The Purchase Independent 4/19/2013

thePurchase

INDEPENDENT

281 APRIL

19th 2013

thePurchase

INDEPENDENT

277

NOVEMBER

29th 2012

CABARET

y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m by rachel weiss

What good is sitting alone in your room? Especially when you could be spending the night seeing an astounding production of “Cabaret” right here at Purchase!

That’s right- “Cabaret” has officially arrived! This student-run production will making its grand debut on Nov. 29 and will be running until Dec. 2. Everyone has FIVE chances to see this incredible musical, and ordering tickets has never been easier. Just go to: www.cabaretatpurchasecollege .brownpapertickets.com and you can place your order with ease.

There is even an option to purchase tickets for special seating on the stage, ensuring that you won’t miss a single swing or step by those Kit Kat Klub dancers. Your “Cabaret” experience will be enhanced with intimacy and lots of laughs, along with a “mocktail service.”

So what exactly is “Cabaret” about? Meet Jesse Penber, a Junior Theatre and Performance major and the director of “Cabaret.” He called the show “the story of the Kit Kat Klub, a deliciously seedy nightclub in the heart of Berlin.”

“The story of ‘Cabaret’ alternates between Cliff Bradshaw, who comes to Germany in search of something to write about,” Penber said. “He goes there to get some new experiences, and he does in the form of Sally Bowles, who is a nineteenyear old English singer performing at the Kit Kat Klub. Then there’s Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, who are in love, and it does not protect them.”

He went on to explain, “It’s a very dark storyline, and between that there is commentary from the Kit Kat Klub, and the dancers have their own stories.”

As this musical’s storyline treks through the history of Germany, there is so much to be said for the quality of the cast and crew of students who have put this piece together and managed to keep the historical accuracy and believability in tact.

“Cabaret” stars Gina Amico, Billy Manton, Miiko Valkonen, Tony Mita, and Laura Meltzer, who play Sally, the Emcee, Cliff, Herr Schultz, and Fraulein Schneider respectively. The production team includes the assistant directing of James Mcdermott,

letter from the editor

editor-in-chief:

It’s lovely to see you again, Purchase College. You look good! Did you get a haircut?

On a more serious note, I apologize wholeheartedly for The Independent’s absence this semester. Since I took over this editing this publication, I ate, slept, and breathed The Independent. It was all I could think about, all I could layout editor: talk about, and all I could focus on. I was one of few.

Melissa Foster

I stand by my decision to not print the past several weeks, because I refuse to publish anything less than the best that I can do. In an editor’s letter from March 26, 2004, issue #58, Bill Reese, Assistant Editor of The Independent wrote about The Independent’s “identity crisis” after a similar printing hiasenior staff writer: tus. “Our writers write pretty much by will, by inspiration and on their own Alyce Pellegrino schedule.” That is the same problem that we are encountering now. We have a small staff that works tirelessly, but sometimes that’s not enough.

The first semester I ran this publication it thrived, maybe there was a writers: new novelty to it. New people joined, new people contributed, and new people gave feedback. Without student involvement, no service on this Steph Blum campus can run.

Evan Denaro

I decided that instead of running myself ragged attempting to Dylan Green print seven pages of filler material with one or two good article, I should focus on internal problems and get The Independent back to Marie London where it was this time last year. I thought long and hard about what Essence McClanahan these problems were. Sometimes I thought I identified them but was Noelle Moore wrong, sometimes I took all the blame, sometimes I blamed the The Purchase Independent world. At the end of the day, there is no one to blame, and the imis a non-profit news Jake Murphy magazine, paid for by the portant thing is that The Independent will continue to be here for Mandatory Student Activity Alyce Pellegrino the students. The amount of support we’ve gotten this semester fee. We welcome and encourage submissions from Steven Smith gives me hope that this campus really isn’t doomed for apathy. readers. The Independent is

