10 -The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 28, 2003 ART%
WHAT'S NEWS IN ENTERTAINM
'14%,
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PROFILES OF THE INSANELY RICH
AND RICHLY INSANE - It is with
tears in our eyes and hole in our
hearts that Daily Arts has to
announce that power couple / travel-
ing freak show Liza Minnelli and
David Gest are breaking up, or so
reports CNN.com. The two were
married last year in high-profile,
star-studded wedding. Was it the
excessive plastic surgery from both
sides? The failed VH-I reality TV
show? Or the fact that they were both
outlandishly and certifiably honkers?
And can anyone believe that a
wedding where Michael Jackson
was best man and Elizabeth Taylor
was the maid of honor wasn't
doomed from the start? That's like
having Keith Richards talk to your
kids about drugs ... actually that
might work pretty well. His leath-
ery, saddle bag of a face might
scare them straight.
In other celebrity divorce
news, the hardest work-
ing man in show busi-
ness, James Brown,
took out a full page ad
in Variety to
announce he
was breaking
up with his
wife / back-
up singer
Tomi Rea
Brown. The
Godfather
of Soul cited "a heavy, demanding
tour schedule" for the split. The
couple has a two-year-old son,
James Joseph II, who was pictured
in the ad with his mom, dad and
Goofy at Disney World.
Umm, Jimmy, if she is your back-
up singer, isn't she on tour with
you, so you'd still get to see her all
the time? Maybe that's where the
demanding part comes in.
"HEY, HOW YOU DOING?"
CRAPPY - Matt LeBlanc apparent-
ly will put off making that sequel to
"Ed" that we've been praying for,
because the TV star will return to
NBC right after "Friends" wraps up
for "Joey," his own spin-off series
that will follow his dumb, hapless
actor character to wacky and zany
new adventures. Will it be the new
"Frasier" or a "Joanie Loves
Chachi" size pile of poo?
Network producers are also
claiming that LeBlanc was the
only Friend approached about a
spin-off (i.e. he came cheaper
than the talented ones). Flog that
dead horse, Matthew, flog it for
all its worth!
CRAZY FEMALE RAPPER,
OLD MAN LEAD VMA PACK
- MTV announced the
nominees for the 2003
Video Music Awards last
week, with Missy Elliott
leading the way with eight nods.
However, the biggest surprise was
71-year-old Johnny Cash, who
received 6 nominations including
Best Video for his cover of Nine
Inch Nails' "Hurt." In one of the
more interesting turns of events,
Eminem and 50 Cent are going
head-to-head in three categories
(Video of the Year, Male Video and
Rap Video).
JOHN SCHLESINGER, 1926-2003
- IMDb.com reported that film
director John Schlesinger passed
away in Palm Springs, Ca. at the age
of 77. Schlesinger's health had been
declining since he suffered a major
heart attack in 2000.
After a brief career as an actor,
Schlesinger
began directing;
in the late
'50s. Best
known for his
films "Billy
Liar," "Mid-
night Cowboy,"
and "Marathon
Man," the
director found Courtesy of BBC
success both in his native England
and the United States. His last direc-
torial credit was 2000's "The Next
Best Thing."
Schlesinger is survived by his
companion of 30 years, photogra-
pher Michael Childers.
4
Courtesy ofoColumbia Pictures
Come on, Diddy, why can't we be on the record?
Bad film, great 'reo-cord
By Joel Hoard
Daily Arts Editor
4
SoCal punks Yellowcard hit it big
By Tony Ding
Daily Arts Writer
MUS IC REVI EW***
As Yellowcard's debut on Capitol Records, Ocean
Avenue is a symbolic testament to the success of this
quintet from Ventura, Ca. Formed in
1997 with no fanfare and backyard Yelwcard
gigs, the lineup shuffled and left the
balmy retirement homes of Jack- Ocean
sonville, Fla., to pursue their talents Avenue
in punk-infused SoCal. Quickly, after Capitol Records
stamping out two acclaimed albums
on indie labels, the group were snatched by Capitol for
bigger waters.
Ocean Avenue is the quintessential modern punk
album. It'll bring rookie fans to the genre as MxPx did a
decade ago. Countless nouveau-punk upstarts have
landed on stages in recent
years, each out to rein-
vent the music and bring
in their unique blend, but
most fail to complete the
picture as eloquently as
Yellowcard.
