The Word: Best of July 2013

The Word July 2013

THIS ISSUE: Kanye West

The Lone Ranger

Orange is the New Black

Bruce Springsteen

Pacific Rim

The Newsroom

Big Brother

And Much More ‌

Table of Contents Album Review: “Yeezus” by Kanye West (Kellan Miller) …. 3 Album Review: “Southeastern” by Jason Isbell (Julian Spivey) …. 7 Song Reviews (Julian Spivey & Aprille Hanson) …. 9 Bruce Springsteen’s 25 Greatest Lyrics (Julian Spivey) …. 13 Movie Review: “The Lone Ranger” (Philip Price) …. 22 Movie Review: “Pacific Rim” (Philip Price) … 25 Movie Review: “The Conjuring” (Philip Price) … 28 'Orange' Revitalizes Women's Prison Drama with Fantastic Ensemble Cast (Julian Spivey) … 30 Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Newsroom’ Off to Shaky Start in Season Two Premiere (Julian Spivey) … 31 ‘Inside Man’ Brings Spurlock’s Fantastic Documentary Style to Important Issues (Julian Spivey) … 33 ‘Whose Line’ Returns to Television with Old Friends, New Host (Julian Spivey) … 35 10 Biggest Emmy Award Nomination Snubs (Julian Spivey) … 36 Don’t Stop Believing: Rest in Piece Cory Monteith (Aprille Hanson) … 39 CBS Should Be Held Responsible for 'Big Brother' Racist, Homophobic Contestants (Aprille Hanson) … 30 The Royals Had a Baby! How Disney Is At Least Partially to Blame for America's British Royals Fascination (Julian Spivey) … 32 Book Review: ‘The Shack’ by William Paul Young (Aprille Hanson) … 43

Edited by Julian Spivey Additional Editing by Aprille Hanson & Wendy Spivey

Note: All of these pieces were previously published on thewordwebzine.webs.com

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Albums ‘Yeezus’ by Kanye West

By Kellan Miller

At the time I bought Kanye West’s much publicized latest effort, “Yeezus,” I also noticed a used copy of “College Dropout.” Long story short, I purchased both. Of course, “Yeezus” got first spin in the car stereo, and much to my surprise, what followed was an onslaught of mystifying musical moments, at times plain bizarre, at other times exceptional. Upon finishing my sojourn through the baffling, complex world of “Yeezus,” I popped in “College Dropout,” and was amazed at the contrast. Even though traces of the egotistic asshole Kanye persona we all come to love/hate exist, the voice that bleeds through on the album is most often times endearing and relatable. Whether he was rapping about his family business, his struggles with a wired jaw or presenting skits about the dreary options for recent post-grads (which are a little too real at this point in my life) Ye’s struggle was one that the whole world could get down to. Flash forward to “Yeezus,” and as the name indicates, Kanye is all too selfaware of his importance to pop culture.

The phrase “great expectations” hardly even scratches the surface of what we have come to expect from Kanye West. Amid his ridiculous shenanigans, Ye has consistently blessed music connoisseurs with masterpiece after masterpiece, beginning with his debut, “College Dropout.” The idea that Kanye will produce a “dud” of an album is not even an afterthought to his fans, but an impossibility all together.

Apart from his musical genius, Kanye’s successes stem mostly from his chameleon-like sensibilities, fully capable of adapting with the ever-changing, ephemeral tastes of the masses while still adding his own unique bent. In the moment, Kanye’s musical leaps from previous efforts always seem tremendous, but in retrospect all of his albums seem to spring from inevitable creative branches. As a result, Kanye is the biggest force causing his albums to sound outdated in comparison with his current work. For instance, Kanye’s rendition of Daft Punk’s “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” (“Stronger”) seems to be tame in light of his new musical endeavors. But this is a sign of a true genius: When an artist can dig deep within their creative arsenal, transform themselves and offer the world something not quite like their original output but yet still maintain quality. Say what you will about Kanye as a person (as there is much to say, and most of it negative) but a long look at Ye’s musical achievements pre-‘Yeezus’ (“College Dropout,” “Late Registration,” “Graduation,” “808s and Heartbreaks,” “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” “Watch the Throne,” “Cruel Summer”) are a testament that he is a true master in this regard.

Reactions to “Yeezus” have been almost as polarizing as the gay marriage rights issue. Mostly, critics from major publications like Pitchfork and Spin magazine have been unanimous in their acclaim, while most hip hop theorists are largely disappointed, going so far as to label the album the first “dud” of Ye’s career. Some conspiracy theorists have even speculated that the “box” of Amber Rose is superior to that of Kim’s, because Rose’s box brought about ‘MBDTF,’ while Kim’s brought about “Yeezus.”

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of sampling either box, but Rose’s ‘vag’ was only part of the 3|Page

impetus behind that landmark achievement. In 2010, when Ye went to work on ‘MBDTF’ (quite possibly the greatest album of the last decade) he had a lot to contend with. The world, including President Obama had turned its back on Ye, and many had questioned whether his hip-hop sensibilities were intact after the experimental “808s and Heartbreak.” It’s no secret that artists often create their best work in times of distress, and Ye accomplished that 10 times over with ‘MBDTF.’ But “Yeezus” is a very different album, the like of it bares no resemblance with any album I’ve ever listened to. To translate: the shit is nuts, b.

On “Yeezus,” there are hardly traces of any ‘808s.’ In interviews, Ye said that punk music had a large influence on the songs recorded for the album, even though none of the songs resemble the music of The Clash or The Dead Kennedys. But as theorists will tell you, punk is dependent on not just music, but attitude as well. Even Ye’s decision to forego an album artwork is a nod to earlier punk groups who used similar tactics when giving away their music. Again, nothing on “Yeezus” bares resemblance to anything the so-called “Gods of Punk” ever created, but the attitude is pure punk. Minimalism is typically the main ingredient in punk songs, with artists sacrificing melody and polished, heavily-structured beats for simpler, more authentic sounding recordings. “On Sight,” the opening track, is more along the lines of a musical lovechild between Daft Punk and Sonic Youth than anything we’ve previously heard from Ye. The track sets the tone for the rest of the album, which consists of WTF moments, sometimes stellar and other times just plain bizarre. With “On Sight,” it’s apparent that Ye’s braggadocio is intact, as hilariously spits: “Real nigga back in the house again/ Black Timbs all on your couch again/ Black dick all in your spouse again.” It’s no mistake that the most indigestible track for fans of Ye’s previously material is the first we hear, because in his new-founded-punk-philosophy, we are to take it or leave it. Although it falls well below the brilliance of “Dark Fantasy” or even “Good Morning,” the intro is strangely alluring, like a car crash you can’t divert your eyes from. With all that said, this is definitely the worst record on the album.

The following track, “Black Skinhead,” is still difficult to stomach on first listen, but after a few listens the bizarre brilliance of it begins to bleed through. When asked about his inspiration for “Yeezus,” Ye cited Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails of having a large influence on his musical thought process. This influence can be most accurately felt on “Black Skinhead,” where Ye fashions an entire song out of the Jay-Z coined “All Black Everything” philosophy, while making a few poignant, angry, punk-infused observations about modern society’s general attitudes toward black celebrities. Ye raps “They see a black man with a white woman at the top they gon’ call that shit King Kong.” Although Ye’s previous work is vastly different in scope, his overall aggressive persona seems to fit snug with the ‘90s industrial rock beat and speedy drum patterns. Still, it’s difficult to get past this song not because of the disparate style, but particularly Ye’s mistake of confusing the Greeks in the movie “300” with Romans. This may be minor to some, but it personally bugs the shit out of me.

Much can be said of the third track, “I Am God,” co-produced by Daft Punk. Obviously, the title is more than enough to raise heads (as if the title “Yeezus” wasn’t enough?). Or, there’s the fact that on the official tracklisting, God is listed in the credits as a feature, and yet his (or His) presence is disappointing, considering he is … well … God. Longtime Kanye collaborators Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Noah Goldstein add a little flare to this track, and I’m not convinced that Kanye should not be able to make another album from this day forward without Justin Vernon and Noah Goldstein. Pitchfork.com, a publication that awarded Yeezus a rating of 9.5 on a 10 point scale, recently published an article in which the main players involved in the project spoke the production process in length: According to Goldstein: “The very first time I heard Kanye say “I am a God,” we all were like, “OK, that’s where we’re going – let’s go all the way there.” And they did. On the track, Ye’s presence on the track is more akin to 4|Page

the God depicted in the “Family Guy” series than the one that rests in Heaven, especially with bars like “I Am A God/ So hurry up with my damn message/ In a French restaurant/ Hurry up with my damn croissants.” If you don’t already know, the phrase “Hurry up with my damn croissants” is steadily making its way into standard cultural phraseology, so you baristas, don’t be shocked when you hear some old man shouting it at you at Starbucks.

It’s exceedingly difficult to label Kanye’s new music in little cute genre gift wraps. Kanye samples from so many different genres on this record that it is impossible to assign any real accurate label to the music.

According to Charles Aaron of Spin magazine: “‘Yeezus’ is “a hip hop album, not a rap album,” because of how its sounds and subject matter are assembled together, and although listeners can hear “‘punk’ or ‘post-punk’ or ‘industrial’” throughout, “hip-hop has always been about noise and dissonance and dance music as agitation. “New Slaves,” aside from being one of the most reminiscent beats of Kanye’s later work, is quite possibly the most controversial song of the album. In typical Ye fashion, the single (and video) was broadcast on 66 buildings across the globe. The track is far from radio friendly, lacking a hook, but primarily lacking the friendly nature usually attributed to songs that litter the airwaves.

Although this is a moot point which hardly bears stating, Kanye is never one to hold his tongue, and on “New Slaves” he rhythmically rants about a concept he views as sort of neo-slavery, in which predominately African-Americans are controlled by the high ranking powers that be. Although he criticizes the immense importance blacks tend to put on materialism, and the practice of large corporations attempting to pimp black culture, his main beef is against the faulty prison system in America. “They tryin’ to lock niggas up/ They tryin’ to make new slaves.” Ye’s answer to these screwy quandaries is a rebellious reversal of sorts, with him doing the screwing: “Fuck you and your Hampton house/ I fuck your Hampton spouse/ Came on her Hampton blouse/ And then her Hampton mouth.”

After the rant comes to a close, the beat shifts rather abruptly and yet brilliantly to much more melodic waters, as Ye croons: “I won’t end this high Not this time again So long, so long, so long You cannot survive, And I’m not dying and I can’t lose I can’t lose No I can’t lose ’cause I can’ leave it you So let’s get to high Get too high again.”

Frank Ocean provides a few subtle vocals towards the concluding moments. Next up is the infamous collaboration with fellow Chicago emcee Chief Keef. I say infamous, not because of Chief Keef’s lengthy arrest record, but because when the track listing was released, long before the record actually hit stores, Internet quacking revolved around large hesitation about how two seemingly polar opposite artists would mesh on a Ye-produced track. However, “Hold My Liquor” is without a doubt one of the greatest songs on the album, with Sosa handling the hook duties. The beat has the aura of a slasher film soundtrack, with Ye spitting some of the most comical lines of his career: “Slightly scratch your Corolla/ OK I smash your Corolla.” Somehow Keef’s thick garbled flow blends magically with the beat, and I’m positive “Hold My Liquor” will be a staple at parties for a long time to come.

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And where do I begin with “I’m In It,” a song that makes Ye’s previous lyrical content fit for the Disney Channel? Here Kanye raps about explicit sexual scenarios, such as biting ass and dining on Asian pussy with sweet and sour sauce…yeah. The beat combines elements of old school Chicago house music and dance hall, with a reggae artist unintelligibly commanding a large portion of the track. Justin Vernon admitted in the Pitchfork article that he was not only sure of what the Jamaican dude was saying, but himself as well. Regardless of how you feel about this song, the mere scope of it is dazzling. “I’m In It” is another clear indication of Kanye’s newfound DGAF attitude, because the song contains wholly absent of the simple melodies and grooves one might find melodic or catchy, an strategy that permeates throughout the album. According to collaborator Hudson Mohawke: “There are a lot of amazing songs that were left off [Yeezus] – stuff that you might consider to be more melodic or in-line with Kanye’s previous material – purely because they didn’t necessarily fit this rough-edged, ‘90s-industrial-type vibe.

A lot of the record is trying to avoid obviousness. Through the entire process of putting it together, there were tons of easy slam dunks, but rather than just going for the hits and having an album that nobody’s going to give a fuck about in a month or two, he intentionally sidestepped the obvious route each time. I think that’s what going to give it more longevity and put it in a category of records that you’ll go back to in 10 years time. I assumed that he was gonna do the maximalist thing again with this album, but it’s more like: ‘Boom! We just made a song, and it bangs, so fuck you.’ It’s such an awesome contrast.”

