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Arts&Entertainment NowShowing Soundcheck Apollo 18 Artist: Lil Wayne doesn’t make you jump to the moon in fright. Album: Tha Carter IV Genre: Rap Directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego. Starring Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen , and Ryan Rob- bins. Running time: 88 minutes. Rated PG-13. By HANNA ruBiN il Wayne’s much-anticipated fourth installment in his Carter se- ries, Tha Carter IV, may not be what Wayne fans are looking for By Alyssa BurkeTT lin an album set to top his previous work, Tha Carter III. acters so that it’s harder to relate to them. the worst of them) because of an inspired In a couple of tracks, Lil Wayne displays a softer side that I have Not only did Apollo 18 completely flop or, at the very least, interesting monster. In personally never heard in his previous albums. In the song “How to hough it’s spawned from recent plot wise, but the outdated, headache- this case, though, it seems as if no innova- Love,” Lil Wayne caringly sings about a girl who never learned how to success of documentary-esque inducing quality only made it that much tive thought was put into what antagonist open up and let love into her life. Wayne’s collaboration with Bruno Thorror films, Apollo 18 fails to harder to watch. would be threatening the characters. Even Mars also illustrates a deeper side of him with the lyrics, “I see your soul entertain — much like that instructional The three astronauts that are selected after the monster is introduced, it only through your window pain. I see the scars that remain,” which tells the video in your intro to biological theory for the mission are Mission Commander manages to induce mild injuries upon the audience that Wayne is not as strong, or as rough, as he might seem. class. Not only does it lack an engaging Nathan Walker (Lloyd Owen), Captain spacemen, rendering it no more threaten- Most of the beats in the songs seem monotonous which makes plot, but there is no attempt at cinemat- Ben Anderson (Warren Christie) and ing then your neighbor’s chihuahua. much of Tha Carter IV sound like one overly long song with the same ic creativity or innovation whatsoever. their trusty third crewman John Grey The issues that plague Apollo 18 in- repetitive use of instrumentation and jive, and only slight variations to While watching a film, audiences rea- (Ryan Robbins), who is orbiting around clude disconnection among the three distinguish each single. However, Wayne stays true to his old ways with sonably expect some entertainment, but in a space shuttle. The conflict that the characters, unoriginality all around and tracks that are easy to listen to and that keep up with the club criteria. despite a few minutes of tension, this one cosmonauts face when they reach their an asinine attempt at an adversary. An The best track by far is Wayne’s single “6 Foot 7 Foot,” a sizzling bored me to sleep. moon landing is unclear and just fright- audience can hardly feel bad for the char- track that puts Wayne back on the top of his game. With a popping beat The idea behind Apollo 18 is based ening enough for the audience to sit back acters when the most serious injuries and flowing lyrics, this song makes up for the slack left behind by most off of conspiracy theories that NASA once and worry, “Did I really remember to shut they sustain are stomach wounds and of the other tracks. launched a secret mission to the moon, off the oven before leaving?” When the bloodshot eyes. I was hoping for the worst All in all, Tha Carter IV is not Wayne’s best work, with only a few claiming to do so in order to spy on their threat is finally introduced — more than by the end of it all, and even as a fan of gems here and there, but it is definitely worth listening to a few times Russian counterparts after the Cold War. halfway through the movie — my reac- horrible horror I had a hard time laugh- over. The film itself is given the effect of be- tion was an indifferent shift in my chair. ing at this one. You know a movie is a Best Tracks: “How to Love,” “6 Foot 7 Foot” ing shot with older equipment, making The rest of the film consists of walking in disappointment when you find yourself Artist: Wilco it feel like real lost footage from the ’70s. circles, running in circles, and not much looking away from the enormous movie The problem with this “lost ’70s footage” else. screen in front of you because there is Album: The Whole Love is that it does nothing other than create a Any horror film worth watching is something else in the dark theater that’s Genre: Rock wall between the audience and the char- defined by its entertainment value (even more intriguing. QuickFlick Shark Night 3D By Derek ScHroeDer By HANNA ruBiN his not-so-friendly sidekick Red (Joshua water, where they are obviously not able to he Whole Love is an album that is blatantly aware of it- Leonard). Red roughs up the gang and out-swim or out-maneuver the ruthless self. Then again, so is Wilco. The somewhat unclassifiable fter a three year absence from her sets off an uneasy tension between the two sharks. Theavy-hitters’ new endeavor since Wilco (The Album) is Louisiana lake house, Tulane stu- groups. Once on the island, Sara encoun- Like most horror movies, the fast- (almost) perfect — and it knows it. Listening through The Whole Adent Sara (Sara Paxton) returns ters Sheriff Sabin (Donal Logue), a local paced music and underwater shots are a Love you can almost hear Jeff Tweedy and company smiling from with six friends to find that the lake she law enforcement officer who is friendly but dead give-away to preceding events. The self-satisfaction and all you can do is smile along with them. once knew has changed for the worse — not that helpful. deaths of the students are not shocking, Enter the beauty of The Whole Love. An album that knows exact- it’s now infested with sharks. Shark Night The sharks in Shark Night 3D are vi- mainly because the PG-13 rating limits ly what it is and what it isn’t. It is not an attempt to appease fans, even 3D, like most other thriller movies, has cious CGI creatures, but they do not stack any noteworthy bloodshed. The love sub- though that’s exactly what it has done even before its release. It is better the audience on their toes waiting for each up to the scare quality of past Hollywood plot does not give Shark Night 3D any addi- than any other Wilco album. From the opener, “Art of Almost” — a bass character to meet their bloody fate. How- sharks such as the titular monster in Jaws. tional emotional depth whatsoever; it only guided, transient jam — to the sentimental “Dawned on Me”, Tweedy ever, Shark Night’s PG-13 rating ensures The antagonists are identified in the film adds to the predictability of the scheme flexes his lyrical and vocal singularity with smug ease. The not so subtle the graphic violence is kept to a minimum, after a wakeboarding accident, which kicks and characters of the film. The idea of love backbone of the album, though, is bassist John Stirrat, whose rhythm disappointing those who were anticipating off a race to help the injured Malik (Sinqua gone wrong assists in the film’s plot struc- drives many of the musical highlights like the subtle beauty on “Black buckets of gore. Walls) survive while the other six charac- ture, but is almost immediately identifi- Moon” and the grungy “I might”. On the way to Sara’s secluded lake ters struggle for their own lives. Despite able. The 3D effects do not add anything The Whole Love isn’t the type of album to recreate a genre or de- house outside of a small fishing town, the the fact that the characters in the film go to extra to film, except for the occasional fine a generation — it is simply guilt-free, beautiful music that everyone lead and her friends encounter Sara’s ex- a prominent university, they are still clue- shark-out-of-water scenes that do little to might as well hear. boyfriend Dennis (Chris Carmack) and less enough to still get in the shark-infested frighten the audience. Best Tracks: “Dawned on Me,” “Art of Almost” Sept. 8 - Sept. 14, 2011 | The Lumberjack 21.

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