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Wednesday
October 19,
2005
TQPTEN
3
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Top Level, UCC
Top 10
In Theaters
1. The Fog (PG-13)
Selma Blair
2. Wallace & Gromit:
The Curse of the Were-
Rabbit (G) Peter Sallis
3. Elizabethtown (PG-13)
Kirsten Dunst, Orlando
Bloom
4. Flightplan
(PG-13) Jodie Foster
5. In her Shoes (PG-13)
Cameron Diaz
6. Domino (R) Keira
Knightly
7. Two or the Money (R)
Matthew McConaughey,
A1 Pacino
8. A History of Violence
(R) Viggo Mortensen
9. Tim Burton’s Corpse
Bride (PG) Johnny Depp
10. Gospel (PG)
Boris Kodjoe
Top 10 Songs
in America
1 . Gold Digger - Kayne
West w/ Jamie Foxx
2. Photograph -
Nickelback
3. Shake it Off -
Mariah Carey
4. My Humps -
Black Eyed Peas
5. Like You - Bow Wow
w/Ciara
6. Wake Me Up When
September Ends -
Green Day
7. Soul Survivor - Young
Jeezy w/ Akon
8. Run It! -
Chris Brown
9. Because Of You
- Kelly Clarkson
10. Play - David Banner
Top 10
Album Sales
1. All The Right Reasons
- Nickelback
2. The Day After - Twista
3. Real Fine Place -
Sara Evans
4. All Jacked Up -
Gretchen Wilson
5. Wildflower -
Sheryl Crow
6. Late Registration -
Kayne West
7. Extraordinary Ma
chine-Fiona Af '
8. You Could Have it
So Much Better - ftanz
Ferdinand
9. Monkey Business
- The Black Eyed Peas
10. Fireflies - Faith Hill
Top ten movie information is
according to Yahoo.com. Top
ten music information is ac
cording to Billboard.com.
'■ ENIHWW
t„,reel
PEAL
WITH GEOR6E HAWKINS
“Waiting"
Running Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Starring: Ryan Reynolds,
Justin Long, Anna Faris
and David Koechner
“Waiting,” anew
film with seemingly
endless potential, by
director Rob McKittrick,
will ultimately
disappoint moviegoers,
which is a shame as this
type of movie has just
been waiting to be made.
In addition, there is a
large market (namely those
in the food-service industry)
who are an easy audience.
This motley comedy
is about a group of waiters
at a local chain restaurant
called “Shenanigans,”
which basically is a mirror
image of cookie cutter
“neighborhood bar and
grills” like TGI Friday’s
and Bennigan’s.
This type of parody
restaurant scene first
appeared in Mike Judge’s
hilarious 1999 film “Office
Space.” In that movie,
Jennifer Anniston played
a waitress in a similar
restaurant, who hated her
job, herboss and cowurkers
and all of the many pieces
of “flair” that she was
forced to wear on her
"^UPSTia^i
By Will Winchester
KilgoreTrout2o@aol.com
There’s just no
escaping it. The airwaves
are absolutely saturated
these days with the prim and
pouty musings of the new
New Wave, anew British
Invasion ala Duran Duran
and the like that includes the
sounds of Franz Ferdinand
and Bloc Party, as well as
certain culturally confused
American bands who like
to pretend they’re British.
No need to beat about
the bush here. For the
most part, it’s crap. The
corporate machine keeps
churning out copycat band
after copycat band, each
worse than the one before
it, a lucrative and entirely
obnoxious snowball effect
of calculated crapiness.
Sure, Arcade Fire
shook up the ever finicky
underground scene for
twenty minutes or so, but
were ultimately deemed
a steaming pile of hype.
And further underground,
the erratic and prickly
Clap Your Hands and Say
Yeah are likely to entertain
the discerning listener,
assuming said listener has
a big bottle of aspirin on
the ready.
~ So has anything
good come out of this
everything-eighties trend?
Enter Montreal-based
quartet Wolf Parade.
Brought to the attention
already loud suspenders.
There are only a
few main characters in
“Waiting.” The loveable
smart aleck and undeclared
leader of the gang of
servers is Monty (Ryan
Reynolds). Monty is a laid
back type of ladies' man
who really has no future
plans besides make SIOO
a night as a waiter and the
ambition to sleep with a
lot of women (currently
he’s struggling to wait a
week for underage hostess
Natasha t.o turn 18).
His roommate and
coworker is Dean (Justin
Long), who doesn’t make
great money as a waiter
and is under pressure from
his mother to do something
with his life.
The rest of the cast
consists of rageaholic
waitress Naomi (Alanna
Übach), whose rage in the
kitchen quickly turns to
sugary sweet fake smiles
at the tables; a waiter with
a shy bladder, a pair of
hip-hop wanabee busboys,
a surprisingly true to life
kitchen staff of delinquents
and perverts, and a lesbian
bartender who is more
.jconcemed w ith picking up
girls at the bar than making
drinks for waiters.