On “Yeezus,” some of the best moments of Ye’s musical career are juxtaposed rather jarringly with some of the most “huh?” moments of his career. The gaps in quality confirm, at least in my eyes, that the ambitious sonic leaps takes with this record are conscious decisions rather than true indications of withering genius. “Bound 2,” seems to exude all the great moments of Ye’s career in one track. It is no surprise, given Ye’s purpose behind Yeezus, that the most easily identifiable Ye track comes at the very end of the album. Enlisting R&B legend Charlie Wilson for vocals, West provides the most soulful recording of the album by far in “Bound 2.” Rick Rubin, the legendary long-bearded Caucasian hip-hop producer was largely instrumental in the harvesting of this record, and others. Recently, Rubin has stated on record that he personally felt that the tracks on “Yeezus” needed another year to reach full blossom, but respected Kanye’s insistence on a minimalist approach this go ’round. Speaking to the Daily Beast, Rubin had this to say: “There was so much material we could really pick which direction it was going to go,” he revealed. “The idea of making it edgy and minimal and hard was Kanye’s. I’d say, ‘This song is not so good. Should I start messing with it? Can I make it better?’ And he’d say, ‘Yes, but instead of adding stuff, try taking stuff away.’ We talked a lot about minimalism. My house is basically an empty white box. When he walked in, he was like, ‘My house is an empty white box, too!’”

Other tracks like “Send It Up,” and more notably, “Blood On The Leaves” fall just short of five star status in my eyes. “Blood On The Leaves” is a shining testament to Ye’s fearless musical ambition, as he is very possibly the first person in the world to think to combine a song about racial hate crimes (Nina Simone’s cover of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”) with the “fuck them other niggas ’cause I’m down for my niggas” beat. “Blood On The Leaves” features the more sing-happy Ye we witnessed on “808s and Heartbreak” than the back-pack-rapper-with-a-fondess-for-Bentleys on “College Dropout.” Ye ranges in different emotions as he speaks about relationships that have lost their vitality. Although it is not my favorite track on the album, most critics have been unanimous in their praise of the song. “Guilt Trip” is one of the aforementioned songs that could sit snugly in a collection of Ye’s greatest songs to date. As he proved on “Gorgeous” and “All Of the Lights,” Kid Cudi has a knack for adding flare to Ye productions, even if his guest spot is minimal. Cudi’s crooning toward the waning moments of the song are no doubt the cherry on top of an awesome record. As the song implies, Ye laments about a relationship gone wrong, as synths and computerized sounds replace ‘808s.’

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The well-known mythology behind Ye’s recording process is that he is a ruthless perfectionist in the studio, meticulously slaving over every minute piece of a song until it finally meets his satisfaction.

However, the recording sessions behind “Yeezus” were much different, with Ye spending not enough half of the time working on this record as he did with ‘MBDTF.’ Speedy production is a strong element in most punk music, as often times bands freestyle their songs in effort to mimic live performances, mistakes and all. The tactic is hardly practiced in hip-hop however, but there are a few notable exceptions. Once he was out on bail, fresh outta jail, California dreamin’ 2pac recorded possibly the greatest album of all time, “All Eyes On Me,” in just two weeks. But 2pac’s is a rare case, and while the tracks on “Yeezus” do not feel “rushed” per say, there is the looming feeling that the songs did not reach their full potential. Even with that said, after a few listens, I have to admit that I am a fan of all the songs on the album, and in total feel that Kanye put out a very strange, yet awesome record. It’s comforting to know that hip hop artists are in a position where they are able to comfortably push, push and push boundaries, as consequently polarizing as these finished efforts are. It remains to be seen what Ye’s next move will be, with his G.O.O.D. Music compilation disc set to drop sometime this winter.

Anyways, after writing this long review I’m hungry, and croissants sound mighty good.

‘Southeastern’ by Jason Isbell

By Julian Spivey

There’s a good chance that most of you haven’t heard the name of singer-songwriter Jason Isbell before. Well, that’s a shame because Isbell may have very easily recorded and released the best album of 2013, “Southeastern.”

Isbell got his name out there in the early ‘00s as a member of the hard-charging Southern Rock group the Drive-By Truckers, for which he wrote and sang some of their best songs like “Outfit,” “Goddamn Lonely Love” and “Danko/Manuel.” Isbell’s heavy drinking and partying, as well as his failing marriage to Truckers‘ bassist Shonna Tucker led to his ouster from the group after only three albums. He then started up his own backing band The 400 Unit and began releasing solo albums. His biggest success, before “Southeastern” came in the form of 2011’s “Here We Rest,” which featured the 2012 Americana Song of the Year “Alabama Pines.” Around this time Isbell developed a relationship with his now wife Amanda Shires, a fellow musician who often plays violin and sings backing vocals for him. It was also around this time that Isbell finally decided it was time to seek treatment for his alcoholism.

What resulted from his newfound sobriety was “Southeastern.” And I don’t feel as if I’m being aggrandizing when I say that this album is somewhat of a modern masterpiece.

“Southeastern” is likely Isbell’s most profound and personal album, which is saying something coming from a guy who’s nothing but profound and personal in his lyrics. Even in songs on “Southeastern” that are clearly pieces of fiction like “Live Oak,” about an outlaw finding love and regretting some of the dark 7|Page

things in his past, seemingly feature lyrics that give off subtle elements of truth like: “There's a man who walks beside me/He is who I used to be/And I wonder if she sees him/and confuses him with me.”

Every single song on “Southeastern” is essentially a short story about life – in both its good and bad aspects, but leaning a little more toward the tragedies of life. It’s one of the most bittersweet albums I’ve ever listened to with such unbelievably beautiful art coming from incredible sadness.

There’s “Yvette” – a song that’s the antithesis of being beautiful in its utter sadness – about a girl being sexually abused by her father and the teenage boy/classmate across the street who sees it happening and plots the father’s death. There’s something so devastatingly radiant about lines like: “I might not be a man yet/but that bastard will never be/so I'm cleaning my Weatherby/I sight in my scope/and I hope against hope/I hope against hope.”

There’s the sublime “Songs That She Sang in the Shower” about a relationship coming to an end – mostly via the fault of the song’s narrator – with him being haunted by songs that his lost love used to enjoy. This song has a lyric in it that just signifies why Isbell is one of the most talented songwriters of this generation: “And the church bells are ringing for those who are easy to please/And the frost on the ground probably envies the frost on the trees.” How poetic is that? Isbell is able to paint images and conjure feelings unlike any younger artist around these days, in almost any genre.

Then there’s “Elephant” – which takes the cake as the most hauntingly beautiful performance on the record – about a woman dying of cancer and her relationship toward the end of her life. This one is surely to leave your eyes a little wet the first time, or first hundred times, you hear it.

Sure, many tracks on “Southeastern” are depressing in theme, but Isbell is so magnificent in his songwriting that it doesn’t weigh you down in sadness. You’ll spend too much time marveling in his stunning wordplay to get down about the bleakness of the stories.

Not everything on the album is a weeper though. Songs like “Cover Me Up” and “Stockholm” are gorgeous tunes about falling in love, and both are truly highlights of the album. “Stockholm” is probably the catchiest song on the album and would make for a great first single if an artist like Isbell even worries about stuff like that. These tunes are likely where you can see Isbell benefiting from his recent marriage to Shires.

“Traveling Alone,” “Different Days” and “New South Wales” are all incredibly brilliant, as well, but what really isn’t brilliant about Isbell’s album. “Traveling Alone” is a lament about being “tired of traveling alone” and wanting someone to spend his time/life with (certainly Shires has fit that billing; she and dropping the booze have obviously done wonders for Isbell). “Different Days” is a nice little ballad with amazingly crafty lyrics about maturation. “New South Wales” comes off as old friends conversing about the past, but you get the feeling it’s really Isbell’s old self and new self trying to mesh together to form one perfect union.

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While most of the songs on “Southeastern” are softer, contemplative tunes there is one hard-charging rocker in “Super 8” about a wild post-concert night at a motel, presumably featuring a lot of truth and also presumably happening before Isbell sought that aforementioned alcohol treatment.

“Relatively Easy” is the perfect closer for “Southeastern” in that it really summarizes everything about this album. It’s another plaintive song, but with the uniquely uplifting message that even though our lives may completely suck from time to time there’s always going to be somebody who is worse off than we are. It’s a feeling that will rightfully make you embarrassed the next time you make a big deal out of a small problem.

The artist that Isbell reminds me the most of is probably folk legend John Prine, especially in his songwriting/phrasing. The only difference is that Isbell is not quite as slyly wry as Prine, opting for more of a straightforward approach. It’s an approach that works unbelievably well. You can tell Isbell has lived a busy, interesting and oftentimes troubling life in only his 34 years. He may be obscure because he’s an Americana artist, which means he doesn’t fit into the radio mold, but believe me the stuff this guy is pouring out will have him rivaling Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Bruce Springsteen and, dare I say, Bob Dylan.

You may not know him now, but seek him out, give “Southeastern” a listen and you’re never going to forget him.

Songs ‘Home Again’ by Elton John

By Julian Spivey

Elton John is a strange case. He’s a music legend just based on his wonderful ‘70s output that quite possibly ranked him as the top artist of that decade in both rock and pop music. However, there seems to be two stories of his career: the ‘70s and everything else. Seriously, can you name an Elton John classic released since the ‘70s? Sorry, songs recorded for “The Lion King” soundtrack just won’t cut it.

Elton John is a strange case because there is seemingly no rhyme or reason for this. Why or how can one man put forth so much fantastic music in his first decade of stardom and do almost nothing even remotely similar in the 30-plus years since? Did he (or more importantly his personal lyricist Bernie Taupin) simply burn out? I really don’t have any answers.

However, Elton John did something uniquely interesting with his last album, which was entirely a collaboration with his longtime friend and mentor Leon Russell, called “The Union.” This album seemed to be a much-needed change for him in which he focused on some different musical styles and sounds, many of which highlighted the works of his early career. The album backed off of his balladry, soft rock, pop sound that he’d become too acquainted with in the previous decades.

“The Union” is what has my interest piqued for his upcoming September release “The Diving Board,” his first solo album since 2006, which I hope is more similar to ‘70s Elton John than post-‘70s Elton John. In 9|Page

multiple publications John has both referred to his new album as “the most piano-oriented album of my career” and “my most adult album,” both of which could be good or bad – remember most of his classics came in his high-flying youth.

The first single off of “The Diving Board” is the very piano-driven “Home Again.” The opening piano part, one of the track’s highlights, is somewhat reminiscent of early Elton, but most of the song doesn’t really keep the same nostalgic feel. This is somewhat ironic in that Taupin’s lyrics are seemingly highly nostalgic for the good old days.

The song plays as a lament, especially in one of the track’s best lines: “We all dream of leaving but wind up, in the end, spending all our time trying to get back home again.”

It’s a feeling that many Elton John fans, like me, longing for his old sound probably can identify with, but we’re not really getting a whole lot of that from this track. The production of the song, by one of the best producers in the business T-Bone Burnett, is pretty great and the musicianship – albeit soft and mostly piano is strikingly beautiful. Maybe I’m being too picky wanting another “Tiny Dancer” or “Rocket Man” or “Your Song” and maybe I haven’t let the new release grow on me enough. “Home Again” frankly is the best Elton John song I’ve heard in quite some time – which means it’s not bad. However, it’s just not really what I was looking for.

I said earlier that I didn’t really have any answers as to why Elton John’s post-‘70s music doesn’t stand up to his ‘70s classics, but the more I think about it I feel like I might know why … somewhere around 1980 Elton John stopped being a rocker and started being a crooner.

‘I Want Crazy’ by Hunter Hayes

By Aprille Hanson

It’s fitting that Hunter Hayes would do a song with the word “crazy” in it because he’s just so crazy talented. It’s the only word that aptly describes this 21-year-old who produces, writes and records most of his own stuff. In a recent radio interview, Hayes said he knows how to play at least 30 instruments. At least being the key phrase. He’s a true musician in every sense of the word – more than just a pretty face.

“I Want Crazy” from the expanded deluxe edition of his self-titled debut album is just a fun song about a man who doesn’t want just the average love - he wants the “can’t sleep, can’t breathe without your love / front porch and one more kiss / it doesn’t make sense to anybody else.”

Hayes is definitely catering to his barrage of young women followers, but the song is great too. He’s not popping out mindless, catchy pop-country. He has especially creative lyrics. The electric guitar and mandolin are mixed perfectly, and its manic pace gives the music itself a crazy appeal. The only downside to this song is some overzealous female fan might think he’s speaking directly to her … yikes.

