Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, September 21, 2001 1™ 111.’ \11V Story ideas?Questions? Comments? I I I 1 I ^ I I /\ THEY SAID IT Writeusatgamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com U —■— ■ M A ¥ —I-U -M ROBERT FROST: “Freedom lies in being bold.” ___^^________________________^________________________________i____________^_________^ DVD REVIEWS Return of the TRILOGY Catch up on famous fantasy series with animated films BY TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK The Hobbit ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ Lord of the Rings ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ The Return of the King ★ outof*<r*<r* Few people haven’t heard about Peter Jackson’s ambitious new attempt to bring the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy to the big screen starting this Christmas. Hollywood has always wanted to create a movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, but technology has never been advanced enough to do justice to the books’ massive battles between ores and humans. Or has it? When Hollywood isn’t capable of producing live-action stories, the task falls to animators who are limited only by their imaginations. Between 1978 and 1980, three animated movies based on The Lord of the Rings were produced: The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King. All have been recently released on DVD to promote the live-action movie coming out in December. The Hobbit, based on Tolkien’s prequel to the trilogy of the same name, aired on television in 1978. It was produced by the directing team of Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., best known for their work on children’s TV specials in the early ‘70s, a history that’s reflected in their simplistic, watered down version of The Hobbit. But while the base recounting of the story slightly weakens the plot, the main themes ring true; in the end, it’s somewhat impressive that they condensed such a hefty novel into an hour and a half. It’s hard to critique the animation Rankin/Bass used. On one hand, the treatment of hobbits and some of the main characters, such as Gandalf, is extraordinary. Then there are the ores, which look like giant frogs, and the elves, which look like skinny, giant frogs, and Gollum, who looks like — you guessed it, a giant frog. What helps make up for the mediocre animation is the excellent voiceover acting, especially by Brother Theodore, who plays Gollum. Theodore manages to make Gollum seem just as crazy and incoherent as readers imagine him to be. Perhaps the most abysmal aspect of The Hobbit is that, like most children’s programming, it throws in a song about once every five minutes. Intense, dramatic scenes are suddenly interrupted by Glenn Yarbrough’s (sometimes painful) warbling. At least the ores sing some amusing songs. While The Hobbit was in production, master animator Ralph Bakshi was preparing a version of Tolkein’s trilogy for theatrical release. Bakshi is perhaps best known for his films Cool World, Wizards and Fritz the Cat, one of the first pornographic cartoons. Bakshi used Wizards as a testing ground, experimenting with taking live-action film and coloring over it to create a darker, grittier kind of animation. Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings is an animation masterpiece. Because the animation is based on live-action shots, even the hobble of the old wizard Gandalf seems so realistic, it’s breathtaking. The story follows the books much more closely than The Hobbit did. Unfortunately, Bakshi ran out of money about halfway through the trilogy and ended the movie there. He always vowed to finish the saga, but the movie’s producer, Disney, daunted by low box office sales, decided not to make another film. That’s too bad; Bakshi’s vision of the land of Middle Earth is almost dead-on. The animation, voiceovers and music all come together to create a sweeping saga that, like the story it’s based on, covers a range of emotions and, most importantly, tells an amazing tale. Rankin/Bass decided to finish what Bakshi started, and, in 1980, they aired The Return of the King. While The Hobbit had at least some childish whimsy about it, this retelling of the ♦ TRILOGY, SEE PAGE 6 Cosmic Fame, Beam to hold CD release party at local club BY PEKKY MARQUEZ THE GAMECOCK Cosmic Fame of Columbia and Beam of Charleston will hold a dou ble CD release party Saturday at the Elbow Room. These bands, from South Carolina’s two muscial mec cas, will team up with the all-female group Suck, as well as the hardcore band Against the Grain. Cosmic Fame shows potential in its debut EP Goddess. Although there is nothing surpising, listen ers can-appreciate its intention to further push the limits of rock. Lead vocalist Marty Fort has a voice that resembles that of Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy and Metal lica’s James Hetfield, even invok ing thoughts of Alice in Chains. Another of the band’s highlights is Mike Reed’s keyboards, which add a melodic yet industrial feel to the songs, particularly the title track. Fort and Reed, both formerly of Euphoria Machine, are joined by two veterans of Balance of Power, drummer Jason Summers and