SNL hits the big screen with “MacGruber” [insert panther roar]

By Myrriah Gossett and By Caila Brown

Being avid “Saturday Night Live” fans, we had a pretty good idea of what to expect when walking in to see “MacGruber.” The film is based on the SNL sketch of the same name, starring two of the actors of the film’s heroic trio: Will Forte as MacGruber and Kristen Wiig as Vicky St. Elmo. Forte, having experience with the character, actually co-wrote the script with John Solomon and Jorma Taccone.

Sitting down we expected to roll our eyes at MacGruber’s stupidity, laugh at repetitive jokes and cringe at the awkward moments.

And we got exactly what we expected.

We didn’t expect Oscar-winning performances with exceptional plot twists and a beautiful romance or even brilliant humor. Don’t walk into this movie with a completely critical eye. If you just want a good laugh, it’s the movie for you.

However the plot was surprisingly well developed for starting out as a one-minute comedy sketch. There were plenty of jokes, with only a few being repeated throughout the film. And those jokes that were repeated, instead of becoming dull, changed just enough to become even funnier the second and third time the audience heard them. While it was predictable and included a few plot holes, it was still easy to follow and fun to watch.

MacGruber seemed to be leading an amazing life—he had earned the rank of Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger, had been awarded 16 purple hearts, 3 Congressional Medals of Honor and 7 Presidential Medals of Bravery and still rocks a mullet. But after a tragic accident he swore that he would never fight crime again and fled the country. He is persuaded to return to the fight by Col. James Faith, played by Powers Boothe, to defeat his mortal enemy played by Val Kilmer, Dieter Von Cunth.

One of the surprises in the movie was Ryan Phillippe’s role as Lt. Dixon Piper, one of MacGruber’s assembled team members. At first he seems out of place in the SNL duo of Forte and Wiig, as he is not known for his roles in slapstick comedy films. He breaks out of the beginning funk, however, and ends up complementing the cast and dropping quite a few of the best jokes in the movie.

We would both recommend the film if you are a fan of the comedy sketch, or just enjoy a light comedy. A cautionary note: without the FCC hanging overhead, the film is much more crude and vulgar than the SNL sketch, but still enjoyable. While the film may not blow your mind, you’ll be able to see plenty of things blow up (and even have added panther sound effects).

“MacGruber” is showing at Trademark Cinemas Victory Square Stadium 9 at 12:20 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 7:20 p.m. and 9:50 p.m.

Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Rated: R

Contact Myrriah Gossett.
Contact Caila Brown.

Professor teaches chalk tricks and tips

By Deanne Revel

Chalk. An elementary media that, in the college arena, may be an intimidating media for students who are signed up for the Sidewalk Arts Festival this year.

On April 16, Professor Jesse Payne led a workshop at Wallin Hall to show students important techniques for chalk composition. Students learned how to manipulate chalk into wet media, idea generation and various techniques of chalk application.

Payne’s presentation, below, reviews helpful techniques to save time and skin.

The workshop continued at Forsyth Park where students were given practice squares and the kind of chalk that will be administered at the festival.

For a complete list of guidelines and award categories, visit http://www.scad.edu/experience/events/sidewalkarts/registration.cfm.

Contact Deanne Revel.

Savannah Record Fair plays River Club this Saturday

By Caila Brown

Caila Brown serves as general manager of SCADRadio.

The Spring Savannah Record Fair will take place this Saturday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the River Club.

Despite Savannah’s status as a town without an independent record store, no large variety music stores downtown and no place for the community to get together and browse through the stacks, the Savannah Record Fair fills that vacuum twice a year with an eclectic and vast musical collection on sale to the greater community.

Not only will this unique record fair draw dealers from around the Southeast and as far away as the Midwest, but it also will bring in students and Savannah residents to hawk their vinyl wares.

The record fair sold out of available tables on Monday, April 5, and Director of Student Media John Bennett believes that there will be roughly 30 percent more vendors present than the previous record fair held in fall quarter. All proceeds from table rentals benefit the non-commercial operation of SCAD Radio.

The Savannah Record Fair offers selections for everyone— from newcomers to vinyl to the rare copies for the hardcore collectors out there. 

Genre lovers of all kinds will be pleased: afro-beat to classic ‘70s, progressive rock to jazz, soundtracks to comedy and artists from the Beatles to Morrison to Star Trek to Steve Martin. Vendors are not only selling vinyl; they will have CDs, cassette and VHS tapes, and DVDs of concert tours and more.

