Buzz – Oct. 6, 2005

Oct. 6, 2005

Music, Movies and More

MUSIC USIC:: Up-and-coming Brit-rock group, Ath Athlete, lete, plus new music MOVIES: ‘The Greatest Game Game’’ inspires and ‘Waiting ‘Waiting’’ tells itt like it is MORE ORE:: Alumna takes to the stage, plus the llatest atest entertainment news

2 THE BUZZ Contents

02 The Inside Buzz 03 Restaurant Review Flashback Favorite 04 Brit-rockers Athlete New Music Reviews 05 Jam with Stevie Wonder 06 The Theater Titan Concert Preview Concert Cal Calendar 08 New Movie Reviews ON THE COVER: Disney’s new release ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played,’ tells the rags-to-riches story of world-famous golfer, Francis Ouimet, played by Shia LaBeouf. (Photo provided by Disney Enterprises)

THE BUZZ ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR AMANDA PENNINGTON A

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR MAHSA KHALILIFAR EXECUTIVE EDITOR NICOLE M. SMITH DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING CAN SENGEZER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING EMILY ALFORD PRODUCTION AMANDA PENNINGTON, MAHSA KHALILIFAR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES LESLEY WU, DERRICK SALATNAY, VANESSA RUMBLES, RICH BOYD, KIMBERLY LEUNG, JACKIE KIMMEL The Daily Titan 714.278.3373 T The Buzz Editorial 714.278.5426 thebuzz@dailytitan.com Editorial Fax 714.278.4473 The Buzz Advertising 714.278.3373 ads@dailytitan.com Advertising Fax 714.278.2702 The Buzz , a student publication, is a supplemental insert for the Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan. It The is printed every Thursday. The Daily Titan operates independently of Associated Students, College of Communications, CSUF administration and the CSU system. The Daily Titan has functioned as a public forum since inception. Unless implied by the advertising party or otherwise stated, advertising in the Daily Titan is inserted by commercial activities or ventures identified in the advertisements themselves and not by the university. Such printing is not to be construed as written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial enterprises.

Copyright ©2004 Daily Titan

THE INSIDE BUZZ

By MAHSA KHALILIFAR Daily Titan Asst. Entertainment Editor

The latest news coming out of Hollyweird today? Tom Cruise and fiance Katie Holmes are reportedly expecting a baby ... There’s more trouble in the world of Lindsay Lohan who was involved in a car accident on Tuesday. The 19-year-old star reportedly careened her Mer-

Word

On The Web

cedes into a Chevrolet Astrovan in West Hollywood. Lohan’s camp alleges that a chase involving paparazzi began when the starlet left the posh Ivy Restaurant. Witnesses told People magazine that Lohan took off from the restaurant rather quickly ... More news on the young, beautiful and rich ... Paris Hilton broke off her engagement to Greek shipping heir of the same name, Paris Latsis ... “King Of Queens,” actor, 40-year-old Kevin James and 30-year-old wife Steffiana De La Cruz had a baby daughter, born last Friday.

The hip-hop world is shaking up the entertainment news this week … Rapper Beanie Sigel (Dwight Grant) is finally a free man. The 31-year-old, charged with shooting a man near a strip club in 2003, was acquitted by a Philadelphia jury on Monday according to MTV news … Singer and American Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino, is going to be featured on a “20/20” special

Want more Buzz? Check us out on the Web for the latest on hot new music and movies. www.dailytitan.com

Friday night. On the show she admits she doesn’t know how to read and was raped while in high school … The Fugees are back and will kick off a European Tour on Nov. 30 according to BET news.

New notable CD releases that came out Tuesday were Franz Ferdinand’s You Could Have It So Much Better … Simple Plan’s Live From the Hard Rock … Jimmy Eat World’s Stay on My Side … Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine …

Snoop Dogg’s new best-of album hits the racks, Snoopified ed. New DVD releases this week include … Nicole Kidman’s “The Intrepreter”… Ryan Reynold’s “The Amityville Horror” ... Celebrity gossip of the week: A certain Queen Bee had her weave confiscated after entering the Big House? … Are the official “Newlyweds” Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey headed towards splitsville? … Stay tuned for more news and gossip on the next Inside Buzz …

Quote of the Week “I think I should run on the ‘Yes, I did it’ ticket. It starts with, ‘And I drank the bong water.’”

