The Ithacan

Re-released classic lacks Disney magic

By Ross Orlando, Staff Writer • September 28, 2011

When Disney released the animated film “The Lion King” in 1994, it created a childhood classic. But almost two decades later, the company’s attempt to remarket the story is little more than a childish sales pitch.

Comedy tackles modern struggle

By The Ithacan • September 28, 2011

Sarah Jessica Parker trades in her scandalous life as a New York City singleton in the HBO series “Sex and the City” to play a mother of two in the endearing comedy “I Don’t Know How She Does It.”

Action flick swerves past usual themes

By Michael Reyes, Contributing Writer • September 28, 2011

In “Drive,” director Nicolas Refn defies the mainstream formula for action movies by trading witty one-liners and 30-minute explosion sequences for a meaningful character struggle and a love story that doesn’t rely on a one-dimensional hot babe in a fast car.

Author blossoms with complex novel

By Marissa Smith, Chief Copy Editor • September 28, 2011

In burgeoning writer Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s “The Language of Flowers,” the Victorian idea of flowers having their own messages is used as a way to tell a story of betrayal, motherhood, love and ultimately redemption.

Mr. Carter breaks tradition

By Robert Rivera, Staff Writer • September 14, 2011

After more than a year of incarceration, Lil Wayne is back with a new album that shows prison doesn’t always reform people for the better.

Soaring alternative band attempts electronic sound

By Allie Healy, Staff Writer • September 14, 2011

In its newly released fourth album, “Night Shades,” Cobra Starship hides its typically quirky and catchy lyrics, infamous guitar riffs and complementing keyboards in a mix of bumping beats. While club-goers may be wearing sunglasses at night, the band’s older fans may be using them to hide a tear or two.

Conventional ideas damage sci-fi story

By James Hasson, Staff Writer • September 14, 2011

“Apollo 18” takes elements from every horror movie with that handheld-camera look in the past decade and sends them to the moon in a new sci-fi thriller that fails to launch.

Complex story echoes past era

By Chloe Wilson, Contributing Writer • September 14, 2011

The CIA’s killer spy reputation may be a thing of the past, but “The Debt” is a captivating, intelligent thriller and a reminder of the ruthlessness that pervaded the spy world during the Cold War era.

Action flick wins with knock-out story

By Michael Reyes, Contributing writer • September 14, 2011

While a grade-school teacher and his estranged brother may not seem like they’d stand a chance in the violent world of Mixed Martial Arts, “Warrior” comes through as a believable film that exemplifies the heart and passion of highly-ranked professional fighters.

Midwest art forms disjointed exhibit

By Whitney Faber, Managing Editor • September 14, 2011

The figure is one of the most fundamental parts of human existence. Artists spend lifetimes studying it. They learn its different lines, angles, curves and shades. Then they spend the rest of their career drawing, painting and experimenting, all just to find ways of interpreting it.

Professor writes national best-seller

By Jesse Maeshiro, Staff Writer • September 14, 2011

Fierce passion and an unparalleled determination are characteristics shared by both the people in Eleanor Henderson’s debut novel “Ten Thousand Saints” and the author herself.