4 Thursday October 14, 2004 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@michigandaily.com ART s 1OA 4 I (4 At least 'The Osbournes' finally ended ... Teen-drama 'life' recycles tired plots By Abby Stotz Daily Arts Writer ABC's new teen-centered drama "life as we know it" tells the story of three teenage boys trying to get through high school. One has a crush on a teacher, another is in love with a chubby girl and the third is trying desperately to push his girl- friend into having sex, while dealing with the fact that life as we know it Thursdays at 9 p.m. ABC his mother is sleeping with his hockey coach. All of these storylines would be quite novel - if it weren't for the fact that the WB has been doing this stuff for almost a decade. "Life as we know it" does have some plays on the genre. For one thing, these boys are not the eloquent teens equipped with adult vocabularies that populated "Dawson's Creek." No one would mistake these boys for geniuses. The leader, unmistakably the dumb- est of the trio, is Dino (Sean Faris, "Smallville"). He's a hockey player who simply wants to get some from his girlfriend, and is one of the most arro- gant characters primetime television has seen in a while. For example, when he discovers his mom's affair, he con- fronts her about it by snapping her bra strap. Also, the lying and aggression he uses to get his girlfriend into bed has dangerous undertones of a future date rapist. Ben (Jon Foster, "The Door In the Floor"), the boy with the crush on his English teacher, is slightly less revolting. Sure, his obsession with his teacher is disturbing, but he seems too simple to be really objectionable. After the viewer sees the teacher for the first time he turns to the camera - a device too heavily relied upon by the show - and exclaims "Oh my god!" The third boy is by far the most endearing. Jonathan (Chris Lowell), a photographer with a hipster hair- cut, is in love with Deborah (Kelly Osbourne). He's afraid to actually go out with her, as Dino and Ben contrib- ute to future eating disorders across America by acting like Deb's the size of an elephant. Regardless, Jonathan stops listening to the duo by the end of the pilot, resulting in the most endear- ing moment of the episode. "Life as we know it" has a sort of been-here-seen-this vibe with all of its seemingly recycled plot lines. The camera testimonials have got to go - these people are not deep enough to warrant introspective commen- tary. Fortunately, there are some good things about it. For teen actors, this cast isn't bad, as the three lead boys are convincing and Osbourne is espe- cially good, showing that she can act far better than she can sing. Overall, "life as we know it" is a decent, albeit repetitive show that hopefully will get better as it matures. THEY'VE GOT GAME Courtesy of EA Sports He's on FIRE! nor ( While it can't quite do for basketball what "Madden 2005" does for football, EA Sports's "NBA Live 2005" - the newest installment in company's basketball franchise - provides users with some fun new twists and an overall entertaining game. This year's major addition NBA Live to the "Live" franchise is the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend slam- PS2, Xbox, dunk and three-point con- GameCube and PC tests. The hoopla surrounding EA Sports these events is apparent from the highly realistic light show introduction for All-Star Weekend 2005 in Den- ver, which gainers can experience when selecting one of these two new game modes. The dunks are slightly awkward upon first attempt, and it's hard to get the timing and dis- tance right. But after some practice, it's not hard to pull off some pretty sick dunks. Gainers are slightly limited in the number of throw-downs they can connect on, but combining different types of take-offs with different aerial maneuvers allows players to dip into their entire repertoires. EA Sports also adds the ability to rotate players in the air and the choice of different ball tosses to begin dunks. The three-point competition is fun at first, but gets repetitive. One button press grabs balls off the rack; another shoots it. Releasing the ball at the right height of the player's jump increases its chance of going in. On the default setting, the three-point contest is far too easy - any newcomer could land a score in the high 20s or even a perfect 30. On its hardest difficulty setting, it becomes much more realistic and entertaining. The gameplay in the regular mode of "Live 2005" is easily the best in the series, but still falls short of being 100-percent true to life. Blocked shots are far too common, and it's hard to set up any real plays besides