The Fray and stupid campus stuff

The Onion actually made a really great point in their serious entertainment section (which seems to make up roughly 4/5 of that newspaper now). This isn't verbatim, but it's close, and very true:

The Fray prove that removing any edge from your music is a ticket up the charts. They seem to be a band favored by people who are awed by Americal Idol performances and who think Keane are 'just a little too creative.'

Exactly. Ben Folds is a better pianist, better songwriter,; Keane are better all around and do the exact same thing. But they aren't watered down enough for people. I was on to this band last January. You can check out past Trib's to verify that. I acknowledged them for writing one or two catchy songs. Where were you? Probably listening to Outkast, or whatever else was cool that month. The worst part about this band is not only did radio murder "Cable Car" but people like "How to save a life" because it was on Grey's Anatomy! How pathetic is that? Seriously, if you like that song because it was on Grey's, you should kill yourself right now. I hate you. I hope your death is painful.


Second: I know this isn't entertainment news, but have you heard of all (like 40) the O'Donnell boys complaining that the dorm may turn co-ed next year. What is wrong with you guys??? Are you kidding me??? This is 2006, not 1906 you stupid kids who have only lived there for five weeks. And you're not going to live there next year! What is your problem? Wait 'till that place starts to stink like your dirty Hanes. Ilived in South Hall my freshman year, it was painful. Trust me, you will get sick of seeing hairy guys.

Wow. How did you all get into Marquette?

Movie Review: The Departed

Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" is a firework set off in a crowded room. There are a lot of twists, turns and explosions — and someone is bound to lose a head along the way.

Powerful Boston crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) keeps the bodies piling up and always stays one step ahead of the police. His secret weapon? Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an elite officer in the Special Investigations Unit, who stays on Costello's payroll by ratting out police movements.

Stuck in the middle of it all is Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), an undercover cop almost nobody knows about who is charged with infiltrating Costello's gang of crooks.

And, oh yeah, Sullivan and Costigan are sleeping with the same woman (Vera Farmiga) whose day job is a police psychologist.

The performances are what set this film apart from other cops-and-robbers cookie-cutters. Nicholson plays Costello better than Satan himself, twisting his face in unholy contortions after each kill. He also has a passion for women, cocaine and finding any rats in his crew.

DiCaprio plays the straight man with a thinly veiled rage and Damon does well by reprising his accent from "Good Will Hunting" and channeling his spring-coiled Jason Bourne.

But all the great lines are reserved for take-no-prisoners cop Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), who never met an F-word he didn't like or a fellow cop he did.

The script, written by William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven") is surprisingly light on its feet — it's smart, it's funny and it's cruel. And it fell into the hands of a master filmmaker, who doesn't appear to care if he wins an Oscar anymore.

The academy tends to shy away from films with this many gunshot wounds unless they're taking place during World War II.

The only weakness comes near the end: All the loose ends are too quickly tied together. While the finish is still satisfying, it lacks the complexity of what set the movie apart in the first place.

Still, "The Departed" doesn't let you take a breath or look away. Much like Scorsese's "Goodfellas," the characters start their dirty work with the cleanest intentions, yet everything ends up blood-red at the end.

The Verdict: *** 1/2

Gufs Interview

Behind the Gufs

In the early 1990s, the Gufs started as a college rock band that brought together the most talented and ambitious musicians from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette. Lead singer Goran Kralj and drummer Scott Schwebel met on UWM's soccer team and added lead guitarist Morgan Dawley from Marquette. Later, Goran asked his brother Dejan to play bass to round out the quartet.

Having a distinctive pop-rock sound, the Gufs fit neatly in with the exploding '90s rock scene.Atlantic Records took notice and the band released 1996's Collide and its 1999 follow-up Holiday from You on the label.

Various reasons caused the band to go on an extended break following the Holiday from You tour. Now, almost a decade later, the Gufs are back with its first new release, A Different Sea, since the break.

