Midterm, college applications, fall, what can I say? Pop culture makes another feeble attempt this week in video games, with mediocre releases "advancing the technology" in rap and basketball games , but succeeds fantastically in the new book movie "It's a Funny Story" alongside the clever "Life As We Know It." Check below for more.

movies in theaters this week

“It’s Kind of a Funny Story”
Rated PG-13, dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Nationwide release: Friday, October 8
Every moviegoer has what I call an ActorOblige number. This is the number of your favorite actors that are in a movie before you force yourself to see it. For me, that number is three. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” has four (Zach Galifianakis, Jim Gaffigan, Jeremy Davies, and Aasif Mandvi), which means I’m already obligated to see it. Luckily for me, it looks like it will be a clever, off-beat, and introspective look into modern psychosis and medical treatment. The story is about Craig (Keir Gilchrist), a clinically depressed teen who checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward. He befriends an off-kilter patient named Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), who helps him to understand himself and gain the confidence to approach his crush, Noelle (Emma Roberts). Not only does Galifanakis show off his wacky brand of personality, but this comedy doesn’t seem afraid to confront the idea of mental illness and its implications. One of the main plot lines revolves around whether Bobby should remove himself from his daughter so that his illness doesn’t affect her life, or if he should be a father to her while his loved ones help him to improve. This is difficult territory to begin with, but the fact that we can have subtle and wacky humor along with it is radically daring.

“I Spit on Your Grave”
Rated R, dir. Steven R. Monroe
Nationwide release: Friday, October 8
"I Spit on Your Grave" was an exploitation film released in 1980. The story focused around a woman who was harassed and raped four times by a group of men. A week later, she proceeds to seduce and brutally murder each of the men that raped her. Roger Ebert said: “Attending it was one of the most depressing experiences of my life. This is a film without a shred of artistic distinction. It lacks even simple craftsmanship”. Surely such a sick and barbaric film couldn’t be made today? Unfortunately, it can, and it even appears to be a near shot-for-shot remake. Well, surely it doesn’t intend to be so sadistic? I mean, they don’t expect to have four separate rape scenes and a brutal castration scene? Unfortunately, they do. It honestly disgusts me that in 2010 we can have a movie so inhuman and cruel. I know that this is the age that birthed the “Saw” films, but at least they didn’t try to justify those deaths. "I Spit on Your Grave" expects you to want to see these men brutally tortured for their sins, but at the same time it expects you to watch those same sins and be entertained. Prove to them that you don’t want either. Avoid this movie and discourage anyone you can to avoid it. We’re better than this, it’s time we start acting like it.

“Life as We Know It”
Rated PG-13, dir. Greg Berlanti
Nationwide release: Friday, October 8
Similar to “It’s Kind of a Funny Story”, “Life as We Know It” is a lighthearted comedy with dark undertones. The story involves Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric (Josh Duhamel), who are mutual friends with a lovely couple, who make them their infant’s godparents. Tragically, both of the parents die, which means that Holly and Eric must put away any differences they had and raise this child together. All the while a relationship begins to stir between them as they deal with the tribulations every new parent faces. This is an interesting idea for a movie relationship. It’s also very promising that it stars Heigl, who has done well in similarly serious comedies. The only thing that worries me is the seemingly juvenile humor. Three poop jokes in one trailer? A bit extreme, but even still, I think that this film has great potential to impress.

“My Soul to Take”
Rated R, dir. Wes Craven
Nationwide release: Friday, October 8
“My Soul to Take” exemplifies the lack of creativity in the horror genre today. The premise is that a horrific serial killer died sixteen years ago and that his soul lives on in one of the seven teens that was born on the same day as his death. Of course, because it wants to be similar to as many movies as possible, it could be that he didn’t actually die. The main character, Bug (Max Thieriot), was the son of the killer and sees the new murders occur in his dreams, which make him wonder if it’s him who’s committing the murders. This movie was written and directed by Wes Craven, which isn’t surprising whatsoever considering the description so far terribly rips off his own films “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream” (not to mention “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, “Halloween”, and the “Friday the 13th” series). He even manages to rip off the cinematography of his previous films, when Bug visions a hand stretching through the wall over his bed. It upsets me to see even the most famous in the horror genre giving up on any semblance of creativity, but that’s the name of the game when it comes to making money.

