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THEY SAID IT ppATT’APHP TTQ ANDY WARHOL: “Ifyou want to know all VjvJiN IrVU I U O about Andy Warhol, just look at the sur Story ideas? Questions? Comments? face E.CEliSw? E-mailusatgamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com 8 Fashions from ’60s movement make comeback BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK The age of the eternal hipster is again upon us. From short skirts and shocks of color to flat heeled boots and plastic bangles, the fashion elite threw it all into their fall collections. As the au tumn retail season brings sweaters to the shelves and wool skirts to the racks, a more prac tical version of the Avengers-style aesthetic has appeared in store ads and window displays. Unlike the catwalk-supported return of the high-waisted pant, the mod look appears to be re ceiving modern approval from mall-shopping Americans. And understandably so — what girl hasn’t been yearning for a work able way of wearing minis in the winter (with bright tights), fun accessories and funky, foot friendly flats? The mod era originated as a youth movement that exploded in London during the 1960s. Mods were cultural rebels, and they became iconic for their dis tinctive, impeccably tailored fashions. They embraced American R&B and soul-infused music, bringing a new sound to the clubs of London. The group adopted the term modernist — shortened to Mod — to reflect its fast-paced world and cutting edge style. During the era, designers and architects began looking toward the future, envisioning space-age buildings and spinning space in vader-suited garb. They infused their designs with bold colors and graphics, simplifying silhouettes and rounding-off structures. Clothes became sleeker, fitted, eye catching but streamlined — per fect for turning heads while rid ing one’s scooter down city streets. With hipsters stalking the sidewalks, the mod movement in evitably infiltrated other facets of the creative life, manifesting its bright charm in movies, art and music. Films such as “Blowup” explored the era’s styles and mind set: Andy Warhol turned pop art into a phe nomenon by painting and becoming one of the period’s icons. Ironically — or perhaps fittingly, considering the movement’s subcul ture origins — the Mod craze died down, partially because of its commercialization. Today’s innovators are re visiting all things mod, both in their new creations and their re vivals of era favorites. They are stepping outside the fashion world to reincarnate old trends. For example, within the trans portation industry, the Mini re mains the ultimate hipster car; old versions have been re vamped, and new models are hot sellers. Vespas have also re emerged as a chic way to get around. The music and movie indus tries have also responded to the revival of the Mod craze. While bands such as the , ^ PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THFCAMECOCI^ Hipster cars from the mod movement such as the redesigned Volkswagon Beetle are racing back to the streets. Who, the Kinks and the Animals originally spearheaded the move ment’s music scene, new groups including the Hives and the White Stripes are currently re vamping the modernist style. Hollywood scored summer suc cess with the ’60s-themed block buster “Down With Love.” The film captured the same sly spirit as the romantic comedies of old starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Within the confines of the cat walking world, many designers have latched onto popular styles of the era. As usual, the trend most vividly evidences itself in the women’s fall collections, as models were dressed in \ turtlenecks and mini dresses; Fab Four-es ™ que fashions found their way onto the men’s runway. Marc Jacobs went for circle pockets and bright hues; Tommy Hilfiger took the same mod styles and subdued them in creams and dark _ neutrals. Mini H skirts got even shorter, color schemes grew even louder and store buyers quickly placed their orders for the Mod season to come. As with any easily recogniz able trend, the wearer must know when enough is enough; this sea son’s fashions should be worn with “Mod”-eration. The rainbow color palette and plastic baubles should not become one’s uniform, but should be worn for added flair. Nothing screams “fashion victim” like completely changing your day-to-day look every sea son in accordance with the latest ads in Elle. Arguably less fun but certainly more reliable, men’s col lections generally showcase more invariable fashions. Staples are always featured, even on the run way. Falling victim to the latest trends is therefore less of a haz ard, yet the compulsive male shopper remains — those multi ple pairs of Beatles’ style boots will not prove to be an enduring investment. Watch reruns of “The Mod Squad,” read a book on Warhol and look to your favorite ’60s icons — or Austin Powers — for further inspiration. From the leg endary Carnaby Street to the cur rent season’s catwalk, Twiggy and company are having yet an other 15 minutes of fame. Take a step back this fall into the smash ing era of all things Mod. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com MOVIE REVIEW Indie film fails to outdo big-budget Hollywood “XX/XY” Austin Chick ★★ out of BY GRAHAM CULBERTSON AND HILARY SCHRAMM THE GAMECOCK “This is definitely not a film you’d see at Dutch Square,” the Nickelodeon Theatre employee assured us as he handed us our tickets with a smile. And really, maybe that’s all that can be said for Austin Chick’s new indepen dent film “XX/XY.” It is not, as its title implies, a film about men and women, or even a film about a man and a woman. At first glance, it appears to be a study of college relation ships, following the on-again, o£f again sexual escapades of three people at Sarah Lawrence College. /The two main characters, Coles (Mark Ruffalo) and Sam (Maya Strange), first interact when Coles spies Sam in a New York subway. Later, he shows up at a party, flirts with Sam and ends up in a threesome with Sam and her counter-culture friend Thea (Kathleen Robertson). And so begins Coles’ stormy relation ship with Sam. This is Chick’s first feature film, and it shows. Not only does the audience not know where the grungy protagonist came from nor how the struggling an imator chose Sam as his seem ingly arbitrary love interest, but the audience is left completely in the dark as to how*their rela tionship develops — and that’s literally in the dark. Although white letters pro claim “Sarah Lawrence College” and “Fall 1993” in the introduc tion, every scene seems to take place in a different dark, ran dom, unidentified locale — from Coles’ studio to what appears to be an underground pool and then to various other apart ments so dimly lit that the audi ence could not tell them apart from each other, let alone as cribe owner ship to them. i nt: 111 si half of the film follows Coles and Sam, from “Fall” to “Winter” and, you guessed it, “Spring,” as they alternately have sex with each other, have sex with others and fight about sex. There are no tran sitions between these seenes so The new independent film explores college relationships and sexual deviance, but falls short of innovative plot lines. the viewers are left to determine why Sam and Coles think they are in love and whyTheahassex with her friend and roommate Sid. She then blows him off. And finally, why Thea and Coles have sex wiui eauii uuiei in front of both Sid and Sam. For whatever reason, this is appar ently the last straw for Sam, and the first half of the film merciful ly ends. Then the film jumps ahead 10 jtears to “The Present Day.” ' The present day scenes fea ture solid acting from Petra Wright as Coles’ current girl friend, Claire, and include a short but solid performance from David Thornton as Thea’s husband, Miles. However, there is still no rea son for the audience to care about Coles, Thea and the re cently returned Sam, who is back from an extended stay in England. Rather than lift the film out of its dismal slump, Wright’s excellent acting and emotional maturity merely highlight the film’s many shortcomings, pri marily her co-star’s'lack of depth. Chick has attempted to create a postmodern dating story, but the result is an emotionally vac uous mess, complete with rapidly changing sex partners, spotty character motivations and an ending that manages to be both solidly downbeat and open ended. In the end, “XX/XY” serves best as a reminder that indepen dent films at the Nickelodeon can be just as poor as the latest big-budget offerings at local theatres. r Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor(uihotmau.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Characters in Austin Chick’s “XX/XY” engage in various sexual escapades throughout three seasons at Sarah Lawrence College. CD REVIEW ‘Lonely’ album thrives in melody ‘ “LONELINESS KNOWS MY NAME” Patrick Park ★★★* outof'fr-fr'&'friir BY BEN ANGSTADT THE GAMECOCK Loneliness and feelings of in adequacy are two aspects of life most people would prefer to ig nore ; Patrick Park, however, chooses to embrace these reali ties of existence rather than shy away from them. Fortunately, his debut album, “Loneliness Knows My Name,” avoids becoming mired in self pity as Park creates a sort of melodic despair without the drudgery of dreary vocals and de pressive lyrics. Rather, he relies on his top-notch songwriting abil ity and folk-rock influences to ru minate about his sadness. These sensitive works come from a seemingly unlikely source: Park, a Colorado native, 4 was once a bouncer and earned a black belt in martial arts. Park’s style undoubtedly fol lows in the vein of classic folk artists. His instrumentation is reminiscent of Bob Dylan, and his high-register vocals recall Neil Young, but more subtle in fluences can be heard throughout the album. Most interesting is the striking resemblance between Park’s voice and that of a young Jackson Browne. His talents rightfully place him alongside similarly influenced contemporaries like Pete Yorn, Duncan Sheik, Ryan Adams and the late Jeff Buckley. Thankfully, he still finds an original sound de spite the obvious similarities he 1 shares with these artists. Park demonstrates his ability for diverse songwriting right from the album’s start. The open ing track, “Thunderbolt,” starts off with a Dylan-esque harmonica and Park’s appropriately under stated guitar. The next track, “Honest Skrew,” picks up the pace, adding piano, drums, and heav ier guitar lines to tell the story of a shallow relationship without any emotional interaction. Despite the less-than-upbeat top ic, though, Park manages to keep the listener involved with a driv ing beat and strong, confident vo - On “Nothing’s Wrong,” Park explicitly states “loneliness knows my name,” and his choices in instrumentation set a perfect tone for the song. The snare drum brushes and the whining steel guitar seem like they could be straight from an old Western and fit perfectly with Park’s regrets over the mistakes that have left him alone in life. The next track, “Your Smile’s a Drug,” shows yet another influ ence, as the guitar line and words sound like they would fit just as well on a James Taylor album. In “Something Pretty,” Park wish es for a break from struggles in life as he says, “I know ugliness, now show me something pretty.” “Past Poisons” is one of the al bum’s stronger tracks. Park sings in a high falsetto set to a waltz-like, pace and conveys the desperation' of his lover who refuses to face her inner demons. The Stevie Ray Vaughn style guitar solos and an gry chorus vocals, however, de pict his resentment of her hesita tions, as he angrily shouts that meanwhile he will be putting his own “past poisons to sleep.” “Bullets by the Door” and “Home for Now” round out the al bum and end it on a high note. Park reveals that despite his ♦ LONELINESS, SEE PAGE 9