MU grad makes good

You probably know somebody just like him. The guy down the hall always walking around with his guitar, claiming he's going to join a band and tour the country some day.

Except in this case, that's just what Morgan Dawley has done.

For Dawley, who graduated in 1992 with a civil engineering degree, Marquette was also the place where his musical career started to play out.

"There were always a bunch of guys in Schroeder (playing music)," he said during a phone interview with the Tribune. Dawley found a competent keyboardist down the hall, and his first college band was formed.

It was time to play a few gigs at the parties and bars around campus.

"It wasn't anything fancy, you just set up in the corner and let 'er rip," Dawley noted.

But playing frat parties and college bars would only take him so far. By this time, Dawley had taken notice of a talented UWM band called the Gufs.

"When I heard the early Gufs I was impressed," Dawley said. "(Goran) and I were kind of mutually impressed with each other. We did a jam session at UWM and he had seen me play at MU."

Once the Gufs' original guitarist left the band, it was a natural move to put Dawley in that spot.

"Goran called me out of the blue and said, 'We got a show in two weeks, wanna play in our band?' "

Dawley wondered if he could learn all the Gufs songs in so little time.

"I missed quite a few classes those weeks," he admitted.

They entered Marquette's "Battle of the Bands" in 1991 and took second place to Big Sky, a band they knew well from the bar and party scene.

"Our music is way more sophisticated now," Dawley said with a good-natured laugh.

Although it's been awhile since the band has been in heavy rotation on the radio, and even longer since they've left Marquette, Dawley feels like they still belong here.

"There's not that many people that know of us (at Marquette) anymore, but maybe there's younger sisters and brothers that know us because of their siblings," Dawley said. "We haven't been gone that long."

'A Different Sea' and a

different sound

It becomes evident where the newfound sound and energy heard on the Gufs' A Different Sea comes from after speaking with Goran Kralj for a few seconds following the band's recent Fox 6 morning show performance.

"Oh, it f——ing rocked," Kralj breathlessly said of the gig minutes after leaving the station's studios last Wednesday.

Time for a breather?

"Hey I gotta do some mastering for the album," he said. "Can I call you back in 20 minutes?"

Whereas Holiday from You was a reflection on some of the more difficult relationships the band members had been through, A Different Sea is just that — a new look at life.

"Holiday from You was the dark break-up album," Kralj said. "And as a writer you have to write what you know about. This (album) is about second chances and forgiveness. I think we're all happier now."

Outside of the more upbeat tone, listeners can also expect to hear strings, courtesy of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, to freshen up the sound.

"We're using things we haven't done in the past — it's a little bit of a departure," Kralj said.

Although it was like asking to choose between his children, Kralj was up to the task of picking his favorite track.

"It's 'Stars.' I love the lyric 'Every line of every song I hear reminds me about you.' It's a very different-sounding song for us, it has a much quicker (tempo)," he said.

Even with no new material in nearly a decade, the Gufs have received plenty of support from long-time fans who refused to forget the group. Why the loyalty?

"I think because a lot of them relate to the songs," Kralj said. "When they think of the Gufs music it puts them at a happy place in time — a 'remember that' feeling. 'Remember what an awesome time that was?' "

Followers of the Gufs take a certain pride in knowing they were there from the beginning. Along the way, those fans made the Gufs their own.

"We were a local band that got popular," Kralj said. "When we were signed to a major record deal a lot of fans took ownership, like 'we made that happen.' "

"Now we're trying to take Milwaukee back by storm. It's like starting all over again, except we have all these fans already."

One final question: How does the UWM grad feel about those hailing from the rival school?

"I love 'em 'cuz we got our lead guitarist from Marquette. So I have a place close in my heart for MU people. How's that for an answer?"

Edited For Content: What makes music good?

Everyone loves to share their opinion on good music. Let's play a game to determine exactly what you define as good. Answer these questions on who is a better and more credible music artist.

