The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 03, 2004, Page 7, Image 7
CD REVIEWS
‘Atomic Bomb' packs arena rock punch
“HOW TO DISMANTLE AN
ATOMIC BOMB”
U2
★★★★ out of ☆☆■w-fr-fr
By MEG MOORE
THE GAMECOCK
With a name like “How , to
Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” U2’s
latest release couldn’t be anything but
epic. Together for almost 30 years,
Bono and the boys from Ireland have
journeyed to “Where the Streets Have
No Name” and back again, turning
out stadium-ready rock since “New
Years Day.”
By mixing socially conscious
lyrics with sweeping sonic
statements, U2 has garnered both
critical and public acclaim
throughout their career — a rarity in
the pop rock world. Finding play on
MTV as well as on indie-rockers’
iPods, the supergroup remains one of
the few bands able to win a divergent
mix of listeners.
On their latest effort, U2 proves
that practice can make pretty-near
perfect when it comes to producing
hits. Recapturing the overall feel of
2000’s Grammy-winning “All That
You Can’t Leave Behind,” the lush
rock of “How to Dismantle an Atomic
Bomb” sounds tailor made for fist
pumping fans.
Partnering with Apple to promote
the new album, the lead single and
opening track “Vertigo” is currently
being featured in a commercial, and
the band has lent its name to a special
edition iPod. Fans can also purchase
U2’s entire catalog via iTunes.
But all of this corporate
sponsorship doesn’t trump the fact
that the group has again turned out
one rockin’ album. From the catchy
chorus of “Vertigo” to the ‘80s-tinged
splendor of “City of Blinding Lights,”
U2 is gearing up for another
“Beautiful Day.”
Working with Steve Lilywhite who
produced the band’s debut LP, “Boy,”
U2 strikes a balance between the
grandiose and the mellow with cuts
such as “Miracle Drug” and the
heartrending “Sometimes You Can’t
Make It On Your Own.” The pairing
of Bono’s soaring vocals and The
Edge’s unmistakable guitar makes for
a - near-spiritual experience. When
Bono sings “Listen to me now /1 need
to let you know / You don’t have to go
it alone,” it’s with the power to
convert souls.
“Atomic Bomb” never explodes
with anything earth-shattering, but for
a band that has finally found its stride,
simply swaggering in can be enough.
Making music with untouchable
confidence, the group contemplates
love, death and war while calling for
peace, all within an 11-song span.
After almost three decades of rock,
Bono et al. reserve the right to deliver
something comfortable, if still
masterful.
Those who have looked to U2 as
something more than the pinnacle of
arena-rock may be disappointed by
their latest release’s lack of sonic
exploration. But for those who have
anxiously awaited another reason to
scream and sing-along, “How to
Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” packs
enough uplifting moments to keep
fans believing the hype.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@givm.sc. edu
Indie Christmas album offers new take on tunes
[ THIS
Mi
HKHnSKHnCHnnKHi
“MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS
TREE"
Various Artists
★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
By MEG MOORE
|C THE GAMECOCK
When you consider the relatively
few number of Christmas songs that
make it onto popular CDs, it’s a
wonder that every year so many more
holiday albums get released.
Honestly, a good number of remade
classic simply don’t work —
Fleetwood Mac’s version of “Silent
Night,” for example, may just be the
most grating Christmas song ever
produced.
But if the popularity of pop holiday
albums this year is any indication, the
Christmas album offerings at any given
music store will soon start to rival its
Pop-Rock selection.
Moving beyond the mainstream
take on seasonal tunes, “Maybe This
Christmas Tree” gets lesser-known
stars in on the seasonal action.
Including tracks . from The
Ravonettes, Death Cab for Cutie and
The Polyphonic Spree, among
others, the compilation delivers an
early gift to those looking for yet
another, out-of-fhe-ordinary
collection of holiday hits.
With its numerous members, The
Polyphonic Spree seems tailor made to
revamp the John Lennon classic
“Happy Xmas (War is Over).”
Maintaining and even strengthening
the original tune’s exultant sound, the
group invigorates the seasonal favorite
with lush choral arrangements and
orchestral accents.
The Ravonettes follow with a
percussion-driven, jingle bell-tinged
take on “The Christmas Song,”
carrying the melody with vocal
harmonies.
Making the most of Ben Gibbard’s
distinctive vocals, Death Cab for
Cutie wanders wide-eyed through
“Christmas (Baby Please Come
Home).
