Lifestyle

• What a Buzzkill!

  Lifestyle April 26, 2010 at 2:00 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Dylan Hares, Staff Writer There is no doubt that George Mason University is growing. Lot I is closed for the construction of residence halls and Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads will see their first fall semesters starting in fall 2010. Both Student Union buildings are seeing construction and expansion, and we’re getting several new office and academic buildings all over campus. With all these expansions in these hard economic times, it begs the question from tuition-paying students: What is it that I’m paying for exactly? The consensus seems to be that Mason is a boring place on the weekends. At least half of the resident population goes home during this time and those who remain seek off-campus excitement. At least it seems that way when the campus is literally barren and on-campus events go unattended on the weekends. This past Monday, Provost Peter Stearns and Senior Vice President Maurice Scherrens hosted a very candid and open budget summit at Ike’s. Among the points touched on were the cause of rising tuition and where the money goes. According to Scherrens, this past year saw a $4.5 million reduction in the funding provided by the state. In the past 10 years, […]

   

• The sleeper hits of the summer

  Lifestyle April 26, 2010 at 1:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer Every summer, audiences become inundated with copious amounts of blockbusters. In the first month of this summer alone, Robin Hood and Prince of Persia will be released, as well as sequels to Iron Man, Sex and the City and the fourth Shrek movie. Yet hidden in between these mammoth films are sleeper hits, movies that come out of nowhere as a respite from the usual. In past years, these films have included Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine and last year’s District 9. So here are the top five potential sleeper hits of summer 2010. 5. Babies Summer can be a surprisingly great time for documentaries. Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins and Super Size Me all did remarkably well in their genre, during a time when blockbusters reign. This year, that surprise summer documentary could be Babies. The film chronicles a year in the life of four different babies across the world. And if there’s one thing that’s cuter than marching penguins, it’s cross-cultural babies. 4. Get Low Get Low, based on a true story, is about a man in the 1930s who decided to throw his own funeral while he was still alive. The […]

   

• Big payoffs for good causes: Relay for Life and Students Helping Honduras raise more than $46,000 total

  Lifestyle April 26, 2010 at 1:05 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Kristen Byrne, Broadside Correspondent Every day, students walk by kiosks in the Johnson Center. But what they don’t realize is that just one minute of their time or one dollar from their pocket could help save a life — or a community. Students Helping Honduras (SHH) and Relay for Life at George Mason University have extended their helping hands to better the community by raising money. SHH is focused on building a new community for families that were displaced in Honduras due to Hurricane Mitch in 1998, while Relay for Life’s main concern is to raise cancer awareness, primarily through its annual event. Although these two organizations are passionate about different issues, both are reaching out to the Mason community for help and support. Despite how recently the club was organized, SHH has raised $4,000 dollars for the Learning and Empowerment Program in Honduras, with a goal to raise $10,000 for the chapter by the end of the semester. Relay for Life exceeded its goal of $35,000 by over $7,000, bringing its total to over $42,000. The students of both organizations have worked hard to get these results. “Every day teams were hosting bake sales, donut sales and restaurant […]

   

• A festival of dramatic proportions

  Lifestyle April 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Jason Ulrich, Broadside Correspondent On April 23 and 24, the Department of Theater and the GMU Players presented the Fourth Annual 10-Minute Play Festival. Taking place on the TheaterSpace stage in the Performing Arts building, the show was broken up into two acts . Each act was composed of four plays, of which two tended to be comedy-driven and two that were dramatic. The plays covered a plethora of topics, ranging from imaginary boyfriends to a broken medical system. There were three showings, which began with the premier on Friday, April 23 at 8:00 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. Saturday matinee and ended with the final show at 8 p.m. that Saturday night. The shows themselves were as varied in subject as they were in tone. Made up of 44 actors, the first act kicked off with Of British Mice, Simple Men & Squirrel Gangs by Philip Dallmann. This was a hilariously self-referential fairy tale that kept the audience in stitches. Definitely one of the strangest plays, this performance also housed the largest cast; theater major Chelsea Withington gave a standout performance as the British Mouse, as did Mason O’Sullivan as the Broadway-savvy Head Squirrel. The final show, […]

   

• Mason’s guilty pleasure: Cobra Starship’s performance brings Mason Day to a successful close

  Lifestyle April 25, 2010 at 9:40 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Pearson Jones, Asst. Style Editor “We came here for one reason and one reason only, to be your fucking guilty pleasure,” cried out Cobra Starship’s leading man Gabe Saporta to a fist-pumping sea of unruly George Mason University students during Thursday’s Mason Day concert. The crowd was guilt-free, however, as students shamelessly danced their way through a synth-pop set list of hipster anthems about alcohol-induced hookups and hot messes. The band headlined George Mason University’s annual Mason Day last Thursday in a transformed lot L that featured carnival rides, free eats and a main stage that stayed ghostly vacant for most of the day until Starship’s arrival. Assistant Director for Programming Michelle Davis felt the night proved to be a hit with students. “Overall it was great” said Davis. “Everything went really smoothly and we had an amazing crowd out there, so I’d say the students really liked it. We had a lot of students excited and enjoying the concert so I think it was a great success.” The instantly recognizable hit “The City is at War” set things off for the night, showcasing the bands infectious energy that caused the Mason Day crowd to ditch the rides and […]