OK, let's start — Elvis Presley or Nickelback? Frank Sinatra or Bubba Sparxxx? Did you pick Elvis and Sinatra? No! You picked those two hacks, those two guys who didn't even write their own songs? They don't even play instruments!

Nickelback wrote and actually played all its own music, you MTV drone. Sparxxx was present in the room when they came up with "Booty booty booty rocket everywhere!" Sinatra was probably drunk at a bar when "New York, New York" was written.

I guess as an entertainment critic I get fed up listening to the debates over what constitutes real music or being a real artist.

I guess even if you "really write" your own music and you "really play" your own instrument that doesn't necessarily make you "really good."

Somewhere along the way "pop" has become a dirty word.

Artists today are afraid to admit they listen to or even like pop music, which is odd, because it's usually what they're playing.

When you have Christina Aguilera posing with a guitar on the cover of Rolling Stone or have Britney Spears wearing a Ramones shirt does it matter anymore? Why are they trying so hard to be something they're not?

At least Avril Lavigne was honest when she admitted a couple of years ago she didn't know who David Bowie was. That's rock n' roll, being counter-cultural, — it has nothing to do with wearing a stupid vintage Led Zeppelin T-shirt when you don't even like them.

I had an interesting conversation with Panic! At the Disco drummer Spencer Smith last year about how startling it was that his band admitted they started as a Blink 182 cover band and were heavily influenced by Third Eye Blind's debut album.

I remember him and I agreeing that every band out there today claims to have been influenced by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Who needs to say that? Everyone is influenced by them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Blink 182 and Third Eye Blind, and despite liking them, Panic! writes some of the more original songs out there today.

I mean, do you really care if Shakira wrote those Spanglish lyrics? Does it matter if she or anyone else is really "feeling the emotion" in the words?

I bet when you sing along to your favorite song in the car or shower or wherever, you're delivering it with emotion and it's almost like you wrote it. That's what makes a good music.

Originally published in the Sept. 14 Marquette Tribune

Comedy Review: Dennis Miller

For the first 20 minutes or so of Dennis Miller's routine at the Pabst Theater Saturday night, one had to wonder if this was the same comedian who just secured a spot on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes."

Politics didn't even figure into the picture as Miller plowed through an NC-17-rated rant that included Jennifer Love Hewitt's breasts, leather-bound porn booklets handed out in the streets of Las Vegas, fat people ("If you're built like a tank, don't wear the top") and masturbation.

He included several Milwaukee-specific bits that freshened everything up, including his stay at the Pfister ("An unfortunately named hotel").

However, it didn't take long for the comedian to turn political.

Although the typical age of the crowd was varied, with mostly people between 25 and 50 years old, their political affiliations were not. One of the biggest cheers of the night was awarded after Miller attacked France for being a country of cowards. An even louder cheer was reserved for when Miller said there was no way he could ever vote for Hillary Clinton to be president. Clearly, this was a crowd that wouldn't list the Dixie Chicks among its favorite bands.

After talking about such a wide variety of topics earlier, his completely political second half was a bit jarring. Several times, he didn't seem to have a punch line, but rather a conclusion, and the crowd clapped rather than laughed.

Easily the funniest and most well-received of all his political speech was his bit on global warming. Miller pointed out that some research is based on temperatures taken 100 years ago.

"Excuse me if I don't trust the temperature figures from 1906," he said. "We're still s—-ing outside in the woods, but we have a handle on Fahrenheit."

Howard Dean, Al Sharpton and Bill and Hillary Clinton were all targets for Miller's barbs, while his comments on President Bush usually took the form of back-handed compliments.

While Democrats were slow-moving chess players, Bush was a checkers player. "If somebody is in front of him, he's gonna jump them," Miller said.

He also expressed disgust at people invoking "what the founding fathers would do" to explain why the United States shouldn't be at war. "Listen," he said, "our founding fathers were blowing people's heads off because they put a tax on their breakfast beverage. And it wasn't even coffee."

