Carrie in the big city

With The CW blaring its enormous letters directly under “The Carrie Diaries” title, it must have been a little hard for some viewers to give this show a chance. But somehow, its extremely intoxicating and highly nostalgic feel of the 1980s, along with cute and diverse characters, allows anxious viewers a little something to like about the show.

Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb, middle-right) tries to discover who she is and wants to be in, "The Carrie Diaries" on The CW.

“The Carrie Diaries” follows Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb from “Bridge to Terabithia” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) before her high-drama and risqué life in New York City years later in “Sex and the City.” Bradshaw is the ripe age of 16 years old in this 1984 prequel, and is slowly managing to find her place in the big city while trying to balance her naïve teenage life as a junior in high school. Her younger sister, Dorrit, constantly drives her up the wall, while her newly widowed father Tom Bradshaw, tries to keep both teenage girls under control in their struggling home. Bradshaw, along with friend Jill Chen (Ellen Wong, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”) also known as “The Mouse” and her other best friends Maggie Landers (Katie Findlay, “The Killing”) and Walt Reynolds tries to survive the complicated and hormone filled life of teendom, especially after Sebastian Kydd rolls into town.

Since “The Carrie Diaries” is following around Carrie during her early years, it is a treat for fans of the previous show to see how she was as a teenager. Seeing her so incredibly fresh and new to the ugly, and sometimes harmful, city of New York is sometimes the best part of the show. To see Carrie reacting to experiences she will most definitely face on an everyday basis when she gets older is hilarious at some points, and awful at others depending on the situation. It is almost as if the viewers are getting to watch as her skin gets stretched, broken down and rebuilt to become stronger and thicker. Due to the job that Bradshaw has in the future, a weekly relationship columnist, the show heavily focuses on relationships. But “The Carrie Diaries” deals with the relationships on many different levels since this is Carrie in her teens. It centers on relationships between best friends, girl/boyfriends, ex’s and even gay relationships.

While interning in New York City, Carrie runs into Larissa Loughlin (“Doctor Who” and “Torchwood”), a boisterous and British style editor at Interview. Bradshaw becomes Loughlin’s latest project, or friend, and they spend many episodes together exploring various cultures of New York. While in New York, a new side of Carrie slowly starts to form, inch by inch, but suddenly she is thrown back into her teenage life back in Castlebury, Connecticut. Constantly, Bradshaw has to decide whether to bask in her new found love of New York, or to just stick with what she is good at, which is complying with everything and not breaking the rules. Throughout the episodes, this ordeal becomes tougher and tougher for her to decide.

The biggest issue with this show, is the question of whether it will be able to succeed on pure nostalgia of the “Sex and the City” days, or if it will be able to be successful by creating fresh and new characters for a new generation. It is highly possible for both to happen. Thus far, all of the characters in the show are new, none appearing in the previous show. This gives the creators room to do whatever they want with the characters around Carrie. But, because this is a prequel, there are obvious plot holes that are bound to happen if the writers are not careful. The devil is in the details.

“The Carrie Diaries” airs Mondays at 7 p.m. on The CW, full episodes can also be watched on cwtv.com two days after the original air-date.

Supporting Midwest talent

Blood, sweat, tears and fears were left out on the mat at AAW (All American Wrestling) in the Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL on Friday, January 26^th. Fans could be seen jumping from their chairs and screaming their lungs out whenever their favorite wrestler would pull out their signature move. Far from the jaded performers seen on national TV every week, just 20 minutes out of Chicago is some of the most intense, interactive and heart-pounding action that $18 can buy.

The announcer climbed into the 18 foot ring and began to serve the hungry audience what they had all come there for, raw and aspiring talent from all over the region. Wrestlers traveling from Wisconsin, Iowa and of course one of the wrestling capitols of the nation, Chicago, gathered to put their bodies on the line for a chance at the AAW Heritage Title. Two pre-show matches started out the “Chaos Theory” event. Pre-show matches were used to fire up the crowd, and will not be featured on the DVD release. The spots in these matches are usually filled by wrestlers who are trying to earn a spot on the roster.

After a lukewarm pre-show, the event finally started to heat up with the matches of the tournament. Mat Fitchett faced off against Christian Able, but as the match started to sway from one side to the other, Fitchett landed a perfectly formed 450 splash, a double front-flip body slam from the top rope, and ended the match, advancing to the next round. Davey Vega faced some stiff competition from the muscular Vic Capri, but was able to pull out the win. O’Reilly, hailing from British Columbia and TD Thomas from Detroit, Michigan, had the audience giving a standing ovation at the end. In a very physical 13 minute match that saw both of them kick each other senseless, O’Reilly was able to squeak out a victory.

Current heavyweight champion Michael Elgin (in black and silver) performing a stalling vertical suplex, for 60 seconds, to former AAW Heritage champion Shane Hollister (in black and green).

