?” types of moments rather than the ones with actual weight they were set up to be. The werewolves in the movie would have been the highlight, had it not been for the unintentionally funny, Incredible Hulk-like “Don’t make me angry” moments that litter their impending arrival. Scenes meant to show Bella and Edward’s love for each other are executed with such poor foresight that they ultimately can’t be taken seriously. The filmmakers do nothing here to bring credence to the film’s elements, and once again leave it as a palate of nonsensical happenings.

The acting in this film still hasn’t improved much. Pattinson’s performance is certainly lacking, and Kristen Stewart once again tries to simulate angst by biting her lip and playing with her hair while reading her lines monotonously. At some points, her attraction to Edward is displayed through facial expressions similar to those Meg Ryan made performing her fake orgasm in …When Harry Met Sally. Taylor Lautner tries his hardest as Jacob Black, but is going up against actors who aren’t performing at the top of their game, and as a result his performance suffers. The only actor in the film who pulls off a memorable performance is Michael Sheen, who plays Aro, the head of the Volturi, the vampiric royal family. In the five minutes he’s in the film, he chews the scenery and creates a truly two-faced, evil character. When Sheen leaves the screen, his absence is felt, as no one reaches the performance levels he does. Sheen is the only actor who leaves the film alive.

New Moon is a better film than Twilight. Its improved production values prove that an effort was made to make it a more credible technical feat. Its primary problem though is that it still buys into its central characters’ delusions that everything is perfect, and still chooses never to leave the surface. It still doesn’t try to transcend the low expectations many have set for it and chooses to continue the silliness that characterized its predecessor. New Moon is an improvement, but still has a ways to go to make the Twilight series a good one.

Comments may be sent to daniels7@umbc.edu

Staff Writer

The sound of Owl City is the prime example of the post-modern one-man-band, comprised of just Adam Young and an unseen band, if that. Most likely “Rainbow Veins,” was Owl City’s first gasp of air into the mainstream world (Pandora plays it enough).  Their new album, Ocean Eyes, is upbeat electronic with a pop.

“Fireflies,” one of four singles, is the most popular track. The song is a whimsical-childlike anthem that lets the listener rediscover their inner child. With synthesizers and Young’s soft-electronic voice this is the first song that should be listened too, as it is very infectious. It is kind of bizarre that O.C. decided to write a song called “Hello Seattle,” when the band’s nest (excuse the pun—no, don’t) is in Owatonna, Minnesota. But, regardless, the song is an early riser and emits the feeling of morning in the rainy city. “Meteor Showers” sounds like the opening to a Disney movie at first, but bursts into a party of sound, with very romanticized vocals, asking a love to not let go.

It is questionable though if Young and company can succeed in making another album with longevity, because Ocean Eyes seems like success just for the moment – not that this is an altogether bad thing. The album is a fun listen, and that is all that matters right now.  Be sure to catch Owl City when they come to Ram’s Head Live! in January, or when they headline UMBC next February.

Comments may be sent to roderek1@umbc.edu

The parody video, “I’m on the Phone” (warning, explicit lyrics) is shot entirely at UMBC and is receiving much attention online — it was in the top 100 comedy videos for November 13, 2009. The weekly winners will be announced every Monday evening during the Smule Webcast, where you’ll be able to find out if the UMBC team has won. There is also a Facebook event to keep those interested updated. Every view helps get these guys closer to winning. Good luck