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Wednesday
August 23,
2006
TOPTEN
Top Level, UCC
Top 10
In Theaters
1. Snakes on a Plane (R)
Samuel L. Jackson
2. Talledega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby
(PG-13) Will Farrell
3. World Trade Center
(PG-13) Nicholas Cage
4. Step Up (PG-13)
Channing Tatum
5. Accepted (PG-13)
Justin Long
6. Barnyard: The Origi
nal Party Animals (PG)
Danny Glover
7. Little Miss Sunshine
(R) Steve Carrell
8. Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man’s
Chest (PG-13) Johnny
Depp
9. Material Girls (PG)
Hillary Duff
10. Pulse (PG-13) Kristen
Bell
Top 10
Independent
Albums
1. Zombies! Aliens!
Vampires! Dinosaurs!-
Hellogoodbye
2. Ill: In The Eyes of
Fire- Unearth
3. Reprieve-
Ani DiFranco
4. The Road to Here-
Little Big Town
5. The Eraser- Thom
Yorke
6. Retaiiation-
Dane Cook
7. Vans Warped Tour
2006- Various Artists
8. YeU Fire!- Michael
Franti and Spearhead
9. Greatest Hits- Bone
Thugs-N-Harmony
10. Major Lodge Vic
tory- Gin Blossoms
Hot Modem
Tracks
1 . Miss Murder - API
2. Animal I Have Be
come - Three Days Grace
3. Original Fire - Audio
slave
4. The Kill (Bury Me)
- 30 Seconds to Mars
5. When You Were
Young - The Killers
6. Dani California - Red
Hot Chili Peppers
7. The Diary of Jane
- Breaking Benjamin
8. Tell Me Baby -Red
Hot Chili Peppers
9. Steady, As She Goes
- The Raconteurs
10. MakeD*mnSure -
Taking Back Sunday
This week's charts are
courtesy of Yahoo Movies
and Billboard.com.
Arti&Smmm
t „.reel
DEAL
WITH GEOROE HAWKINS
"World Trade Center"
MPAA Rating: PG 13
Running Time: 125 minutes
Starring: Nicolas Cage,
Michael Pena,
Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Maria Bello and Stephen
Dorff
Movies like Oliver
Stone’s new Him “World
Trade Center” not
only have to entertain
audiences and sell tickets,
but also carry the burden
of encapsulating an event
and serving as a virtual
memorial on celluloid.
Although his film is
not perfect, Stone does
accomplish both with
skill and a style most
wouldn’t expect from this
controversial filmmaker.
Stone uses the true
story of John McLoughlin
(Nicolas Cage) and Will
Jimeno (Michael Pena),
two Port Authority
police officers trapped
below the rubble of what
had, moments earlier,
been anchors of the New
York City skyline to
provide audiences with
a perspective most could
not even imagine.
Like most Americans
I 55£g5£
“Exit”
Sony PSP
With such solid
hits as “Tekken: Dark
Resurrection” and “Syphon
Filter: Dark Mirror” under
its belt, the Sony PSP
seems to be slowly but
surely finding its foothold
in the game market. Even
though the more popular
PSP games tend to be
ports from their already
famous Play Station 2
predecessors, every once in
awhile a game is released
that exudes originality and
fun. Such is the case with
this week’s game: “Exit.”
The game “Exit” is a
very unique puzzle game
that isn’t afraid to mix
some style with an equal
amount of substance.
As is the case with most
puzzle games, the story is
basically water thin as it
revolves around the self
proclaimed escapologist
named Mr. Escape and
his efforts to escape
dangerous situations
on September 11, 2001,
officers McLoughlin and
Jimeno woke up, went
about their morning
routines and proceeded to
make their way to work
in the Port Authority
division of the NYPD.
Also like most
Americans, the two men
had no idea what was to
occur on the island of
Manhattan that day.
The towers of the
World Trade Center
are slammed into mid
morning by a pair
of large commercial
airliners; the impact felt
long distances away.
As word of the
catastrophe quickly
travels around the
city, the nation and the
world, all available
emergency personnel
in the city, including
officers McLoughlin
and Jimeno, rush to the
scene to help in any way
that they can.