– George Clooney answer to if he would ever run for public office

THE

Secret S spot

By LISAJOYCE VERGARA Daily Titan Staff

Those looking to try Asian fusion, should head to Westminster’s fine-dining Vietnamese restaurant, S. Don’t be fooled by the empty parking lot; the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and should not be passed up. Inside, the amazing architecture and Vietnamesethemed artwork leave patrons with the sense that they’ve landed in Vietnam. S also features an intimate open air patio. The servers are attentive and, while the place may be empty, servers and owner Stephanie Dinh enjoy striking up conversation with their customers.

Light eaters can enjoy the Pho Bo ($7), a soup made with fresh rice

noodles in a beef broth with roasted ginger, shallots, chopped onions and cilantro served with beef brisket in a large bowl. Diners shouldn’t miss the signature martinis and cocktails ($5-$7), like the refreshing LycheeTini. Dinh also owns a Little Saigon bakery, so the desserts, like the Chuoi Chien, a fried banana topped with rum caramel and ice cream and served in a martini glass, are tantalizing ($6-7) .

S offers lunch and dinner entrees ($7-20), along with an array of soups and salads. One of the lunchtime favorites is Ca Ri Ga, tender chicken and potatoes simmered in a spicy curry sauce, served with slices of baguette ($11). Seafood lovers should try the Cua Lot Chien Don, fried soft shell crab sautéed in gar-

BUZZ

3

Flashback Favorite

Everyone needs ‘Punky Power’

By ASHLEY MAJESKI Daily Titan Staff GABRIEL FENOY/Daily Titan

The serene atmosphere of S provides for a relaxing lunch of dinner. lic and scallion chili sauce, served with steamed rice and vegetables. S offers a vegetarian menu and caters to any dietary need. S is located at 545 Westminster Mall Drive and is closed on Tuesdays. For more information call (714) 898-5092.

Everybody can learn from the TV show “Punky Brewster:” A little “Punky Power” goes a long way, that everyone needs someone to love them and lastly, never hide in an abandoned freezer while playing hide-and-go-seek (thanks, Cherie).

“Punky Brewster,” which ran from 1984 to 1988, told the story of a girl who was abandoned in a mall by her mother and moved into an empty apartment with her dog Brandon. The apartment manager, grumpy old Henry Warnimont, a photographer who lives alone, is bitter at the world after losing his wife years before.

Then, as the theme song says, he meets “the girl that turns his world around.” Both were alone in the world until they found each other, even though they were an unlikely pair.

While the story lines were clever, the show worked because of the cast. There could not have been a better Punky Brewster than the charming Soleil Moon Frye, who could arguably be one of the best child actors to date.

Then there was Punky’s faithful sidekick Cherie, who liked to eat and always wore hip rainbow colored headbands. Margeaux, a rich girl who was obsessed with her own beauty, also brought in a lot of laughs with her catchphrase, “Peasants!”

The show was meant for

children, but adults could enjoy it too, particularly the jabs exchanged between Henry and Cherie’s grandmother Betty, which went over the heads of younger viewers.

Like other shows of the 1980s, many episodes contained a moral message. In one episode, Cherie and Punky are invited to join cool girl-gang the Chicklets, only if they agree to do drugs. Wise beyond their years, Punky and Cherie “just say no,” inspiring kids everywhere to do the same.

And who could forget the freezer episode? During a game of hide-and-go-seek, Cherie – not the smartest of the bunch – gets trapped after hiding in the old freezer. It begins to snow and she passes out from the cold.

When she’s found, she’s not breathing, but luckily Punky and Margauex, who learned CPR in school, save Cherie’s life. To this day, that episode still makes my heart race.

Punky showed kids that just because they are young does not mean they can’t make a difference. She believed in herself regardless of what life threw at her, and in the end she always came out OK. The show also didn’t have the classic “Leave it to Beaver” style family. Even without the traditional family unit, Punky didn’t let anything stop her, and exuded high self-confidence and a whole lot of Punky Power!

