6 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, March 24, 2003
CONTACT US 'eremy mE'1 SAI,) IT
iEREMY BENTHAM: “The greatest happiness
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? of the greatest number is the foundation of
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com morals and legislation.”
‘Chicago ’ takes home six Oscars;
Adrien Brody surprise best-actor
winner for role in ‘The Pianist’
BY DAVID GERMAIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — “Chicago” led
the Academy Awards with six
trophies, including best picture,
at a ceremony last night that al
lowed Hollywood to exalt itself
while muting the Oscar
pageantry because of the U.S.-led
war on Iraq.
The razzle-dazzle satire
“Chicago” became the first musi
cal since 1968’s “Oliver!” to win
the top Oscar. Its other awards
were supporting actress for ’
Catherine Zeta-Jones, and four
technical honors including cos
tume design and art direction.
Adrien Brody was a surprise
best actor winner Sunday for his
role as a Holocaust survivor in
by hiding from the Nazis in the
Warsaw ghetto. “The Pianist” was
directed by Roman Polanski, a
Holocaust survivor himself.
The only best-actor nominee
who did not already have at least
one Oscar, Brody won with his
first nomination. Over a 15-year
career, Brody has focused on
provocative films over commer
cial ones, among them “The Thin
Red Line” and “Summer of Sam.”
The 6-foot-l, 160-pound Brody
lost 30 pounds in six weeks to cap
ture Szpilman’s gauntness after
years of deprivation in the
Warsaw.ghetto.
“This film would not be possi
ble without the blueprint provided
by Wladyslaw Szpilman,” Brody
said. “This film is a tribute to his
survival.”
The Pianist, and Nicole
Kidman was named best
actress for portraying nov
elist Virginia Woolf in the
somber drama “The i
Hours,” at an Oscar show
overshadowed by the U.S.
led war on Iraq.
Pedro Almodovar won
the original screenplay.
Oscar for “Talk to ^
Her,” and ^y^L
Ronald
Harwood fm
the /■
adapted
screen- IH
play
award for il
“The
Pianist.” ■MiFJm
World
events
sparked sev
eral emotion- «
al highlights,
including
Brody’s tearful jHH
speech and an attack
on President Bush JH
by filmmaker fm
Michael Moore,
winner of the best
documentary
Oscar for “Bowling
for Columbine.”
Brody played the
title character in
“The Pianist,” based
on the real-life story V
of musician
Wladyslaw Szpilman,
a Polish Jew who lived
through World War II ^
“My experience mak
ing this film made me
very aware of the sad
ness and the dehu
manization of people
in times of war, and
the repercussions of
war. And whether
mu believe in God or
Ulah, may he watch
over you, and let’s
pray for a
peace
ful
l\ and
swift
HI reso
r£ Ml iu
FJ/ tion,”
Brody
said,
fighting
Wj^ml back
Wm tears and
Hr drawing a
WKr standing
ji ovation.
Zeta-Jones
Ml was the first
tt performer to
win an acting
I I Oscar for a
musical since
Liza Minnelli
and Joel Grey
H for . 1972’s
“Cabaret.” In
W “Chicago,” Zeta
Jones played a
jailed vaudeville
scamp scheming
for celebrity after
slaying her hus
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Renee Zellweger, left, starred with Richard Gere and
Catherine Zeta-Jones in “Chicago,” best-picture Oscar winner.
band and sister.
Due to deliver her second child
with husband and Oscar-winner
Michael Douglas in a few weeks,
Zeta-Jones joined co-star and fel
low supporting-actress nominee
Queen Latifah in the Oscar per
formance of “I Move On,” the best
song nominee from “Chicago.”
“My hormones are too way out
of control to be dealing with this,”
Zeta-Jones said.
Documentary winner “Bowling
for Columbine” is Moore’s alter
nately hilarious and horrifying ex
amination of gun violence in
America.
Moore, a harsh critic of the
Bush administration, received a
standing ovation. He invited his
fellow documentary nominees on
stage, saying they were there in
“solidarity with me, because we
like nonfiction, and we are living
in fictitious times.”
“We live in a time where we
have a man who’s sending us to
war for fictitious reasons. We are
against this war, Mr. Bush.
Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame
on you,” Moore said, amid a mix
of boos and applause from the
crowd.
Her Oscar win was a
Hollywood ending for Kidman af
ter a turbulent couple of years.
She had a miscarriage in 2001 and
broke up with husband Tom
Cruise, in whose shadow she had
lingered throughout their 11-year
relationship.
Kidman emerged as a big star
in her own right later that year
with “Moulin Rouge,” which
earned her a best-actress Oscar
nomination, and the horror hit
“The Others.” In “The Hours,”
Kidman played suicidal author
Virginia Woolf, wearing a fake
nose to capture the writer’s plain
features.
“Why do you come to the
Academy Awards when the world
is in such turmoil?” Kidman said.
“Because art is important. And be
cause you believe in what you do,
and you want to honor that, and
it is a tradition that needs to be up
held.”
Chris Cooper, a veteran char
acter actor whose credits include
“American Beauty” and “Lone
Star,” won a best-actor in a sup
porting role for his portrayal of a
scraggly haired, toothless horti
cultural poacher on a mission to
preserve rare orchids in
“Adaptation,” a film loosely based
♦ OSCARS, SEE PAGE 8
CD REVIEWS
TkeAtaris ’ music
turns mainstream
“SO LONG, ASTORIA”
The Ataris
★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
Add another mark to the tal
ly of punk bands gone soft. The
Ataris have forgone their super
indie status for a Columbia
Records contract and joined the
punk-byproduct heap alongside
Blink-182, Simple Plan and New
Found Glory.
The band’s major-label debut,
“So Long, Astoria,” is a 13 song
compilation — plus, for some
reason, two hidden tracks —
that fades away quickly after
the final song. The title track
opens the album and is stan
dard emo-punk fare, but builds
up to a glorious, dramatic cho
rus. Two or three songs later,
however, it’s hard to remember
what the chorus went like.
The title track’s lyrics also
imply that it’s OK to mature as
musicians and sell out. “We said
that we would never fit in/
When we were really just like
them/ Does rebellion ever make
a difference?” sings vocalist-gui
tarist Kris Roe.
The prodigal sons that once
slammed mainstream rock ra
dio have decided to call it home.
Back in their days with Kung
Fu records, the Ataris recorded
“The Radio Still Sucks,” in
which Roe sang about how he
was sick of Beck and 311 and
how he wished someone would
break Marilyn Manson’s neck.
Now, the same band proudly
boasts in its news release that
it has toured with 311, among
other big-time rock acts, and
The Ataris are currently on the
IUCIU Willi pup-i UUIV UCU1U
Sugarcult.
Roe gets few chances to
scream on the album, while, in
the band’s indie days, he tor
tured his vocal cords with
howls. With the piano opening
on “The Saddest Song,” it
sounds like producer Lou
Giordano is trying to turn a
punk act into Coldplay.
Giordano has also worked with
the Goo Goo Dolls, who once
were actually a punk band.
It sounds like Giordano’s
having his way with The Ataris,
too; a close listen to “Looking
Back on Today” reveals an
acoustic guitar strumming
along. Acoustic guitar shame
lessly opens “Eight of Nine,”
and the second of the two hid
den tracks is an acoustic ver
sion of “The Saddest Song.”
The album’s first single, “In
This Diary,” contains the lyrics,
“The only thing that matters is
just following your heart/ And
eventually you’ll finally get it
right.” It’s hard to believe those
phony feel-good lyrics come
from the same band that once
sang, “Why do I never seem to
learn that/ Love is wrong and
girls are f—ing evil?”
“So Long, Astoria” also in
cludes a cover of Don Henley’s
“The Boys of Summer” that
should have been saved for a
novelty at The Ataris’ shows.
They do put their own stamp on
it, changing the “Deadhead
sticker” lyric to “Black Flag
sticker.”
me Dana s last whimper
about the mainstream is quelled
after three and a half minutes
of “Radio #2.” Roe sings, “Look
outside your FM dial/ They’re
preaching lies in 4/4 time/ A
generation without a voice and
stripped of pride.” Maybe, in all
the sameness of Nickleback and
3 Doors Down, The Ataris want
to be the saviors of rock radio.