Many of these
selfless souls perish
as the towers collapse
on top of them with
McLoughlin and Jimeno
pinned beneath tons of
debris 20 feet below the
surface.
such as burning buildings
and snowed in caverns.
Don’t think for a second
that this is going to be a walk in
the park. Not only are gamers
responsible for directing Mr.
Escape to the exit, but also
any stray civilians he may
encounter along the way.
These civilians each have
their own advantages and
restrictions that reflect the
physicality of the fourclasses:
children, teenagers, adults, or
injured people.
Children may be small
enough to crawl through tight
spaces and adults big enough
to push heavy objects, but the
negative side to their size is
that children are too short to
climb heights without aid and
adults are too heavy to pull
themselves up on their own.
It’s situations like
these that keep the gamer
thinking and playing.
As mentioned above,
the idea behind “Exit” is
simple; escort Mr. Escape
and potential others to the
level exit by any means
possible. The levels are
littered with obstacles,
dangers, and items that will
both help and hinder gamers
in their timed race to the
exit. Being able to quickly
analyze a level and utilize
the items found throughout
is key for success in “Exit.”
While the game offers
around 200 different levels
of gameplay, it’s not at all
perfect enough to warrant
playing through them all.
m i
t K A (k Cm
Photo tour tew of Rottentomatoes.com
In Oliver Stone's film “World Trade Center", Nicolas Cage (center) and Michael Pena (right)
take on the responsibility of portraying John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, two New York
police officers buried under the rubble of the two towers during a rescue attempt on 9/11.
The film's drama
is derived from three
separate parts, the first
obviously being the
trapped men, each pinned
under concrete rubble
and bleeding internally,
struggling to keep
each other from falling
asleep... permanently.
The second is the
anguish of the officers’
families and w ives, Donna
McLoughlin (Maria
Bello) and Allison Jimeno
(Maggie Gyllenhaal).
The third story is
that of Dave Karnes
(Michael Shannon), a
“hand of God” sort of
character. Karnes was a
The biggest problem with
the game is the very loose
controls. Doing typical
movements like climbing
ladders or walking up
stairs can take what seems
numerous seconds and
really kill the fast paced
atmosphere of the game.
These sloppy controls can
also make jumping across
gaps a chore as it will take
gamers practice to get used
to timing jumps perfectly.
If the controls
weren’t bad enough, the
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Photo courtesy of Ctamestop.com
For all of the processing capability that Sony’s PSP has to offer, the graphics in “Exit”
don't really live up to the potential of the system.
n **" a *
deeply religious former
Marine who felt called by
a divine force to don his
retired uniform, drive to
Ground Zero and help in
any way that he could. He
locates the two trapped
officers and, as we learn
later, actually reenlists
and serves several tours
of duty in Iraq.
“World Trade
Center,” must, on the
one hand, have been
an incredibly difficult
film to make. 9/11 was
a heartbreaking and
chaotic time for the
American public, and
echoes of the tragedy still
resound in society today.
visuals of “Exit” hardly
utilize the PSP’s graphical
capabilities. The cel
shading gives it a little
bit of flair, but overall the
game looks like it was
ripped straight from the
Super Nintendo era.
Despite the negative
aspects, “Exit" can be quite
the fun game to play in
small doses. The gameplay
is perfect for a quick level
or two without having
to worry about loading
up huge levels or taking
It was a turning point for
American foreign policy
and forced the United
States to recognize issues
beyond it’s own borders.
The potential for
loss of life and selfless
sacrifice of firefighters
and police has never been
more evident than that
day. On the other hand.
Stone was able to easily
conjure up emotion and
memory with the event
relatively fresh in the
movie-going public’s
mind, making his job as a
filmmaker considerably
See RIEL , page 7
forever to save progress. If
gamers can overcome the
few shortcomings of the
game and don’t get worn
down by a few repetitive
levels, they will certainly
find a good budgeted puzzle
game to enjoy.
7.0
Photo courtesy of Gamestop com