4 MUSIC

REVIEWS

Athlete runs away with rock ‘n’ roll

By BRYAN BARNETT Daily Titan Staff

First it was The Beatles, the English quartet that changed music forever and started a trend Americans still can’t get rid of, and why would we want to? This phenomenon immortalized some of the lasting names in the memoirs of rock ‘n’ roll history; now it’s shaping the future sound of rock too, namely in the form of another English quartet, Athlete.

Despite some obvious resemblances to some big-name British bands like Radiohead and Coldplay, Athlete keeps itself distinct with a multitude of sounds on their second album release, Tourist.

Athlete achieves melodious fluidity while hitting a wide harmonic range via keyboard, putting Tim Wanstall’s talented fingers to good use.

“We each do our own thing and it all comes together,” drummer Stephen Roberts said. “It’s a very democratic process.”

Last week at the El Rey while Wanstall pounded at his keyboard relentlessly; while Carey Willets slapped together a bass line; and while Pott manned the lead mic with guitar in hand, Roberts remained the glue that kept it all together.

They were each doing their own thing, but it sounded like one big instrument.

After playing songs new and

old, slow and fast, Athlete left the stage only to be called back vehemently by a hungry crowd filling the Victorian styled main hall of the El Rey. Potts talked at leisure with the audience throughout the show, creating a rather down-to-earth aura for the fans. It was a Above: Athlete vocalist Joel very personal show with Potts (left) bares his soul in not too much pop and not his song as Tim Wanstall too much rock, but rather balanced in a pleasing, (right) pounds on the keyrelaxed kind of way. Shy- boards at their show at the ing away from the glassy El Rey in Los Angeles. The pop scene, Athlete has band just returned from a moved towards rougher whirlwind mini-tour from waters with Tourist, tackling deeper human issues; Chicago to Germany and namely being on the road finally landing in Los Angeand having to leave friends les last week. and family behind.

Right: Potts rocks the “Your life, your relation- crowd passionately to the ships go on hold. The album deals with these kinds beat that Athlete drummer, of issues we face, being on Stephen Roberts, creates. the road all the time,” Roberts said. In the span of five days, the band went from ChicaPott’s breathy, fascinating go, to Germany and then to Los voice gives life to the story in the Angeles to play at the El Rey. music.

They’re first single off the alSo why the name Athlete? Does bum, “Wires,” sums up Pott’s the music allude to athleticism in experience with his baby’s birth any kind of power chord, Budcomplications. weiser-commercial way? Are they “You got wires going in. You obsessed with sports? Not at all got wires coming out of your skin. said Roberts.

You got tears making tracks. I’ve “We needed a name because we got tears that are scared of the were about to do our first gig,” he facts.” said. “We need to work on that

Crow’s latest album soars JAMIE FLANAGAN Daily Titan Staff

story a bit.”

But after selling 250,000 copies of their last album, Vehicles and Animals, the only thing Athlete needs to work on is booking more U.S. tour dates.

They’re not the kind of band that gets over-hyped or that plays super-bowl halftime shows. They work slowly and methodically, building support the old-fashioned way: through good music.

Toni Braxton’s soul survives

By DIANIKA ABBOTT Daily Titan Staff

After overcoming bankruptcy, a heart disease scare and leaving the label she had called home since the early 1990s, Toni Braxton, a name synonymous with survival, proves she is able to bounce back with the release of her fifth studio album, Libra.

With six Grammys, two No. 1 songs on Billboards Hot 100 singles and over 39 million albums sold worldwide, Braxton – mother, Broadway star and actress – invites fans to listen in on what she’s been up to.

Braxton welcomes her new start with record label Blackground/ Universal as she reinvents her music with a mixture of mid-tempo grooves and standard slow sultry

ballads.

On the first track of the album, “Please,” Braxton’s low deep contralto voice convinces listeners she is not a mediocre lover when she asks other women to back up and give her and her significant other space to breathe.

The next track, “Trippin (That’s the way love works),” rumored to be her second single to be released from her album, is reminiscent of the Braxton we all have grown to know and love.

With lyrics that tell the truth about love, Braxton encourages listeners to hold on to love even when it doesn’t seem worth it.

Known for her sensuous ballads, Braxton tries her hand at the Washington, D.C. metro area’s hot go-go sound.

