Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 24, 2002 7 XTT71 1\/TT'\r THEY SAID IT CONTACT US I I H , I\l I I LAO TZU: “He who knows others is wise. E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com -L _L J—A -Li JLV_ He who knows himself is enlightened.” MOVIE REVIEW. Crikey! Irwin wrestles out surprisingly funny flick THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE Information ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK I liked the Crocodile Dundee movies of the 80s. I’ll admit it. Paul Hogan and his Outback ways were part of my generation’s childhood. Looking back on them now, they seem silly and hokey, but they still manage to capture some of the pop culture limelight. After all, Hogan was the man who introduced the majority of Americans to the catch phrases, “G’day, mate” and “That’s not a knife; this is a knife.” For the children of the new millennium, there is a new Aussie hero on the horizon. (Well, actually, he’s on the Animal Planet channel.) He is the famed Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, and he’s here to teach America wonderful new catch phrases such as “Crikey!” Steve and his wife Terri are the television sensations who delight audiences with then dangerous missions of animal preservation. That’s right, animal preservation. If you don’t already know anything about the Crocodile Hunter, then “Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” may not be for you. However, if you have found yourself flipping through the channels and being intrigued by this seemingly mad fellow who likes to hold venomous snakes and talk about them while they try to kill him, then you will get quite a few chuckles out of the film version. There are really two plots at work in this movie. The first is pretty much another episode of the Crocodile Hunter TV show. Steve, Terri and their dog Sue, who apparently is 30 years old, are traveling through Australia rescuing animals for study or preservation. Along the way, Steve wrestles with crocs, plays with snakes and does all sorts of things that seem ludicrous to any normal person, which adds to the element of danger that makes the show so appealing. The second plot is completely ridiculous and could have been better written by a six-year-old. It involves two warring CIA departments searching for the black box of a downed intelligence satellite. The box has landed, predictably, in Australia and has been swallowed by the same crocodile that Steve and Terri are trying to relocate to another river system. These two separate plot lines. BBBBM_m_* PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Steve Irwin, seen on right, battles crocodiles and the CIA in his first major motion picture. fumble along for the first half of the movie, but it’s when they finally meet that makes this movie worth the while. It seems as though the world of military intelligence and the world of Steve Irwin can’t make sense of each other. The CIA discovers that all of Steve’s “wildlife” trips to other countries have coincided with political coups, and they brand him as a political terrorist. Steve, meanwhile, thinks that the CIA agents chasing after him are “poachers.” This leads to some of the best moments in the film where Steve is fighting CIA agents with guns and treating them as though they are dangerous ♦ CROCODILE, SEE PAGE 8 CD REVIEW ‘The Weekend’proves band is emopunk trendsetter THE WEEKEND EP Hey Mercedes ★ ★★★ OUtOf BY WILLIAM MILLS THE GAMECOCK Veterans of the emo punk scene Hey Mercedes are throwing another scrap to their ravenous fans. These Milwaukee rockers released another EP on July 16 called “The Weekend.” The album has two previously released songs, two songs that have never seen the light of day and a hidden track. “The Weekend” is a follow-up to their first and only full length album, “Everynight Fire Works,” which hit the streets last year. Any album from these founding fathers of emotional punk rock is sure to tug at every available heartstring. Robert Nanna’s personail and powerful vocals sail above a sea of angular guitar work and well-placed breaks. “Our Weekend Starts on Wednesday” is a perfect example of this style but an all too prevalent one. This song has appeared on three different CDs: “The Weekend,” “Everynight Fire Works,” and the Vagrant Records compilation “Another Year on the Streets” Vol. 2. The band has only been together a very short time, and they are already one of Vagrant Records’ most favored bands, right behind Dashboard Confessional. Hey Mercedes got its start in 2000, making them a relatively new band. However, three out of four of the members were previously with Braid, one of the most prolific pioneers of the post-emo indie rock scene. Braid was busier than the average band with constant touring and frequent new releases that had well over the normal 12 song format. Braid survived in the underground for six years until 1999, but Nanna, Damon Atkinson and Todd Bell picked up their instruments in 2000 and formed Hey Mercedes. This time around, they are taking a more relaxed approach to songwriting and touring. While they might not produce as much material, they are less likely to get burned out and more likely to keep kicking out records until 2010. Hey Mercedes also has the advantage of production assistance . from J, Robbins, the singer from ; Burning Airlines and one of the 2 more infamous names in punk rock. “The Weekend” EP is something to keep Hey Mercedes fans at bay until their next full length release but, more importantly, it’s a chance for those just getting turned on to this genrf to earn some merit badges. Hey Mercedes isn’t riding a trend; it helped create one. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com