But they’re hardly their gener
ation’s voice. Since the band has
gotten airplay, The Ataris only
add to the reasons why the ra
dio still sucks.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
VIDEO GAME REVIEW
‘Wind Waker’blows away ‘Zelda’players
“THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE
WIND WAKER”
Published and developed by
Nintendo of America
★★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY BEN ANGSTADT
THE GAMECOCK
The moment is finally here.
After months of delays and a year
of controversy, the latest incarna
tion in the “Legend of Zelda” se
ries has made its appearance on
the Nintendo GameCube. Arriving
less than six months after the crit
ically acclaimed “Metroid Prime”
took the gaming world by storm,
“The Legend of Zelda: The Wind
Waker” may now wear the crown
as the ’Cube’s best game.
“The Wind Waker” has a
straightforward plot. On his birth
day, Link, the game’s main hero,
witnesses his sister’s abduction
Dy a giant Dira. his omy cnoice is
to follow this animal to determine
the whereabouts of his sister. As
he proceeds, however, he quickly
learns that things in his world are
much more complicated than they
seem.
It has not been easy for Link to
come even this far. Poor Link has
received countless attacks for his
new look. In “The Wind Waker,”
series creator Shigeru Miyamoto
decided to use “toon-shaded”
graphics that resemble the look of
a Warner Brothers cartoon. Also,
he is a small child in this game,
rather than an adult as he was in
“Majora’s Mask,” the last Zelda
game on a home console.
Regardless of whether “The
Wind Waker” resembles a kid’s
game on screen, there is no deny
ing that its new look has created
a seamless, consistent world with
almost unbelievable detail. Water
flows, trees fall and characters
move with amazing realism. Even
Link’s eyes shift as he moves
around the world, depicting his
emotions and giving clues to the
player.
But while graphics are a video
game’s most obvious aspect, the
actual game play is what truly
matters, and this is where “The
Wind Waker” really shines.
Most of Link’s traditional tools,
such as boomerangs, bombs,
swords, shields and grappling
hooks, make their return. He has
many new and innovative tools,
however, that are key to the game.
One of the most important new
aspects ot LunK s improvea in
ventory is his ability to pick up
the weapons of his fallen enemies.
This is a crucial aspect of the
game — Link must frequently use
dropped weapons to solve puzzles
and proceed to the next area.
But Link’s most important new
tool is a magical wand called the
Wind Waker. After learning
songs, Link uses the wand to con
trol the wind in ways such as
changing its direction and sum
moning massive cyclones.
Still, the game’s most engaging
aspect is the massive, intricate
world in which Link lives. The en
tire game takes place on countless
islands spread throughout the sea.
L,inK must use nis newtouna ooat
to take him from island to island
on his journey. And of course, the
classic Zelda dungeons are all
here, with mind-bending puzzles
and spectacular bosses.
The latest in the “Legend of
Zelda” series is a true gem — the
best reason yet to own a
GameCube. It’s a necessity for any
avid gamer.
So if people tell you “The Wind
Waker” has inferior graphics and
looks likes a kid’s game, just pity
them. They truly don’t know what
they’re missing.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE-GAMECOCK
The new “Zelda” Nintendo game uses cartoon-like graphics.
The other Kenny G
speaks to listeners
“STANDARD OF LANGUAGE”
Kenny Garrett
★★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY MARIANNE PARRISH
the gamecock
The recently released
“Standard of Language” pro
vides listeners with a moody
montage of saxophone stylings.
No, this is not a Kenny G
record. This is Kenny Garrett,
a masterful alto-sax man with
attitude, intellect and focus.
This is his eighth Warner
Brothers release. No offense to
any Kenny G. fans, but this mu
sic is quite different. Garrett
has been involved in jazz as well
as hip-hop music, and has
played with Miles Davis and the
legendary GURU.
• UU1V1 VUt **wv«u UVU1UVV
on “Standard of Language,’’but 1
it’s organized well; listeners can
travel with the changes in tone,
up and back down. The album
kicks off with a solid selection of
songs, each offering varying tex
tures and temperaments.
Vemell Brown really works
the keys on track two, “Kurita
Sensei.” It’s impressive and
rhythmic without dipping into
♦GARRETT, SEE PAGE 7
PHOTO/VECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Kenny Garrett’s album showcases his jazzy saxophone skills.