“Take This Ring,” written and

produced by go-go pioneer Rich Harrison, tells the story of a woman who decides to take off her wedding ring and get down and dirty in the club.

This track, similar to Amerie’s “One Thing,” also produced by Harrison, contains a banging offtempo drumbeat and youthful lyrics.

The ultimate jam session is “Stupid,” a jazz-like song in which she croons about her mistake of falling in love with someone who doesn’t share the same feelings.

Complete with a jazzy breakdown, this song invokes the feeling of sitting in a dark, smoke-filled jazz club, gazing at a woman illuminated by a spotlight, passionately sing your story through song.

A soothing voice, slurred lyrics and a simple acoustic guitar rift en-

tices listeners to pay more attention to the lyrics.

“Shadowless,” the final song of the album, produced by her husband and Mint Condition band member Keri Lewis, nostalgically sings of a love lost.

In this folk-like song, Braxton fervently explains how she is unable to cope with the loss of the man who completes her.

“Gotta make it right with you/ Tell me what I gotta do/ To make you come back home.”

Libra gives a good mixture of upbeat jams listeners can bump while primping for the club and the traditional sultry ballads only Braxton can sing. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will be very satisfied with this widely anticipated album. Toni Braxton is back and sexier than ever!

After some time off and obvious soul searching, Sheryl Crow has released her new album, Wildflower, seemingly composed between meditation and yoga sessions.

Longtime Crow fans from both the pop and country genres may have to keep an open mind in order to appreciate the new song set.

The 11 tracks are a deliberate departure from the upbeat attitude that earned Crow her fame.

According to Crow’s official Web site, she says she did not want to be influenced by industry competition while working on her new album. Her goal was to create a more mature collection of songs that “asked the questions a 40year-old would ask.”

The new songs are instrumentally far subtler than Crow’s previous work.

On many tracks she sings more softly than usual and the title track becomes almost a lullaby.

In composing this album Crow abandoned overt rhythms and heavy reliance on drums. Instead she makes the most of delicate background vocals and unobtrusive string arrangements.

Woven between her trademark acoustic guitar, the supporting instrumentals create a gentle flow that is carried exquisitely throughout the record.

The lyrics explore sober themes like the fluidity of life, finding one’s self and in “Where Has All the Love Gone,” staying positive in an increasingly disheartening world.

One thing that is carried over to this album from Crow’s previous work is her belief that life is short and must be lived to the fullest as she sings in “Live it Up.” “Live it up, like there’s no time left/Just like there’s no tomorrow.”

It is the fastest paced song on the record and is the only one that echoes the fun of hits like “All I Wanna Do” and “Soak Up the Sun.” Crow achieved her goal of producing a unique album infused with her own personality. It is a mellow and thoughtful collection of songs that may not be what fans expected, but it still retains an essence of Crow’s style that will please most listeners.

MUSIC

INTERVIEWS

5

Stevie Wonder shares his ‘Love’

By CHRISTINA SCHROETER Daily Titan Staff

For almost two hours, the media waited in a cool Warner Bros. studio for him to arrive.

Nibbling on catered cuisine, sipping on cold sodas and mingling with each other, many wondered when the time to love would come.

But what is two hours when the world has been waiting 10 years for Stevie Wonder to release his long-awaited album, A Time to Love?

“I was never afraid to put this record out,” Wonder said. “That was not the issue, ever. Because I do believe that God has given it to me, and it’s just a matter of me getting it the way that feels right.”

Wonder’s new album is his first of new material since 1995’s Conversation Peace.

A Time to Love contains an eclectic mix of African drums, digital composition and legendary UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP Stevie Wonder holds his family near to his heart and guest musicians like Paul McCartney, Prince and Bonnie Raitt. credits that love as an inspiration for the new album.

While some songs are classic Stevie Wonder, others embrace a poppy, fun and more modern sound.

“I wanted it to sound contemporary but sound, still me,” Wonder said. “I wanted to sing about things that were relevant but still had the essence of me still in there.”

Although his music has evolved, Wonder physically remains unchanged.

CHRISTINA SCHROETER/Daily Titan White beads are During a studio visit in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder laughs and jokes with mem- asymmetrically strewn bers of the media while whole-heartedly explaining the inspiration for and cre- through the long black ation of his first new album in 10 years, A Time to Love. braids that dangle to the small of his back.