Still, all the sacred cows of the right weren't left off the hook. Miller, who grew up Catholic, said, "I went to confession two weeks ago, and I said, 'You first.'"

He also said he couldn't care less about gay marriage. With all of the things going on in the world today, two people with the same genitalia wanting to get married ranked about "10 millionth" on his list of importance.

An encore took the form of a question-and-answer session, because Miller said he didn't have any more jokes.

He explained what a thrill it was to work on Monday Night Football, because he had never actually been to a football game before he shared the booth with John Madden and Al Michaels. At the time, he said, he thought: "I wonder if I should tell Al?"

Originally published in the Sept. 7 Marquette Tribune

Set in Stone: Interview with Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone is certainly no stranger to controversy. That's what makes the infamous filmmaker's latest movie, "World Trade Center," such an anomaly. It's completely devoid of conspiracy theories or controversial storytelling.

Whereas past films like "JFK" did more than just ruffle a few feathers, "Center" doesn't examine anything more than 24 hours of the lives of two men.

"I worked very closely with the people involved," Stone said in a conference call with the Tribune last week.

"It's such an extraordinary story — it just has to be told. I didn't see the need for a fictionalized story."

The narrow focus was intentional.

"It's a miraculous story," he said. "It grips you from beginning to end. It doesn't call for anything beyond it."

Even the voices of those who believe it's too soon for a film about such a recent tragic event, or those who feel Stone may be exploiting the event, have been somewhat muted.

This has been his most well-received of all his films, Stone said, with 80 percent of those leaving the movie saying they would recommend it to friends.

When asked if the film should have a disclaimer because it may cause painful flashbacks for those deeply affected by the attacks, Stone bristled.

"If someone is really traumatized, they should know what to see and what not to see," Stone said.

Ultimately, Stone felt this was an important story to tell. It encompasses values everyone can appreciate, regardless of creed or color.

It's a universal story, Stone said. Even though the film takes place in the United States, he feels the film will be successful overseas.

"I hope people from all over the world are able to relate to it," Stone said. "The qualities of the human heart, compassion — these are universal."

However, Stone knew that even though the film would encompass these values, if he didn't get every detail correct he would be, in his words, "chased down by the culture police."

"We were always trying to get the details correct," he said. "It was, frankly, a bitch."

As always, Stone's experience as a soldier in Vietnam played a role in the survival scenes of the film.

It's given him a different view on the thin line that separates life and death.

"I've always been fascinated by the edge of death," he said.

Originally published on Sept 7 in the Marquette Tribune

A Quick Shot: Beerfest Review

Remember how much you hated the second halves of "Wedding Crashers" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"?

You know, once the characters had to start falling in love and learning lessons? Yep -- none of that here to water down this movie. It's about one thing only -- drinking beer. And a lot of it.

Todd and Jan Wolfhouse (Erik Stolhanske and Paul Soter) stumble into Beerfest, a secret, Olympics-style, beer-drinking competition in Germany, where they are insulted by their German cousins.

They return home to assemble a formidable team of beer chuggers in hopes of defeating the Germans at the next Beerfest, and the majority of the movie covers their training regime (and beer goggle escapades).

It is exciting to see Broken Lizard return to "Super Troopers" levels of funny after the comedic misstep that was "Club Dread." Whereas that film featured too much plot, this one goes down smooth.

Broken Lizard does not let plot get in the way of the drinking, drugs, drag queens and surprisingly witty skits. Thankfully, the film only treads into groan-worthy terrority a few times (see scenes involving the frog) and generally stays on track.

In a summer of disappointing PG-13 comedies, ("You, Me and Dupree," "Talladega Nights") it is nice to see a film that makes you want to laugh out loud. And grab a drink or two afterward.

The Verdict: ***

Originally published Aug. 31 in the Marquette Tribune