Entertainment

‘ODST’ packs in even more ‘Halo’-style destruction, aliens, gunfire

Many people try to call video games art.

With newer and more advanced graphics, storylines, voice acting and actual conceptual beauty as a result of a hard day’s work, this claim is reaching credibility with each technological leap.

Of course, there are video games which are pure fun. With no real will to supply innovations to the industry other than by providing entertainment, these tend to be addictive, fast paced, and containing either plenty of geometric shapes and puzzles or lots and lots of explosions.

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Entertainment

Indie super group deliver monstrous debut

Musical collaborations usually turn out one of two ways. Amazing, like anything featuring Kanye West, or dreadful, like anything featuring Akon.

For indie folk super group “Monsters of Folk,” the collaboration turned out wonderfully.

Five years ago, the stars aligned when stunning folk figures, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and M. Ward collaborated for a tour under the banner “An Evening with Conor Oberst, Jim James, and M. Ward” which included an appearance of the PBS program “Austin City Limits.”

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Entertainment

‘The Invention of Lying’ is too good to be true

Was lying the summation of years of scientific observations and experiments, or the brainchild of an intellectual prodigy?

Neither. Average Mark Bellison stumbles upon the quintessential truth, or untruth, of honesty in this season’s first comedy “The Invention of Lying,” in theaters since Oct. 2.

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Entertainment

‘Wild Things’ speaks to inner child

It is rare when a movie based on a book summarizes everything the book was enjoyed for.

It is even rarer to find a movie that will add a new layer of complexity to the story.

Studios often make the mistake of taking a well known property (“Harry Potter” for instance) and mass-producing it to the public with little respect given to the original source material.

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Entertainment

Clowns, Twinkies and brains take the screen

Welcome to Zombieland, a world where the living dead rule the planet and a handful of survivors are in search of a sanctuary–as well as some Twinkies.

Joining the ranks of horror comedies featuring most notably “Shawn of the Dead,” “Zombieland” does nothing revolutionary, yet still manages to produce brilliant moments that make the movie well worth your time.

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Entertainment

‘Grapes of Wrath’ ripens this fall

Spending two and a half hours a day after school for the next two months with Ms. Dorothy Dunnion memorizing pages and pages of dialogue might sound like some sort of punishment that not even Mr. Bopp could come up with

But for the cast of “The Grapes of Wrath,” this is just rehearsal.

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Entertainment

America’s Taco Shop offers authentic Mexican goodness

Driving down 7th street just south of Thomas road, it is hard to miss America’s Taco Shop, residing in an old yellow and “Sedona” red house, boldly proclaiming “the Greatest Carne Asada in the Valley.”

This proclamation is not in vain.

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Entertainment

Mingus Mountain offers nearby camping retreat

The smell of the cool mountain air began to waft into the car, reminding me of why I had left the city a little more than an hour ago.

My friend, acting as navigator for the day, and I were well on our way to our final destination of Mingus Mountain northeast of Prescott.

Just a short drive out of the greater Phoenix area, you find yourself surrounded by pine trees and pleasant breezes that are a result of a nearly 7,000 foot elevation change in just an hour and a half.

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Entertainment

‘District 9’ provides explosive action and people

On Aug. 14, American audiences bared witness to the premiere of “District 9,” an epic sci-fi production directed and co-written by Neil Blomkamp and co-produced by Peter Jackson.

While Peter Jackson may sound familiar to fans of the “Lord of the Rings” movies and “King Kong,” the name Blomkamp may be somewhat unfamiliar to those who are alien to independent filming – or to the “Halo” video game series, for which Blomkamp was lined up to work on a film adaptation.

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Entertainment

Xavier Gator

What is your Name and Year?
Dana Lundblad and I am a Junior.

What do you do in your free time?
I like to hang out with my friends.

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