Will’s Pick: Although “Life as We Know It” seems promising, “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” appears to be more of a sure thing.

cds in stores this week

"Easy Wonderful"
Guster
Aware Records
Do you remember Guster? They had that one radio hit, a few years ago... "Amsterdam?" Actually, I am a Guster fan. They're sort of hometown heroes back east, and I own a couple of their most recent albums, which are universally wonderful. "Easy Wonderful," their sixth studio album, is more of the same clean, poppy rock they've made their name on, and despite relying entirely on word-of-mouth promoting, is already pretty popular. I like it, anyway. It's sweet and well-defined; not the most memorable, but a nice throw-away listen. (But check out the single "Stay With Me Jesus" here and then buy it, it is about eight times more excellent than the rest of this album. Sounds like Ben Gibbard!)

"Tiger Suit"
KT Tunstall
Virgin Records
KT Tunstall is another artist with only one radio hit: "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" received a lot of play, but no one's heard much since, despite the release of her sophomore album "Drastic Fantastic." "Tiger Suit" is poised to put her back on the charts, but I'm unconvinced. It's solid, the same girl-power glam rock featured on "Drastic Fantastic," and no where near her acoustic roots. However, Miss Tunstall has promised to "chuck some dough at a good cause" from the proceeds from this album, so... I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I guess it's good?

"The Other Side of Down"
David Archuleta
Jive Records
David Archuleta, runner up on the seventh season of American Idol, is releasing his third studio album, "The Other Side of Down", on October 5, 2010. The album sounds fine, there is really nothing awful about it, save “Things Are Gonna Get Better.” This song is extremely mushy, and not even mush done well. It is boring, and sounds a bit like a grown-up Justin Beiber. The other slow songs on this album aren’t much better either. In my opinion, as long as you listen to the upbeat, fast songs, the album is all right, if predictable. On this album, two songs that I think are good are “The Other Side of Down,” and “Look Around,” other than them, the album does not have that much to offer.

Katy and Katie's pick: Katie is all for "Tiger Suit," but Katy is really feelin' Guster this week.

video game releases this week

Def Jam Rapstar
Developer: 4mm Games, Terminal Reality, Def Jam Interactive
Publisher: Konami
This honestly looks like a great game. It reminds me of the Activision "[Instrument] Hero" series (law suit potential?) but with a different feel. One thing I noticed was that the radio edits are the versions of the songs used to get a more appropriate ESRB rating, which seems like a weird legal move, to say the least. The soundtrack seems lacking, but I think that this could be a foundation for a good series. It looks like a promising game, but it's from a new developer and it'll probably be absorbed by EA or flop in the near future. Is it worth your money? I would say yes. It's a console exclusive release, but it's hard to make that kind of thing work on PC. If you have the console and want a good party game to pass time, it's more than worth it. The lyrics are clean so you can play it in the same room as grandma, and there's some more classic stuff on it so your dad can play and make a fool of himself.

NBA 2K11
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports
It's a sports game with a year in the name. Need I say more? Although for the most part it looks like a standard basketball whatever, there are a few things that stand out about this game. There's a gameplay mode dedicated to matching Michael Jordan's biggest career achievements, which looks pretty interesting. The game's soundtrack looks decent, composing of your average popular rap and artists you've never heard of, along with some older bands like Alan Parsons Project. It looks to have your common special effects, like commentary and an improved AI, but nothing revolutionary. What it comes down to is that 2K almost always publishes decent games, so if you like basketball games go for it. You could probably get the same experience from last year's game, but if you have to have the newest, I suppose it's worth your money.

Stirling's Pick: I would go for Def Jam Rapstar. It looks like a fresh approach to singing games and I would sooner rap Dr. Dre than I would try to virtually match Michael Jordan's achievements.

local shows and events

Why William Blake is Punk Rock
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm, Wednesday, Oct. 6
Venue: South rec room, Allen Hall, 1005 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana
Free, all ages.
"To see a world in a grain of sand / And a heaven in a wild flower, / Hold infinity in the palm of your hand / And eternity in an hour."
(A lecture on Blake's awesomeness, as presented by Gareth Branwyn.)

Champaign Urbana Theater Company's "Aida"
Time: 7:30pm Oct. 7, 8, and 9; 2:30pm Oct. 10
Venue: 88 Broadway, Lincoln Square, Urbana
Tickets on sale now, all ages
"Aida" is a musical perhaps more notable for it's billing than itself--both Tim Rice and Elton John. That's not to say, however, that it doesn't stand as a work of dramatic art. A tale of love and desire in Egypt, "Aida" has won numerous Grammys, and is now being produced in town! Featuring Uni senior Kahlilah Cooke! Go and see!

Katy's Pick: Do you have to ask?