A huge thank you to: everyone who has asked how we’re a forum for campus issues and events, to give students doing, to my staff for bearing with me through day in and day the voice they deserve. Any print manager: out, the PSGA for always being there, Gaura Narayan for being opinions expressed are those of the writers, not those of the most perfect person on the planet, Tommy Roach for readTommy Roach The Independent, its editors, ing my mind, Melissa Foster for being fabulous always, and my or the PSGA. The deadline for submissions Powerpuff Girls and the Cinderbear. is every Friday before

Now everybody, it’s time to get naked! midnight, and accepted

Róisín McCarty

music by Juno Arreglado with piano by Rebecca Chin, choreography by Cyndi Harder, costumes by Jessica Dimartino, lighting design by Jane Dibartalo, and stage management by Helena Hadden.

“Quoting the musical ‘Urinetown,’ this is not a happy musical,” Penber said. “No one has a happy ending. The best they can hope for is to escape the misery that is 1938, and not all of them do.”

Along with a dark storyline, this musical is also considered pretty raunchy to say the least. Penber expressed the sexuality of “Cabaret” to be a prominent aspect, as some of the characters are actually sex addicts, and the number “Two Ladies” is a humorous ode to having two partners in

pieces will be published the following Thursday.

Publication of submissions is not guaranteed, but subject to the discretion of the editors. No anonymous submissions will be considered, but we will accept use of pseudonyms on a case-by-case basis.

Send all submissions and inquiries to your.indy@gmail. com. Back page quotes can be submitted to formspring.me/ indybackpage or put in the Back Page Box that hangs on the office door.

Our office is located on the first floor of Campus Center North, room 1011. Staff meetings are held in the officefriday, every Monday night at april 19th 9:30; anyone is welcome.

bed. However, Penber was never concerned with crossing the line while directing.

“There’s no such thing as too far in ‘Cabaret,’” he said. “If humans do it, it’s not too extreme. Humans betray each other, have sex with each other for reasons other than love, humans have obsessions, and humans die.”

Summing up this production in three words, Penber used, “Desire, regret, and double-edged.” Want to find out the true definitions of those words? Buy your ticket today and get ready for a thrilling performance!

copy editor:

Noelle Moore

photo editor: Marie London

web design by: Tommy Roach Cindy Mack 2013

AN INTERVIEW WITH PAT CASSELS by jake murphy

Purchase has a lot of notable alumni. You will find a few actors, musicians, and performance artists listed here and there. Of them are Stanley Tucci, Ving Rhames and Regina Spektor, plus Josh Hartnett but he didn’t really like it.

The person you wouldn’t find listed yet, but probably have seen is Patrick Cassels, a writer and actor for the infamous website College Humor. Their videos and articles have been around for awhile and have entertained millions over and over again with their hysterical antics and awesome work ethics. Pat Cassels grew up in Rye and attended Purchase College, but better than that he wrote for this very publication and was also editor for a while. I fortunately was able to get a quick interview with him despite a few hold up’s from both of our busy schedules.

So give me the background about you and purchase college, why you went and whatnot and did you like Purchase College while you went What were your favorite things about it?

I was most drawn to Purchase College because it was close to the city. Even though I wasn't specifically interested in writing comedy at the time, I knew I wanted to make a living as a writer, and I felt like being close to a city with a lot of writing opportunities -- or at least more than most places -- would be a smart move, professionally. Also, the apartments in the Olde were painted this cool, funky green color that I liked.

I liked how the college was a little isolated. Most colleges have a little town around them, but Purchase is sort of tucked away in this weird corner of the woods. I think that created a tighter, more interesting community. I was also fortunate enough to have some great professors. When you're studying a major that's a little more abstract, like literature, it helps to have a professor who's passionate about it and not completely miserable.

In general I think it's nice to know that you won't be completely miserable.

How did you get into The Independent?

Again, I knew I wanted to write, and The Independent seemed like the place where I could do that with the most frequency. It was weekly, and I liked that. My editors there were also open to whatever I pitched -- which was usually pretty weird. We covered actual news.

We weren't The Onion or the Lampoon.

