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Arts.

 

QOTSA keeps ticking ...Like Clockwork’

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

f@e)l@)l@e)le)le)
S* long years have passed

since Queens of the Stone
Age’s last album, 2007's Era
Vulgaris. The Palm Desert-
based psychedelic rock band
returns this month with ...Like
Clockwork, their sixth album as a
group, and honestly, one of their
greatest albums to date.

If we knew this is what the
band had coming during its
six-year break, then of course
the wait would have been much
less painful. The album creaks to
life with the five-minute “Keep
Your Eyes Peeled,” a proper
introduction to Josh Homme’s
consistently haunting vocals that
remain throughout the album.
Things seemingly pickup with
the second track, “I Sat By The
Ocean,” which serves to be the
closest thing to a “party” song
on this album with its noticeably

jauntier choice of riffs and belted
chorus.

However, it’s the darker
songs on Like Clockwork that
truly standout, such as the
back-to-back duo of first single
“My God Is The Sun” and
“Kalopsia,” both with lyrics
crying out a god who, in the
album’s canon—and as can
be seen through the band’s
amazing animated music videos
for this album—has left the
world to rot and decay ina
horrible, apocalyptic nightmare
(“Kalopsia” in particular has
become my favourite track).

Like Clockwork has exceeded
my expectations; it’s an
incredible 45 minutes of full-
circle doom that somehow never
manages to bring the listener
down. It’s another can’t miss
from the group, so be sure to
catch them performing live at
this year’s Squamish Valley
Music Festival.

What's in a name?

We review the film Epic’

By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

or your average moviegoer,
Epic was always going to
be a lightning rod for criticism.
The name alone practically
screams for it.
The script appears to
have been cobbled together
from as many clichés and
tired storylines as possible:
a daughter of a divorced

marriage (with a recently
deceased mother) visits
her estranged father (Jason
Sudeikis), a dad obsesses over
studying something no one
else believes in (in this case,
tiny people), a pair of minute
civilizations are engaged in an
eternal struggle of good and
evil, there’s a quest to attain
an object, and the absolutely
exhausted tool of shrinking
a main character. Estranged
family aside, it’s Alice in
Wonderland meets Lord of the
Rings... or any other number
of fantasy combinations really.
Epic pits leaf-men riding
hummingbirds against some
sort of miniature goblins on

 

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Kt

CLOCKWORK

 

a

crow backs whom are intent
on transforming the film’s
forest into a mass of dead

and twisted trunks. Our
protagonist, M.K. (Amanda
Seyfried), of course manages to
find herself in the middle of it
all through a chance incident.
Predictability ensues.

Despite a star-studded cast
that includes The Hunger Games’
Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell,
Christoph Waltz, and even
Beyoncé (albeit briefly), their
names are wasted on this film. I
suppose a silver lining can come
from Aziz Ansari (of Parks and
Recreation) supplying comedy
throughout, but even with that,
why would you be watching
Epic anyways?

   

Epic| Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Studios

Saying goodbye to the Wolfpack

‘The Hangover:
Part 3’ review

By Steven Cayer, Contributor

Oooo

he first thing I'd like to

say is, contrary to almost
everyone who saw The Hangover
Part 3, | liked it. Director Todd
Phillips, who also co-wrote the
screenplay, decided to change
the formula for this third
and final installment of the
“Wolfpack” trilogy.

Hangover 3 focuses on
the characters of Alan (Zach

Galifianakis), who is trying to
become a better, more adult
person (which obviously will be
a hassle and a half), and Leslie
Chow, played by the always
hilarious Ken Jeong. However,
if you haven't seen the first two
movies, you probably won't
get a few jokes in this one. The
film starts off really strong
with Chow escaping froma

Thai prison Shawshank-style,
before stealing gold from big-
time crook Marshall, played by
John Goodman. At Marshall’s
insistence, the Wolfpack seems
to be his only chance at finding
Chow, and putting Chow away
once and for all.

I enjoyed Hangover 3
because, and the end of the day,
it was funny, certainly different

from the last two, and goes in a
really good direction. I should
say that I had low expectations
going into this movie, but
luckily it did not disappoint.
Hangover 3 is definitely a movie
to see with your friends. Oh
yeah, and when the movie's
over, just wait a few minutes.
Trust me.