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Hayes is turning out to be the male Taylor Swift, but with one big difference (besides, you know, the obvious): I believe his talent and musicianship will allow him to grow with his audience and become a true staple in this generation’s country music.

‘Too Drunk to Karaoke’ by Jimmy Buffett & Toby Keith

By Julian Spivey

It’s incredibly hard to believe that one of the finest singer-songwriters of all-time who’s recorded such beautiful songs as “Come Monday,” “He Went to Paris” and “The Captain and the Kid” could produce something as utterly stupid and complete shit as “Too Drunk to Karaoke.”

But, that’s exactly what Jimmy Buffett has done for his first release from his upcoming new album “Songs from St. Somewhere.” The song, a duet with country music superstar Toby Keith, is certainly meant to be a good time for all, but it represents somewhat of a lackluster final chapter in a great songwriter’s career. Buffett has seemingly dropkicked all seriousness, beauty and poetry to the side for cheesy, boozy, too lighthearted for its own good, schlock like this.

“Too Drunk to Karaoke” is essentially a sequel to Keith’s embarrassingly popular “fun” song “Red Solo Cup” from 2012 that became an anthem for many, but an annoyance to me. It’s almost as if Buffett heard this song, realized how much popularity and money it garnered Keith and decided to join in on the fun.

I understand that “Too Drunk to Karaoke” shouldn’t be taken too seriously and should be filed away alongside some of Buffett’s past fun, novelty songs like “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” but it’s hard to do that when you realize just how few truly great recordings Buffett has made in his last few outings. When you love much of his ‘70s discography, including dozens of unappreciated classics like every single track from “A1A,” it’s hard to appreciate, or even halfway like, something like “Too Drunk to Karaoke.”

I fear the days of Buffett writing and recording beautiful masterpieces, like he once did (even though few were seldom played on the radio) are long behind him. I feel like Buffett has essentially become the stereotype that a lot of non-Buffett fans always viewed him as – all beach fun with little to no substance.

The truth is, though, that Buffett once had plenty of substance and could have rivaled many of the greatest songwriters to ever live in sheer output of terrific three minute slices of life – at its best and worst. I hope when his album comes out next month that Buffett proves me wrong with a few new beauties, but I’m not holding my breath. I have an aching feeling that deep Buffett is gone, and has been replaced with shallow Buffett.

“Too Drunk to Karaoke” may prove to be a load of fun for many, but it’s incredibly too dumb for me.

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‘Another Song Nobody Will Hear’ by Will Hoge feat. Wade Bowen

By Julian Spivey

Will Hoge and Wade Bowen have released one of the most appropriate songs in and about country music today, but you’re likely never going to hear it on the radio, which is the song’s point.

However, their collaboration “Another Song Nobody Will Hear” is a song that everybody should hear.

“Another Song Nobody Will Hear” is one of those rare cases of a song’s message actually being better than the song itself, but I say that without any real criticism toward the song, because it’s very good and better than 90 percent of those songs you’re currently hearing on mainstream country radio.

The song points out the depressing feeling that artists like Hoge and Bowen must feel when they write real country songs – songs about real life things like “golden rings that turned to rust,” “redemption” and “broken trust.” Unfortunately as Hoge and Bowen point out “the truth don’t always sell” and these things don’t play anymore in Nashville, because studios only want to turn out songs about “back roads, tractors, trucks and beers.”

Country music has turned into one giant redneck stereotype and until this song by Hoge and Bowen I hadn’t heard any country artists write songs about the idiocy of it all, probably because songs like this won’t be played on most radio stations.

The real country music – like this – is now being played by a very select group of country artists referred to under the title “red dirt country.” It’s the kind of stuff that you once heard on country radio and is influenced by past legends of the genre like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, but because you’ll never hear it on the radio it’s unfortunately very hard to find and most fans won’t put that much effort into finding true country music.

You’ve likely never heard of Hoge or Bowen before, but it’s almost certain you’ve heard at least Hoge, as he’s the voice of the song “Strong” that’s played in the new Chevrolet Silverado truck commercials that are being aired dozens of times a day and are frankly too emotionally manipulative. He’s also the songwriter of “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” one of 2012’s best country songs, which was recorded well by the Eli Young Band and resulted in Country Song of the Year nominations at the Grammy, CMA and ACM Awards.

“Another Song Nobody Will Hear” may be an oxymoron, because certainly somebody is going to hear it, but the point Hoge and Bowen make is well worth making. Hopefully it will lead to more people checking out these two talented artists.

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Music Bruce Springsteen’s 25 Greatest Lyrics

By Julian Spivey

Bruce Springsteen is America’s poet laureate, plain and simple. I don’t believe there has ever been another songwriter that so appropriately and accurately captured American life in all of its emotions, nuances and spirit. Springsteen is so synonymous with America that he should be thought of right next to baseball and apple pie.

2013 is the 40th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s debut album “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” In honor of this The Word is re-printing Julian Spivey’s piece on Springsteen’s 25 greatest lyrics. This originally debuted on thewordwebzine.webs.com in November of 2012.

These lyrics are listed in chronological order.

Growin’ Up: (1973) I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said "Sit down" I stood up.

Ooh-ooh growin' up “Growin’ Up” off of Springsteen’s debut album “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” in 1973 is very Dylanesque, like much of that debut album. I’m not sure there’s a single chorus on the entire album as Springsteen spews out wondrous lyric after lyric as if he were a beat poet. One of the best lines off of the album is “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said ‘Sit down’ I stood up”. It’s so deliciously smarmy and rebellious that it perfectly represents that time in your life where you transforming from a teenager to a man. Springsteen was “Growin’ Up” right in front of our eyes.

It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City: (1973) I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova I could walk like Brando right into the sun Then dance just like a Casanova

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The narrator in “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” from Springsteen’s debut album is quite simply put the greatest fucking man to ever live. It’s apparent from these lines: “I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra/I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova/I could walk like Brando right into the sun/Then dance just like a Casanova”. You have to be a lyrical genius to compile something like this with images like ‘skin like leather’, ‘diamond-hard look of a cobra’ and ‘burst just like a supernova’ and then you mix that with the badassery of Marlon Brando and the suaveness of Casanova. This guy would no doubt be named People’s Sexiest Man Alive.

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight): (1973) But now you're sad, your mama's mad And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money Tell him this is last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” from Springsteen’s second album, “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” is 100 percent pure adrenaline and rock ‘n’ roll angst. It’s another one in a long line of breakout-of-here themed songs that Springsteen’s made his calling card. “Rosalita” is also one of the many Springsteen songs that should really be made into a feature film. It’s a Romeo-and-Juliet type story of a badass, rebel rocker who’s fallen in love with this girl, but her parents disapprove of his wild and wooly ways. He’s going to stop at nothing to get her though and take her along with him to impending stardom. The glee in Springsteen’s voice as he screams “Tell him this is last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance/Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance” is certain to put a smile on anyone’s face. The vocal on this track is a real tour de force and I’m not sure Springsteen takes a breath over the song’s seven-minute runtime, except of course during Clarence Clemons fantastic saxophone solo.

Fourth of the July, Asbury Park (Sandy): (1974) Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do This boardwalk life for me is through You know you ought to quit this scene too “Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” is another one of those sprawling epics that Springsteen is so perfect at and that plays out like a movie in your mind. It’s also another breakout-of-this-life-to-find-abetter-way-of-living songs. “This boardwalk life for me is through/You ought to quit this scene too”. The narrator in this song is tired of all the switchblade lovers, pinball wizards and Jersey Shore pier life and wants to run off with his girl. An equally great line from this tune is: “Sandy the aurora's rising behind us/The pier lights our carnival life forever/Oh love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever”. The

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way Springsteen puts a verbal question mark on the word ‘forever’ to wrap up the song is fantastic in an almost Meat Loaf “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” way, except, of course, better.

Thunder Road (1975) It's a town full of losers And I'm pulling out of here to win.

In my opinion, Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” is the greatest rock ‘n’ roll song that’s ever been written.

Its entire message is effectively the heart and soul of rock music. It mixes somberness with hopefulness in a way that I don’t believe has ever been done better. The final lines, selected here, are the culmination of this epic pursuit of breaking free from the life that’s gotten you down to find another one out there down the road.

Thunder Road: (1975) The screen door slams Mary's dress waves Like a vision she dances across the porch As the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely Hey that's me and I want you only The final two lines of “Thunder Road” are the perfect ending to this song and a song with a perfecting ending needs a perfectly equal beginning. The first six lines of “Thunder Road” paint a vivid picture that ultimately plays in your head like an old-timey movie, preferably one starring James Dean or Marlon Brando attempting to break free from a society that doesn’t understand them. “The screen door slams/Mary's dress waves/Like a vision she dances across the porch/As the radio plays” are the scene’s stage directions. The homage to Roy Orbison, who Springsteen really takes a lot of great qualities from, is spot on.

Born to Run: (1975) 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run Much of Springsteen’s best music is about breaking free which describes the entire “Born to Run” album. “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run” is essentially just another way of saying “It's a town full of losers/And I'm pulling out of here to win” but in a more badass and forceful way than the somber hopefulness of “Thunder Road”.

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Born to Run: (1975) The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive Everybody's out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide “Born to Run” is a song that is among Springsteen’s most poetic in its phrasing. “The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive” is at the very top in its beautiful intensity. We’ve got to get out of this place or we’re never going to make it is right at its core, much like “Thunder Road”. It’s a completely different genre, but I believe that Hal Ketchum must have had it in mind when he wrote the similarly themed “They go ninety miles an hour to the city limits sign/Put the pedal to the metal 'fore they change their mind” in his early ‘90s hit “Small Town Saturday Night”.

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out: (1975) When the change was made uptown And the Big Man joined the band These particular two lines from “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” have more meaning and a bigger meaning now since the death of the great E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons in late 2011. Clemons was an integral part of the E Street Band and his soulful and oftentimes plaintive (listen to the sax solo in “Jungleland” and tell me that’s not the saddest sound you’ve ever heard come out of an instrument) sax sounds anchored many of the group’s best works. “When the change was made uptown/And the Big Man joined the band” was essentially when the E Street Band was born. Springsteen has been saving “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” for the very last song at concerts on his current “Wrecking Ball” tour as a way of saying both thanks and goodbye to Clemons all at once. The Big Man is gone, but he most certainly won’t ever be forgotten.

Jungleland: (1975) Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz Between flesh and what's fantasy and the poets down here Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be Speaking of Springsteen being poetic, “Jungleland”, the final track off of the “Born to Run” album, is the Boss at his most epically poetic. “Jungleland” is a nearly 10-minute rock opera about love midst violence of gang wars. It’s basically Springsteen’s “West Side Story”, but more real. Instead of rival gangs having dance-offs and snapping their fingers there are actual shootouts and death. “Jungleland” really could and should be made into a movie adaptation on its own merit. How many songs are epic enough to say that about?

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Badlands: (1978) Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything “Poor man wanna be rich/Rich man wanna be king/And a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything.”

Rarely have truer words ever been sung in song. There really never is an end to what the human mind, heart, brain and soul can want and yearn for. Nothing’s ever going to be good enough for us. The way that Springsteen spits out these lyrics with vim and vigor really gets his point across, he’s going to get what he wants from these badlands. It also remains one of his finest vocal works and is once again him at his poetic best.

Racing in the Street: (1978) Tonight, tonight the strip's just right I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat Summer's here and the time is right For goin' racin' in the street “Racing in the Street” from Springsteen’s 1978 album “Darkness on the Edge of Town” is another one of those songs so beautifully crafted and epic in its scope that it should have a movie based off of it. In fact, there is a movie that immediately comes to mind every time I hear this song … Monte Hellman’s 1971 road movie “Two-Lane Blacktop”, starring James Taylor and Warren Oates. I can’t help but wonder if Springsteen has this film in mind when he penned this song. “Racing in the Street” is, I know I’m sounding like a broken record, another “breaking free” song that turns into a rather unique love song, as well.

Hungry Heart: (1980) Like a river that don't know where it's flowing I took a wrong turn and I just kept going “Hungry Heart” is Springsteen at his poppiest, which doesn’t happen all that too often, but at its core is yet another song about breaking free of life’s constraints. The song is bouncy in its musicality and lyrics and includes one of Springsteen’s best lines: “Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowin’/I took a wrong turn and I just kept goin’.” I could see a Mark Twain novel starting with something that intoxicatingly beautiful.

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The River: (1980) Is a dream a lie if it don't come true Or is it something worse “The River” is Springsteen at his most beautifully mournful. There’s never anything to do in this worn down small town, but drive out to the river with your girl and knock her up. Then you’re forced to get married, find a shitty job and grow apart from each other over the years. All your dreams have faded to dust and blown away in the wind.

