Over the Edge + September 28, 2005 Reviews 11 Movie Where There's a Will, There’s a Weapon MOVIE Lord of War DIRECTOR Andrew Niccol STUDIO Lions Gate Films YEAR 2005 SEAN DOBBYN STAFF WRITER The major opening sequence of Lord of War is an incredible one. Over sev- eral amazingly shot, fascinating min- utes, the viewer follows the entire life cycle of a single round of ammunition from its production to its final grue- some resting place. Reflecting back on these scenes after the film you bluntly realize just how disconnected we are from the utterly simplistic business of supplying murder, A business that thrives off the manufacturing capabil- ities of countries like our own; and the seemingly unceasing need for humans to kill one another. Early on the viewer is introduced to the central character of the story. Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is a Ukranian- American that becomes highly involved - in illegal arms trade after becoming aware of how lucrative the never end- ing cycle of war and murder that fogs the world can be. Yuri’s business travels lead him to virtually every corner of the globe. West Africa, Eastern Europe, Event =. Latin America; pretty mach anywhere weapons are needed, and needed now. Through his endeavours we discover just how morally disconnected Yuri is from the effects of his business practice. He does not care that the weapons he sells are often used that day in an adjacent area in the name of bloodlust. He does not care that there is a firearm for every twelve péople on the planet. His only concern is how to arm the other eleven. Because of his social connections -- a wife and brother-- as well as the fact that an Interpol agent is glued to his ass, Yuri is constantly faced with the task of defending his career choice and his part in it. He however always has something stoic and rhet- orical to say in just the right way to shut you up. Some of it, even a lot of it, makes a cold kind of sense in most aspects of a desensitized capitalist soci- ety, and yet goes against every fabric of what that society's morals teach should be wrong. This is just one of the many perversity-ooz- ing ironies that inhabit the events and people of this story, How Yuri does not allow such ironies and moral double standards to beset his existence is per- plexing. PHOT SUBMITTED Lord of War plays out in a manner pleasantly comparable to that of Mar- tin Scorsese's Goodfellas in how the main character's narration gives the viewer a sense of an industry-tour of an undeniably influential corner of the global economic portrait, Comparisons can also be made between the two films in how the central figure of the story is surrounded by numerous cookie-cutter characters, But honestly, you wont care about the lack of depth of secondary and tertiary characters in Lord of War, even if they aren't as brutally fascinat- ing as those of Goodfellas. The rest of this film is just way too interesting and captivating to really make you care about such things. It is by no means a completely de- voted satirical work, and yet it is cer- tainly more than just a thrilling enter- tainment piece, Dark humour, exciting cinematography, a fascinating industry study and plenty of real-world ironies are pulled together very well to create a film very worth seeing, Lord of War delivers effectively on numerous levels; making it one of the most satisfying films I've seen this year. Cosmic Encounters of the Lounge Kind TANYA ALVAREZ STAFF WRITER September 16 was a night of surreal entertainment at the Gala Hall, where they held the first Cosmic Lounge of the year, An evening dedicated for art- ists in search of an audience, and spon- sored by PGPIRG to raise money for a food co-op. The Cosmic Lounge began in the year 2000 as a showcase for the students at the Winter Garden. It attracted bands, musicians, poets and basically almost any kind of performing artist. Since its conception, it has promoted. musicians such as Mama Guh-roove and Audi- tory System. This time around they moved the event from the University Campus to the Gala Hall in hopes of getting more involved with the community. The line up featured bands Fatal If Swallowed, The Lines We Drew and Versus. Also, there were poets Earson Gibson and Justin Redden. The night opened up with Prince George punk band Fatal If Swallowed and aslightly dangerous mini-mosh pit. They did a mix of originals and covers; the highlight of the set was a tribute to Adam Sandler by singing his song from the Wedding Singer. Earson Gibson went up second re- citing prose on the American Dream. Though very much a cliché he has great usage of description, painting strong images with his choice of words. The Lines We Drew put on a great show as usual. For a band that has been together for just over a year, they show amazing promise and have it more together than most bands do after five years of being together. They write their own songs and are putting out their second album Black & Denim the night of the CFUR Compilation, Justin Redden paid tribute to Ani Difranco with his Slam poetry, an art form she frequently uses. He is elo- quent and intelligent in his words. ‘There is influence in his voice and he expresses his message clearly, The last show of the evening fea- tured Versus and they put together something totally unique and fascin- ating. They combined the music of a didgeridoo (Australian Aboriginal in- strument, a tube roughly five feet long) with Hip-Hop lyrics. The effect was highly surreal but incredible. The mix produced a new form of tribal music that is worthwhile to the open mind. The Gala Hall did not reach max- imum capacity but the number of people there was respectable. They even attracted people away from the Generator that night. By moving ‘it off the hill they created a more relaxed atmosphere and had control over the bar, hopefully raising them some good money, Overall, it was a good night and I look forward to the next one. Review Askew ‘Clutch Conti ARTIST Clutch ALBUM Robot Hive / Exodus LABEL DRT Entertainment YEAR 2005 NATHAN KELLY STAFF WRITER Clutch is one of those rare bands who. manages to release around one album every 2 years (four in the last two years alone) and make each re- lease as compelling and solid as the last. A Clutch album is a simple equa- tion: “crushing guitar meets the al- mighty-grove meet the clever,’ states the literate lyrics of frontman Neil Fallon, Despite having a solid set of criteria of what constitutes a Clutch album, the band always manages to forage ahead and evolve stylistically from release to release. Robot Hive / Exodus follows the evolutionary trend of previous Clutch albums by incorporating an organ / piano player into the mix, much as they did on their last proper al- bum, Blast Tyrant. This time around the contributions of organist Mick Schauer is much more cleanly incor- porated into the band’s sound, which takes then into a musical space that evokes the smoky tones of seventies hard rock (the music of Deep Purple instantly comes to mind), The band further explores its musical roots by covering two blues classics in “How- lin’ Wolf's, Whos Been Talking?” and “Mississippi Fred McDowell's Gravel Road”. The band is respectful of both songs but gives them an undeniable Clutch flavor. Tomorrow's nues Their Winning Streak’ The rest of the album is based loosely around a concept that only lyricist and singer Neil Fallow would probably be able to understand, touching on the nature of artificial in- telligence, the relationships between preachers and carnival barkers, the basilisk, Omni Magazine, and the Serengeti, to name just a few of the allusions that Fallon drops. Lyrically and musically, the entire album is a keeper and definitely one of Clutch’s best releases, second only to Blast Tyrant and Elephant Riders. The al- bum is a must buy for all fans of hard rock and makes the listener hope that Clutch continues their winning streak on future releases. Rating: 4.5/5 If you like this try: Clutch — Blast Tyrant (DRT Entertainment) Nathan’s Cool-to-Lame Band Name Rating Scale: 5 — Kyuss “4 = The Drive-By Truckers 3 —The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2: - Hoobastank: 1 -Mudvayme Professionals Apply Today! Apply on-line! 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