I ARTS The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - 11 'GTA' box set compiles eclectic tribute to '90s By Forest Casey Daily Arts Writer After the breakout success of "Grand Theft Auto III," Rockstar Games finally had enough clout to create the type of soundtrack befitting of such a cinematic game. No longer would Rockstar have to rely upon deeply brilliant) electronic music: They could license songs that fit in perfectly with the game. All of the music in the "Grand Theft Auto" series is arranged into different radio sta- tions that the player accesses every time underground (albeit Various Artists Grand.Theft Auto: San Andreas Original Soundtrack Box Set Interscope he gets behind the ing the battle between old and new-school gangster rap, the mysterious boy band phenomenon known as New Jack Swing and the birth of alternative rock. San Andreas misses none of these opportuni- ties, presenting the old and new schools of hip-hop and rock, a station devoted to dub and reggae and a country and western sta- tion - eight discs in all. Unfortunately, all of the brilliant com- mentary presented in the game by guest DJs like Axl Rose and Andy Dick aren't included (though each station does fea- ture two of the game's numerous wry commercials). This commentary would admittedly mar the purity of each indi- vidual song. Also absent are both talk radio stations and the electronic channel, SF-UR. Interestingly, Rockstar didn't include any songs by Nirvana, poster child of the grunge generation. This is a trend in Rockstar's releases - choosing to include a more eclectic and less obvious variety of songs on its soundtracks. The channels are as free- form as a college radio station, which keeps the box set fresh and less like an overblown collection of old Now: That's What I Call Music CDs. The "GTA" soundtracks have always been more about music education than music regurgitation, and thankfully, San Andreas is no exception. Gainers who would normally dismiss any form of country music could very well find themselves humming Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn's "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" on their way through the backcountry. Mastersounds 98.3, a disc entirely devoted to the songs sampled by the "jive turkeys" on the rap station, inspires this same feeling of musical enlightenment. All in all, the San Andreas boxed set is an astonishingly diverse collection from the makers of some of the great- est mix tapes of the era - the masters of controversial game culture - Rock- star Games. It's the Clone Wars all over again. I, Robot' DVD extras disappoint wheel of a car, making the soundtrack especially important. The soundtrack is now available from the latest incarnation of the series, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," in which Rockstar tackled the early '90s West Coast gangster scene. The early part of the decade is ripe for musical mining, featur- Oates 's 'The Falls' twists and turns By Nichoie Gerard For the Daily BOOK REVIEW * * 4 Joyce Carol Oates has a long resume stacked with novels, several plays and many other shorter works. Her latest novel, "The Falls," which begins in the 1950s and goes through the '70s, serving as another addition to her list of accom- plishments. The novel focuses first on Ariah Littrell, the daughter of a Presbyterian The Falls By Joyce Carol Oates Harper Collins Her character works within the context of the story, but her negative qualities may repel readers. Oates may have realized this, since Ariah is not as central in the second half of the novel. Instead, Oates tells the story from the point of view of Ariah's children: intel- ligent Chandler, popular Royall and fragile Juliet. By allowing the reader to get into the minds of all of the char- acters, she establishes a real grasp on what they are thinking. The novel's main fault is that it's a little overdramatic at times. The twists and turns of the plot make "The Falls" like a soap opera at a few points. How- ever, with Ariah's histrionics, this seems somewhat unavoidable, espe- cially in a novel so lengthy. Oates has a lifetime of writing expe- rience, and it shows; it's impossible not to be drawn into the well-written story. Even though the novel is nearly 500 pages long, it's not burdensome to finish because the story is so captivat- ing. Anyone who likes dramatic stories will probably enjoy this book, but fans of Oates's other works particularly will appreciate this novel. "The Falls" draws the reader in from the first page and maintains interest until the end. By Punit Mattoo Daily Arts Writer DVD REVIEW This past summer, two big-budget movie staples were brought together: Will Smith and futuristic robots. The resulting film, "I, Robot," was a financial disappointment for Fox, a studio that now hopes to recoup its losses with a newly released DVD. Loosely based upon Isaac Asimov's short stories, "I, Robot" brought viewers to a futuristic Chicago where robots are integrated into society, doing the menial tasks humans hate to do. As a result, all are happy - except I, Robot for Del Spooner (Smith), a cop wary 20th Century Fox of the ubiquitous robots. His suspi- cions are confirmed when a robot is accused of murdering Dr. Lanning (James Cromwell), the head scientist at U.S. Robotics. Since murder is defined as one human killing another human, the robot (created by Alan Tudyk) is released, but Spooner doesn't give up his search for the truth. The 2035 version of Chicago presented in the film is not far removed from the present. Much of the landscape has naturally evolved - with some over-the-top excep- tions - and is used simply to impress viewers. Although many of these technological advances look good, the crisp DVD picture makes the futuristic landscape seem overly computer generated at points. Otherwise, the action scenes, including an exciting car chase featuring legions of robots, are impressive - considering the abun- dance of CGI. The special features, however, are extremely disap- pointing, as it seems Fox devoted more time to creating an attractive cover and flashy menus than filling the disc with any intriguing content. A "Making Of" featurette focuses on how the filmmakers translated human move- ments onto the robot's character. This is only exciting for the few people who didn't see the process used to cre- ate Gollum for "The Lord of the Rings." In addition, too much time is devoted to plot summary, especially con- sidering viewers generally watch special features after finishing the movie. The commentary provided by the director and screen- writer of "I, Robot" does provide some insight into the making of the film, but it is otherwise dull. The most egregious error on the disc is the inclusion of the standard special feature cop-out:, the still photo gallery. Featuring pictures of Will Smith in a harness and shooting guns, this "feature" essentially adds nothing to the DVD. The "I, Robot" DVD seems to have been hastily thrown together to capitalize on the Christmas shopping season. Fortunately for those on the receiving end of an "I, Robot" gift, the film proves to be fairly entertaining with impressive special effects. Movie: *** Picture/Sound: **** Features: * minister from a middle-class suburb. Pushing 30, anxious Ariah has finally been proposed to by clergyman Gil- bert Erskine. But, he commits suicide on the first night of their honeymoon, jumping off of a bridge into Horseshoe Falls - the first of a number of tragic events in Ariah's seemingly cursed life. While the police search for her newlywed husband's body in nearby rivers, she meets a young man named Dirk Burnaby. Much to the dismay of her family, she ends up marrying him a few weeks later. The rest of the novel explores Ariah's new life with hot-shot Dirk and her self-destructive behavior. Unlike many of the other charac- ters, especially Dirk, Ariah is quite disagreeable. She is moody and often takes her feelings out on her family. DAILY ARTS. SCRATCH AND SNIFF HERE. GET UP TO 50% BACK FOR YOUR TEXTBOOKS IF THEY ARE USED AGAIN NEXT TERM. INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF LOWER PRICED USED TEXTBOOKS FOR OTHER STUDENTS. CHECK WITH YOUR FACULTY TO SEE IF THEY ARE REUSING YOUR BOOKS NEXT TERM.