As one of the only
punk bands to have a
classically trained violin-
ist on the ticket, Yellow-
card's Sean Mackin
makes his mark notable
in the 13-track Ocean Avenue. His symphonic violin
accompaniment leads the songs through rapid riffs and
harmonized vocals to the likes of fiddlers from Flog-
ging Molly.
The new album retains the vitality and genuine style of
Yellowcard's first record, One for the Kids, yet is clearly
more polished and refined. They've
overcome nauseating studio produc-
tions by listening to their fans and
reflecting upon personal growth.
"Believe" makes a tribute to the
courageous sacrifices of the heroes
of 9/11, while "Twentythree" relives
the speed and vigor of One for the
Kids. And "View from Heaven,"
reflects the boy's childhood upbring-
ing within the South's Bible Belt. At
close, "Back Home" brings the
BEST: tempo down beautifully, savoring
memories created one more time.
Ocean Avenue is the best of both
worlds of Yellowcard's talent, from
the classically punk One for the
" * Kids, to the fineness of The Under-
dog EP. They'll hit Detroit with the
* " Vans Warped Tour on August 3,
storming into the Silverdome.
Under the watchful eye of execu-
tive producer Sean "P. Diddy"
Combs, Bad Boys I~s all-star lineup
have put together a collection that
plays more like a legitimate hip-hop
album than i big-budget action film
soundtrack. Succeeding where most
hip-hop soundtracks fail, the record
flows smoothly from start to finish
and more than makes up for any
shortcomings the film may have.
With representatives from nearly
every major rap and R&B label,
including Bad Boy, Def Jam, Jive,
Roc-a-Fella and
Shady/After- ,
math, a roster of Various
hip-hop heavy- Artists
weights featur-
ing Diddy, Bad BoyslII
Neptune Prime Soundtrack
P h a r r e l 1 lBadlBoy Records
Williams, Jay-Z,
Nelly, Beyonc6, 50 Cent, Snoop
Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Justin
Timberlake and a spattering of tal-
ented up-and-comers like Loon,
Freeway and M.O.P., the star power
behind Bad Boys II is almost too
much. But fortunately, egos are
checked, and a solid and cohesive
record results.
Kicking off with some trademark
Neptunes ghetto bounce on the
dirty, Diddy-heavy party track
"Show Me Your Soul" and Jay-Z's
raw and equally bangin' "La La
La," the record quickly establishes
itself as a true tour-de-force with
blingy beats that hit hard --but not
too hard - and strong performanc-
es throughout.
"La La La," Jay-Z's strongest
track since 2001's "Izzo
(H.O.VA.)" is a return to form after
last year's lackluster "The Blueprint
2," and it marks one of the strangest
lyrical unions of hip-hop and bas-
ketball with the line "This ain't
Chris Rock, bitch / It's the Roc,
bitch / And I'm the Franchise like a
Houston Rocket / Yao Ming!" From
playing hoops for the China nation-
al team to a Jay-Z track in just over
a year - congratulations, Yao,
you've made it.
Hot on Jigga's heels, 50 Cent and
the Notorious B.I.G. team up for
one of the best posthumous Biggie
cuts in recent memory on "Realest
Niggas." 50 deftly plays off of
B.I.G.'s rhyme in tribute to the fall-
en rapper and creates a new and
fresh track in the process.
Continuing the star-studded
onslaught, Nelly, P. Diddy and St.
Lunatic Murphy Lee glide through
"Shake Ya Tailfeather," as Nelly's
half-sung delivery meshes surpris-
ingly well with Diddy's understated
monotone.
Sounding blacker and better
every day, Justin Timberlake stands
out on the slick and sexy R&B
number "Love Don't Love Me." If
Justified didn't fully complete J.
Timb's metamorphosis from a teen
pop idol to a genuine R&B singer,
then this should do it.
Of the promising youngsters,
Roc-a-Fella's own M.O.P. steal the
show on "Wanna Be G's" with their
unique gangsta-shout style, show-
ing that it's possible to sound both
dextrous and in-your-face at the
same time. R-O-C Labelmate Free-
way also has a strong showing with
his wheezy but smooth flow on
"Flipside."
Strangely but wisely, P. Diddy
and company left the film's star,
occasional rapper Will Smith, off
the soundtrack. On a record featur-
ing the ghetto's finest stars banging
away with sharp and relentless hip-
hop, Smith's PG-rated rhymes just
wouldn't feel at home. When it
comes to the realest and illest,
there's just no compromising.
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