He still smoothly weaves his head back and forth when he talks and sings, sporting his signature black sunglasses.

But instead of Gucci or Louis Vuitton, he wears glasses with the A Time to Love symbols etched along the side (which he drew himself ).

“Its really something that has come from life experiences,” Wonder said of his new album. “The joys and the pains. The moments of sorrow and the moments of happiness.”

The first song on the record, “If Your Love Cannot Be Moved,” features vocals by gospel singer Kim Burrell, as well as unusual sounds like a voice beatbox and African drums. The song is very elaborate, but knit together seamlessly.

“You Are The Sweetest Somebody I Know” highlights a sexy funk sound meshed with R&B and authentic Stevie style.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

“The title really says what the song is about, but it really speaks of someone which we all know,” Wonder said. “Someone like this or a couple someones like this, that have a very, very selfless spirit. They’re more concerned with the love that they can give and helping others than thinking about just themselves.”

Love is very important to Wonder, especially the love of his family. His son, Kailand Morris, busts in at the end of “You Are The Sweetest Somebody I Know” shouting “Daddy, Daddy!

OK, that’s enough!”

His daughter, Aisha Morris, is also featured, singing on two tracks on the album.

On the smooth, timeless track “How Will I Know” both Wonder and Morris classically sing together alongside an acoustic piano.

“It was amazing because I always imagined we would do something together but I just didn’t know it would be that kind of song,” Wonder said.

“Positivity,” another song Wonder sings with his daughter, is an upbeat hand-clapping feel-good song meant to brighten gloomy days. In the song, Wonder quotes his father, “You can always look at the negative but you should always live in the positive.”

“I had fun doing this song and it’s sort of like reminiscing the love,” Wonder said.

Wonder has sold over 72 million records, won 19 Grammy Awards, received various lifetime achievement awards, and written songs that have hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop and R&B Singles Charts starting at the ripe age of 12.

He still remains grounded, appreciating all the small things in life, hearing the small sounds in life – the sounds many people today take for granted.

“Hearing my children being born; that’s a beautiful sound,” Wonder said. “Creating those children; that’s a beautiful sound.

I just think that life itself is beautiful. I think hearing people, you know, when you see people that are in distress and you see people caring, and you hear them doing everything that they can to save someone’s life, that’s a beautiful sound.”

To Wonder, a part of love is humor, and he hopes to someday show the world the importance of humor by making a silly album.

Although Wonder has released 35 U.S. albums, he still has creative plans for his future. He hopes to work with rock musicians like John Mayer as well as rap and hip-hop artists like Nas, Jay-Z and Eminem.

He also looks forward to creating a musical, an opera and a country album.

“I’m a music lover so there is nothing that I can say I wouldn’t want to do except for…I’m not really with negativity,” Wonder said. “I’m not really feeling that.”

A Time to Love focuses on what is most important in his life.

Wonder is influenced by everything around him: his family, the media, society, past experiences, others’ experiences and his imagination.

“The balance really is finding what fits together best in that puzzle you’re creating,” Wonder said. “It’s no different than painting a picture. It’s the same. You use your imagination.”

A Time to Love is currently available for download on all major music sites and can be purchased in stores Oct. 18.

6 MAINSTREAM Cold War Kids to rock CSUF

Concert Calendar Fri, 10/07/05 7 p.m.

The Killers Long Beach Fri, 10/07/05 8 p.m.

Bangles House of Blues Hollywood Fri, 10/07/05 7:30 p.m.

Sat, 10/08/05 7:30 p.m.

Franz Ferdinand Greek Theatre Los Angeles Sat, 10/08/05 12 p.m.

Moto Music Mayhem: Yellowcard, the Vandals, a Static Lullaby and more Storm Stadium Lake Elsinore Sat, 10/08/05 8 p.m.

Exploited: Ch3: Orange Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana Sat, 10/08/05 7 p.m.

Sun, 10/09/05 6 p.m.

Green Day The Home Depot Center Carson Mon, 10/10/05 8 p.m.

Tracy Chapman Roxy Theatre Hollywood Tues, 10/11/05 7 p.m.

Cake Ventura Theatre Ventura Wed, 10/12/05 7 p.m.

