ATe Msidg www.michigandaily.com Courtesy of Saddle Creek I'm sad. Baliad of Bight Eyes Hey bub, I'm like Elvis ... but with claws! By Niamh Slevin Daily Arts Writer By Graham Kelly Daily Arts Writer ICONCERT PREVIEW Bright Eyes is the brainchild of Conor Oberst, a catholic prep- school kid from Omaha, Neb. At 13 Oberst had already recorded his first independent album on a four- track. By 14, he had formed Com- mander Venus with some buddies (one of them Tim Kasher, Bright Eyes later to go on Wednesdaa9p.m. and form Atdst.dAndrw'sdHall another suc- ar anel cessful Omaha band, Cursive) releasing two albums under that name. During the Commander Venus years, Oberst continued to write songs on his own, and after the release of the second album, Oberst decided to focus more on his own musical roots and pas- sions: acoustic-based songs. He shied away from the heavy guitars of his old project and formed a new band, Bright Eyes, under which he could release a collec- tion of twenty songs he had writ- ten during the previous years. What is now an important label in the indie-rock circle, Saddle Creek, put out the first Bright Eyes album, Letting Off the Hap- piness, in 1998. After a frustrating attempt to keep a consistent circle of band members, Oberst decided to make Bright Eyes a name for his personal songs and allow a rotating group of players to hit the road with him and record albums. But it wasn't until 2000 and the release of the masterpiece Fevers and Mirrors that Oberst's true potential became apparent. His frighteningly intense, personal lyrics and knack for odd instrumentation caught the attention of hoards of college students who found Oberst's storytelling addictive. In 2002 the latest Bright Eyes LP, Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, was released with the same ingen- ious, autobiographical songs but bathed in a slew of new styles. See BRIGHT EYES, Page 11 "Have you tried ... well ... not being a mutant?" Such simple mother- ly advice may seem like mere comic relief, but these words actually sum up the premise for the newest X-Men brawl quite well. Paired against X2: X-Men their arch-neme- United sis and the presi- dent of the free At16dstoecuasety world, the coali- 20th Century Fox tion of kick-ass characters fight to keep their very race alive in this summer's first blockbuster action flick. As expected, "X2: X-Men United" picks up where its predecessor left off, with the maniacal Magneto (Ian McK- ellen) trapped in his bubble prison, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) struggling to discover the truth of his past and little Rogue (Anna Paquin) still trying to get some sugar from the boys. Even the mutated senator from the preceding sto- ryline carries over as a reformed advo- cate for mutant rights. But Magneto's prophecy of an impending mutant war rings true in the sequel, as an assassination attempt on the president provokes a mutant annihi- lation campaign in the White House. Military general William Stryker (Brian Cox) arranges a midnight raid on Xavier's School for the Gifted, and the X-Men are pitted against the most dan- gerous foe yet: the Professor. With the introduction of the elusive teleporter Nightcrawler (Alan Cum- ming) and some crowd-pleasing battle scenes, the special effects in 'X2' far surpass those of the first movie. The German freak show artist snakes his way into any space, dodging a tirade of bullets and leaving only a smoky blue trail in his wake. His strange physical appearance leaves the audi- ence wanting to know more about his fixation with sin and faith, isolation and acceptance. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) have their shining moments too. Here, they capture their prey with a simple flick of the wrist and assume control of the X-Men jet, maneuvering around government fight- er planes as their male counterparts stumble around in the back. In fact, the females of the species reignssupreme in most cases in terms of skill and overall action. Each of the men is easily manip- ulated with mind tricks, illusions and fantasies galore, but the women refrain from such weakness. While the men sometimes shy away from the danger (ahem ... Iceman) or manage to get themselves pinned into unpleasant situ- ations, the women continue to hold their MONDAY MAY 5, 2003 own on land and off. Sadly, the newly added character of Oeathstrike (Kelly Hu), Stryker's pet project and the updated, female ver- sion of Wolverine, receives very little of the spotlight. She has no lines to speak of and is rarely seen until her short, yet intense hrawl with her coun- terpart, which is, hy far, one of the movie's heat. For such an intriguing addition to the plot, her role is disap- pointingly understated. In order to save the Professor and the world at large, the X-Men must join forces with their previous enemies, Magneto and Mystique, a pairng which allows for an interesting tension hetween the two sides. Tine, the end result is predictahie from the heginning, hut the comhination increases the humor and appeal inherent in the film. Though the reintroduction to the characters is slightly longer than expected (It takes almost a full hour to reach any decent fight scenes), X2 maintains the halance hetween action and plot without really overemphasiz- ing either aspect. Surprisingly, the movie manages to include a special wist to its ending, hreaking the trdi- lion and monotony of many predictabie superhero stories. In what's shaping up to he yet another summer of sequels, X2 provides hope to its moviegoers that the tend will result in comparahly sat- isfying follow-ups. x PAJAMA PARTY NEXT FRIDAY & SATURDAY slumber parties have never been this fun! xxx film legend Ron Jeremy May 15 ANNIVERSARY WEEK MAY 1117 k