Atlantic City: (1982) Well now everything dies baby that's a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back These two lines: “Well now everything dies baby that's a fact/But maybe everything that dies someday comes back” from 1982’s “Atlantic City” are the most hopeful lines to come out of something so desperately tragic. We’re not going to make it in this life, baby, but we’ll be reincarnated into something better for our pain and sorrow in the next life is basically what I get from it. Again, this is Springsteen at his poetic best.

Born in the U.S.A. (1984) I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone Many people confuse Springsteen’s 1984 hit “Born in the U.S.A.” as a patriotic anthem, including famously former President Ronald Reagan, because of its pro-America sounding chorus. However, if you listen to the lyrics it tells a much different story about an America that’s given up on its own people, including the real heroes of the country. This is never more apparent than in the line “I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong/They're still there, he's all gone”. We engaged in a war that we had no way of winning or really no business fighting and treated our veterans like they didn’t exist upon their return. It’s a sentiment that we’d see again from the Boss 20 years later with “Devils & Dust”.

I’m On Fire: (1984) Hey little girl is your daddy home Did he go away and leave you all alone I got a bad desire I'm on fire 18 | P a g e

“I’m On Fire” is the type of brooding sexuality and sensuality that rock ‘n’ roll music was born out of.

This really is one of the horniest rock songs ever recorded and anybody who’s ever longed for love or lust can understand it well. The whispered delivery of Springsteen on this track really sends a tingle up your spine and “Hey little girl is your daddy home/Did he go and leave you all alone/I got a bad desire/I’m on fire” is essentially an English language translation of Little Richard’s “Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom” in his lusty classic “Tutti Frutti”. Springsteen’s song is one of the sexiest rock lyrics ever written.

Tougher Than the Rest: (1988) Some girls they want a handsome Dan or some good-lookin' Joe on their arm Some girls like a sweet-talkin' Romeo Well 'round here baby I learned you get what you can get So if you're rough enough for love honey I'm tougher than the rest For my money “Tougher Than the Rest” is one of the greatest love songs ever written because it’s one of the truest love songs that’s ever been written. Many love songs contain some form of bullshit amongst them. Some form of fairytale, make believe that doesn’t take place all that often in the real world.

There’s not always going to be a soul mate waiting for you down the road, so stop waiting and hoping for it and, as the song says, “take what you can get”. In its own unique way the lines: “Some girls they want a handsome Dan or some good-lookin' Joe/Some girls like a sweet-talkin' Romeo/Well 'round here baby/I learned you get what you can get/So if you're rough enough for love/Honey I'm tougher than the rest” is one of the most romantic things I’ve ever heard.

Streets of Philadelphia: (1994) Ain't no angel gonna greet me It's just you and I my friend And my clothes don't fit me no more I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin “Streets of Philadelphia” is one of the saddest songs that Springsteen has ever penned, which is not surprising seeing as it was written as the theme for Jonathan Demme’s 1993 movie “Philadelphia” about a man, played by Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, dying of AIDS. The song, which differed from Springsteen’s usual sound and implied a Philly soul sound, won Springsteen an Oscar. The “Ain’t no angel gonna greet

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me/It’s just you and I my friend”, and the tragic delivery of it, is one of the most devastatingly heartbreaking lyrics the Boss or anybody for that matter has ever come up with.

The Ghost of Tom Joad: (1995) The highway is alive tonight But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, a folksy number from Springsteen’s mid-‘90s album of the same name, is one of the finest folk or Americana songs ever written and recorded. John Steinbeck’s Depression era novel “The Grapes of Wrath” about dustbowl Okies trekking to California to find work and a new life is one that should be considered the “Great American Novel”. This song is based off of the main character, Tom Joad, in Steinbeck’s novel who recites the classic “I’ll be there” speech that is one of the greatest literary speeches of all time and one that Henry Fonda turned into one of the greatest film speeches of all time in John Ford’s 1940 film adaptation. Springsteen incorporates the words and legacy of Tom Joad into modern times when people are still struggling to be free. Hopefully the spirit of Tom Joad will fight the good fight as long as there are people who struggle to be free.

Devils & Dust: (2005) And I'm just trying to survive What if what you do to survive Kills the things you love Fear's a dangerous thing It can turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul Fill it with devils and dust “Devils & Dust” is one of those songs that probably most accurately describes what kind of living Hell war really is. “And I'm just trying to survive/What if what you do to survive/Kills the things you love/Fear's a dangerous thing/It can turn your heart black you can trust/It'll take your God filled soul/ Fill it with devils and dust” That’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard. War can make a man do things that he’s not proud of, that he’d never do under even the worst of circumstances back home. It’ll take everything you’ve ever known to be true in life and tear it up and spit it back out at you.

Springsteen released this song right in the midst of the war in Iraq, which never should’ve taken place.

One of the coolest performances I’ve ever seen in my life was of Springsteen doing an acoustic version of this song at that year’s Grammy Awards. Upon finishing the song Springsteen simply said ‘Bring ‘em home’ and turned and walked off the stage to uproarious and righteous applause. That’s true rock & roll.

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Long Walk Home: (2007) My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town It's a beautiful place to be born It just wraps its arms around you Nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone.

That you know flag flying over the courthouse Means certain things are set in stone Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."

“Long Walk Home” is my favorite song off of Springsteen’s 2007 album “Magic” and is very likely the best song Springsteen has written since 1995’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. The song is about a man disillusioned with what his world has become and longs for the old days when things were purer and better. “That flag flying over the courthouse/Means certain things are set in stone/Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't." Things used to be that way, but they’ve been corrupted over the years. We can get that back if we try really hard, but it’s gonna be a long walk home. “Long Walk Home” is one of Springsteen’s most tragic vocals and if you really believe it, like I do, this song will leave you teary-eyed when he gets to these lines.

Magic: (2007) Trust none of what you hear And less of what you see This is what will be, this is what will be Springsteen’s 2007 album “Magic” was one of his most, if not his most, politically charged albums and frankly I couldn’t get enough of that. It was evident based on the lyrics in many of the songs that Springsteen was no fan of President George W. Bush. Bush had given the American public plenty of reasons not to trust him, especially when it came to the war in Iraq. The line “Trust none of what you hear/And less of what you see/This is what will be” from the album’s title track is a pretty good representation of the Bush administration.

Wrecking Ball: (2012) Bring on your wrecking ball Bring on your wrecking ball C’mon and take your best shot Let me see what you got Bring on your wrecking ball 21 | P a g e

“Wrecking Ball” is a song that Springsteen wrote as an homage and goodbye to Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, which basically doubled as his home stadium for concerts. However, the song doubles as a battle cry of not giving up under the roughest circumstances. The chorus of “Wrecking Ball” is really a great mentality for Americans to take as we head into the future. “C’mon and take your best shot/Let me see what you got”, but we’ll never back down.

We Take Care of Our Own: (2012) Wherever this flag’s flown We take care of our own Unlike most Springsteen songs, “We Take Care of Our Own”, the first single off of Springsteen’s most recent album “Wrecking Ball”, is one that wasn’t particularly attractive to my ear the first time I heard it or even really the first few times I heard it. It wasn’t really until the song was put into the context of the 2012 Presidential election that I really understood the importance of the lines: “Wherever this flag’s flown/We take care of our own.” It’s a line that seems almost too obvious to work, but it’s really not all that obvious. America has shown time and time again in the last few years that it really doesn’t always take care of its own. There’s a line in this song about former President George W. Bush’s poor effort to help Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans and in the context of this song during this year’s election I got to realizing that Republican candidate Mitt Romney wouldn’t take care of his own if elected President. Refusing to let those who love each other to marry and treating minorities and women like second class citizen doesn’t qualify as taking care of one’s own. Hearing this song play after President Barack Obama’s re-election speech really helped to put it into perspective. Bruce Springsteen often catches flack for being political, but he’s proven he’s often at his best when doing so.

Movies The Lone Ranger

By Philip Price

It's hard to complain about a movie when you know so much hard work and care went into the production of it. The movie adaptation of “The Lone Ranger” has traveled a long and rugged road in order to reach the big screen, and along the way I'm sure has seen many more tribulations than the common cinephile has been exposed to. As the whispers of production issues didn't come into play with the box office success of “World War Z” a few weeks ago, I was hoping the highly-publicized budgetary problems with Gore Verbinski's latest 22 | P a g e

might play out the same way. But, where the reviews were surprisingly glowing for the Max Brooks adaptation, it almost seems critics were ready to jump on this latest Johnny Depp adventure before it was even out of the gate. Quite the opposite happened last summer when hopes were high for the Depp/Tim Burton collaboration “Dark Shadows,” but released only a week after “The Avengers,” the film was lost in the shuffle and word of mouth was not kind. Still, I found myself enjoying the film rather immensely and have since re-watched it more than once on blu-ray trying to find what was so repulsive about it. I can't help but feel the same way about “The Lone Ranger.” I can certainly identify with some of the criticism. The biggest issues the film faces are tone and pacing. There is never anything that jump starts the film and allows the audience to settle into their seats to enjoy the adventure about to take place. While there are fits and starts of rather harsh violence, the film predominantly tries to take a comedic, if not mostly slapstick, approach to things. These blunt tonal shifts can sometimes take one out of the experience of which they are trying to become a part. But, in the end it would be a disservice to this film and the people who might count on your opinion to decide if they'll see it or not to call this a bad movie. It is not a bad movie. It is a beautifully shot film with a layered story and some fine performances. It took a while to get going, and though it doesn't really find its stride until the last half hour, one has to at least ask themselves what did they expect? It certainly couldn't have been much better than what we've been given.

I imagine the core audience members venturing out to see this latest incarnation of the masked avenger have no connection with the original series that first premiered in 1949, and I imagine anyone who might have loved the original Western series is likely too old at this point to even care about this film.

That leaves one to wonder who exactly was pining for a big screen version of “The Lone Ranger,” but regardless it was easy to see what Disney was attempting to do here. Bringing back mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and pairing him with the ‘Pirates’ trilogy director and star in hopes of launching another massively successful franchise that would spurn untold millions in merchandise and attractions at their parks. With a rumored budget of nearly $250 million, the “Mouse House” is betting big on Depp and his eccentric version of Tonto. Even if that plan doesn't pan out (and it probably won't), what Verbinski and his team have delivered here is a meditated account of a modern Western. Granted, I'm not overly familiar with the genre and have only seen a handful or so of these kinds of genre pictures from their heyday (and one Buster Keaton silent comedy in film school), it is clear where the inspiration is coming from. This was also true with “Rango,” one of my favorite films of 2011 that was also directed by Verbinski. While this love for the history of Western films will go without recognition by most, it is clear the goal was to do for the genre what “Pirates of the Caribbean” did for the swashbuckling tale.

Verbinski is a director who doesn't know how to make a film for less than $100 million though and that fact creates the conflict of trying to tell a small, personal story on a large (huge) scale. The layered script from ‘Caribbean’ scribes Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio along with Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”) gives our main protagonists a natural set-up to get to know one another while at the same time involving them just enough in the antagonists plot for it to be necessary without resorting to convolution. The problem becomes evident when the final product isn't the sum of its often great parts.

And whose idea was it to frame the entire story with a 100 year-old Tonto telling it to a young boy? One of the many unnecessary pieces that could have been stripped away to make the film a leaner, more subversive film on which the audience could have truly feasted.

One of the more common arguments I've heard concerning the film is that because of the fact Depp is a bigger star and essentially playing the sidekick the story has been conceived to center more around his Tonto. This never came to mind as I watched the film. It simply seemed a creative way to bring the story full circle, while telling a history lesson many of the mainstream movie goers may find uncomfortable.

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a greedy ignorant slob who slaughters culture for what is called "progress." But despite the fact I'm in the demographic of white men, I believe we're now at a point culturally where generations like mine are willing to openly admit our ancestors weren't the best at handling things, but that in no way reflects who we are and dare I say it, the progress we've made. To step back and take a look at this in the bigger picture though is not to be irritated that the film is shoving our wrongdoings down our throats, but that a summer blockbuster has something to say and has a point it desires to make, rather than simply feeding a modern audience with explosions and overblown action sequences. As I pointed out in my review for “White House Down,” that film did well with what its intended objectives were and thus received a little higher than average rating. While “The Lone Ranger” does attempt to meet the objectives it sets up for itself, it has much higher standards and thus isn't as easily able to reach them.

