FIVE NEW WORTHWHILE FILMS LIVE UP TO HYPE

BY DAVIDE GUALANDI
Contributing Writer

COURTESY OF GEUM-JA

Which movie do you choose when it’s Friday night and your girlfriend (or boyfriend) asks for an old-fashioned flick date? Everything is a masterpiece according to those quotes reported on billboards and posters, but how many times have we just felt ripped off by an overrated film supported by an effective marketing campaign?

I know how it feels. That’s why I have compiled this list of upcoming movies spotted here and there at film festivals and sneak previews. I know taste is a major variable, but I fully endorse these flicks. This stuff doesn’t stink!

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Directed by Park Chan-Wook)
They tried to sell you all sorts of outrageously sick movies in 2005, but you left the theater yawning, thinking that the Smurfs were a lot more twisted. Here is the third installment of the “Vengeance” trilogy (after Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy) that made South Korean director Park Chan-Wook famous all around the world. Mr. Tarantino bows with envy. Be prepared. The movie comes out April 21.

The Descent (Directed by Neil Marshall)
Just wait until everyone starts saying that this is the scariest movie of the year after it premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Six women with plenty of issues plan a caving expedition destined to go horribly wrong. Nothing new, but this is classical horror at its best. John Carpenter would love it.

Art School Confidential (Directed by Terry Zwigoff)
Terry Zwigoff teams up with graphic novel guru Daniel Clowes one more time after bringing Ghost World to the screen. Hipsters will line up outside the theatre for this fierce satire about an untalented art student who reaches popularity only when suspected of murder. The movie arrives on April 28.

Marie Antoinette (Directed by Sofia Coppola)
How do you sell a period movie about the queen of France to the audience that fell in love with Lost in Translation? You release a trailer using New Order’s classic Age of Consent as soundtrack, you cast indie idol Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees) and give a post-punk feel to the whole operation. Coming October 13.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig)
This is the best documentary you’ll see in 2006. The life of unquestionable indie icon Daniel Johnston (tormented songwriter revered by the likes of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth) portrayed with so much style and sensibility that the movie won both the Audience Award and the Director’s Award at the Sundance Film Festival last year. Coming March 31.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS

BY MAYRA MARTINEZ
Editor

COURTESY KRT CAMPUS

Black History Month this coming February will flourish with opportunities and events at Ocean campus to display the creative and cultural sides of the culturally diverse college.

The art department’s annual Faculty Art Exhibition is in full swing at the art gallery in the Visual Arts building until Feb. 16. Some of the works are generous donations of the art department for its annual silent auction. The works of art are available for purchase, with proceeds going to support the campus art gallery.

Students can celebrate Black History Month to the sounds and rhythms of drum beats with the return of the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Their high-energy young dancers celebrate life and African American culture through modern and jazz dance. The anticipated show drew a full house to the Diego Rivera Theatre last year, where they will play again this year on Feb. 10 at 11:00 a.m.

The Rosenberg Library will present two films that offer a view into the country of Iran and its people. Playing on Feb. 1 at 12:00 p.m., “The Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine”, takes a dark comedic approach to explore the life of a director after the Iranian Revolution.

“Ten,” playing Feb. 15 at noon, takes the viewer along over the course of several days into the car of a driver as she and her passengers discuss issues ranging from sex and divorce to religion.

Celebration by the Women’s Resource Center begins on Feb. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Rosenberg Library. This event will serve as a transition to Women’s History Month, yet another month abundant with opportunities to learn about various cultures from around the world.

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