Movie Review: Paris, Je T’aime

 

By: Kacie Versaci

Grade: B+

Who doesn’t love Paris? The lights, the food, the shopping, the…love. Paris, Je T’aime gives us eighteen views of just that — the love of, or in, Paris. It’s a fantastic concept — eighteen talented directors each create a vignette representing a neighborhood of the city while illustrating different sides of love.

First, a small word of advice: This is not Love Actually, so it will be a waste of your time to try and find the deus ex machina; there is little to no connection between the stories. It might seem a little daunting at first, but trust me, the pieces bleed seamlessly into one another, and each will capture your attention for different reasons.

Now that that’s out of the way, onto what Paris Je T’aime is: a beautifully shot showcase of human connection, a smorgesbord of relationships — from mother and child, and husband and wife, to tourist and vampire and woman to Oscar Wilde’s ghost. It’s sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny as hell, other times down right strange.

He Said, She Said: Superbad

Time for the second edition of “He Said, She Said,” this time with two takes on the comedy Superbad. Is it really super bad or super bad ass? Let’s find out what T.O. and Maggie have to say.

TV Review: Girlfriends

By: Ugochi Amuta

Grade: A

Life is like a sitcom. Just like characters of the hit show “Girlfriends,” we make mistakes and learn from them. These experiences spur our evolution from one stage of life to another — this is the central theme of the show.

“Girlfriends” is a 30-minute comedy/drama about three African-American women who are best friends living in Los Angeles, CA. They endure challenges in their respective personal lives and relationships with one another, but their unbreakable bond sees them through tough times.

Formerly aired on UPN, “Girlfriends” survived the UPN/WB merger that caused the cancellation of several shows on both networks. The series, which now airs on the CW, has also survived despite the departure of former Girlfriend Toni (Jill Marie Jones) who quit the show after a contract dispute.

Movie Review: Shoot ‘Em Up

By: Kimberly Davis

Grade: B+

The body count gets very high very quickly (and keeps climbing) in Shoot ‘Em Up, and that’s just fine. From the first scene to the last, this ridiculously over-the-top, campy send-up of an action/adventure movie is a fun and frothy ride.

Clive Owen (Children of Men) is pitch-perfect in the role of Smith, a gun-toting, reluctant hero whose past is shrouded in secrecy. As the movie opens on Smith’s grizzled face and bored, disaffected eyes, and then widens to reveal him sitting at a bus stop, eating a glaringly orange carrot (a much-used prop, you’ll soon find out), you just know that this is going to be a good time.

In writer/director Michael Davis’ first big Hollywood project, Smith begrudgingly comes to the aid of a pregnant woman being chased by armed goons who want to kill her baby. Smith delivers the child and coolly cuts the umbilical cord with the pull of a trigger — all in the midst of an intense shootout so ludicrous that you can’t help but laugh. Here’s the action hero of action heroes, the guy who never misses, never lets ‘em see him sweat and manages to deliver the pithy one-liners (“I’m a British nanny, and I’m dangerous.”) that will inevitably become part of film lore.

TV Review: The Office

By: Maggie Watkins

Grade: B

NBC’s series “The Office” started out as an offbeat, “mockumentary” style comedy based on the British version of the show and seems to have successfully made its way into mainstream popularity. Now in its fourth season, the series has gained a wider audience, but the question is whether it has maintained its original witty humor that gained its initial loyal fans. Though the characters have become more developed and have created relationships among themselves, this may detract from the show’s original premise of the monotonous work environment at Dunder Mifflin in which the boss is excruciatingly annoying, coworkers are all a bit off and the job is the most boring one imaginable — selling paper. The humor of the show comes from viewers’ ability to either relate to such a depressing job or their desperate wish to not end up in the same situation.

Now that the characters have become well-rounded, viewers can become more emotionally invested in them versus just laughing at them in the earlier seasons. The different relationships between characters also encourage viewers to keep up with the show to better understand what is going on. In the current season, for example, Pam and Jim have finally become a couple, but the new development is better appreciated if you have watched the previous seasons in which their flirtations always left viewers wondering when they would get together.

TV Review: Desperate Housewives

By: Leticia Jeter

Grade: B-

What’s more irritating? Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) or a case of crabs? Although last night’s episode was boring, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” sparked a few questions, and keeping with Wisteria Lane tradition, left them unanswered…for now.

The fourth season has not been as entertaining and ridiculous as the first three, but this week’s episode went over the edge in predictability, leaving you hoping that next Sunday at 9 p.m. there will be some sort of surprise.

“Desperate Housewives” looks like the perfect neighborhood, where people pretend to live perfect lives. The acting is executed so well that you forget how outlandish the plots are as you become consumed by the characters and storylines. Unfortunately, this season has yet to create any true drama.