The fact that the film itself is too long is naturally a part of the problem, but once it does get to the epic conclusion that has an expertly choreographed and executed action set-piece it somewhat defies the expectations of those who like to dismiss the big action scenes in favor of more thought-provoking cinema by becoming the kind of movie we all really wanted this film to be in the first place. It is a fun and exhilarating piece of cinema that deserves to be seen on the big screen (the whole movie does, really, it’s been beautifully captured by cinematographer Bojan Bazelli). Yet, it is the slowly paced introductions that always plague a movie that knows it's an origin story that gives this film the unflattering characteristic of being dull that isn't what the final film truly deserved.

The white man is the bad guy here, but more specifically it is two vastly different men who intend to control the country by building the railroad; played in part by Tom Wilkinson who always knows how to create a devilish demeanor that allows class to preside over menace, but only slightly. On the other side of things, you have William Fichtner playing a disfigured, flesh-eating outlaw who has it in his mind to get rich quick off the silver found in Indian country while putting bullets through anyone who steps in his way. The story does well to pull both the Lone Ranger himself, John Reid (Armie Hammer), into the conflict with these men as well as Depp's Tonto. There are plenty of little subplots that are going after different ideas that involve the likes of a criminally under-used Helena Bonham Carter and Barry Pepper, but while I appreciated the fact Hammer's titular hero wasn't given the typical love story with his brother’s wife Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), I also thought with her being the main female character here and with such an investment in the events taking place that there was a bigger role for her to play. Hammer, though it was clear in his casting he'd be playing second string to Depp, does a fine job of embodying the earnestness of the young and somewhat juvenile new kid on the block who is well educated, but could stand to get some field experience. “The Lone Ranger” is essentially John Reid's ride along with Tonto as the experienced officer showing him the ropes and teaching him lessons that sometimes justice isn't abiding by the law, but doing what is right in what man has to do to continue to survive while attempting to make the world a better place. There are one too many times where Reid is too stubborn to take Tonto up on these prompts and it does begin to become slightly annoying that he won't learn the intended lesson, but Hammer isn't too blame for the scripting and he is able to play deadpan when necessary while also able to embody the mythical aspect to the character by the time we come to the conclusion. It is true that Depp is essentially doing the same thing we've seen him do in countless other films that make him the oddball character that is played more for comedy than anything else, but nonetheless I was laughing at him and found him to be more endearing than typical. This is all to say that despite a few serious hiccups along the way and a slow enough pace to turn anyone into a detractor “The Lone Ranger” eventually redeems itself, classic score and all, and we see glimpses of what this was meant to be that while not great, was pretty damn good. Check back with me in 20 years and we'll see what history has to say about this one.

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Pacific Rim

By Philip Price

As I sat watching the latest from director Guillermo del Toro, I couldn't help but wonder how much I would have loved this had I seen this movie when I was seven or eight. It likely would have been an earth shattering event, a childhood defining piece of entertainment that would have influenced countless Halloween costumes and inspired me to want to make my own monster movies.

Unfortunately, I'm not seven or eight, but I was still able to sit in awe as giant, man-made robots battled monsters from the deep known as Kaiju. If you are going to see “Pacific Rim” it is likely due to this aspect, and on that basis the film delivers in spades. It was admittedly nice to walk into a big summer action film in the vein of something that is usually part of a franchise (and if this does well enough financially, it soon enough will be) and being able to know you can expect something new and fresh that requires no prior knowledge or research. With the number of comic book adaptations and reboots being produced with hopes of cashing in on name recognition, it feels somewhat of a rarity to have a studio lend this type of film the budget it requires to be and look credible enough that we can actually become invested in the people and the world they live in that we want to go on another adventure with them. “Pacific Rim” is a sometimes cheesy, but mostly raucous good time that is aided by the fact it has a very straightforward story, characters we can root for and no intentions of being anything other than flat-out, B-movie entertainment. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the project. I’ve never really understood the fascination that has come to surround del Toro. I enjoyed the “Hellboy” films as well as “Pan's Labyrinth,” but besides a signature style I didn't see much in the way of why his name was being singled out so heavily as being so creative. With this film, the director has given me reason to know that he really understands the audience for which he is making his films. I still wasn't as enthralled, or as wowed, by the film as I'd hoped, but was at least entertained enough to say that “Pacific Rim” is the kind of summer action movie we don't get enough of these days.

When I say the plot is simplistic, I simply mean that it doesn't deal in subversive undertones or means to stand as a metaphor for any current situation going on in the world, but instead only means to create a situation where foreign life forms come to attack earth (mind you with a bit of a twist in that they come from beneath the ocean rather than up in space) and humans develop a way of fighting back and defending our planet. There aren't even any allusions to government or foreign affairs here, those issues are squashed early in the film when our lead protagonist Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) explains a brief backstory of how the Kaiju came to invade the planet and how the world banded together when they realized the attacks weren't going to stop and built the Jaegers. These robots were the only answer to stopping the destruction, but it takes two very skilled pilots to take the Jaegers out against the Kaiju and be successful. The robots are controlled simultaneously by their two pilots whose minds are linked by a neural bridge allowing them to share each other’s memories and become one in guiding the Jaeger.

This was one of the few quips I had with the script as it seemed to over-complicate things more than necessary only to later in the film feel like a forced story element used to set-up a certain set of consequences. Even the explanation at the beginning for why the two pilots had to be linked is a little 25 | P a g e

hazy. I understand the reasoning for it and I understand why there needed to be two pilots rather than one, but it still seemed, in the explanation given, that even the writers weren't completely convinced by the justification they'd come up with. I won't dwell though because for as much as it does force certain things to happen in the film’s climax, it also allows some nice relationships between characters to develop as well. As the Kaiju seem to be getting stronger, the Jaegers are becoming unable to handle them with all other defenses proving unworthy. After an initial incident leaves Raleigh jaded with the Jaeger program, it only takes a quick pep talk from his former boss, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) to convince him he's needed to help save the world in one last ditch effort.

Probably the most fascinating thing about “Pacific Rim” was the world in which it created for these events to take place. While at some points it was like having flashbacks to episodes of “Power Rangers” where Rita Repulsa summoned a bad guy from the core of the earth or the depths of the ocean, it was also refreshing to have a completely realized world of make believe so effortlessly integrated into the world we live in today. The film takes place in the not too distant future and as the Jaeger program is commissioned by the world’s governments there is a sense of credibility and understanding that if something as ridiculous as monsters rising from the deep were to happen, this wouldn't be a bad route to go. What was even more interesting about the film was that it didn't necessarily go the direction with this world that I was expecting. It wasn't all concentrated around the initial attack by the Kaiju, the initial reaction with the Jaegers, and the ultimate defeat of these monsters all wrapped up nicely with a bow at the end and a window of opportunity made obvious in case a sequel is an option. Instead, the film gives us a history of the first attacks, the responses and the bad news of how after all efforts the humans are still not winning and have made very little progress in terms of slowing these attacks down. The fact of the matter is the attacks are occurring more frequently and whereas at first it was only one Kaiju coming to the surface, the research team highlighted in the film predicts that as the monsters become more advanced and more powerful there will also be larger numbers of them. This presents a problem as the Jaeger program has lost nearly all its robots and even more of its pilots. When Stacker comes to recruit Raleigh it is because they are at the end of their resources and I found it both compelling and original that del Toro and his co-writer on the screenplay, Travis Beacham, decided to look at the end of a war rather than the more expected and likely easier course of how this all started. Instead they allow themselves to waste no time in getting past all the beats you would expect the "start of a war" movie to hit and open it up to something a little different, something a little more interesting with a lot more meat on its bones.

Making this ride all the more enjoyable is the presence of some fine performances from unexpected places. Unfortunately I found the weak link to be in Hunnam who is supposed to be our hero. He isn't necessarily bad, he is just fighting with his native accent the entire time and it was hard for me to get past this as he is clearly trying very hard to sound like the all-American boy who no one expected anything from, but is determined to prove them all wrong. He has a winning personality, a sense of himself, and a respect that isn't always common in these movies’ protagonists that tend to preach going outside the rules is fine as long as you believe what you're doing is right. It is clear Elba's character knows what he is doing and knows the people he is working with and Raleigh realizes that Stacker is better equipped for his role than he is, that is why he's in that role and he respects his decisions for those reasons. Though Elba is on fire here, it is somewhat of a one note performance. I found him to be more entertaining in his small role in “Prometheus,” but he certainly elicits a kind of macho charisma here that is perfectly in line with the tone of the movie. Though Hunnam skirts by on his natural charm and willingness to be that everyman, it also helps that he isn't asked to carry the weight of the entire 26 | P a g e

film. The time is split between the story of the pilots and that of the research team who have to figure out what the pilots need to do to, you know, cancel the apocalypse. As Doctors Newton and Gottlieb, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman form a team that is at the same time a kind of comic relief while also serving as some of the more interesting parts of the film. Day, in an unconventional role, does exceptionally well, and is our point of entry into better understanding the reasons as to why all of this is happening in the first place. As the film began and was giving us the story of how the Kaiju showed up and started attacking our cities, I wondered if they would simply leave it at that or if they would give us some kind of explanation. Day is our ticket into the surprisingly thoughtful and inventive explanation as to why the Kaiju are coming to Earth in the first place. This, and the fact that the scenes he shares with Ron Perlman are instant classics, make him a stand-out in a cast full of recognizable faces.

The wild card of the cast though is Rinko Kikuchi who represents the culture from which much of the inspiration for this film has been pulled, but also has to give one of the stronger performances of the entire cast due to her character arc being the most involved and carrying a weight no other pilot is revealed to have. I have only seen Kikuchi in one other film (“The Brothers Bloom”) in which she hardly had any dialogue, if any. (I can't completely remember) But here, she turns in a performance as a determined young woman, Mako Mori. She is Stacker's right hand woman who desires more than anything to pilot a Jaeger and return the hurt to the Kaiju that they caused her as a young girl. It may in fact be her performance that makes Hunnam's look more sophomoric than it actually is, but I found her story much more compelling and much easier to feel a part of in terms of wanting to exact revenge of the Kaiju. In saying that, it should also be noted that del Toro does well at balancing each of the storylines he creates and guides them through to not only a satisfactory conclusion, but one that delivers on the spectacle of what giant monsters fighting giant robots should be. “Pacific Rim” is a fine film, well-written with a strong awareness of what it wants to be without making fun of itself and delivering the visual flare for which the director has become known. What it doesn't do is soar above everything else that has come out this summer as it seems so many fanboys wanted it to do. Contrary to what many people will say, I've found this summer to be quite consistent in both its blockbuster and indie output. When you take into account the films that have come out and how well they've matched what they were originally intended to be (“Furious 6,” “World War Z,” “The Heat,” “This is the End,” “Now You See Me,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”) it is easy to see how “Pacific Rim” is slightly underwhelming, while still remaining a fine summer popcorn flick that delivers on all it promised.

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The Conjuring

By Philip Price

There is a difference between a film that meets the rules of its genre and one that is able to transcend them. What director James Wan does in “The Conjuring” is not to approach the film as if it were a horror film, but as a more serious drama about a family in crisis. That he doesn't necessarily forget, but in a way uses the archetypes that make up the average horror movie in smaller ways, at least for the first act of the film, to imply what may or may not happen later. In setting up the expository information Wan is all the while creating his mood, but he is also giving us the tools to develop relationships with these people. He isn't simply going about setting up scares here and there that ultimately add up to nothing, but he is luring us in and making it unavoidable that we become invested in these characters that will ultimately undergo a life altering experience in the latter part of the film. What “The Conjuring” also does is to not look at itself as some kind of joke or take its material too lightly. It firmly believes everything it has to offer and doesn't intend to be anything but sincere about the subject matter. If it were to take on a nature of laughing at the Perron family, or a sense of doubt in the main cast that is firmly planted in the conflict from the beginning, it would lose all credibility immediately. A deal where if they don't take it seriously, why should we? The film does take itself seriously though, and that is meant in the best of ways. It consistently keeps the tone and intensity any good scary movie needs in order to help convince the audience that what is going on is as real and threatening as the mysterious sounds they might hear in the middle of the night and dismiss as nothing more than the wind knocking something against the window. It is all about atmosphere and mystery with today's horror audiences as most have grown accustomed to what kind of scares most horror films will throw at you. Wan uses those same kinds of scares, but he executes them in a manner that is much more effective, much more chilling, and on the most important of levels, much more emotional.