   

• In Bed with Billy: A letter from the other side of the bed

  Lifestyle April 19, 2010 at 1:43 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist As my foster mother has always told me, “There are always three sides to a story: the stories from both parties involved, and then the truth, which usually lies somewhere in between.” I am writing this column because I know that I am not the first to be in this situation, and I am even more certain that I will not be the last. As my column has been there to help others get through the trying relationships and sexual disasters of their past and present, it has also hurt some. And for that, even I must apologize. No one is ever correct all the time, and everyone has his or her demons to battle. Luckily, I have overcome a great deal of mine in the past couple of years. But just this last Tuesday, I received an e-mail from an ex of mine, Mr. Madison, that expressed his disdain and disapproval of what I wrote in a past issue. And since I get to share my side of the story each week in this column, I felt that he should have his story heard too, as he addressed his letter as showing “the other […]

   

• BROADSIDE INTERVIEWS: Chris Rock & Tracy Morgan: Iconic comedians talk about their new film, growing older and family

  Lifestyle April 19, 2010 at 1:42 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Ramy Zabarah, Staff Writer In the heavily anticipated American remake of the 2007 British comedy Death at a Funeral, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan and many other well-known actors have come together to show the importance of family and acceptance, while still making us laugh. Last week, I had the privilege of sitting in on a conference-call interview with both Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan, and I listened as they shared stories about the movie and their experiences while shooting it. The plot of the film follows a group of family members and friends who come together to mourn the death of their patriarch, the father of the two main characters, Aaron, played by Chris Rock and Ryan, played by Martin Lawrence. It is here that problems arise, including the discovery that, prior to his death, their father was romantically involved with another man. “The movie is about acceptance. This guy’s dad was gay, but he loved him to death,” Rock says. Morgan believes it’s more about family values. “Family keeps you honest, and they keep you grounded,” says Morgan. “It’s unfortunate that we all have to come together sometimes because somebody died.” With a cast including such […]

   

• The lost titans of film

  Lifestyle April 19, 2010 at 1:40 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer There are some films that are widely considered to be the greatest classic dramas of all time. Movies like Casablanca, The Godfather and Lawrence of Arabia are on most radars as some of the best. Yet there are many great dramas that mostly go unnoticed. Here are five forgotten classic dramas that everyone should know: 5. The Passion of Joan of Arc It is hard to say what exactly is the greatest film performance ever, but it would be hard for that conversation to not include Maria Falconetti as Joan of Arc. This silent film is a portrayal of the trial of Joan of Arc and is one of the great landmarks of early cinema. The focus on the expressions of Joan and the incredible use of close-ups to show her suffering makes the film beautiful, yet extremely difficult to watch. 4. Marty Marty is the simple story of what some might call the lovable loser. Marty is a lonely, middle-aged butcher who lives with his mother. Every night he goes to try and find “the one” but always comes back empty-handed. But right when he gets ready to give up, Marty meets a schoolteacher […]

   

• FROM THE VAULT: Bullets and action guaranteed

  Lifestyle April 19, 2010 at 1:38 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Jason Ulrich, Broadside Correspondent Looking for a movie to rent that will say you’re both a worldly intellectual and an action fan? These movies tend to be few and far between with one noticeable gem coming out of Hong Kong in 1989. After having produced, directed and written some 20-plus movies, Hong Kong-born director John Woo made the most groundbreaking and career-changing of all his films to date. The film, The Killer, not only went on to garner rave reviews and accolades, but it also influenced an entire new generation of action filmmakers like the Wachowski Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Tony Scott and Michael Bay. Woo’s films also weigh heavily on both first- and third-person shooter video games such as Max Payne and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Using slow motion, quick cuts, long tracking shots and beautiful lighting to evoke a Catholic-style fall from grace, The Killer’s most beautiful negotiation is between its Western film influences and its Eastern storytelling archetypes, dating back to the sword-and-sandals action films of the ’50s and ’60s that Tarantino loves so much. The story revolves around an assassin named Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat), hired by the Chinese mob for one last job. On the […]

   

• Death follows its predecessor well: American remake lives up to the original

  Lifestyle April 19, 2010 at 1:34 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Kayla Beardsley, Broadside Correspondent I am not afraid to admit my hesitation before seeing the American re-make of the 2007 British comedy Death at a Funeral. The thought “how could anything be funnier?” crossed my mind. However, this Neil LaBute-directed version kept true to its adaption, and kept the laughs going. The new Death at a Funeral did what remakes are meant to do but rarely accomplish – it took out what didn’t work in the first one. The never-ending fight scenes were shortened, the plot was tweaked just enough for the plot to make more sense, and writer Dean Craig’s one-liners about pop culture were consistently hilarious. My biggest fear going into this film was the drugged and crazy character of Simon, played by Alan Tudyk in the original but this time taken over by James Marsden. Tudyk was the part of the first film that never failed. Every time he entered the scene – the audience was already prepared to roll over laughing. Marsden played this role in the remake and from his very first reaction to the pills, I was pleased. As hard as it is to say, Marsden may have done a better job than […]