bassist Rich Shirah. They’ve been together since March, though they’ve known each other for a while. “We’re a lot more intense than Euphoria Machine,” Summers said. “We’re a little more heavy and have a good groove.” Beam willl join Cosmic Fame, an arrangement set up by a mutual friend. “We swapped a gig, opening for them at the Music Farm,” Sum mers said. The sounds of Beam’s six-song release, Platinum, resemble what you might have heard at Ozzfest or the Family Values tour; if you’re looking for innovative rock, though, you’re looking in the wrong place. Beam’s type of rock doesn’t move far from its influences: Pink Floyd, ♦ CD RELEASE, SEE PAGE 6 Cosmic Fame headlines the CD release party on Sept. 22. PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Networks to hold NEW YORK (AP) - Unit ing screen stars, musicians and television personalities, the four largest TV networks said they would simulcast a special benefit for terrorist attack victims Friday night. America: A Tribute to He roes will air 9-11 p.m. EDT on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and any other TV or radio network that chooses to participate. Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks, Ray Romano and Kelsey Grammer have all agreed to participate, orga nizers said Tuesday. It’s thought to be the first time the four networks have agreed to air the same pro gram simultaneously. The networks haven’t said whether they’ll set up their own relief organization for victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks or direct viewers to existing groups. Viewers will be told how they can donate on the show, organizers said. The four networks will pay for the event, and all of the stars are donating their time. The full list of participants: Bon Jovi, Amy Brenneman, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Sheryl Crow, Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Cal ista Flockhart, Dennis Franz, Grammer, Tom Hanks, Faith Hill, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Conan O’Brien, Tom Petty, Romano, Roberts, Paul Si mon, Will Smith, Spring steen, Sela Ward, Robin Williams, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. Other participants will be added up until show time. Students must get ready to sacrifice DENISE LEVEREAUX GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM Something is very, very wrong. Firefighters ask for money to help those in New York. For donating, you get a free piece of pizza. I saw some people taking the pizza who didn’t donate anything. It gave me a sick feeling way down in my stomach. Last week, the news told of people around the country who were pretending to be from the Red Cross. They were taking donations and running. These things make me sick. I can’t comprehend how people can be so callous. Taking anything from donations to a piece of pizza, people are trying to make the most of America’s tragedy. I will be the first to admit it’s not everyone. USC’s support over the past week has been nothing short of amazing. There are some, however, who refuse to take this situation seriously. in one ol my classes on Thursday, the professor asked how many of us would enlist if needed. Only two people raised their hands. One was an ROTC member, and the other was an adult returning to school. Not a single regular, average, run-of-the-mill college student raised his hand. In the dorms this week, people complained and complained that the football game had been canceled. God forbid a national state of emergency interfere with the SEC. These things frighten me. If we don’t take our situation seriously, who will? I realize the 60 students in my class aren’t an accurate cross section of the American public. I realize the firefighters raised an incredible amount of money from USC students on Tuesday. I realize not everyone was so put off by the canceled football game. But I think the fact these scenarios exist at all says something about us — something not so noble. Teachers love to tell us we’re the future. We are the leaders of tomorrow. They’ve told us these things ad nauseum. Have we ever really had to think about that before? I never did. I never thought of myself in anything more than a rather pathetic self-centered perspec tive. President Bush has said numerous times we need to be ready to sacrifice. I don’t see USC’s students ready to sacrifice on a large scale. Sure, we donate $5, $10. We casually toss our change into a firefighter’s boot to get a free slice of pizza. What happens when we need to give up something more? Are we prepared to do that? Or are we just going to slough it off and say, “This is all I can do; it’s somebody else’s job to do the rest.” We’re getting there, though. These events are making us see ourselves as part of a whole, part of the bigger picture from which we often feel so distant. We are now faced with the chance to see ourselves as Americans. One day, it’s going to be our turn to do the hard part. One day, it’s going to be our turn to make the big sacrifices. The tough questions, “How far are you willing to go?” and “How much are you willing to give?” will be aimed at us. Get ready, because that day is coming. When it gets here, lets give them all we’ve got.