basic pick-and-rolls or iso- lations. The transition game is zlmost nonexis- tent, and the only way to get a fast break going is to simply out-run your opponent down the court. Nearly all non-gameplay aspects of "NBA Live 2005" are impressive. Player faces have never looked better (players can easily be identified by their faces without seeing their name or numbers), stadiums are identical to their real-life counter- parts and the player animations are smoother than ever. Garners can choose from a wide range of jerseys - not just home, away and alternate any- more - in which to outfit their team, and many are unlockable by completing different parts of the game. The only knock on the game's detail is the listless crowd that never gets up on its feet to cheer - even in the game's final minutes. The crowd even appears almost two-dimensional from some angles. "Live" features some of the better commen- tary available in sports games. Long-time NBA announcers Mary Albert (play-by-play) and Mike Fratello (color commentary) man the booth and describe the action. Fratello's color commentary actually contains player-specific portions - after a Kenyon Martin comment, videogame Fratello references Martin's knee injury from his college days at Cincinnati. This is a nice touch that could make a good addition to other titles in the EA Sports catalog. Overall, the game has enough features to make it worthwhile. While a die-hard NBA fan may cringe at the lack of a realistic basketball game, most videogame-playing fans looking for a fun hoops experience will enjoy "Live 2005." EA HIGHLIGHTS THE SLAM DUNK CONTEST WITH 'LIVE 2005' The Explosion draw on punk roots for newest release 'Tape' By Amos Barshad Daily Arts Writer Boston punk band The Explosion is making the jump from indie label Jade Tree to Virgin Records on their latest release, Black Tape. Surely ready to face the firing squad, especially considering Black Tape's considerable anteing of the pop quotient since 2002's Flash, Flash, Flash, The Explosion really have nothing to worry about. Sure, first single "Here I Am" is borderline pop-punk, but its heartfelt pleas and paranoid prophecies are scenes away from the "she didn't return my phone call" variety. Frontman Matt Hock delivers his public service announce- ment with urgency, asking "Whatever happened to the golden age / It's gone, yeah, it's gone away." These days-of-'77 revivalists are still The Explosion pining for the past, back when Black Tape punk rock was dangerous. Virgin That being said, The Explosion are not going to lead any kind of revolution; they're just going to talk about it. There's no overt politicking done here, like their counterparts in the Warped Tour community. Hock's message is rooted in the "Revolution Rock" of the Clash and the purported anarchy of the Sex Pistols. On "No Revolution," Hock makes it clear that he's got his head craned backward. "We look to the past and ask for noth- ing more / There's no revolution anymore." With mentions to fallen heroes and prayers for redemp- tion, it's clear The Explosion don't want to carry the torch; they just want to be soldiers in the fight. Unfortunately, they're 20 years too late. Still, the spirit is there, and it makes the whole album feel pleading and despairing, burning for attention. And the vagueness works. Hock sounds dead serious and that's what matters. Ultimately, the band is cultivating their cynical mentality well, pulling the listener in to their tales of small time tragedies and putting forth a general sense of hope- lessness with just a touch of resignation to the situ- ation. Go ahead, "Sell the Hollywood sign / We'll still sing our favorite songs." They're young, brash and snotty. They keep the songs short, choppy and to the point. They're not pushing the boundaries, just making good punk records. How many bands can really say that right now? I T 3111mmossm, I I grant opportunities [collaborative spaces] $2500 grants U The Digital Media Commons invites proposals from student teams for CALL FOR PROPOSALS adventuresome collaborative research projects using rich media tools deadline: november 15 4 4 It's never easy getting through to a kid who's troubled, hurt and angry. But you'll find it's always worth it - because there's no greater reward than giving a child the chance for a better future. And it's just one of the many benefits you'll enjoy as a youth counselor at Eckerd Youth Alternatives. You'll teach and work outside. You'll go beyond the limitations of textbooks and lesson plans. You'll form friendships that'll last a lifetime. And you'll find the toughest job you ever took on, is also the most rewarding. Ad