Dropkick Murphys House of Blues Hollywood Thur, 10/13/05 8 p.m.

Kottonmouth Kings Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana

By HENR HENRY TRUC

Daily Titan Asst. News Editor

FELD ENTERTAINMENT

Tracie Franklin plays the storyteller in ‘Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh!’

CSUF alumna sings about Pooh

By ASHLEY MAJESKI Daily Titan Staff

Winnie the Pooh has a new neighbor in the Hundred Acre Woods. Cal State Fullerton alumna, Tracie Franklin has been touring the world with Pooh in the hit stage show “Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh!” as the storyteller who leads the audience through an interactive stage production. The show, which has traveled the world since 2004, invites the audience to join in planning a surprise party for Pooh. With the help of colorful sets and special effects, Franklin is the link between the characters and the audience, encouraging them participate. Franklin said for people in different countries, it’s like going to Disneyland.

“They come to see a piece of the Disney magic,” she said.

Years ago, if someone had told Franklin she would be acting alongside Winnie the Pooh, she wouldn’t have believed it. Franklin dreamt of becoming a ballerina, only to be told by her teacher her hips were too big. From there, she set her sights on medical school. But she never made it there. After auditioning for a musical at CSUF, she discovered her true calling in life musical theater. Her former CSUF

theater professor Jim Taulli said he remembers Franklin’s effervescent personality and hard work ethic.

“Tracie lives life in a very positive way, and that positive attitude is very infecting,” Taulli said.

After graduating in 2001 with a degree in musical theater and a minor in business administration, a professor helped her land a job on a cruise, where she worked for eight months. She was about to move to New York when a friend suggested she audition for the show.

Mitch Hanland, who gave Franklin her first voice lesson, is not surprised she’s so successful.

“She knows how to be very ‘up,’ which is important for any performer,” Hanland said. “Plus, she has a tremendous voice.”

The show will be at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood until Oct. 9 and then will be traveling to New York, Mexico and Japan. After her contract ends in May, she is not sure what she will do.

“From being on this tour, I feel I can do anything,” she said, adding that she would like to do a Broadway show or be a lounge singer in Thailand for a while.

Though she loves it, Franklin admits that the touring can take a toll.

“I am a true gypsy,” she said. “I have no home address right now.”

The Cold War is coming to Cal State Fullerton. Actually the Cold War Kids are coming to to the Becker Amphitheater for another free Wednesday concert presented by ASI Productions.

A band of a different variety, Fullerton’s very own Cold War Kids use stomping, thumping and chanting just as much, if not more than, conventional instruments to play their music.

Influenced by bands like Velvet Underground, Karen Dalton, Leadbelly, Captain Beefheart and King Mob, the group’s music offers soul, blues and rock to a Titan crowd that probably has not heard anything like it in previous Wednesday nooners.

Drummer Matt Aveiro, Matt Maust on bass, Jonnie Russell on guitar and lead vocalist Nate Willett on guitar, make up the group that “make songs about human experience in orchards and hotel rooms, laundromats

and churches, seat ports and school halls,” according to the band’s Web site.

The songs available for listening on the band’s Myspace offer two distinctive sounds.

“The Sermons vs. The Gospels” gives a taste of the bands ability to sing the blues live.

“Quiet Please,” a more refined track, sounds similar to a Radiohead song, but is still markedly unique.

The band’s stomping and thumping is quite refreshing, yet it isn’t as dominant as one would expect. What really makes the band a draw is the vocals of Willett, whose versatile voice is easy on the ears as he just lets it loose, though at times he sounds like a notable vocalist.

“The Soloist in the Living Room” is the strongest track, with a variety of instruments, a catchy beat and great vocals, making it worth seeing the band live. For more information about the band, check out the Web site at www.coldwarkids.com.

8 MOVIE

REVIEWS

‘Greatest Game Ever Played’ right on par

By JENNY STAR LOR Daily Titan Staff

From the studio that brought movie-watchers “Remember The Titans” and “Miracle” comes an inspirational story of a poor, working-class nobody who defies high-class society to become the first American golf hero in “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

The movie, based on Mark Frost’s best-seller, the movie is set in rural New England, the movie begins in 1879 on the Isle of Jersey. In early morning, a little boy is awoken by noises of four gentlemen taking measurements to begin the development of a golf course on the site of their poor, illfated cottage.