But the paper definitely had a good sense of humor. I wrote a lot of strange stories about professors who taught karate in their classes. I never wanted to be a hardhitting journalist because I hate confrontation, so I tended to hide behind satire.

Which I guess I'm still doing. It's a fun place to hide.

What did you learn while working there?

To set deadlines and hold to them.

Because we were doing an issue a week, I was writing a new piece every seven or 14 days. If I had been in my room just writing for me, I probably would have agonized over one. I am very judgmental of my work, and deadlines are probably the only thing keeping me from just agonizing over one sentence, or line in a

script, or whatever until I get so worked up I delete the whole thing.

If you could sum it up in a few words what would they be?

"An original student-run weekly?”/ "A great place to grow as a writer?" Neither of those are very good. There's really nothing else like The Independent. It's partly news, partly satire. I'm sure it's evolved, though, which is good. It should reflect the sensibility of the students.

Did working at The Independent prepare you for your future ventures in any way?

Again, probably holding to deadlines. We do a lot of topical stuff at CollegeHumor, so it's important to hold to a schedule.

What did you take with you from purchase college and/ or the independent to college humor and your other projects?

The importance of getting the words on the page. Learning the value of actually writing as opposed to calling yourself a writer.

Any advice to Purchase College Students? Especially those who want to get such jobs like CollegeHumor?

Do what you love to do. Keep doing it until someone asks you to do it more.

And be open to any new experiences.

CollegeHumor wasn't as big as it is now when I first started writing for them.

They were barely producing videos at that point. I just knew they were a funny website and they were looking for writers.

your.indy@gmail.com

SPRING BREAKERS by dylan green

4

The drug-induced hysteria of the all-singing-all-drinking super glamorous MTV spring break used to be a staple of the college experience. Kids would waste hundreds, even thousands of dollars to spend five days dancing, swimming, and drinking their cares away with people they've never even met; a proverbial Mecca for the university age group.

Part faux-documentary, part glitter pop coming of age story, and part crime thriller, Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" is not only a meditation on the light and dark sides of the somehow still relevant MTV spring break, it peels its neon-colored veneer away to reveal an intriguing character study in Korine's typically pulpy and uncompromising fashion.

Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Faith (Selena Gomez), Brit (Ashley Benson) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) are four college girls taken by the spring break fantasy but lack the cash to make their dreams come true. They resort to robbing a chicken shack to make ends meet and wind up on the next bus to Miami.

Korine, notorious for his interest in youth culture, brings an almost documentarian approach to the joys of the archetypal spring break, blending glitz pop ambitions with grimy desperation.

This first half of the film is more akin to the stories that Korine likes to tell of

friday, april 19th 2013

angst-ridden youth behind closed doors and the respective worlds that shape them (inner city in "Kids", Midwestern wasteland in "Gummo", the suburban nightmare in "Ken Park").

Once the girls reach their paradise and begin to celebrate, "Spring Breakers" pulls a complete tonal 180.

After a wrong-place-wrong-time arrest alludes to jail time for the quartet, amateur rapper and wanna-be gangster Alien ( James Franco) becomes enamored of them, bails them out of jail, and attempts to use them as his own personal hit squad against fellow pusher Big Arch (Gucci Mane).

In the character of Alien, James Franco has instilled a sense of tenderness and longing never explored in these kinds of films that gives “Breakers” a subversive edge; a man who is all at once laughably pathetic in his macho hustler posturing yet utterly sincere in his love for these adolescent bikini babes and the overall image he has created for himself. Franco steps outside of his ironic performance art bubble to expose the heart of this wannabe player.

"Spring Breakers" is being advertised as a film that seeks to "de-Disney-fy" starlets Gomez, Hudgens and Benson, even though Gomez as church girl Faith is the only one given a standalone personality. All four girls truly come into their own on screen, simultaneously plumbing the depths of and showing the growth of the archetypal party girl, even if he has to give his girls a Deus Ex Machina shoot-out in order to tie up the loose ends.

That’s the film’s main problem.