Yet the holiday spirit soon begins
to sag. Although wonderfully ironic,
melancholy offerings from Pedro the
Lion (“I Heard the Bells on
Christmas Day”) and Tom McRae
(“Wonderful Christmastime”) put h
damper on the cheer. And the garbled
strings and muffled vocals of Ivy’s
“Christmas Time is Here” sound
anything but celebratory. Exercising
one’s creativity is one thing, but,
well, it is the holidays — sacrificing
depression for “Deck the Halls”
wouldn’t hurt.
The record’s strongest tracks
remain those that place the actual
song above the artist’s lets-see-what
I-can-do ego. Jars of Clay’s James
Taylor-esque rendition of
“Christmas for Cowboys,” a tune
made famous by John Denver, stands
out. Sparsely instrumented, the song
has a warmth and authenticity no
amount of artistic license could.
better.
With other gems such as Royal
Crown Revue’s jazzy “Baby It’s Cold
Outside,” Lisa Loeb’s groovy take on
“Jingle Bells” and Belasana’s
“Bittersweet Eve,” the album has its
season-saluting moments. ^
“Maybe This Christmas Tree”
may not be the most consistent
holiday CD out there, but it gives
indie music fans a way to celebrate
without having to endure a Clay
Aiken Christmas.
Comments on this stoiy? E-mail
ga7nec0ckfeatures@gwm.sc. edit
Natalie Portman
retains mystery
■ Actress holds on to
vulnerable quality
while playing stripper
By HANH NGUYEN
KRT CAMPUS
In Mike Nichols’ relationship drama
“Closer,” Natalie Portman —- whose
poise and talent often makes her seem
older than her years — has finally come
into her own as an adult actress.
Based on the award-winning play by
Patrick Marber, “Closer” revolves
around the lives of four strangers who
meet, love, betray and ultimately ruin
each other while seeking intimacy.
Despite playing a stripper in the film,
the 23-year-old “Star Wars” prequel
actress insists that she doesn’t feel fully
mature.
“I don’t really feel like an adult yet
myself, so I don’t really think I can play
adults. I think it’s always a proportion,
adult to child within you, and even
when you’re 85 you’re still going to have
that proportion,” explained Portman.
“It changes with mood and with time.
It’s an arbitrary distinction between
adult and child.”
Director Nichols, who previously
worked with Portman for a stage
production of “The Seagull,”
specifically wanted this curious mix of
youth and sophistication for the role of
Alice.
“I wanted to start with a beautiful
young girl, so adorable that Audrey
Hepburn would worry ... And then
(later in the film) Natalie comes back
and she’s increased,” Nichols said.
Alice changes over the course of
several years in the film, beginning as a
charismatic pixie-like waif who captures
the attention of obituaries' journalist
Dan, played by Jude Law. After
experiencing a bitter betrayal, she
inevitably becomes wiser and jaded, yet
still keeps an intriguing untouchable
aura about her. Marber, who adapted his
play for the screen, also sees this quality
in Portman.
“She’s extremely clever. She’s got
some secret about her as truly intelligent
young women always do,” gushed
Marber. “She’s enigmatic. She’s
absolutely in the now and she’s real.
She’s quite a one.”
Portman maintains her mystery
when it comes to nudity as well. For the
strip club scene, she agreed to let the
film roll while she bared herself, but
later decided against using the two
second shot of her closing her top.
“I didn’t think it was crucial to the
scene. I thought it was distracting, if
anything, to have it at the head of the
scene,” she said.
Nichols, who describes the film as
“not about showing anything,” agreed
to the cut, a decision that must have
pleased Marber, who deliberately kept
all of his characters clothed, albeit
scantily at times, for the stage version.
“It’s very important to me that
there’s no nudity in the play because
it’s all about words and the words we
use,” he explained. “I wanted the
audience to always feel like they’d seen
all this sex, but they haven’t seen a
damn thing, if that makes any sense at
all.”
In fact, Portman and her co-stars
Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen
make it through the movie discussing
and reacting to sex, but never
participating in anything more
passionate than a heated gaze or kiss on
screen.
Or course, as Alice, Portman ratchets
up thje eroticism with her strip club
scenes, for which she took pole dancing
lessons, which she describes as
“physically very demanding, a
combination of dance and acrobatics.”
Although she gained a new respect
for the strength and stamina of exotic
dancers, Portman didn’t have to
perform anything quite so taxing.
Having taken dance lessons since the
age of 4, she performs an effortless split
in the film. “I’m extraordinarily
flexible,” she commented matter-of
factly.
Her garb for the scene consists of a
G-string, skimpy top, garter and
colorful wig. Despite this provocative
ensemble and her even more suggestive
actions, the actress doesn’t worry about
her imminent status as a sex icon.
“I’m not scared. I’m brave,” she said.
“I’m not doing things to prove anything
that I’m like or unlike what other people
think of me. That makes me
comfortable with whatever people walk
away with. I can still carry on my own
life without being hurt.”
