“At Close Distance: Labyrinth of Self” (33 E Congress Exhibition)

Columbia College Chicago’s latest gallery exhibition “ At Close Distance: Labyrinth of Self,” at 33 E Congress features interdisciplinary artwork from Columbia’s own graduate students. All of the work explores the question: how do our journeys, from past to present, shape our beliefs, our identities, and our relationships to our environments? Laura Elayne Miller is the curator of the exhibit, along with assistant curator Eliza Fogel. The exhibit opened on November 11, 2009 and will be open until February 13, 2010, on Mon-Wed & Fri from 9-5 and Thurs from 9-7. A reception was held on November 13, 2009. The space itself is not very large and without the question presented by the artists much of the work would not seem to go together.

When you enter the gallery everything is set up in a rectangle, with art work placed along the outside on the walls and then some more work is place in the center of the room. Featured artists include Jennifer Hines, Colleen McGann, Kelli Cousins, and Teresa Pankratz. One of my favorite pieces of the entire exhibit would be the work of Jennifer Hines. She presents acrylic paintings on digital prints, such as her Personal Growth: purple roots with leaves piece. The work displays a girl sitting in the fetal position with intricate leaf line designs extending from her hands and feet. The line work appears to be very precise and clean, with vibrant colors of orange, green, and purple. Another interesting piece includes the work of Teresa Pankratz, called Marissa learns of the fire: She’d had no premonition. The work consists of hand cut intaglio prints, which were placed into a mixed media construction. The piece explores objects lost within a fire and allows the viewer to understand the significance of small objects, such as a nail clipper, and how those objects effected and shaped our lives. Both of these artists seemed to go along with the theme of the entire exhibit.

Some of the less appealing art included that of Kelli Cousins, who merely set up three which canvas boards, and made some sounds on a tape player to accompany it. The viewer is supposed to walk up to the piece and listen to the sounds while looking at the white boards. Personally, this piece did nothing for me. The sounds she made were awkward and random. They seemed like a poor attempt at wind and other abstract noises. Not only are the noises horrible, they last forever, wasting at least 5 minutes of valuable time. Some of the other art included photographs, and other three dimensional objects. The gallery also displayed little television screens, with headphones, but sadly none of the screens were working.

Most of the work gave me no insight to the relationship between the past and present, or whatever deeper questions the exhibit was trying to ask. The exhibit is a good way for students to get there work seen, but it also makes Columbia look bad. Besides one or two pieces, the rest of the work seemed pretty armature. Maybe the television screens would have been impressive if they had been working.

"The Cleveland Show" (Season 1 Episode 1: "Pilot," Fox)

"The Cleveland Show", a "Family Guy" spin-off or a mere duplicate? The show airs Sundays during Fox's Animation Domination line-up of Seth Macfarlane shows, including "Family Guy" and "American Dad." The show features Cleveland (voiced by Mike Henry) who recently divorced his wife ans sets out to move to California with his son Cleveland Jr. (Kevin Michael Richardson). On the way they make a stop in Stoolbend, Virginia, where Cleveland reunites with his high school crush Donna (Sanna Lathan).

At first glance the only obvious difference between "The Cleveland Show" and "Family Guy" would be that "The Cleveland Show" features an African-American family. Without this change the viewer would not be able to tell the difference between the two shows. "The Cleveland Show" presents Rallo Tubbs (Mike Henry), Roberta Tubbs (Reagan Gomez-Preston), and Cleveland Jr, who remind us an awful lot of Stewie, Meg, and Chris Griffin. Rallo, like Stewie, plays the young mischievous child of the family, who may not be an intellectual genius, but also disobeys his mother and gets kicked out of school. Roberta, the more attractive version of Meg, presents the typical teenage issues Meg illustrates in "Family Guy." Cleveland Jr. may be the most like his "Family Guy" counterpart Chris Griffin. Both characters represent the large and kind of slow brothers, who throw in a punch line here and there. The relationship between Donna and Cleveland also mirrors that of Louis and Peter. Cleveland portrays the larger, less attractive husband like Peter. Donna is the smart and attrative house wife, who presents sex appeal, like Louis. "The Cleveland show even offers us talking animals, presenting Clevelands neighbor, the bear, Tim, who reminds us a lot of "Family Guy's" talking dog, Brian. Both characters also share the same voice of Seth MacFarlane. Who else seems to be missing? Oh, yes, Peter's gang Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland are also present as Tim the Bear, Lester Krinklesac, and Holt, who all also meet in a bar for drinks and random discussions.

