And the Oscar Goes to....

By Taylor Kagy

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher , is the story of a man who biologically ages backwards (from old to young) and the hardships he faced during his life with being different from the rest. Benjamin’s mother had died during child birth and his father had promised her before she died that he would keep and give Benjamin a great home. When Benjamin’s father lays eyes on the little shrivled, old baby in the crib he freaks out and takes Benjamin, runs through the streets and then abandons him on the porch of a nursing home. A woman who works at the nursing home and who is unable to conceive takes Benjamin in and raises him as her own. This movie starred Bratt Pitt and Cate Blanchett, both amazingly talented actors who gave a wonderful performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The Reader
Directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Kate Winslet and  David Kross, the Reader was a phenomenal story about the middle aged Hanna Schmitz’s romance with a fifteen year old boy Michael Berg. This romance continues for a while, when Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to, making their relationship deepens both emotionally and physically. In the movie, years after the romance ends Michael is a law student and for one of his assignments he has to view a real life trial. Hanna Happens to be on the trial which Michael is viewing for law school.  She is being accused of crimes against humanity committed as a member of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS, Hitler’s staff of stormtroopers.

MILK
In MILK, forty year old Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) moves to San Francisco from New York City in 1972 and begins to gain perspective on his life as a gay activist. Milk decides he can be a more effective voice for the gay community as a politician. Through several elections and losses both for a city seat and a state assembly seat, Milk becomes the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected to political office when he wins a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. His many political battlefronts include one with the national anti-gay Save the Children crusade, led and fronted by singer Anita Bryant. Closer to home, Milk has a continuing struggle with his fellow supervisor, Dan White, a staunch social conservative. This movie was fantastic and Gus Van Sant did an awesome job directing and bringing MILK to the big screen and to another generation.

Slumdog Millionaire (Winner of Best Picture)
Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a man named Jamal Malik who was accused of cheating on the Indian version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire. To prove his innocence Jamal Malik takes viewers through the events of his life and how living in the slums of India led him to know every single question he was asked on the game show. This movie was inspirational and moving, with its story of Jamal growing up in the slums and having to beg for sustenance. Furthermore, the story showcases his  search for his childhood friend, Latika.  Slumdog Millionaire was directed by Danny Boyle and stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto.

Frost-Nixon
Frost-Nixon, directed by Ron Howard and adapted from a play written by Peter Morgan revisits an epic interview between British talk show host, David Frost, and ex- president Richard M. Nixon which was originally broadcast on May of 1977. Nixon originally sits down to discuss the grubby details that had brought his presidency to a halt three years earlier. Since then Nixon had been pretty secretive about the nitty-gritty details of being forced out of office, that is until he decided to take up an interview with David Frost. Nixon was certain that he could hold his own opposite the up-and-coming British broadcaster, and even Frost's own people weren't quite sure their boss was ready for such a high-profile interview. The interview ultimately turns into an honest exchange between two men, one who had lost everything and another with everything to gain. This movie was actually pretty good and gave viewers a behind the scenes look at power struggles that had ultimately led up to the derailing of Nixon’s presidency.

Zarathustra

By Kim Keener

Those of whom have decided to read this article probably have tilted their head in confusion at the title, thinking Zarathus-what?  Despite misspelling the name of the ancient deity, ZarathusTra - Zarathusra is actually the name of a new local band with a classic/alternative rock edge.  The band was formed last year by Sean Wills (guitarist) and Jimmy Putnam (drummer), originally they hoped to create a progressive band. Through Sean Wills came Daniel Gunny (bassist), the trio all began jamming together, with the later addition of Alec Gunny, through Danny, as Alec and Danny are brothers.  The four preformed a couple of gigs as is, with Sean filling in as lead singer and Danny playing the guitar.  However, the final addition came a couple months after most of the band had already formed, when Sean found Heath Frances performing at the coffee bean, where Sean immediately liked the sound of Heath’s voice and brought him into the band.
                     The has been influenced and inspired by bands such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, hesitantly to some members, Muse, Radiohead.  Since the addition of Heath as the lead singer, the band has taken on a more classic rock feel because of the style of Heath’s voice.  Unfortunately, almost all of the band’s members are at college, which means that they will not have any performances until summer.  College has also been a big obstacle for the band to overcome, because all members of the band are in different places.  Sean is up state at University of California Berkeley, Jimmy is all the way in Illinois at Notre Dame and Danny is at University of California Santa Cruz.  Meanwhile, Alec is a junior at Loyola High School, and Heath is currently living in Torrance.  The guys are looking forward to their first real paying gig, at the Whiskey a Go-Go which will be their second appearance there, but a date has not been set for that gig yet. 
            As far as the band’s name, Zarathusra, Sean offered it to the band as a name because he liked the way it sounded and because he had heard of the early prophet, Zarathusra, who was the first to come up with a monotheistic religion.  Zarathusra also spoke out against social evils, greed, and the upper class, he was a man who represented the common people.  The guys try to direct lyrics according to the prophet Zarathusra’s ideals.  The members who compose most of the music and lyrics are Sean and Danny. 
            Zarathusra is a band that is, to say the least, very popular when it comes to the ladies. Therefore most of their audiences according to recent performances have been around eighty percent female.  This is not to say that Zarathusra is one of those chick bands that girls constantly gab about such as the Jonas Brothers, Zarathusra just simply has not gotten enough publicity yet to appeal beyond female hormones.  The band can also be recommended for those who enjoy their music with a bit of an edge, this edge and unique sound comes from the piano; a daring choice that not a lot of bands like to try to accomplish.  Zarathusra can be found on Facebook, where notifications are released telling fans updates and informing them of upcoming performances.  Recently, bumper stickers, t-shirts and other Zarathusra merchandise have been made available for purchase. 

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