MARK VERNIK - The Spectrum

NEWS

A farewell to 'Rap's Elvis'

By MARK VERNIK | Dec. 7, 2005

Why is it always the greats that have to leave us? From Sandy Koufax to Barry Sanders to Jay-Z, legends of their respective professions have loved to retire in the midst of their prime, whether it is for personal reasons or in hopes of attaining legendary status.Once again, the American public faces such a tragedy with the retirement of arguably one of the greatest rappers of all time, Marshall Mathers, a.k.a.

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Fisher Price: my first solo project

By MARK VERNIK | Dec. 5, 2005

From Phil Collins to Wyclef Jean, many artists who felt they could make a bigger impact on the music world by going solo have been successful in bringing good, if not better music to the public compared to their time in a group.

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Distinctly directed divorce dramedy

By MARK VERNIK | Nov. 30, 2005

Divorce affects kids in a lot of ways. Many children have been known to start blaming themselves while other kids undergo personality changes.

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"He got rich, but he?'s still tryin?'"

By MARK VERNIK | Nov. 9, 2005

From the acclaimed director of "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father" comes the semi-fictional biopic of...50 Cent?In the past year, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has been a busy man with the recently released "Massacre" album, an upcoming video game, and a guest appearance on fellow G-Unit member Tony Yayo's debut album.In a shocking variation from the norm, the highly praised and almost exclusively art house film director Jim Sheridan was chosen to bring 50 Cent's notorious life story to the silver screen in "Get Rich or Die Tryin'."One has to wonder if this concoction was put together by a studio oblivious to both 50 Cent's and Sheridan's past histories.

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Cute and cuddly masochists

By MARK VERNIK | Oct. 28, 2005

Step aside, Cartman. There's a new badass in town and it happens to be cuter than Bambi and the Care Bears combined.The recently released "Happy Tree Friends: Overkill" proves once again that cartoon violence is not a thing of the past, but something that has been evolving from "Tom & Jerry" to "Wile E.

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Brainy bones

By MARK VERNIK | Oct. 24, 2005

Horrors and thrillers are fitting for this time of year, and a little fright should be part of anyone's agenda if they're adamant about Halloween.

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'Thumbsucker' definitely doesn't suck

By MARK VERNIK | Oct. 14, 2005

Adolescence sucks. It's filled with tumultuous times when teenagers struggle to identify who they really are.The recently released "Thumbsucker," written and directed by Mike Mills, portrays this notion through a story about one such adolescent, Justin Cobb, played by Lou Taylor Pucci ("Personal Velocity"). Justin goes through his senior year of high school trying to figure out himself, his family, the mysteries of the opposite sex, all while trying to curb the thumb-sucking addiction he's had since childhood."Thumbsucker" follows the style of most modern independent films like "Garden State" and "Napoleon Dynamite," in which an involved plot takes a backseat to examination of the characters and their relationships with one another.

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Radical documentaries

By MARK VERNIK | Oct. 10, 2005

Black activism has played a large role in shaping the history of this nation, even shedding light on the wrongdoings of America's past.Thursday night, the CFA screening room showed two new films in the third week of the Margaret Mead Traveling Film & Video Festival, both of which featured African-American stories relating the civil rights movement.The first film, Aaron Mathews' "A Panther in Africa" (2004) was the highlight of the night.

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Students help start concert series

By MARK VERNIK | Sep. 28, 2005

A respected professor, a gifted musician and an ambitious student are joining forces to help develop the hip-hop scene in Buffalo, from within UB's walls.This Thursday night, The Icon will host the first show in a series of rap shows entitled the Throwback Series that features rap stars old, new, well-established and emerging.

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Trapt in mediocrity

By MARK VERNIK | Sep. 23, 2005

Trapt proves once again how the face of rock has changed into a glum archetype of successful predecessors with their recently released second album, "Someone in Control."Their sophomore collection is a typical modern rock album with no personality of its own.