The character list is not the only thing that seems awfully familiar from "Family Guy." The type of humour the show presents is identical. Both shows are offensive, with random cutaways, and make critiques on American culture. "The Cleveland Show" even offers the musical elements of "Family Guy", this time featuring interludes of 80's music.

Although "The Cleveland Show" is entertaining and better than what most of television has to offer, it appears to be nothing more than a copy of the already existing "Family Guy." Seth MacFarlane needs to step up his game and not get too comfortable with his style of humour. After so many reruns of "Family Guy" and now the back to back showing of episodes of "The Cleveland Show" and "Family Guy" it all starts to get a little old.

"Where the Wild Things Are" (Directed by Spike Jonze, 2009)

Definitely one of the best movies of the year. Spike Jonze delivers a visually compelling master piece. This film will bring you back to your childhood with all the imagination, nonsense, and raw emotions that come along with it. The movie features Max Records as Max, a little disobedient boy. It works perfectly as an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story.

One of the first things to mention would have to be the raw camera angles within the film. The camera expertly follows Max's crazy rampages never missing a moment of fun. If that does not get you maybe the setting will. Apart from the first few scene, which take place in reality, the entire movie is shot outdoors in a forest or at a beach. It truly takes you back to the simple fun you can have with nothing more than the outdoors and your imagination. Still not convinced, then the amazing graphics of the Wild Things will do the trick. Each monster is created with their own unique characteristics and match personality. It is important to remember that the film takes place within Max's imagination, therefor all of the Wild Things represent various aspects of his own personality. This is what makes the movie so great. It offers a lightness perfect for kids but then it also portrays a deeper level of thinking for the adults.

Max Records does an amazing job playing Max, the King of the Wild Things. He truly is wild when he makes a scene in front of his Mom's boyfriend and bites her while yelling that he'll eat her up. Forest Whitaker and Catherine O'Hare also do awesome jobs playing the voices of Wild Things Ira and Judith.

Even the soundtrack of this movie fits every emotion perfectly, featuring Karen O and the Kids. With their light melodies and chants they fully capture the heart of every scene.

Extremely original, this movie takes you on the wild journey through Max's imagination into the world of the Wild Things. It will make you laugh and cry, but most importantly it will make you feel like a kid again. Once the movie is over all you will want to do is get up and run through the aisles yelling " Let the wild rumpus start!"

"Almost Famous" ( Directed by Cameron Crowe, 2000)

EditCameron Crowe's 2000 hit movie "Almost Famous" displays the story of a young high-school boy who receives the opportunity to write for Rolling Stone Magazine while touring with the up and coming rockback, Stillwater. The film features Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, and Patrick Fugit. Rock n' Roll maybe the only way to describe this film of teenage angst and self discovery. Throughout the fill William Miller (Fugit) attempts to interview band leader Russell Hammond to complete his story for the Rolling Stone. "Almost Famous" portrays the critic as someone who should "Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it." In other words a critic should never get to personal with the artist of the work he is reviewing.

Throughout the film Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) gives the bulk of Stillwater's interview, ironically though he also remains the most suspicious of Miller. An art critic has the ability to make or break the reputation of a band which is why Bebe may have been on his guard. By touring with the band Miller was able to receive an inside scoop on the band a normal fan would never receive. Typically people listen to the music and go to the concerts but they never actually become friends with the artists. This gives them the ability to ruthlessly take apart and criticize the piece of art. Within "Almost Famous" Miller is faced with the difficult decision to give the world the honest truth on Stillwater or to glorify the band and write what they would want him to write about the band. In the end he chooses to write the truth which is what every critic should do.

Throughout the movie Lester Bangs acts as a mentor to Miller giving him tips on the Rock n' Roll world. He advises Miller not to become too close of friends with the band because it only makes it that much more difficult to write the truth.

The film also gives incite on the life of a "Bandaid" also known as groupies. Kate Hudson plays Penny Lane a Bandaid who has a relationship with Russell, the leader guitarist of Stillwater. Their relationship has to remain somewhat of a seceret because Russel has a girlfriend back home. It touches on the troubles that come with fame, while portraying the story of growing up and being a teenager.

Sex, drugs, and Rock n' Roll or rock criticism is what this movie gives you. With a classic soundtrack featuring The Who, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. This movie will remind you of the glory days of Rock n' Roll.