When asked what golf was, a gentleman dressed in all black hastily says, “Golf is a game played by gentlemen, not by the

likes of you.”

The year is now 1900 and this little boy, Harry Vardon, is now a man (Stephen Dillane from “King Arthur”) and is the three-time British Open golf champion, the best golfer the world has ever known.

In Brooklyn, Mass., Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf, of Disney show “Even Stevens”) is a poor, young caddy with a passion for the game of golf. As Ouimet grows up, so does his talent.

Impressed by Ouimet’s talent, the man Ouimet caddy’s for presses the 20-year-old to participate in the National Amateur Championship.

Faced with difficulties entering the tournament by the committee chiding Ouimet’s status and telling him that golf is “not for his kind,” Ouimet’s biggest challenge is convincing his disapproving father, Arthur (Canadian Elias Koteas) of

New movie full of ShenaniganZ taurant – employee or customer.

And, of course, there is Monty’s exgirlfriend and enemy, Serena (Anna The callous customer who sends Faris), the bitch who can put Monty everything back, the people who ar- in his place. Dan ( David Koechrive five minutes until closing and ner) is the college dropout witherthe 5 percent tip a server smiled all ing away as a manager desperately night for, sound familiar to anyone seeking acceptance from his young who has worked in a restaurant. Di- employees. Lastly, every restaurector Rob McKittrick, who spent rant has a Naomi (Alanna Ubach), years as a server, set out to show the the bitter, alcoholic career-waitress world why servers deserve respect who hates her job and her life, but in his new movie.“Waiting” follows can plaster on a smile for a tip.

Dean (Justin Long), who feels like Many of the scenes were inspired he’s wasting his life waiting tables by McKittrick’s real-life experiencat the local ShenaniganZrestaurant. es. After watching a rude woman “There’s some really gross stuff and her children harass his friend in there,” comedian Dane Cook and send their plates back, McKitsaid at a press junket last week. trick decided to get even and do un“Waiting” is filled with genital godly things to the foods. humor and the cast grew to love it.

The film received an R-rating “I fought it for a while, but then I because of Andy Milonakis’ rap realized that penis jokes, as puerile and crotch shots and McKittrick and base, are funny,” Long said. fought the NPAA to give them an Anyone who has waited tables R. “Waiting” is not plot-driven, knows that every restaurant has but rather is a hilarious account of stereotypical servers, like Monty, the truisms and universal situations (Ryan Reynolds) the egotistical, that all servers hate, McKittrick funny, jerk whose goal is to sleep said. McKittrick’s inspiration came with every attractive girl at the res- from “Clerks.” It too focuses on character dialogue and is mostly shot in one location. He created ShenaniganZ to resemble T.G.I. Fridays, where he spent many shifts. Audience members, especially frustrated servers, will find “Waiting” grotesquely amusing, but will be a lesson to the stingy tippers watching. “WaitLIONS GATE FILMS ing” opens in theaters Alanna Ubach and David Koechner in ‘Waiting.’ Fri., Oct. 7.

By JENNIFER BELLENDIR Daily Titan Staff

his talent.

Finding his way to the 1913 U.S. Open Championship, Ouimet enlists the help of 10-yearold Eddie Lowery (newcomer to the big screen, Josh Flitter) as his caddy. Lowery’s feisty tongue and quirky golf rhymes gives Ouimet the courage and strength to compete face-to-face against his idol, Vardon.

In an era where it was thought only gentlemen and high society were capable of playing golf, the movie shows how anyone with enough desire, drive and audacity is able to follow their dream and be great in what they do.

LaBeouf truly shines and gives audience members a convincing adaptation of a man who refuses to give up on a dream.

LaBeouf is the most recognizable face in the movie. The cast, while giving a superb perfor-

DISNEY ENTERPRISES

Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf) and caddie Eddie Lowery (Josh Flitter) play a round of intense golf in a torrential downpour. mance, seems to fall in the shadows of LaBeouf’s amazing portrayal of Ouimet.

With fantastic sound effects,

beautiful cinematography, and a praiseworthy theme, “The Greatest Game Ever Played” truly seems to be the greatest game ever played.