This fourth Savannah Record Fair marks the first time the event moves to a biannual celebration for audiophiles. Formerly an annual event, fair-goers at last year’s third time out asked when the next one would happen before they had even left the event.  SCAD Radio decided then that waiting a full year to hold it again was just too long to wait.

One appeal of the Savannah Record Fair is the all-ages music performance that is seldom seen in Savannah.  Last year, Megafaun took the stage at Oglethorpe House Ballroom to play to a captivated crowd.

This year the 8 p.m. show at the River Club will be headlined by Nana Grizol, an Athens, Ga., based group. Nana Grizol is made up of songster Theo Hilton, who is accompanied by a brass-and-winds section of Laura Carter and Robbie Cucchiaro, both ex-members of Neutral Milk Hotel. 

Madeline Adams plays bass; Matte Cathcart, drums and Patrick Jennings, piano.

Local act General Oglethorpe & the Panhandlers will open for Nana Grizol.

Doors open at 8 p.m. Entry is free with valid SCAD ID and $5 for the general public.

Contact Caila Brown.

Volunteering for free Disney tickets

By Caila Brown

Whether it is a birthday, graduation or true love, Disneyland and Walt Disney World have a history of promoting their parks through the idea of celebration. For 2010, Disney will be celebrating the spirit of giving through their “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program. Disney’s goal is to inspire 1 million people to volunteer a day of service in their communities.

The program is offered to residents of the United States, Puerto Rico or Canada. These residents can volunteer at a preapproved location provided by the HandsOn Network, but must sign up for these volunteer opportunities through the Disney “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” Web site.

The HandsOn Network is the volunteer branch of the Points of Light institute that focuses on inspiring, equipping and mobilizing people to take action.

After a participant signs up and completes the chosen volunteer service, they will receive a voucher for a free one-day ticket to a Disneyland or Walt Disney World Resort theme park.

The theme park ticket must be used on the same day that you redeem the voucher. The available theme parks are either Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure at the Disneyland Park in Anaheim California, Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Fla.

The ticket vouchers are not valid for admission to a Disney Water Park, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park or Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. If a volunteer participant has a valid multi-day ticket or an Annual Pass or Passport, you can turn in your voucher for a Disney’s FASTPASS Special Exchange Card for certain attractions. The FASTPASS can be used for the voucher holder and up to 5 additional people.

Volunteer opportunities change daily and are updated on the Web site by the HandsOn Network. In the Savannah area, for example, there are volunteer opportunities at the West Broad Street YMCA as a Youth Basketball Coach, the Savannah Chapter of the American Red Cross or “Meals on Wheels” Substitute for Senior Citizens, Inc. with more being added daily.

There is a limit of one free ticket per person, no matter how many eligible volunteer opportunities a person completes. Volunteer service performed prior to Jan. 1, 2010 does not count towards a theme park ticket, and registration with the Web site prior to completing your service is also required. Children are able to volunteer for certain activities and receive a free ticket, but need to be registered and accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 18.

This program will continue until the tickets are distributed but will end on Dec. 15, 2010.

There are certain “blackout” dates for both parks, which land on many of college’s spring breaks, but not SCAD’s. These dates are when tickets are not redeemable. The dates are March 29-April 8 and July 4 for Walt Disney World and March 21, June 21-22, July 4, Nov. 21 and Dec. 11-12 for Disneyland.

The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program is an incentive to do things to help the communities we live in: volunteering and helping to make them a better place. Visit their Web siteto see how you can help in your community and to find out more information.

Contact Caila Brown.

You Said It: District Quarterly “Love & Lust”

By Deanne Revel

When I was in the ninth grade, my English class divided into two teams and debated whether or not “Romeo and Juliet” was a love story or a lust story for our final exam. A cynical 14 year old, I argued for lust. My team lost and ever since then I’ve reassessed love.

Amidst the aftermath of Valentine’s Day and the preparations of the “Love and Lust” launch party less than two days away, I asked several Student Media staff members their opinion of love and lust: Love or lust? What is love?

“Lust…at this point in my life,” said Myrriah Gossett, District News Editor. “Love is being able to stay friends even through the worst of things.”

“Love,” said SCAD Radio General Manager Caila Brown. “Love is putting up with all my bad puns.”

“Love,” said Tiffany Cullen, District Outreach Editor. “Love is complete trust in someone.”

“Love,” said Katelan Cunningham, District Arts and Entertainment Editor. “Love is…I haven’t forgotten about love. I’m still thinking on it.”

“Love,” said Jen Sparkman, SCAD Radio Training Assistant. “Love is spontaneous, creative and loyal.”

“A combination of the two,” said Victoria Phetmisy. “Love is a moment of clarity. It’s when you start caring more
about someone else rather than yourself.”