As wonderful as the faux-documentarian/crime thriller aspect is, Korine resorts to Deus Ex Machina shoot-outs to bring about what would’ve otherwise been a messy ending. I suppose this ties into the fantasy role-playing aspect for the girls’ Spring Break dreams, a sort of an excuse to force a coming of age out of them while mowing down gangsters by the dozens, but it strikes me as a little insincere, especially from a director so steeped in honesty as Korine.

Harmony Korine is a filmmaker who has made a career of examining the American adolescent in every aspect, from the deeply personal to the morally obscene, but with "Spring Breakers," Korine has found his mainstream sound horn in the pertinent fad of Spring Break. He isn't simply looking to change the image of some Disney Channel stars or drown the crime thriller in college girl exploitation. Korine has created a slideshow of American excess dotted with rhinestones, a glitter pop wave of parties, crime, and unicorn ski masks.

EMERGENCY PHONES by alyce pellegrino Emergency Blue Light Phones, as the Purchase University Police Department (UPD) calls them, are a common sight around the Purchase campus. Students can find them in the main bustle of the campus, along roads leading to and from the apartments and dorms, on the athletic fields, and even in the woods. There are a total of forty-four of these emergency devices spread around campus.

Much like what they’re named, these phones are for emergency contact with UPD in the event of an emergency. There seems to be a problem, however, and it’s not necessarily to do with the phones themselves.

“I mean, I feel like they’re helpful in theory,” said Anthony Page, a sophomore psychology major from SUNY Albany. “Like, in a perfect world they would help people. But if someone’s getting abducted or something like that, they’re not gonna let you get to that phone. Or, at least, if you’re strong enough you could break away to get to it but, I don’t know, I feel like it’s not the most helpful thing.”

This may be because most people seem to not actually know what these devices can do. Yes, they notify UPD of an emergency, but they don’t simply perform this one function.

According to emergencyproductsolutions.com, the emergency call

station, as they call it, will not only call the dispatch center involved but also emit a “high-intensity strobe light” from the top of the device to provide a marker for the emergency.

“We did have police phones around campus, though I don’t think there was an incredibly large number of them,” said Rebecca Zubrovich, an alumni of Adelphi University. “Given that I don’t know if any of them even worked, I think any safety I felt from their presence was more of a placebo effect than anything else.”

There is also the option of installing surveillance cameras on these devices, something many students may not take into consideration. This works as an extra set of protection not just on college campuses but the other areas like hospitals where these devices have also been installed.

“I think they’re in strategic spots,” said Nathaniel Vidal, a senior cinema studies major here at Purchase.

“It would be nice if they could make, maybe, smaller ones that were less visible. Well, not less visible because you want them to be seen. But that didn’t take up as much space, and then have those more frequently. But, I think there’s a good number of them as is.”

Purchase’s UPD has a page on the Purchase website dedicated to explaining the importance behind these devices being used for emergencies and how to properly use them. Steps such as remaining calm, to identifying specific details about the event are listed as well as informing the public that

these devices will connect you directly to the University Police Communications Office and what the location of each device is.

Not all students think that these emergency phones serve no great purpose, and hopefully this mentality can be spread among other students.

“I like [the emergency call stations], I’m glad that they’re there,” said Vidal. “I think they’re important to have just in case. Because even if they’re not used often, there could be just one time where it could be instrumental in saving someone.”

5

your.indy@gmail.com

ANDY POP Q&A by essence mclanahan

A native of Goshen New York, 22 year old rapper Andy Pop is one artist to keep your eyes out for this upcoming summer. Combining purist lyrical elements with today's modern sound, his music tells the story of his personal life and journey.

Sleepless nights and evenings spent recording have helped him to release several mixtapes during his past four years while attending Purchase College, only forty minutes outside of New York City.

The September 2012 release of his album, "No Choice" brought the current college senior to the attention of music sites such as Rise24.com and WeknowtheDj. 6 com. The following month, viral streams of the album's single "Everybody Talks," helped him to obtain the title “New Rapper of the Week ” on theMaskedGorilla. com (November of 2012).

