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Arts.

 

Big arts on campus

Douglas College gets
classier than ever

By Angela Espinoza,
Arts Editor

Ar semester is
upon us, and with
that comes another slew of
arts events happening in
and around the college. As
students, we are entitled to
a number of (largely free)
presentations throughout
the year, and these next
few will be the majority
of what’s coming our way
from now through till April.
First off are the Arts at
One concerts put on each
Thursday at 1 p.m. in the
Laura C. Muir Performing
Arts Theatre on the fourth
floor of the New West
campus. The first concert
already occurred last
week with a showcase
entitled The Baroque
Saxophone: Music from
the 17th Century Venice.
Throughout the semester,
performances will include
those put on by artists

 

Colin MacDonald's Baroque Saxophone

from around Canada, by
faculty, and even students.
Every concert is different,
with some focusing on
vocalizations while others
focus on a specific instru-
ment such as the guitar

or piano. These concerts
provide a nice, relaxing
break in-between the days
and weeks of stressing
about deadlines and such;
they’re here to brighten
up everybody’s day.

There will also be sev-
eral musical events outside
of the Arts at One concerts,
such as the Community
Music School presentation
of A Sentimental Journey on
February 17. There will also
be school-organized perfor-
mances such as the Music
Technology Program’s
Current Sound Waves II
(happening April 6) and An
Evening of Jazz (happening
two days later on April 8).

This semester will also
see a delightful influx of
Literature Alive events, in
which Canadian writers
come into the school and
give insightful talks on
their careers and works up
until this point. The first
Literature Alive event will
be happening February 22
at the Coquitlam campus,
and will feature Wendy
Phillips, a previous winner
of the Governor General’s
Award for Children’s
Literature. Then another
two will be happening on
March 11 and 13 at the New
West campus, featuring
poet Billeh Nickerson on
the 11 and multi-talented

‘The Hobbit’: an unexpected trilogy

Better than the book!

By Elliot Chan, Contributor

|

ike most, I was skeptical

when I heard that The
Hobbit was being stretched
from a 300-page children’s
novel into three movies. But
as the credits interrupted
the story I was so engulfed
in, I realized that I could
have sat for six more
hours. The rumour of Peter
Jackson making The Hobbit
into a trilogy to milk money
out of loyal fans had been
vanquished, for Jackson
told the story the way it

should have been told.

J. R. R. Tolkien can be
referred to as many things:
academic scholar, linguistic
genius, an imaginative
author, yet nobody reading
his novels can ever say
that he was a compelling
storyteller. The Hobbit,
though immensely popular,
always read like a second
draft awaiting Tolkien to fill
in some key information.
Since discovering Middle
Earth at the ripe age of 11,

I revisited the novel twice,
each with a declining appre-
ciation. But don’t get me
wrong, I love Tolkien, and
Tam forever thankful that
he created his fantastical
world, only so that Jackson
could make it one that gen-

erations to come can enjoy.

However, the new
technology caused the film
to lose some authenticity.
Some may argue that
combining 3D with the
new 48FPS made for better
image, but during dialogue
scenes and sequences with
little to no action the film
felt jarred and sped up.
Unlike The Lord of the Rings,
where Jackson relied mainly
on stunt actors for battle
scenes, the over usage of
CGI in The Hobbit cannot be
ignored. Many of the gener-
ated characters were unim-
pressive, and caused the
film to actually look dated.

Still, the flaws were few
and far between—and most
of them were caused by

writer Brad Cran on the 13.
There will also be a new
edition of Pearls coming out
this March. The book launch
will be taking place in the
Studio Theatre at the New
West campus on March 22,
hosted by the Department
of Creative Writing.
Readings, discussion, and
snacking shall take place as
folks lit it up that evening.
As for the Amelia
Douglas Art Gallery, also
located on the fourth floor
of the New West campus,
there will only be two
exhibits happening this
semester. Although the
number is a touch smaller
than in previous years,
these are still exhibits to
get excited about. The first,
entitled Greenlinks 2013:
UNIBUG will be opening
this Thursday afternoon,
with an Artist’s Talk follow-
ing the next morning where
the artists Mikki Herbold
and Ewan McNeil will get
to discuss the exhibit. Then
on February 28 we'll be
getting Clay Symposium:
Formed Earth, Earth
Formed which will feature

Tolkien’s eclectic storyline.
The 13 dwarves were the
most problematic, but
Jackson coped by cen-
tering the plot on Thorin
Oakensheild (played by
Richard Armitage). Like
Viggo Mortensen and
Orlando Bloom, Jackson
has a knack for finding
talented heroes. After two
decades in the film and
television industry, the dues
have finally been paid. At
moments pitiful and others
despicable, Armitage shows
off his range as a brooding
dwarf king determined to
reclaim his home from a
dragon named Smaug.
Another gem of the film
is Martin Freeman’s per-
formance as Bilbo Baggins.

works by Judy Weeden
and Ronald T. Crawford.

Finally, we have the
much anticipated and
always entertaining
Theatre and Stagecraft
performances, operated
and performed by Douglas
College’s immensely
talented and hard working
theatre students. The first
show this semester is Top
Girls by Caryl Churchill,
and will be directed by
Claire Fogal and run from
March 8 to 16. Then from
March 15 to 23 we'll have
the Deborah Neville-
directed Blue Window by
Craig Lucas. The theatre
performances are the
only events listed that
cost students money, with
student prices coming to
a mere $8 per person.

Be sure to keep an eye
out for each of these events
as they happen throughout
the semester, and remember
that each of these pre-
sentations, exhibits, and
performances are put on
with us students in mind.

The long time British
television star famous for
playing alongside Ricky
Gervais in The Office and
Benedict Cumberbatch in
Sherlock, has the charm
and sense of comedic
timing that gives classical
gags an organic feel.

From dwarven tom-
foolery to tension-building
riddles, the first installment
of The Hobbit has raised
the bar for the second
and third. But with its
cliffhanger ending, one
can only imagine that the
worst part of the up-coming
movies would be the wait-
ing, and not the walking.