“Lusty love,” said District Copy Editor Ben Wright. “You know love without lust isn’t love at all. Love is an extendable hyperbolic, insane, phatasmagorical, mythical, preposterous, wonderful suspension of disbelief.

“Love,” said Logan Best, Student Media Web Director. “Love is…Can I phone a friend?”

“Love,” said District Quarterly Art Director Gillian Grawey. “Love is trust.”

“Love,” said SCAD Radio DJ Jake Allen. “Love is the person who will erase your hard drive when you die.”

“Love,” said District Editor-in-Chief Travis Walters. “Love is a series of chemical reactions designed to rob you of your common sense in an effort to further the species.”

District Quarterly launches the winter quarter issue, “Love & Lust” Friday from 5-7 p.m. at the Pei Ling Chan Gallery, 324 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Contact Deanne Revel.

Sidewalk Arts Festival offers fun creative outlet for students

CAILA BROWN Staff Writer
cbrown40@student.scad.edu

KATELAN CUNNINGHAM Assistant A&E Editor
kcunni20@student.scad.edu

The Sidewalk Arts Festival is always a time of bright color and beautiful drawings for the residents of Savannah. This year’s festival held Saturday, April 25, was no exception.

The drawings slowly took form on the concrete sidewalks of Forsyth Park, starting as simple lines and evolving into intricate detailed renderings, hardly reminiscent of the chalk drawings we created as children.

Walking through the park, one could see pieces ranging from colorful design oriented work to photo-realistic portraits that one would expect to see from a Life Drawing class. The artists included alumni, prospective students, undergraduate and graduate students representing both Savannah and Atlanta campuses.

The group who formed squares 393 and 394 created a portrait of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire from the movie “Funny Face.”

Professional writing major Kaitlin Allen, fashion major Bridgette Blanton, painting major Colby Branum, graphic design major Kathryn Hartmann and photography major Vicky Jenkinson collaborated on the unique monochromatic square.

Jenkinson said that she and her team “wanted black and white because everyone was doing color.” Their piece stood out among its surroundings with its stark black and white with a splash of red. “It’s a good classic movie,” she added.

Fashion alumna Alyssa Couturier-Hemdon also used a photo reference for her piece, but chose to emphasize the bright colors generally associated with the season.

“I picked flowers because it’s spring and they’re everywhere,” she explained.

Others, however, incorporated objects into their work.

“I’m going to serve it at four,” third year film and television major Lindsay Johnston said of the real chocolate raspberry cake that was a prominent feature of her square.

Her chalk design was a striped pattern with the words, “Let them eat,” which with the cake in place formed the phrase, “Let them eat cake,” saying that Johnston reminded passersby was mistakenly attributed to Marie Antoinette.

A variety of “Finding Nemo” artwork was also present, in anticipation of the showing of the film that night in the park.

The Student Activities Council transformed the park into an outdoor movie theater for the previous two nights to show “From Russia With Love” and “The Wizard of Oz,” for an annual tradition called Films in Forsyth.
While many of the illustrations were just of Nemo, one group titled theirs “Eating Nemo.” It featured a half-eaten Nemo on a plate of vegetables, and was a popular piece.

A new addition to the Sidewalk Arts Festival was the 30 Pearls Parade, a performance piece that brought attention to SCAD’s 30th Anniversary.
Everyone watched as the “pearls” ⎯students dressed in white paper costumes⎯ ran and swayed across the park, finally forming a strand of pearls on the east side.

While there was much confusion as to what was actually happening, the idea eventually came across to the general public. Nonetheless, it was a great source of entertainment for the weary students who were tired, sunburned and covered in chalk.

At the end of the day everyone packed up their supplies, took their last photos and went home, leaving their artwork behind for the morning dew to destroy.

But that is the appeal of this festival: the creation of non-permanent artwork is a rarity to students whose grades depend on their work, although you can be sure that they are already drawing up thumbnails and making plans for next year.

Photos by Caila Brown

SCAD Radio takes film title literally

DEANNE REVEL A&E Editor
drevel21@student.scad.edu

SCAD Radio will screen “24 Hour Party People” 8 p.m. April 9 at in Arnold Hall. Admission is free, but students must present their SCAD ID at the door.

“24 Hour Party People” exaggerates the founding of Factory Records, the Manchester-based record label responsible for discovering bands like Joy Division, The Happy Mondays and A Certain Ratio.

Steve Coogen (“Tropic Thunder” and “Hamlet 2”) stars as Factory Record founder and Manchester music mogul, Tony Wilson. Read more