With the success of his performance this past March at the Studio at Webster Hall, Pop has been working solely on perfecting his latest project.

“With the new stuff it’s like being true to myself, and also true to hip-hop” said Pop, who took time off from a busy week of photo-shoots and sound editing to meet with The Independent to discuss the album "Born Ready," set to release on April 23rd, himself and the sounds that influence and embody his own passion for Hip-Hop.

How was it going into your freshman year at Purchase College while working on what would be your second mixtape, and first time going into the creative process alone?

AP: It was different doing it independently rather than with Nico and the whole aspect of not rapping on original beats, but it was cool because it was like I had different stuff to talk about after experiencing school for a little bit, it gave me a different subject matter.

wasn’t really catching me so I was listening to a lot of old school stuff. so it was cool to do that, and that beat, that what's the difference beat was one of the first beats I actually rapped on and I revisited it for "Ransom." It was cool to do it and to perform at the tribute, which I think was like one of my first performances here [Purchase College].

How have you felt since that performance, because I as a listener feel like theres a lot more confi-

Considering

that

you

also

dence behind your sound now, do

performed for the Hip-Hop tribute

you agree?

that year, how was the combination

AP: I think I do too. I went out there and was like you know -- this is like the first time so do as best as you can because this is only the first time. I remember like performing rather well, as the time went on I was like well people are liking this and I guess from there on I was just like, alright this is what I’m doing.

of that performance and releasing Ransom, a mixtape with a track sampling, Dr. Dre’s classic "What’s the Difference" instrumental?

AP: It was dope, it was around the time when I was almost a purist in the form because a lot of the new school stuff

Andy Pop, photo by Demi Vera

friday, april 19th 2013

MC UBERMENSCH by evan denaro

"Born Ready" Cover So I’ve seen a few photo’s on Instagram, and I just have to ask what is it like to sign your first fan?

AP: [laughs] see that was wild. I think it was like last year at Culture Shock after I performed, It was like a weird experience because no one ever asked me that before. To ask for my autograph that was a little weird. It kinda showed, yeah alright people are actually feeling this. It was interesting but yeah it was cool, I didn’t let it gas me up too much.

So how about now, I know before you said you were in a purist kinda flow but can you tell me what to expect on the upcoming album?

AP: On "No Choice," the album I came out with in September, I was still holding on the the purest sort of form and holding onto that but you can tell that I’m sorta branching off-- like no electronic shit or anything, I tried that once and it just didn’t really work. But, what I can say about the new stuff is that it’s like the other shit, times like twenty. It sounds a little bit more mainstream, but it’s the same me. I’m still focused on lyrics, it’s not like I’m past that.

You would know MC Evan Greenberg if you saw him. He is a living, breathing, (smoking), human brain.

When speaking, it will often be in a wacky, off beat stream of consciousness style that’s as fragmented as it is nonsensical. References from Henry Winkler, as he “enjoys turning low end culture…into high art” to Tony Soprano to Shakespeare (shortly after our interview he said, “Rap-verse is a Shakespearean soliloquy”) will fly out of his mouth with the cultural-minded propensity of Woody Allen’s OCD-addled, anti-witted grandson. It’s Google on shrooms if an anvil got dropped on the keyboard.

“Anything from Nobel peace prize winners to obscure street lingo is fair game,” he says. There are many times where I truly don’t get it, but all of that stops when a comment from him shimmers a certain truth, perhaps it is something unspoken, but usually it is something so high-mindedly absurd that it could be true in some other universe. Or at least he makes you wish.

“I’m sniffing my cocaine drip off Kurt Cobain’s slit wrists,” he spits. “Just so you know,” his friend says, “Kurt Cobain didn’t slit his wrists.” “I don’t care,” Evan replies. He says it flatly, but not content with reality.

What strikes me to be so interesting about Evan is that he is genuinely in it for his love of the art-form; that of wordplay, and a syllabic flow that transcends real life to the point where speaking with such rhythm should be a requirement.