While I was a big fan of the first half of Wan's previous film, “Insidious,” I thought the latter part made the mistake of giving too much away, showing too much of the antagonists and while there is some of that here it isn't to the extreme of “Insidious.” With that film the hook was that it wasn't the house that was haunted, but in fact a child. Here, we have something fairly similar in that it is inherently the house and the land that the Perron family move into that is haunted by pissed off spirits, but it is by their choice where they go and who they inhabit. It does, in many ways make it all the more frightening to know that the mysterious evildoers don't have a set order of limitations and that they could essentially do whatever they wish to whoever they so desired, but even further than this Wan takes his knowledge of the horror genre and applies a style to his film that not only evokes the time period in which the story is set, but also by hearkening back to horror movies of old. There is an extra air of creep set in by the fact it is set in 1971 where certain aspects are limited and the music of the era now takes on a persona of its own due to its use in countless other horror movies. Wan uses his same sleek camera movements paired with a tan palette to give off an aged, but valid account of the events his film is capturing while at the same time evoking that specific style of ‘70s horror films. He keeps things minimal, simple and, in an odd way, kind of innocent. He doesn't rely on the blood and guts or gore factors to gross us out; it 28 | P a g e

doesn't even seem this could land in the same category as those films as what is used to try and scare us here is the presence of the unknown. I have always thought a scary movie without music might be scarier than those who use a loud clash or single note to emphasize where you are supposed to gasp, and I've always found ghosts or demons or whatever might haunt our unsuspecting heroes all the more scary and intimidating if they remain lurking in the shadows. Wan uses shot composition and lighting to great effect here in that vein while the score by Joseph Bishara could have been reduced several times throughout and I probably would have found it all the more chilling, but hey one out of two isn't bad.

What intrigued me most about the project was just how well I came to feel I knew these people. Each of the four main adult characters are presented with genuine characteristics and a willingness to help others out and be understanding to those they may not have otherwise ever engaged. The leaders of the Perron clan, Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and her husband Roger (Ron Livingston) are so earnestly optimistic when they first arrive at their new house it is impossible not to be just as hopeful for them. It isn't long after they move in that strange things begin to happen. Whether it be the somewhat stock signs of the dog not wanting to come in the house, birds flying into their windows or the clocks stopping on a certain time, these are things we've seen before, but they are only the small facets, little pieces of tension that help build a stressful atmosphere which is in turn what our main antagonist is wanting to do. The Perron's have five young girls (Shanley Caswell, Kyla Deaver, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy and Hayley McFarland) each of which have a moment in the spotlight, but are purposefully not singled out or given any defining features that would make them seem all the more ripe for possessing. No, the film wants to make it clear that everyone in the house is under a watchful eye of whoever, or whatever, it is that is watching. As it reaches the point where each girl is too scared to sleep in their rooms and begin to smell the stench of old meat moving around the house, it becomes clear they need to enlist the help of professionals. Enter Ed and Lorraine Warren, (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) a husband-and-wife team, who specialize in hunting down ghosts, demons and spirits while relying on their strong sense of faith to keep them separated from the world they so often encounter. They acknowledge that if they believe in God they must also believe in the devil and when they come into contact with the spirits that haunt the Perron house it is clear they are encountering something much stronger, much different from what they've seen before.

In the end, Wan is clearly a master at his craft while ultimately being able to show restraint where other directors might choose to either show too much or simply not have the skill of timing a scare as Wan does. Those skills are very important in today's horror genre and it takes the right level of execution to truly scare the jaded moviegoers of today. Why the film doesn't rate higher in my book is due to the fact that despite finding the film very well made, an interesting story with real characters, and some truly chilling moments it never reaches the heights of being as scary as I expected. This may actually be unfair as it is unlikely any film nowadays will be able to conjure (no pun intended) up the right amount of scares to have me ducking in the theater seats, but with the level of buzz surrounding the film I expected more from it. What it does achieve are those chills. It is a film that feels effortlessly creepy, and there is something to be said for that. What I expected to feel, and even kind of wanted to feel, was to be filled with a sense of apprehension, of alarm, of panic or of pure dread. I wanted to be surprised by what I didn't see coming from around the corner, but I never found myself shaking from what I'd just seen, but instead I was nothing more than a little creeped out. Don't get me wrong, you could do much worse than “The Conjuring,” and Wan along with Scott Derrickson are two horror directors you should continue to watch out for, but it seems Wan has run out of tricks in his horror bag at the moment. I do hope his “Insidious Chapter 2,” that comes out in a mere two months, proves me wrong and turns out to 29 | P a g e

be something more than the rushed job it seems to be. I am certainly optimistic about these possibilities. I would speak kindly of “The Conjuring” if I was asked about it. But, I would offer a word of caution. It isn't anything you haven't seen before, which is what I was hoping for. If you are content with a well made horror film that features credible performances and lush cinematography with a strong sense of atmosphere, I'd say go for it; if you're looking for something truly revolutionary, then this, unfortunately, isn't the game changer you are hoping for.

Television 'Orange' Revitalizes Women's Prison Drama with Fantastic Ensemble Cast

By Julian Spivey

Netflix is on quite the roll right now with original television programming. This month Netflix received its first ever Emmy Award nomination for a major series when “House of Cards,” which I have not yet seen but hope to begin soon, garnered a nomination for Best Drama Series. The Internet streaming company also received nominations for its other two programs “Arrested Development,” which it brought back after an eight year hiatus, and “Hemlock Grove,” which merely received nominations in technical categories, but hey a nomination is a nomination.

Netflix’s newest original programming series, which debuted this month, is one that could easily garner Emmy nominations when it’s eligible in 2014. The series “Orange Is the New Black,” based on a memoir

by Piper Kerman, is a women’s prison drama/black comedy from the creators of the former Showtime hit comedy “Weeds,” and it’s fantastic.

When you hear the subgenre “women’s prison drama” you kind of have to roll your eyes in disgust, because in the past the theme has merely been a reason for filmmakers to exploit women. It’s always somewhat seemed like stories set in a women’s prison were merely done in order to have lesbian prison sex scenes, with poor attempts at plot mixed in.

“Orange Is the New Black” is thankfully much more than that. Don’t get me wrong there are still shower and lesbian sex scenes, but they don’t feel exploitative. It’s merely part of the storyline.

This was the biggest question mark I had about the series before watching it, which I talked myself into after seeing some great early reviews for the series. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was a welltold, unique story about a preppy, well-to-do white girl thrown into the pokey for past transgressions she did out of love a decade ago. It is Taylor Schilling’s Emmy-worthy performance as Piper Chapman 30 | P a g e

that immediately drew me into this fish-out-of-water story and had me glued to the screen for the first few episodes.

Then as each episode passed by, I began to quickly realize that this series was much more than just a great performance by its lead, but one of the best ensemble pieces on television (can we really call this television though, if it’s on Netflix?), whether it was Kate Mulgrew’s mother-ish Russian cook, Natasha Lyonne’s spunky, former junkie lesbian, Taryn Manning’s out-of-control redneck who’s now hopped up on Jesus instead of meth, Michael J. Harney’s soft-spoken prison counselor who claims to understand Piper and holds witch-hunt type feelings toward lesbians or Pablo Schreiber as a foul-mouthed, up-tono-good douchebag prison guard nicknamed “Pornstache” for his ‘70s style mustache. I literally could go on and on, this cast is so good and so fleshed out. Show creator Jenji Kohan has done an unbelievably good job mixing storylines from such a large cast that “Orange Is the New Black” proves to be one of the best ensemble units in recent memory.

Schilling’s performance as Chapman is one of the greatest representations of character growth over such a short span of time, 13 episodes, that I can remember ever seeing. Her character goes from meek and scared in the first few episodes to entirely sure of herself and one of the gang by the first season’s latter viewings. I had previously been unfamiliar with Schilling’s work, probably because this appears to be only her sixth role of any kind, but I can tell from this tour-de-force performance that she will be an actress to be reckoned with in the future.

“Orange Is the New Black” is a show that literally can be mined for an innumerable amount of storylines thanks to its talented large cast and its penchant for flashbacks, which it does with ease and grace, allowing it to leave the confines of the prison. The show was so liked by Netflix that it was picked up for a second season before its first season even aired. That second season can’t get here fast enough, because life in a women’s prison never felt so good.

Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Newsroom’ Starts Off Shaky in Season Two Premiere

By Julian Spivey

I’ve never seen a series as unabashedly loved and unmercifully hated as the first season of Aaron Sorkin’s HBO drama “The Newsroom.” There seemed to be little to no middle ground. I was in the camp who was not ashamed to admit I loved “The Newsroom” and felt that those berating it were mostly unfairly doing so. I’ve always been a huge Sorkin fan. He’s never written anything that I’ve seen that I haven’t liked. I’d go as far as to say he’s the second greatest television writer to ever live behind only “The Twilight

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Zone” creator Rod Serling. I guess you could say I’m an Aaron Sorkin fanboy. His writing is so unique in its intelligence, wit, and wordplay that I constantly remain mesmerized by his characters, their interactions, and his storylines.

Sure, Sorkin’s characters are smarter than the average Joe, but is that really a bad thing? Many people seem to think so. Maybe those people are being slightly jealous? Sorkin’s characters seem to be the kind of highly literate, clever elitists that he probably wishes would inhabit the world. I agree there should be more Will McAvoys (and Jed Bartletts, Josh Lymans, Casey McCalls and even Matt Albies) in the world.

This is why I love Sorkin’s television shows (and many of his movies), he writes intelligent people saying and doing intelligent things. How can you not like that?

That’s why I loved season one, despite many who are constantly running it down and even inventing the new fad of “hatewatching,” which frankly makes little sense to me, just to run it down.

Now, on to season two …

I had grown a little worrisome about the second season of “The Newsroom” after hearing and reading things about how Sorkin wanted to sort of appease his many critics by tweaking the series and its storylines. This included adding an arc about a fictional news story, the first for the series, adding extra characters to an already large cast and splitting some of the characters away from their normal duties at Atlantis Cable News’ “News Night.”

The addition of an original news story for “News Night” to pursue, and apparently incredibly screw up, was one of the key worries for me. Sorkin’s doing the news the way he would have liked for it to have been done on news stories of the last few years like the BP oil spill, the Tea Party and the death of Osama bin Laden was one of the large appeals of the series to me, despite being one of the issues that many critics had with the show. Many thought Sorkin was being too harsh on today’s broadcast media and playing Monday Morning Quarterback. Well, he was, but the media probably deserved much of it and the idea was incredibly entertaining and original to boot.

Season two opens with Will McAvoy, played by recent Emmy nominee Jeff Daniels, being questioned by ACN lawyers, most notably Marcia Gay Harden, preparing his defense about a story “News Night” did on something called Operation Genoa that proved to be false and thus an embarrassment to McAvoy, his staff, and the network. The story will be fleshed out in future episodes, which will truly dictate whether this original, fictional news story will be a good or bad thing for “The Newsroom.” The season two premiere was merely the set up, just as the opening scene of the lawyers questioning McAvoy is to the episode. The episode is mostly told in a flashback which shows what happened to our “News Night” heroes after the last season in which McAvoy infamously referred to the Tea Party as “The American Taliban.” Somewhere during this flashback things go seriously wrong, at least by ‘Newsroom’ and Sorkin standards, and the episode doesn’t seem a whole lot like the show I loved in season one. In fact, it’s the series’ weakest episode to date.

In the flashback Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.) and Maggie Jordan (Alison Pill) aren’t on the best of terms after she chose Don Keefer (Thomas Sadowski) over him in the season one finale, and he leaves 32 | P a g e

“News Night” temporarily to cover Mitt Romney’s campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination.

McAvoy is taken off the network’s 9/11 10-year anniversary coverage because of his Tea Party comments, and something big happens between Maggie and Don toward the end of the episode. As for things on the “News Night” front, they replace Jim as senior producer while he’s away with Jerry Dantana (played by Hamish Linklater) from D.C., there is a controversial panel on U.S. drone strikes which was Dantana’s idea, and Neal Sampat (Dev Patel) believing that Occupy Wall Street will be a major news story weeks before it officially begins tries to infiltrate the cause.

All of this stuff is unfortunately thrown at the viewers very willy-nilly and seemingly in no really thought out order. Most importantly it’s done devoid of much of the first season’s wit and intelligence.

Something seemed to be missing throughout the entire episode, and that something is likely Sorkin’s generally Sorkin-ness. The episode’s credits told me that this was a teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, but you honestly could have fooled me. It didn’t seem to stand up to his usual greatness, but maybe I’ll be in the minority now, like I was when I loved the series its first season. Or maybe, and hopefully, this was just a rare off episode for “The Newsroom,” something that is certainly unfortunate to lead off a season.

I’m going to keep my faith in Sorkin and this series for now. It could be fun to see how “News Night” and its gang handle being in trouble. I know that’s something that was often fun to watch in Sorkin’s wonderful political drama “The West Wing.” And, surely, the show isn’t going to dwell on the original so much that it fails to give us more of their coverage of events that actually happened. The most important thing is for this show’s writing to remain at a great level throughout the season and hopefully that will come after Sorkin is done wading through the muck to get us where we need to be. The season is only nine episodes long, so he doesn’t have much time to waste.

