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8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, January 14, 2004 | “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded r\ j. j. gold, It would be a merrier Contact. Us world.” Story ideas? Questions? Comments? j. R. R. tolkien E-mail us at gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu author of the -lord of the rings*3&iogy B However, millions have been en r hate it, "Lord of man behind it all was J.R.R. Tolkien, gs” has become a He was born Jan. 3, 1892 in il phenomenon Bloemfontein, South Africa and spent e past few years, most of his life in England. USC stu locked to theaters dents will have the chance to hear ■e holiday seasons, more about the man behind the epic office records, story when Tolkien expert Michael tn’f seem to get DrOut from Wheaton College comes ae Hobbit and his to lecture Jan. 15 on "Tolkien, the Meeting a ring. Medieval and the Modern.” r _jgmmmm A' ' PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS f Drount comes to USC Jan. 15 to share his love of the Tolkien trilogy j that inspired the recent movies and Elijah Wood's Frodo. wnen asxea hqw ne got mie; Tolkien’s work, Drotk explained: “ff have been interested iirTolkien since! I was two years old and my parents hung the Map of Middle-Earth over my crib, but I never thought I'd end up studying his works. When I was do ing my dissertation on Anglo-Saxon literature, I wanted to have a chapter on Tolkien’s influence on Beowulf scholarship. I was in England and did some research at Oxford, and that’s where I found the unpublished manuscript of Beowulf and the Critics. I then worked with the Tolkien Estate to get permission to do my edition and, quite anumber of years later, I’ve end ed up being very involved in Tolkien studies in addition to my work in me dieval literature.” When asked to pick which work was his favorite, however, finding a definite answer was a little more diffi cult — “A tough question. Like most people, I deeply love ‘Lord of the Rings,’ but I’m also very, very attached to the ‘Silmarillion.’ That book came out when I was about nine years old and my parents were going through a difficult divorce. The ‘Silmarillion’ got me through a very difficult winter and the beauty of the stories in it has been a part of my life ever since.” k ~.. Movie. Review ‘Big Fish ’ sinks amid sea of storylines “BIG FISH” ** out of BY GABRIELLE SINCLAIR THE GAMECOCK The previews for “Big Fish” of fered a 14-foot-tall giant named Carl, “Siamese Twins" who share the same legs and dream of singing with Bob Hope, and a per petually adorable Ewan McGregor wearing a goofy smile and carrying a heart full of promise and potential. Director Tim Burton, the ge nius behind “Edward Scissorhands” and “Beetlejuice,” had two options: make a movie like the one implied by the trailer that tells a fantastical and color ful tall tale, or create a character study of a dying man trying to connect with his dense journal ist son. He goes with the third op tion: attempt to do both and fail, if brilliantly. “Big Fish” is adapted by John August from the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace, and feels like a series of underdeveloped chil dren’s bedtime stories. It is meant to be a love letter to the Southerner in all of us, the indi vidual living in a slow-as-mo lasses world where storytelling is a regional pastime. The movie successfully blurs the line between facts, imagina tion and the Truth. It gets bogged down in its own morals, howev er, which Burton seems terrified the audience will forget. Ephemeral Alabama accents aside, the performances from Albert Finney as the dying Edward Bloom, and Jessica Lange, who manages to still be drop-dead-gorgeous in her 50s as his patient wife, are friendly and inoffensive. The characters are likable if overbearing. The fa ther-son relationship is like a male version of the “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” The movie also includes obli gatory cameos from go-to weird guy Steve Buscemi and go-to short man Danny Devito, who to gether show up in something like 75 percent of all films. Burton uses visual tricks and creates veritable paintings in the movie, with images that are al most Wizard of Oz-esque, with about the same believability. This film has seemingly end less parallels to “Forrest Gump.” What makes “Forrest Gump” a better film, however, is that the title character has something to lose. Even though his life is a se ries of possible tall tales, or “big fish” stories, Forrest remains a valid character. . PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Ewan McGregor stars In Tim Burton's new movie ‘Big Fish,’ a fanciful tale that fails to live up to audience expectations. The young Edward Bloom, played earnestly in flashbacks by Ewan McGregor (“Moulin Rouge,” “Trainspotting”), knows his life purpose; he even learned the cause of his ultimate demise in the glass eye of a witch as a child. We’re told from the beginning that if you know how you’re doing to die, it can be a good thing, because you know you can get through ev erything else. As lovely a senti ment as this is, unbroken confi dence doesn’t do much for the anticipation factor, and the film often drags. “Big Fish” is drowning in plots, with enough characters and story lines to supply a host of Hollywood flicks. But ultimately it’s got nothing on story, and nothing on meaning. Despite all its best intentions, “Big Fish” just doesn’t ring true. Comments dn this story?*rE-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu CD. Review Elliott album gives new exciting sound “THIS IS NOT A TEST!” Missy Elliott *★* out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY MORGAN FORD THE GAMECOCK “This Is Not a Test!” is another well-crafted achievement by Missy Elliott. It is different from Elliott’s past albums, such as “Under Construction,” because of how it was produced. Even though both Elliott and Timbaland once again produced this album, it doesn’t quite have the beat box feel Timbaland usually includes within his work. Instead, it is comprised of more DJ work on the turntables, with tracks like “I’m Really Hot.” Another difference is (that this album leans more toward an R&B sound, rather than the hip-hop feel typical of Elliott’s raps. In “Dats What I’m Talkin About,” which features a duet with artist R. Kelly. Elliott shows her sweet vocal ability, which is compli mented nicely by R. Kelly’s voice. “This is Not a Test!” features a great array of guest artists, from superstars Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly, to up -and- coming stars like Elephant Man and Beenie Man. The album’s first single, “Pass the Dutch,” is not a letdown com pared to past hits by Elliott, but also does not give the listener a good idea as to how the rest of the album sounds. Elliott speaks her mind an<| lends her views on life fo* African-Americans in the United States in her song “Wake Up.” This track separates her from some other mainstream rap artists because it speaks about something she personal ly feels strongly about and is not just a tune about money, drugs and sex. The track “Toyz” also vocalizes Elliott’s feelings on female liber ation. For a woman in a male-dom \ : ♦ ELLIOTT, SEE PAGE 9