Evan likes drugs, but don’t take it from me. He “…sings marijuana mantras”. When it comes to adderal, he’s “…eating the adderal admiral’s arsenal like sweet tarts”. He won’t stop until he’s content. And have you ever met somebody with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? That doesn’t even happen.

Lyrically, his influences range from Organized Konfusion to Eminem to Biggie himself, though, it is worth saying one of his favorite songs is “Gorgeous” by Kanye West. He goes on and on about his love for Cudi’s crooning “I can feel it slowly driftin’ away from me.”

If you know him this makes sense. It’s as if his dubious conquest for this idea of fame and constant drug use will disappear completely if he pauses for a moment.

Evan, after just buying a mic, is eager to record, yet he takes his time with the process. He will read his rhymes over and over again, then listen to the beat a lot of times, and he’ll connect those so he knows where every phrase will start and end. It’s a rarely delicate moment for Evan, who can be described as not so delicate. It’s therapeutic, akin to sculpture if you could add some figurative dynamite.

“I want to turn my life into art and spread it out over the internet,” he says. Saying “the internet” in a way that suggests there’s no other possible way.

How lucky we are. “Future projects,” he notes, “I’m putting out what’s called the Poorchoice mixtapes with an extremely talented guitarist named Kevin Collister.” But keep him in mind. This fro could go anywhere.

your.indy@gmail.com

7

HIMES RUNS FOR LUNGEVITY

by steven smith

8

Some runners have been known to be so focused on their physical routine, so dedicated to their disciplined schools of athleticism, that they liken the experience of not running to that of being a fish out of water. Although, instead of flopping and wriggling and gasping for breath, they grapple with a sense of stasis, until once again being able to toss on a pair of sneakers and take off to the streets.

Emily Himes, a sophomore at SUNY Purchase, subscribes to such a mentality. In the past few months, she has subjected herself to vigorous training and preparation in order to participate in the annual NYC half-marathon for Lung Cancer Research.

Her motivations for undertaking such a gauntlet transcend the sheer size of the achievement. She is running in honor of her late grandfather Robert E. Burress, who passed from the disease last spring, and in doing so, has allowed her passion for running and love for her grandfather to overlap in the form of this upcoming race.

Emily has been placing one foot in front of another faster than anyone she knows for as long as she can remember.

“She simply can’t sit still,” her mother, Dawne Fitzgerald commented, “Even now.”

Emily went on to illustrate her early flirtations with the craft.

“I used to live in Japan when I was a little kid,” Emily confessed, “and my mom used to take me out all the time.

We’d run and run and run, and I viewed it as such a task. Now, of course, I love it.”

She talked in great detail about

friday, april 19th 2013

how running is about overcoming, and the obstacles that stand in between the first burst of speed and the last sigh of relief. She mentioned the "runner’s high" that one experiences when reaching their zenith on a run.

“For me, it's when a good song comes on and my breathing is controlled and face is hot and my skin is tingling all over, and my entire body and mind is in perfect symphony with each other…I feel like I can do anything.” She went on to talk about the relationship between her running schedule and mood, admitting that running is a time of reflection for her, an expression of not only physical catharsis, but an emotion one as well. “After I run, it’s a whole new day.”

Needless to say, running is more than just a hobby for Emily Himes. The way running intertwines with the everyday for her lends the practice to something more closely resembling a lifestyle.

Her long-time boyfriend, Frank Jenks, notes how infectious her spirit is.

“Even when we first met, she was trying to get me into running. She motivates everyone around her; it’s impossible to not feel that.”

SUNY Purchase Cross Country Coach, Declan Foley, clearly sharing this opinion of Emily’s warm and encouraging nature, appointed her as the co-captain of the team, where she led the girls to many impressive performances.

“And its not just in running,” Frank added later, “It’s in everything she does. She’s just that kind of person.”

From high school level to varsity cross-country, Emily has met the challenges before her with nuance and dedication.

