Indie rock survives in oppressive Tehran


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The formation of underground music scenes is hardly a novel concept. In the United States, music countercultures have always flourished when political tensions peak and carbon copies of a particular sonic trend flood the airwaves. The rock subgenre of punk pierced the flower-child movement as early as 1967 with harder-edged groups like the Stooges and […]

Action film blends humor and smarts


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What would you do to get your life back? Would you steal it? The Losers would. For the special operations team codenamed “the Losers,” it was an average mission — survey an arms dealer’s Bolivian compound for an air strike and come back home. When its CIA handler Max (Jason Patric) betrays it, though, the […]

Stranded in Europe at the mercy of ash


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It’s midnight on a Sunday as I write my very last column of the semester from a computer at a hostel in Prague. Only at this time of night can I avoid the dirty looks I’d normally get for commandeering the sole machine with Internet access. On a computer without Microsoft Office, Google Docs has […]

Females stand out in latest Chicago production


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“Hello, suckers!” cries Terra C. MacLeod’s sultry Velma Kelly at the beginning of Chicago’s second act. She’s speaking, of course, to us, the audience, and we chuckle because we know she’s right. Chicago — in ways far slinkier and shadier than we might originally think or expect — makes suckers of us all, and it’s […]

In Theaters Today


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The Back-Up Plan For better or worse, Jennifer Lopez returns to the big screen this weekend in yet another romantic comedy to add to her lengthy list. Frustrated by her disappointing love life, Zoe (Lopez) chooses the route of artificial insemination. Unfortunately, she meets the man of her dreams (Aussie actor Alex O’Loughlin) right after […]

Stallone’s Expendables unites action film elites


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There was once a time when action films ruled cinema. But these were not the action films of today, which safely harbor a PG-13 rating. These films glorified their R rating and ushered in as much on-screen violence, sexuality and as many cheesy one-liners as possible. The 1980s showcased these over-the-top action films best. And […]