There isn’t really much
i il-r fills
J i "’/•?- P| 'Bv > ’-J
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Photo courtesy of myspace.com
Wolf Parade recently released their album, titled “Apologies to the Queen Mary.”
of Sub Pop Records by
none other than Modest
Mouse’s Isaac Brock,
Wolf Parade’s precocious
debut album “Apologies
to the Queen Mary” is a
refreshingly original effort
from one of this year’s
best up-and-comings.
A diverse blend
of styles, “Apologies”
combines Modest Mouse’s
post-punk edge and
penchant for random
cleverness with the
atmospheric elements of
Arcade Fire or Frog Eyes
and the lush electro-pop
layers of fellow Canadian
buzz band Metric.
Produced for the most
part by Brock in his Portland
KS
Photo courtesy of waitinKthemovie.com
Ryan Reynolds (above) and Justin Long (below) star in
“Waiting," which is in theaters now.
Photo courtesy of naitinKthemovie.com
of a plot to this movie. It
takes place within the time
span of about 48 hours
and consists of two parties
held after work at Monty
and Dean’s (enough to
show a pattern of senseless
revelry). At Shenanigans,
audiences are shown the
world of the restaurant
and given a tutorial of the
game of genital showing
(not todmmhw.
it) that the, jyale servers
play through the first day
training of Mitch (John
studio, the album \s dense and
heavy arrangements manage
to avoid overproduction
and. with the help of
Brock’s famous ear for
the beauty in dissonance,
capture wonderfully the
energy and eccentricity of
live performance.
The songwriting
and lead vox are spilt
almost evenly between
keyboardist Spencer
Krug, who has an obvious
affinity for Bowie, and
guitarist Dan Boeckner,
who can’t seem to
decide if he wants to be
Beck or Spoon. Though
Boeckner’s songwriting
is undoubtedly the most
pop-friendly of the two.
Francis Daley). There is
also the aforementioned
crisis of Dean regarding the
rest of his life and career.
The rest of the
film consists of various
interactions between the
employees and patrons of
the restaurant. Some funny
and some not so funny.
This type of movie
could really have been
•i done ..weJJ. and gathered
a cult following, much
like work/slacker based
movies like “Clerks” and
what actually shines
through the most on this
album is Krug’s vocals,
ranging from high
pitched wail (ala Clap
Your Hands) to warbling
tenor (ala Bowie), and his
delightfully bizarre pop
sensibility.
Nowhere is this more
evident than on the opening
track “You Are a Runner
and I Am My Father’s
Son,” a delightfully twisted
and infectious pop tune
in which Krug merciless
abuses some poor old
church piano to the sound of
drummer Arlen Thompson
beating the crap out of a big
messy Ludwig in some old
root cellar.
“Office Space” have done.
Unfortunately, “Waiting”
lacks any direction and lets
its potential wither and die
by the end.
With only a few
tweaks, this movie
could have been great.
Witnessing the behind the
scenes politics and many
antics of a restaurant staff
was actually quite amusing
and evoked more than a
few guffaws, especially
for those who work in the
industry and hate it.
The characters and
stereotypes were dead-on,
as was most of the acting.
However, what should have
been a straightforward,
concentrated concept was
bogged down and diluted
by attempts to add depth
to the story. The primary
example of this was the
harped-upon storyline that
had Dean struggling with
his destiny.
This was entirely
unnecessary for this genre
film and it actually is
angering that they would
even try to force what they
feel is a “relevant” issue on
moviegoers.
Although the movie
certainly could have been
cleaner and better in many
different ways, it’s fairly
entertaining. However,
be warned that those who
work, or have worked, in a
restaurant at any time will
find this movie funnier than
those who haven’t.
GRADE: B
It’s a stellar opener that
belongs on a top ten list of
greatest opening tracks,
alongside Spiritualized’s
“Ladies and Gentlemen We
Are Floating in Space” or
Radiohead's “Airbag.”
Unfortunately, it isn’t
a great indicator of what’s
to come. After this little
jangling jaunt, the band
settles comfortably into a
steady succession of fluid,
guitar-driven rock songs.
Boeckner’s “Modem
World” and “Shine a
Light” are two notable
tracks, leaning more toward
the tidier pop end of the
spectrum than tracks like
Krug’s bizarre and sprawling
“Dear Sons and Daughters
of Hungry Ghosts.”
While the songs are
more than satisfying for a
debut album, it’s the smart
production that really
makes this album stand
out and shine. Without
the playful dialogue of
loops and synths, from
resident technophile
Hadji Bakara, lending an
ever present color and
depth to the background
of every song, Krug’s
and Boeckner’s songs
would sound little more
sophisticated than those
of radio darlings Franz
Ferdinand or over-hyped
crooners Arcade Fire.
But thankfully they do
sound more sophisticated,
with uncharacteristically
insightful lyrics to match,
making “Apologies” a gem
of an album, a diamond in
the rough -and making
Wolf Parade a band to
watch in 2005.