However, as she remarked with a ring of excitement in her voice, she has

never been tested quite like this. The NYC half-marathon will take place on March 17th, 2013, and Emily talked at length about what sparked her interest in entering something she described as “so big and so personal.” Robert E. Burress, related to her, not by blood, but in all they ways that truly matter, fought a long and hard battle against Lung Cancer. She characterized him, in his days of good health, by his hearty laugh and generous smile.

As far away as it seemed, her grandfather’s depleting health took an enormous toll on Emily.

“We knew about the cancer for so long, and yet everything just seemed to happen so quickly,” she said, “and I had never really lost anyone before.” She recalled Christmases of care packages and special gifts from her grandpa, courtesy of subscriptions to as-seen-on-TV products.

“The thing is, they were lifetime subscriptions. We’re probably going to get a random box of presents, a random piece of him, back every year, and that gives us something to look forward to.”

Emily, in retelling with glee the highlights of his life, concluded that running this race was least she could do for a man who lived so much and loved so dearly. And so it goes, Emily Himes ran under the banner of LUNGevity this March.

“Her grandpa would be bursting with joy to see her accomplish this goal in his honor,” said her mother with pride, “And Emily will run this race the way she lives her life: she’ll prepare and tackle each mile as it comes until she reaches the finish line.”

If what they say is true about athletes feeling like fish out of water, one can be sure that this runner won’t be coming up for air anytime soon.

CINEMASIA: "EVIL DEAD" by dylan green No one expected “The Evil Dead,” or its wunderkind director Sam Rami, to explode in popularity the way they did when they first burst onto the horror movie circuit in 1981. Rami, along with childhood friends Robert Tapert (producer) and Bruce Campbell (star), gave audiences a paranormal scare-fest whose genuine fun-house horror thrills. It was curtailed in by Rami’s raw filmmaking prowess that existed on a plane somewhere between terror and fun. “Dead” was established as a modern horror cult classic while catapulting Rami and Campbell to stardom.

Its legacy looming large 32 years later, the horror genre has gone through some vast changes, favoring psychological terror and extremely graphic and serious-minded “splatterporn” over tongue-in-cheek blood and guts.

“Evil Dead,” the 2013 re-imagining directed by neophyte Fede Alvarez, seeks to have its blood-splattered cake and eat it too, attempting to re-tell the original story with more modern sensibilities while retaining the gleeful sense of dread the series is known for. With Rami, Tapert, and Campbell all serving as guiding lights in producer’s chairs, “Evil Dead” is a worthy, if not exactly excellent, successor to the original, a stylish and blood-soaked horror funhouse that revels in its silliness while maintaining its contemporary horror composure.

Friends Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), Olivia ( Jessica Lucas), Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), and David (Shiloh Fernandez) take a trip to a cabin in the woods in order to help their mutual friend and David’s sister Mia ( Jane Levy) go cold

turkey and kick a smack addiction. As they begin to explore the cabin, the group comes across a basement filled with disemboweled cats carcasses hanging on hooks and the good ol’ Necronomicon, the Book of The Dead, which Eric proceeds to un-wrap from its barbed wire bindings and read from, resulting in the possession of Mia and the eventual summoning of a demonic Abomination if she isn’t “cured” before the Necronomicon claims 4 extra souls.

It all smacks very much of Rami’s original story of demons in the woods, and Alvarez’s film does share many similarities with its precursor. The characters are just as intrepidly moronic, deliberately walking into problems that are unavoidable when you recite a passage from a book bound in human flesh marked with “DO NOT READ THIS” in blood. The basic story beats are still here, though the film plays fast and loose with who the next Ash Williams analogue will be, toying with your expectations of who the real Deadite killer is at the end.

The film also occupies (to a less successful degree) the same tonal space that Rami’s “Dead” did, the plane of existence right between carnival fun-house spooks and a macabre walk through abandoned woods; a morose and utterly pointless story involving insanity and familial trust issues immediately interrupted by gleefully graphic acts of facial disfigurement, loss of limbs, and exchanged bodily fluids not seen on screen since Rami’s own “Drag Me To Hell” back in 2009. Because Alvarez’s “Dead” is bathed in the modern super seriousminded “gore-nography” effect, as some call it, it’s difficult to tell when the movie’s tongue is piercing through its cheek or simply suffering from anidentity crisis.