‘Inside Man’ Brings Spurlock’s Fantastic Documentary Style to Important Issues

By Julian Spivey

I was a little iffy on CNN opting to show programming like “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and “Crimes of the Century” on the weekends, instead of opting to show live news as it is a cable news network, but I must say the network has found something really good in Morgan Spurlock’s documentary series “Inside Man.” Spurlock is one of America’s finest documentarians known best for his 2004 hit “Super Size Me,” in which he ate nothing but McDonald’s for a month and documented the drastic effects it had on his body and lifestyle. That feature length documentary put Spurlock on the map, garnered him an Academy Award nomination and is considered to be one of the greatest documentaries of all-time.

Spurlock’s documentary style is one that’s able to be largely entertaining and informational at the same time – which I think is a must in order to be considered a great documentarian. At their core, 33 | P a g e

documentaries are meant to be informational, but if they are not also entertaining they have a way of losing the audience. Spurlock is able to make his documentaries entertaining by infusing some humor into them and by generally seeming like a great guy and having a winning personality.

“Inside Man” isn’t the documentarian’s first attempt at a televised documentary series. His series “30 Days,” where he or others would immerse themselves into different lifestyles for 30 days, aired on FX for three seasons from 2005-2008.

“Inside Man” is a good fit for CNN in that each episode takes on a topic or issue that you are likely to see on the network and in the news on any given day. The show is able to expound upon the issue in much detail as it’s an hour-long show, rather than simply being a 10-15 minute segment on something like “Anderson Cooper 360” or “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

The first month of episodes has dealt with such interesting and often controversial topics as medical marijuana, gun control, immigration and education. You would think that the interest level of each episode would depend on one’s interest level in the individual subject, but I’ve found that Spurlock’s style has lead to each episode being generally just as interesting as the last.

Spurlock’s style is also interesting because he doesn’t just document, he assumes roles. He steps into his workpants, rolls up his sleeves, and gets down to the nitty-gritty of his topics. He has been seen working in a medical marijuana dispensary and in a gun shop, picking oranges with immigrants over a full shift, and teaching a class full of students in both Finland and America.

Spurlock does a good job in not being preachy or throwing in many of his own opinions, which is fair game in a documentary – but maybe not as much on CNN, into his episodes. The series is generally one that simply lays out the issue for the viewer and gives them the information needed to form an opinion of their own.

Spurlock is essentially doing America a great deed by feeding them what they might not know or what they need to know on a subject all the while making it a fun watch. The first season of “Inside Man” is eight episodes long and currently at its midpoint. However, there is likely no shortage of fantastic ideas for future episodes, so here’s to hoping CNN picks it up for a second season.

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‘Whose Line’ Returns to Television with Old Friends, New Host

By Julian Spivey

I turned on the television the other day and all of a sudden I felt like I was back in junior high in the mid-‘00s when I found “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” on TV. However, this episode was a re-run from the American improvisational comedy series that ran from 1998-2007 on ABC, or even the original British version of the show that preceded it for 10 years before.

Nope. This was a brand new episode almost six years after the original American version of the show ended.

It felt good to see some old friends again in Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady all who have returned to the series for its rebirth on the CW, which premiered on Tuesday, July 16. They even brought back many of the show’s old games for the premiere including Scenes From a Hat, Let’s Make a Date, Dubbing and Living Scenery, which fans from the old series will no doubt remember well.

The only seemingly main difference between the CW version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and the old ABC version is the host. Aisha Tyler has joined the series as host instead of Drew Carey, who was almost certainly too busy with his day job as host of the longtime CBS game show “The Price is Right” to return to the show. Other than this difference, which is no doubt a sizeable one as Carey is more humorous than Tyler, the show is essentially the same one that fans knew from 1998-2007.

Mochrie, Stiles and Brady were joined in the first episode by comedian Gary Anthony Williams, who offered up some of the premiere’s most hilarious bits while also playing sort of second-fiddle to the three returning stars. Williams will return to the show later in the season. Other comedians that will be joining the original trio this season are Heather Anne Campbell, Jonathan Mangum and Keegan Michael Key, of Comedy Central’s hilarious sketch comedy show “Key & Peele,” who I’m most excited to see match improve wits with Brady, Mochrie and Stiles. There’s no word on whether or not some old friends like Brad Sherwood or Greg Proops might join the show for an episode.

As for the humor, if you remember the show from before, it’s all completely made up or improvised on the spot which can lead to moments of insane hilarity and moments where the humor unfortunately falls flat – that is just the pros and cons of improvisational humor. However, the show does seem to keep the viewer laughing more often than not.

Bringing back “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” which has a devoted following even after six years off of television, for a summer run was a genius decision on the part of the CW. Almost three million people tuned in for the premiere episode, which is big time numbers for the CW, especially during the summer.

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“Whose Line Is It Anyway?” is a nice half-hour of mostly wholesome, family entertainment filled with many laugh out loud moments that may have tears of laughter rolling down your face. It’s also a nice bit of nostalgia to hang out with Mochrie, Stiles and Brady again once a week after all these years.

10 Biggest Emmy Nomination Snubs

By Julian Spivey

The Emmy Nominations seem to get more boring and boring with each passing year with the same old actors and shows receiving the same old nominations and many of the nominees coming from pay networks like HBO and Showtime that much of the nation frankly still doesn’t have. There is also so much quality television on these days that there simply are not enough nomination slots for the many actors and shows truly deserving the accolade.

Here are my 10 biggest Emmy nomination snubs this year: 10. Hugh Dancy Bryan Fuller’s NBC horror/thriller series “Hannibal” is one of the best acted drama series on network television featuring a cast of Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburne, all of whom are capable and worthy of Emmy nominations. It is Dancy, however, who put forth the best performance in the show’s first season as our hero Will Graham, a special FBI agent who is able to get into the minds of serial killers and essentially recreate their murders. Not everything is right with Graham – who struggles from mental abnormalities and this is where Dancy makes his terrific performance click in the way he’s able to portray this strained man.

9. “Parenthood” NBC’s “Parenthood” is the best drama currently on network television, but the Emmy Awards stopped caring about great network dramas years ago. Basically if you’re not on HBO, Showtime or AMC you’re out of luck. There have only been four network dramas nominated for best drama series in the last five years – “Friday Night Lights” (NBC), “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Lost” (ABC) and “House” (Fox). Not only have the Emmy Awards seemingly snubbed “Parenthood” yearly from the outstanding drama series category, but they’ve snubbed them completely from every drama category, with the exception of Jason Ritter’s nomination last year for guest actor in a drama series.

8. Rainn Wilson It’s probably not all that surprising, but NBC’s “The Office” didn’t get any Emmy love for its final season – considered by many to be after its prime. However, Rainn Wilson, who played office nerd Dwight Schrute on the series, did some of his best work on the show this season and certainly deserved a parting gift of being nominated for best supporting actor in a comedy series. But, hell, it’s hard to get a 36 | P a g e

nomination in this category these days with almost the entire cast of “Modern Family” (wrongfully) taking up the majority of the nominations.

7. Aaron Sorkin I don’t understand how the Emmy Awards can have a category for outstanding writing in a drama series and not hand at least one nomination to Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of HBO’s drama “The Newsroom.” There’s simply not a better writer currently working in television and few, if any, have ever been better than Sorkin. Sorkin should’ve been nominated for the pilot episode of “The Newsroom,” which was easily the best episode of television I’ve seen in the last year and a half.

6. Mindy Kaling Mindy Kaling is simply a breath of fresh air. It’s very fitting that Kaling debuted her career-boosting sitcom “The Mindy Project” the same year that Tina Fey’s iconic and instant classic “30 Rock” aired its final season. I say it’s fitting because it’s almost as if Fey is handing the torch to Kaling as the best female character on network television. Fey received her yearly Emmy nomination for outstanding actress in a comedy series, but unfortunately Kaling did not receive the same honor. Oh well, now that Fey has retired Liz Lemon surely Kaling will have a slot for her own in the category next year.

5. “Late Show with David Letterman” The “Late Show with David Letterman” has received 16 Emmy nominations for outstanding variety, music or comedy series, and has won the award six times, second only to Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.” However, the Emmy Awards must feel that Letterman is old news, because they have failed to nominate his show for the award every year since 2009. The only problem is … Letterman’s show is still the very best of its kind on television. I would argue that there are more laughs yearly via Letterman than almost every other comedian (Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Bill Maher) who was nominated in this category. Though, I don’t have an issue with those guys’ shows being nominated.

However, “Saturday Night Live” being nominated over Letterman … well, that’s funnier than anything I saw on ‘SNL’ all year.

4. Jake Johnson Those who rave about Fox’s “New Girl” often rave about Zooey Deschanel and Max Greenfield, both of whom were also snubbed by the Emmy Awards, but the absolute most entertaining aspect of the show, at least during its second season, has been Jake Johnson’s Nick Miller. Johnson’s Nick is one of the most hysterically nuanced and wacky characters on television and greatly deserved a nomination for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, which for some reason I feel he’ll never get. One of the most puzzling Emmy nominations this year was Jason Bateman’s nomination for Netflix’s revival of “Arrested Development,” which some believe is simply a mix of nostalgia and Bateman’s name recognition.

Johnson would’ve been a much better suited selection.

3. Ray Romano

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The Emmys always loved Ray Romano when he was the star of his own sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but have remained indifferent toward him after he turned to more dramatic roles. Romano has shown just how talented of an actor he truly is in both his previous TNT drama series “Men of a Certain Age” and his guest role on the most recent season of NBC’s “Parenthood,” which should have garnered him a nomination for outstanding guest actor in a drama series. Romano is a true feel good story when it comes to his terrific naturalistic acting. He’s gone from a stand-up comedian who couldn’t act much in the first seasons of his sitcom, to a guy who should be receiving accolades from the highest television honors in the land.

2. Matt Smith I said in a recent article I wrote about Matt Smith’s impending departure from BBC America’s “Doctor Who” that his show isn’t one that award shows take seriously, basically because sci-fi shows never seem to be taken seriously. However, it’s incredibly disheartening that the Emmys haven’t once taken note of Smith’s fantastic performance as the Eleventh Doctor on the long-running British series. Smith can do everything – he can be incredibly dramatic and insanely hilarious often in a short span of time and there isn’t a single episode of “Doctor Who” that goes by in which he doesn’t at least once do something so uniquely talented that it makes your jaw drop. I know this isn’t the type of performance that receives Emmy attention, but why? Do you have to be a troubled anti-hero these days to get appreciated? Why can’t you just be a troubled hero? That’s what Smith’s Doctor is.

1. Monica Potter Monica Potter’s lack of a Emmy Award nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series is maybe the most egregious Emmy snub that I’ve ever seen in my many years of following and writing about the Emmys. I just knew Potter had to receive a nomination for her breathtaking and career performance as Kristina Braverman in the fourth season of NBC’s “Parenthood” as a character struggling to deal with life and her busy family while battling cancer.

But, alas that nomination did not come as the Emmys, for some reason, continue to ignore “Parenthood” despite all the love bestowed upon it by critics everywhere. Is there not enough violence and sex in there for you, Emmy voters? Oh well, I guess real-to-life family dramas won’t get you very far these days. Maybe, “Parenthood” should add some dragons to the fifth season?

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Don’t Stop Believing: Rest in Piece Cory Monteith

By Aprille Hanson

The FOX series “Glee” had the potential to be a big cheese fest. The premise may have been a little to Broadway for mainstream television – a high school glee club, made up of choir nerds, jocks and cheerleaders, doing their best to make it to regionals.

The comedy’s pilot back in 2009 had its laughs, but it wasn’t until the final scene where high school quarterback Finn Hudson and drama princess Rachel Berry took the stage to sing the Journey hit, “Don’t Stop Believing” that viewers knew they were watching something special. And who better to start off that iconic song than Finn, played by Cory Monteith: “Just a small town girl / Livin' in a lonely world / She took the midnight train / Goin' anywhere.”

Tenor vocals pierced the high school auditorium and while Monteith wasn’t the greatest singer (he owned up to that often in media interviews), he had heart enough to play the sweet-mannered Finn and cement instant stardom and a bright spotlight on the series.

On July 13, the spotlight darkened. Monteith, 31, was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room. Coroners said an autopsy revealed a lethal mixture of alcohol and heroin caused the young actor’s death.

Monteith was always frank about his history of substance abuse, starting when he was just 13 years old, CNN reported. Most recently, he attended rehab for drug addiction in late March, following a previous stint in a facility at 19.

Besides the heart-wrenching pain of seeing a young actor in his prime die from his own demons, the feeling of utter loss from both his cast mates and fans is evident.