“Closer” opens nationwide today.
‘Finding Neverland/ ‘Kinsey/ ‘Closer’
honored by National Board of Review
By CHRISTY LEMIRE
't THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
<r
NEW YORK — “Finding Neverland,”
the whimsical, wistful story of “Peter
Pan" creator J.M. Barrie, topped the
National Board of Review s list as the
best film of2004.
Jamie Foxx was named best actor for
his convincing portrayal of Ray Charles
in “Ray,” and Annette Bening took the
top female acting honors for “Being
Julia,” a showy role in which she plays
an aging British stage star.
No single film dominated the
group’s winners, announced
Wednesday, although “Sideways,”
about best friends on a wine-tasting
road trip, was honored in three
categories: Thomas Haden Church
won the supporting-actor award for his
role as a swaggering, washed-up TV
actor; director Alexander Payne and his
L writing partner, Jim Taylor, shared the
* adapted screenplay honors; and the
film was listed among the group’s 10
best of the year.
Laura Linney won the supporting
actress category for “Kinsey,” in which
she plays the wife of sex researcher
Alfred Kinsey. The cast of “Closer” —
Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen
and Natalie Portman — were honored
for best acting by an ensemble.
The Pixar hit “The Incredibles,”
about a family of super heroes, was
named best animated feature. The Sea
Inside,” a Spanish film starring Javier
Bardem as a quadriplegic fighting for his
right to die, was the top foreign language
film. And “Born Into Brothels” was the
group’s choice for best documentary.
Michael Mann won the best-director
award for “Collateral,” starring Tom
I Cruise as a hit man on the prowl in Los
Angeles, and Clint Eastwood received
special filmmaking achievement honors
for the boxing drama “Million Dollar
Baby, which he directed, produced and
stars in, and for which he composed the
score.
The group’s top 10, in order:
Finding Neverland,” “The Aviator,”
Closer, Million Dollar Baby,”
“Sideways,” “Kinsey,” “Vera Drake,”
“Ray,” “Collateral” and “Hotel
Rwanda.”
The No. 1 choice of “Finding
Neverknd,” starring Johnny Depp and
Kate Winslet, came as no big surprise to
Tom O’Neil,- host of the awards
handicapping Web site
GoldDerby.com.
“The board traditionally likes movies
based on real-life characters — movies
with literary credentials based on real
life characters, like ‘The Hours’ and
‘Quills,’” O’Neil said.
“And they have certainly
demonstrated that they have a profound
impact on the Oscars,” he added. “They
put Halle Berry on the map with
‘Monster’s Ball.’ Berry’s win at the
-National Board of Review was the only
major industry award she won in the
Oscar home stretch.”
The organization doesn’t always jibe
with the eventual Academy Award
winner. In recent years, the National
Board has chosen “Mystic River,” “The
Hours,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Quills,”
none of which won the best-picture
Oscar. In 1999, however, it matched up
with the Oscars, picking “American
Beauty.”
The National Board of Review of
Motion Pictures, formed 95 years ago, is
composed of film historians, students
and educators.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Johnny Depp and Freddie Flighmore star in “Finding Neverland,” picked as the best film of 2004 by the National Board of Review.
Movie
Releases
“Closer”
v'
■ CHRISTMAS
Continued from page 6
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Carolina
Country Cloggers and the Mount
Pleasant Baptist Church Step Team
will provide entertainment.
PRE-KWANZAA
CELEBRATION
Sunday from 2-4 p.m. at the
Sarah Nance Cultural Arts Center,
2611 Grant St.
use CONCERT CHOIR
ANNUAL HOLIDAY
CONCERT
Sunday at First Presbyterian
Church, 1420 Lady St. 6 p.m. Free.
HOMES FOR THE
HOLIDAY
Tour nine decorated homes in
the Shandon and Hollywood-Rose
Hill neighborhoods. Sunday from
2-6 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance
and $15 the day of the tour. Call
Sam Waldrep at 779-5343.
THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST
The Shandon Chancel,
Columbia College Choirs and the
S.C. Philharmonic will perform
Sunday at the Shandon
Presbyterian Church, 607
Woodrow St. 3 p.m. Free.
GIFTS FOR INPATIENT
CHRISTMAS PARTY
The Palmetto Health Baptist and
Palmetto Health Richland Hospitals
are seeking volunteers to buy
Christmas presents for those
remaining in the hospital over the
winter holidays. Santa will distribute
the gifts a few days prior to
Christmas. Call Carole Howell at
434-4517.
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gamecockfeapires@gami.se. edu
www.dailygamecock.com