ART S The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 24, 2001- 9 Reggae-rock O.A.R. to rock Mich. Theater By Stacy Anderson For the Daily It's time for a revolution. That's right, the five guys that collectively make up ...of a revolution (known to many Top notch 'Phantom Menace' DVD a plethora of extras By Andy Taylor-Fabe Daily Film Editor George Lucas may take his sweet time getting things done, but he does 'em right. The long awaited "Star N w., O.AR. Michigan Theater Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ( as simply O.A.R.)'will rock the Michigan Theater tonight, with spe- cial guest Ordinary Peoples, on their national tour. They have been selling out venues from New York to Ver- mont and are sweeping college cam- puses all over the country with a style of music that some describe as "reggae'rock" and others compare to the likes of Dave Matthews and Bob Marley. Whatever style you consider O.A.R. to encompass, you're sure to get a down-to-earth yet ultimately adrenaline rushing performance. Lead singer and guitarist Marc Roberge, guitarist Richard On, bassist Ben Gershman and drummer up together in Rockville, MD. O.A.R. Courtesy of Everfmie "Risen" is the latest album from O.A.R. Star Wars Episode 1:, The Phantom Menace Twentieth Century Fox first "Star Wars" Wars: The Phantom Menace" DVD ranks as one of the best discs ever released. "The Phantom Menace" (if you actually need this explanation, shame on you) is the first episode of the "Star Wars" series, which set the standard for sci-fi in the late-'70s and early-'80s with the original holy trilogy. "Phantom Menace" is Lucas' film that he has directed himself since phonist for Ordinary Peoples and now officially the saxo- phonist for O.A.R., while attending Ohio State Universi- ty. They released their first album, The anderer, in 1997 and had a breakthrough hit with "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker." Their follow up albums, Souls Aflame, released in 1999, and most recently Risen, in 2001, have become staples of college-aged youth across the country. With meaningful lyrics and a style all their own, O.A.R. have the ability to connect with their fans, mainly because their fans are reflections of themselves. Not one of the band members is over 22-years-old and they hail from a Midwest university, just like most of their fans. And even though O.A.R. has never been on MTV, they have turned their popularity into a national tour, and for S15 a ticket, you can't get a more exhilarating and resounding evening. Chris Culos grew was formed while these boys were still in high school and they hooked up with Jerry DePizzo, formerly the saxo- the original in 1977. This "prequel" gives background on Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as a young Jedi knight, his wise but defiant master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), a young Anakin Skywalker (in his more tender, innocent, non- genocidal days) and a trade dispute that will indirectly affect the fate of the galaxy. I'm one of the first people to admit that this install- ment, although it is highly entertaining and visually astonishing, doesn't hold a candle to the original films in terms of story, characters or plot, but the double disc DVD is just, well, awesome. Disc 1 contains the movie itself, presented in anamorphic widescreen format, and both the picture and sound are first-rate. The commentary track, featuring Lucas as well as Producer Rick McCallum and the other major heads of sound, visual effects, etc., is an enlightening and actual- ly interesting guide to the film. Whereas most commen- tary tracks are full of gems like "Oh, this scene was really cool" or "Oh, this was the day when I had really bad diarrhea," Lucas and his dream team give truly insightful facts about the film 'and the ideas behind it. Lucas considers his films to be more like silent films, in which the dialogue is like background music to accom- pany the visual story, or the origins of the various sound effects, which are all recorded from actual (and fairly mundane) sounds. The second disc has a one hour documentary about the film, covering everything from the casting to the shooting to the premiere, and it covers an amazing amount of ground. Among other things, we get to see the little kids that tried out for the role of Anakin, Ewan MacGregor picking out his light saber, a sandstorm in Tunisia that ravaged the sets of Tatooine as well as Lucas agonizing over the excruciatingly difficult sequences, such as the pod race. There are also short featurettes giving details about the story, design concepts, costumes, visual effects and fight scenes (you'll be mock fighting in your living room after this one) that show the extensive pre-produc- tion necessary for the nuances and feel of the film to work. One of the most intriguing parts of the disc is a fea- ture that combines the storyboards, animatics and the final cut of certain scenes that required vast special effect sequences. The screen is split into the comic book-like drawings of the scenes, the animatics, which consist mostly of rough animation, and the final cut of the film. You can either watch all three at once or one at a time. Seeing the evolution of the sequences is fascinat- ing, and to see the amount of work that goes into the shots gives you a new respect for this Herculean effort. The extra deleted scenes, for the most part, have been deleted for a reason; they would have interfered with the flow of the film, and most of them are just plain boring, but it is interesting to see exactly how much was cut out. The disc also features a link to a web docmentary about the film and a weblink to a site that contains spe- cial material only available to those with the DVD. There are also assorted production still photos, posters, a music video with the John Williams score as well as the original teasers and trailers for the "Phantom Menace" that you saw back in the fall of 1998 when you knew for sure that "Star Wars" would finally return. It rules. Allen's obscure metaphors hamper appeal of new novel ;. By Babawole Akin-Aina For the Daily Hatch and Jesus Jones, sons of John