Mark Salling, who played Puck on “Glee,” simply tweeted, “no” after hearing of Monteith’s death.

The bond of actors who participate in a play or musical is usually intimate and for these young actors to watch someone they rose to stardom with over the past four years would undoubtedly be devastating.

The pain is surely more intense for Lea Michele, who plays Rachel Berry, because the couple’s onscreen romance drifted into real-life love.

Michele’s reps released this statement to CNN: “Since Cory’s passing, Lea has been grieving alongside his family and making appropriate arrangements with them. They are supporting each other as they endure this profound loss together.”

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For fans, we didn’t truly know the man, but fell in the love with Finn and the life he brought to the character. Because of that, we’re all in a rather strange place – grieving for the character, weeping for the actor.

While Monteith hadn’t had a major role in the show of late since the character graduated, he was always there. Writers already reportedly began writing the beginning episodes for Finn next season, who was due to come back and direct a high school musical.

The show has touched on several hot button issues in the past – death, school shootings, gay bullying – but how will the writers come to terms with the tragic end of the show’s most beloved star?

They may incorporate his death into the series or send the character off on a happier ending than that of the man behind Finn. However, what’s most important is the actor’s legacy.

Monteith gave us laughs, tears and more than a few tunes to rock out to on the show. He also gave us a lesson; a moral to his story. His death might just be the hope for others struggling with addiction to finally check into a facility and avoid the same fate.

Maybe, just maybe, it will convince someone to take to heart the very words he sang on that stage four years ago: Don’t Stop Believing.

CBS Should Be Held Responsible for 'Big Brother' Racist, Homophobic Contestants

By Aprille Hanson

Since I tuned into the second season of the CBS reality show “Big Brother,” I was hooked.

To watch 16 or so people stuck in a house for three months competing for half a million dollars through forming alliances, mind games and excelling at various challenges was addictive.

It was a competition show that I thought I could actually do one day; I even looked up an application once to see the qualifications and really considered filling it out.

It wasn’t like “Survivor” where you’re stuck out on some island, starving with no appropriate bathroom facilities or like “Amazing Race,” which would be a blast, but also is somewhat reserved for the extremely athletic.

“Big Brother” always had the pure mind challenge aspects going for it above all else. At least that’s how it started. In recent years, the show has become more of a popularity contest and marketed in a way where only the “beautiful” people (for the women at least) can make it on the show.

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This year, its 15th season, the contestants are prettier, dumber and apparently, ignorant. On the 24/7 Internet feed, some of the house guests were caught using both racist and homophobic remarks. Several entertainment news outlets are reporting what house guests were involved, but TMZ actually printed what was said. While I never thought I’d source TMZ, here we go: -- GinaMarie referred to welfare as “n**ger insurance” -- Aaryn called gay contestant Andy a "queer."

-- Spencer referred to Andy as “Kermit the F**" ... and praised Hitler as a gifted speaker.

Many fans of the show will probably just right it off, especially because it wasn’t aired on the actual show (at least not yet). In a house with no privacy, things like this are bound to slip right?

Wrong … in so many ways. CBS executives have spoken out against this, saying they do not condone the statements made and do not support them, but it’s live broadcast – anything can happen. I hate to break it to the execs, but you put these people on TV. You went through the screening process on who to put on the show, put the video cameras in place and for an added bonus, made this group of people available to the public 24/7. It’s ludicrous to claim that there’s really no way to prevent it and we as the viewers just have to accept that racist and homophobic comments as just one of those things.

If CBS really wants to prove a point, they’d kick off the contestants. Chef Paula Deen’s entire empire has been destroyed for using the “N-word” as well as showing a pattern of racist tendencies through jokes.

Yet, these house guests say similar, hateful remarks and it’s broadcast to the world, but nothing is done about it.

Kicking them off would just be the tip of the iceberg. The problem lies deeper.

The easiest solution? Put in the contestants’ contracts that offensive statements toward a group of people will not be tolerated and will be followed by them packing their bags. But hey, its great television right?

And the controversy only sparks the public’s interest more. Get rid of the Internet feed – no reason to spy on people 24/7. That way, the network can control what is broadcast to the entire world.

The best solution? Pick contestants that have a shred of human decency. I’d like to watch people that are smart, fun and there to play the game. People like that can still be entertaining and have big personalities without being offensive.

I still plan on watching “Big Brother” this season, but in light of this latest information, it will darken the experience. If the show doesn’t make a change next season, then the shameful cycle will continue and only get worse. Needless to say, that contestant application is still blank and won’t be filled in by me.

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The Royals Had a Baby! How Disney Is At Least Partially to Blame for America's British Royals Fascination...

By Julian Spivey

The Royals had a baby! The Royals had a baby! I can’t contain my excitement. The Royals had a baby!

That was roughly the sentiment of many today (mostly women) when they heard the news, and for some reason it’s all American cable news felt like covering today (July 22), that Kate Middleton, ahem excuse me, Catherine Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to an, as of yet unnamed, eight pound, six ounce baby boy.

It’s always been a mystery to me why American media and American citizens (again mostly the women folk) give a damn about the British Royal family. Many of these people care more about what’s going on with the British Royal family than they do with the family of the President of the United States. I guarantee these people will know the name of Prince William and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge’s son, whenever it’s announced. However, most of those same people probably couldn’t tell you the names of President Barack Obama’s two daughters … their names are Sasha and Malia, by the way.

The coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship, then wedding, then married life, then pregnancy and now birth of their baby has been somewhat infuriating to me; mostly because it’s not news and partially because the American infatuation with them makes absolutely little-to-no-sense.

That is at least to me.

However, I think I have a sound theory as to why there is such an infatuation. It’s a theory that frankly runs the risk of sounding sexist, but I’m willing to sound slightly sexist for the sake of this piece. The hubbub surrounding the British Royals, any new relationship and wedding among them and the birth of the Royal Baby and the reason why all of this seems to be a fad among only women is more than likely to do with fairytales and Disney princesses.

What do many little girls want to be when they grow up?

They want to be Cinderella, or Belle, or Ariel, or Snow White.

Naturally they grow up, and these dreams they had as young girls are unattainable. But, there are a very select few in this world who do have the opportunity and honor to become princesses, like Kate Middleton did.

And, because these little girls who grow up to be women wanted everything that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has they become interested – oftentimes a little too much so – with her 42 | P a g e

story, her life, her marriage, the birth of her baby and even (in the case of Princess Diana) her death.

These women, who pay so much attention to everything Princess Kate, are doing so in a mixture of admiration and jealousy, because it’s the closest thing to being Cinderella they have and ever will. It’s really not much different than the little boys who want to grow up to be Peyton Manning, LeBron James or in my case Chipper Jones and end up with a sometimes unhealthy admiration of athletes. Or, the way that other little boys worship Spider-Man, Batman and Superman when they’re young and grow up to be men who can’t part with their superhero fantasies.

Does this make it wrong or right to be this excited over a couple having a baby all the way across the Atlantic Ocean? I really don’t know, that’s for each individual to decide for themselves, I suppose.

As for the media’s incessant coverage of the Royal Baby, it’s really no surprise. Media is going to do – wrong or right – whatever brings home the highest television ratings, sells the most magazine issues or garners the most website hits. As a journalism nerd this is the part of it all that steams me the most, because I know media outlets are ignoring much more important news stories than whether or not it’s a boy or a girl, but I also know media is a business and this will occasionally lead to them whoring themselves out for stories that they know will have people paying attention. And, what’s going to get thousands of housewives and stay-at-home-mom’s attention on a Monday afternoon more than coverage of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge bringing a future prince into this world?

Absolutely nothing. Because that’s the life they dreamed of when they were little girls and it’s the life they still long for now after finding out that real life is far from a Disney fairytale.

Books ‘The Shack’ by William Paul Young

By Aprille Hanson

Mackenzie, It’s been a while. I’ve missed you.

I’ll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together.

-Papa This was the simple message that character Mackenzie “Mack” Allen Phillips’ receives four years after his five-year-old daughter Missy was abducted from a family camping trip; her blood-soaked dress found in a shack up a mountain not far from the campsite.

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It seems like some sort of sick game that his daughter’s killer is trying to play with a shattered man that’s lost his purpose, both in his life and spiritual connection with God. However, it’s not a game, it’s not a hoax – it’s a message from God. The New York Times Bestseller “The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity,” written by William Paul Young explores almost every facet of spirituality, including doubt, anger, love, pain, the list goes on.

Against all rationale, thinking he’ll be face-to-face with his daughter’s killer, Phillips’ secretly makes a trip up to the shack where his heartbreak, dubbed “The Great Sadness,” all began. What he finds, after he drifts out of consciousness, is a large black woman, happily singing and cooking who makes the profound claim that she is in fact “Papa.” How can God be a woman? It’s simple: “Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a man or woman, it’s because I love you. For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me ‘Papa’ is simply to mix metaphors, it help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning,” she said.

Jesus, a rugged young carpenter, also appears at the shack along with Sarayu, the Holy Spirit. Each brings a little bit of spiritual growth to Mack’s world.

This weekend at the shack will transform Mack’s life forever. More importantly, it will change the lives of everyone who reads it.

Young, a Canadian author who was a former office manager and hotel night clerk, wrote the book as a Christmas gift to his children, who thankfully encouraged him to self-publish it in 2007, after being turned down by 26 publishers. The book, with only a $200-marketing budget, sold one million copies in a year’s time and nestled its way into the hearts of fans through mostly grassroots efforts, which have become known as “The Missy Project.”

Everyone has their “great sadness,” or more aptly, their own “shack” in life. For Young, who was sexually abused while his parents were missionaries in Dutch New Guinea, he was no stranger to overcoming his own demons.

“The Shack” was the first book I read after my mother died in 2012 from Lupus disease at 47-years old.

In the midst of my own great sadness, the book gave the most in-depth explanation of what God’s love truly means in our lives, second only to the Bible. Though born and raised Catholic, it was the first time I really understood the Holy Trinity – how the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are truly three in one and what that means in my spiritual life.

It’s difficult to describe “The Shack” because it’s more than just words on a page. It’s a feeling of spiritual clarity and for it to be called a work of fiction is slightly misleading. Yes, a man named Mack did not truly experience this glorious weekend, but every person has the opportunity to experience the kind of change he went through by just recognizing God’s presence in our lives. It’s hard to do on our own, with no direction and unless you’re a theologian, the Bible itself can be intimidating (though the best source for spiritual nourishment). What ‘The Shack’ provides is a parallel teaching of themes in the Bible and 44 | P a g e

spurred a book by theologian Randal Rauser called, “Finding God in the Shack.” While Young has been criticized by some evangelical writers about “heresy” in the book and misleading readers about what the Bible teaches, it’s unfortunate that any Christian would try to discredit people from reading it.

In my life, I found fulfillment and a new sense of understanding about how much God loves us. Though the book is filled with powerful moments, the most profound for me was when Mack faces God’s judgment – who is a woman in a darkened room, sitting at a judge’s bench, a gavel in her hand. The conversation between the two about condemnation is an eye-opener. As hard as it would be for a person to condemn someone to hell, it would be so much harder for God, whose love for us supersedes anything a human could feel. While a healthy fear of God is needed to keep us on the right path, it too often overpowers us and makes some disconnect from the fact that God loves us and it’s beautifully portrayed by Young in the book.

What is also poignant about the scene is what Mack and people in general struggle with: Why does God let bad things happen? Am I being punished for my sins? Why did Missy, an innocent child have to be murdered, God didn’t stop it. The exchange is worth pointing out in this review: “No she didn’t,” (the judge said of God not saving Missy). “She doesn’t stop a lot of things that cause her pain. Your world is severely broken. You demanded your independence and now you are angry with the One who loved you enough to give it to you. Nothing is as it should be, as Papa desires it to be, and as it will be one day. Right now your world is lost in darkness and chaos, and horrible things happen to those she’s especially fond of.”

Later, the judge adds: “Give up being her judge and know Papa for who she is. Then you will be able to embrace her love in the midst of your pain, instead of pushing her away with your self-centered perception of how you think the universe should be.”

Young has placed several powerful questions that the everyday person has and answers, or at least gives examples of other ways of thinking about it, that allow readers to find peace in life. The book is not preachy, but a testament to how much God wants us to open ourselves to his love.

What is so astounding about the overwhelming popularity of the book is that people from all walks of life, varying ages and at different stages in their spiritual growth are reading it. Friends of mine have read it who are avid church-goers to those who don’t go, because Young writes Mack to relate to everyone. We are all sinners and it’s a tale of a sinner broken with grief who is lost despite God always being at his side.

Mack just had to realize it, as do all of us. And we can start by reading “The Shack.”

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