Alvarez and the producing dream-team he’s working with are smart

enough to know that contemporary horror, forever affixed to the grimy gloss of “torture-porn” brought about by the “Saw” and “Hostel” films, is steeped in an affect that doesn’t leave much room for the same kind of gonzo wackiness seen in the 1981 “Dead”; they’re also smart enough (and see their audience as such) to simply play into the conventions, both old and new, that modern horror has saddled on its back, minus the meta acknowledgment. Think of it as an antithesis to Drew Goddard’s meta masterpiece “The Cabin In The Woods” from last year, essentially a joke premise that isn’t in on the joke, and is all the more fun for it. By nature, this makes “Evil Dead” an incredibly divisive film: people are either going to love or hate this one, and the film doesn’t really care which side you choose.

From a purely cinematic perspective, however, “Evil Dead” is much more solid and assured. Aaron Morton’s sepia-toned cinematography is a once both grimy and crisp, the gore (all accomplished through makeup, inspired camerawork, and buckets of blood with minimal CG touch-ups) is hilarious and shocking in that how-will-they-top-themselves-next? kind of way, the performers all all fine, conveying the right amount of schlock terror and stupid decision making that is the heartbeat of splatterporn like this (see above) and the contemporary horror roadmap is put to inspired use (Mia’s initial possession being looked over by her friends as just another withdrawal freakout escalates tension in a truly unnerving way). Where will the horror genre go next? It may not have the answer, but “Fede Alvarez’s “Evil Dead” is a flawed yet shamefully enjoyable minor treat of contemporary gore-nography that, for better or worse, channels the spirit of Rami’s cinematic staple.

your.indy@gmail.com

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RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

in a mug arranged and photographed by Marie London

Chocolate Chip Cookie You’ll need: 1/3 cup flour 1 egg 1 tablespoon butter, softened 3 tablespoons brown sugar chocolate chips • Mix together ngredients until smooth.

• Add a handful of chocolate chips to your mug and microwave for 1:30.

• Enjoy warm with a dollop of ice cream!

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Molten Chocolate Cake You’ll need: • 3 tablespoons each: flour packed brown sugar unsweetened cocoa powder oil and water.

• Pinch of salt • small piece of chocolate or chocolate chips • Mix together all of your ingredients, except for the pieces of chocolate.

• Microwave for 1:30, be careful not to over-nuke!

• Enjoy immediately with whipped cream!

friday, april 19th 2013

RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

nutella & sea salt cookies

arranged and photographed by Marie London

You’ll need:

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup Nutella sea salt to sprinkle

These cookies are fucking phenomenal!

They’re a great base cookie if you like Nutella.

Feel free to add in M&M’s, mini Reese’s cups, sprinkles or whatever else you’re vibing.

• In a large bowl, combine all of your ingredients, (not the salt) • Freeze your dough for 10 minutes.

• or skip that step, whatever really.

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• Use a spoon to roll dough into a ball about 1 inch in size, and place on a greased baking sheet. Keep ‘em 2 inches apart!

• Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes and let them cool for a few minutes to set.

• Sprinkle your cookies with a generous amount of sea salt.

Enjoy your salty Nutella dreams immediately with milk shots!

your.indy@gmail.com the purchase indendent

NAKED ISSUE CHEAT SHEET

The Independent's photo shoot will be

Monday April 22, from 1 – 6 PM. The Naked Issue is all about body positivity, and loving yourself at your most bare form. If you aren't comfortable getting completely naked, that is absolutely fine. You only have to get as naked as you are comfortable with!

If you want your photos done independently, all files must be sent to: your.indy@gmail.com by April 25 by 9 pm

OR brought to us on a flash drive in CCN1011.

Bring any props you wish to be photographed with/in/on. There will also be a body painter!

You must bring two forms of photo ID. one of them being your student ID. The Naked Issue will be printed on May 3.