and Lucifer - who are married to Gracie and Sheila - are cousins. They are related on both sides and decent family does not get any deeper than that. It is the lives, Rails loves, hate and Under My loss of this fami- Back ly that Jeffery Renard Allen Jeffery Renard chronicles in his Allen ambitious tome Grade: C+ "Rails Under My HarcourtBooks Back." The story starts with the escape of the boy's grandmoth- er from her home, abandon- ing her children to follow a lover to New Mexico. This event sets the stage for a reenactment of this episode of abandonment in every generation of the family. Husbands abandon wives, children leave home and lovers never return. Despite the apparent closeness and affection of the Jones family, its mem- bers still find it easy to up and leave whenever they feel the need. Mr. Allen has written an ambitious book, one that attempts to capture a century of African-American family life. However, his reliance on confus- ing and obscure metaphors together with his somewhat wilted poetry all detract from this powerful story of a black family in 20th century America, a family that is both closer together and further apart than most. The story itself is impressive; the time scale is enormous even though there are few if any blatant chronologi- cal references, plus Allen fills the reader's mind with chameleon-like set- tings that change at the drop of a hat. The city, the country and the college - we see all these places from an African-American perspective. This is a story with the African-American experience of the 20th century as its base. Major historical events serve as a backdrop to the lives in this tale: The Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King's marches and speeches, soldiers dodging bullets in Vietnam. We see how the Jones family, and the other families that it is connected to, interpret and exist around these events. Unfortunately, every time we get closer to Mr. Allen's message, we are distracted by everything else he has thrown in the mix. While one is loath to criticize those who are courageous enough to get their work published, the reader cannot help but notice that in his attempt to ascribe to a certain level of literary sophistication, Mr. Allen has basically shot himself in the foot. He appears to have sacrificed clarity at the altar of self-important and pretentious prose-- and it shows. It seems that in his writing, Mr. Allen sees himself as the inheritor of a great literary tradition, one embod- ied by the works of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. However, neither Baldwin nor Mor- rison ever gave the reader the impres- sion that they try too hard. This seems to be one of the clearer messages in Allen's writing. It is obvious that in his quest to be like his heroes, Mr. Allen has lost his own voice and as a result his writing comes across as contrived and inau- thentic. Courtesy tTwentieth Century Fox ;di; Z' Yoda (left) asks Renton why h& smells'ds if he had just elitnbed out of a toilet. . tgdC '.'R '.33:', ..:; I if ;.' :. * . 'Boogeymen' a gory offering of clips, games, horror facts P t> : 4334 3.4 'U II I'll 33w yu U '343 4'3 )~443 -3333 34 "4,3343 I WANT TO By Lyle Henretty Daily Arts Editor It's an unfair life for the gore-film fan, his passion usu- ally exiled to the bargin bin at Blockbuster or some seedy neo-comicbook hellhole run by a dude with greasy black hair, a goatee composed of 16 hairs, and a t-shirt showcasing William Hickey's Toulon. Flixmix attempts to save the 'oogYe splatter-freak from exile to "USA Boogaymen: Up-All-Night" or the oft-too-artsy The Killer Italian and Japanese fare by compil- Compelation ing what they believe to be the finest DVD collection of American horror clips ever assembled for DVD in Columbia/Tristar "Boogeymen: A Killer Compila- tion." While the disc kicks off with Pinhead from "Hellrais- er" removing a man's cheeks with assorted hooks, and climaxes with Dr. Loomis shooting Michael Myers in "Halloween," these classic clips book end a mixed bag that goes from the obscure ("The Ugly") to the antithesis of what horror movies should try to accomplish ("I Know What You Did Last Summer "). The die-hard fans that would purchase this disc probably have already shelled out their blood money for 'nost of these films on DVD. The clips are certainly fun, aside from the few times the DVD producers decide to cut a scene before the end, leaving it confusing or unresolved. Robert "Freddy Kruger" Englund provides an optional running commen- tary track, where the horror legend waxes philosophical- ly about the state of horror films, or simply mentions knowing certain actors as they appear on screen. It's clear that Englund did nothing to prepare for his com- mentary, yet unclear whether he even knew what scenes were included on disc. Anything he says of interest can also be seen on the "FlixFacts Animated Trivia" option. If you enable the trivia ("Pop-Up Video" style) and listen to Englund at the same time, at times they both provide the exact same information. It's a pity that they couldn't have gotten a few more icons to work on the commentary. What are Gunner "Leatherface" Hanson and Tony "The Candyman" Todd doing that makes them so busy, huh? At least that would have taken away from Englund's fanboy knowledge of films in which he did not appear. The true gem comes in the form of a dozen or so orig- inal theatrical trailers that can be accessed in the "special features" section. As the films span three decades (four if you count the wildly misplaced "Psycho" clip) it's great fun to see how advertising changed to conform to taste. What was unrelenting horror during the '70s became campy humor during the '80s and arrogant irony in the '90s. Also included is a "Name That Frame" game that is nearly impossible if you have not watched the clips, yet pointlessly easy if you have just finished them. While the special features are certainly nice to look at, the real reason anyone would shell out their hard-earned CHANIGEJTh Application Deadline: OCTOBER 30,, Come visit a Teach For America alumnae at the Graduate School Informationfair on Wednesday, October 24, 2001 from I lam-3pm! R