Entertainment Archives - Page 135 of 138

The Ten Best Releases of 2007

January 10, 2008

Each and every one of the following albums has been carefully selected to represent the year in music, and each one contributes a strong presence going forward. The music is vastly different from one artist to the next, but all worthy of consideration, and discussion of merit. As part of a larger community,...

Review: New puzzle games reach out to wordplay fans

Facebook's "Scrabulous" is just one of many word games gone electronic

January 7, 2008

The worldwide sudoku craze appears to be fading _ if electronic versions of the number-logic game are any indication. Since 2005, I've seen dozens of sudoku games for consoles, handhelds, computers and cell phones. On the schedule for 2008 are ... none. I gave into the fad for a while, in much the...

Interview: Relient K tells Chimes about its Christmas release

December 14, 2007

“When we were a band starting out in Ohio, I don’t think any of us thought that we’d go past high school,” Relient K guitarist Matt Hoopes admitted to me over the phone. “Then we got a record deal right before we went to college … so we made our first record, and then we made a second record...

Student art show: Van Orden’s work isn’t cryptic, but a visual feast

December 8, 2007

“Whim, Fancy, Curiosity,” artist Sydney Van Orden’s senior thesis exhibition, will bring a room full of beauty to the Biola Art Gallery this Monday, Dec. 10. The show (open through Jan. 15) includes 20 abstract pieces – twelve on wood panel and eight on paper. The pieces involve a variety...

Anberlin’s Stephen Christian Talks About New Record, Side Projects

December 8, 2007

“I think there’s a moment in everyone’s life where it’s this do or die moment,” Stephen Christian of Anberlin said, minutes after another terrific performance at Anaheim’s House of Blues on Dec. 3. “You have this one chance. Do you jump off the train and try to save the day? Do you go...

Music Review: OneRepublic’s “Dreaming Out Loud”

December 2, 2007

The title of OneRepublic’s new album, Dreaming Out Loud, may prove curiously prophetic for the alternative rock band’s debut release. For the time being, the relatively new band, fronted by the talented Ryan Tedder, seems to be living every band’s dream career. Just one short year ago, the band...

Biola Film Review: “Mujo No Kaze”

Premiering this weekend, a student film shot in Japan

December 2, 2007

The blending of cultures and art culminates for 10 Biola film students and their professor as “Mujo No Kaze: Winds of Impermanence” premiered in Los Angeles Saturday Dec. 1. The 12-minute film, which was shot entirely in Japan this past January, is the product of the hard-working members of a special...

Film Review: “Enchanted” is decent

December 2, 2007

Borrowing from several animated Disney classics, not to mention films such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Kate & Leopold,” “Enchanted” presents a premise in which cartoon characters are transported to the harsh confinements of reality. Giselle (Amy Adams) — a chirpy mixture of Snow...

Movie Review: “I’m Not There”

November 30, 2007

While the deluge of musical films can be draining, there are still music-inspired tales that are destined to become classics, among them the new Bob Dylan biopic, “I’m Not There.” Co-written and directed by visionary filmmaker Todd Haynes, “I’m Not There” tells an engaging story while also...

Movie Review: “This Christmas”

November 29, 2007

Newly-released film "This Christmas" had a strong opening weekend, bringing in $26.3 million over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend — coming in second place to Disney’s “Enchanted,” which opened with $49.1 million. The most impressive significance of "This Christmas’" successful opening weekend...

Fall films ring in Thanksgiving at the box office

November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving weekend, usually associated with families, eating, football and shopping, is also a profitable and powerful weekend at the box office. With Oscar nomination season right around the corner, films released around this time can provide an enjoyable diversion from the family togetherness as...

“Lions for Lambs” probes tension of War on Terror

November 16, 2007

What will you stand for? This such a pertinent question in our post-9/11 world that this fall many films are overtly pressing it. One example is the new film directed by Robert Redford, “Lions for Lambs.” The story is composed of three simultaneous storylines tied to the War on Terror. In one,...