AAW had its slower moments, populated by video packages and in-ring segments meant to push the storylines, but pretty much everyone was just there for the wrestling. The wrestlers definitely played off the energy of the crowd, whether it was back-talking belligerent fans or calling for them to cheer on a hurt comrade during a tag-team match. This is what allows AAW and its independent brethren to survive; the connection between the fans and the wrestlers. But AAW also happens to have some pretty amazing and extremely dedicated wrestlers.

These wrestlers are treated like a second family when it comes to the fans. During intermission some will walk around and talk to the fans. Some can even be spotted walking the streets before the doors open and would be more than happy to spark up a conversation. That extreme egotistical side that most higher-up professional wrestlers have is mostly gone with these wrestlers. They work outside of this once-a-month weekend job, and can understand where the fans are coming from because they are still just like them. They remember the fans and treat them well, outside of their ring character of course.

The final fight of the night was an insane match-up between two AAW veterans, Shane Hollister and Silas Young teaming up against Davey Richards and current AAW Heavyweight Champion Michael Elgin. The fight lasted a whopping 18 minutes, but every second of it, from slaps to kicks, kept the audience screaming for more. Wrestlers could be seen flying into barricades, the crowd, over the top rope and into each other. They would just keep jumping back up over and over again giving out chops and tight submission holds to each other. One kick-out after another caused everyone in the house to be at the edge of their seat until a sudden betrayal from Richards on his teammate, Elgin, left the audience shocked.

These athletes put their bodies on the line every night, without the endorsement deals and million dollar contracts of other professional athletes. Their passion comes out when the audience cheers for them or boos them and feeds their characters. They are in it for the love of their profession. Some may think it is not real, but these fans are anything but shy about expressing their love of wrestling.

AAW’s next event “Durty Deeds” is on Sunday, February 10th at 5pm at Durty Nellie's in Palatine, Illinois.

The silver-screen buzz

Tons of amazing or promising films are always lurking in the shadows of or are undoubtedly eclipsed by blockbuster films. The Buzz will strive to keep casual and avid movie goers up-to-date on movies flying underneath the radar.  These will range from movies already out in theatres, to limited and future releases. In this informative feature, interesting facts and even quotes from the stars of the film will be included. This issue will include; “The Baytown Outlaws”, “The Impossible” and “John Dies at the End.”

 “The Baytown Outlaws”

Release Date: Jan. 11

Do not go into “The Baytown Outlaws” with the hope of Oscar-winning performances from Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton. Do go into this movie with hopes of an extremely fun ride filled with lots of surprise actors and actresses along the way. This film about a few country brothers who are off to rescue a woman’s stolen son is far more entertaining than is seems.  Just disregard the obvious stereotypical jokes that are bound to pop up more than once in this movie. But for the first feature-length film by director and writer Barry Battles, it does look quite impressive.

“The Impossible”

Release Date: Jan. 4

Having already won four awards and seven nominations for acting, this film is sure to get far more nominations and wins once more award shows such as, The Academy Awards and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts roll around. “The Impossible” is based on the true story of a family left scattered and hopeless after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.  The heartbreaking realism that pours out of this movie is bound to leave wet eyes throughout the theatres. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor give out-of –this-world performances, as do their co-stars. In an interview with The Daily Beast, it was revealed that Watts studied the documentary “Tsunami: Caught on Camera,” as well as befriended the woman she was playing in order  to set up her role. “It’s probably the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done,” says Watts.

Tons of amazing or promising films are always lurking in the shadows of or are undoubtedly eclipsed by blockbuster films. The Buzz will strive to keep casual and avid movie goers up-to-date on movies flying underneath the radar.  These will range from movies already out in theatres, to limited and future releases. In this informative feature, interesting facts and even quotes from the stars of the film will be included. This issue will include; “The Baytown Outlaws”, “The Impossible” and “John Dies at the End.”

 “The Baytown Outlaws”- Release Date: January 11th

Do not go into “The Baytown Outlaws” with the hope of Oscar-winning performances from Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton. Do go into this movie with hopes of an extremely fun ride filled with lots of surprise actors and actresses along the way. This film about a few country brothers who are off to rescue a woman’s stolen son is far more entertaining than is seems.  Just disregard the obvious stereotypical jokes that are bound to pop up more than once in this movie. But for the first feature-length film by director and writer Barry Battles, it does look quite impressive.

“The Impossible”- Release Date: January 4th

Having already won four awards and seven nominations for acting, this film is sure to get far more nominations and wins once more award shows such as, The Academy Awards and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts roll around. “The Impossible” is based on the true story of a family left scattered and hopeless after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.  The heartbreaking realism that pours out of this movie is bound to leave wet eyes throughout the theatres. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor give out-of –this-world performances, as do their co-stars. In an interview with The Daily Beast, it was revealed that Watts studied the documentary “Tsunami: Caught on Camera,” as well as befriended the woman she was playing in order  to set up her role. “It’s probably the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done,” says Watts.

“John Dies at the End”

Release Date: Jan. 25

Don Coscarelli, director of cult classics such as “Bubba Ho-Tep” and “Phantasm,” might finally get his chance at the Hollywood spotlight with a film adaptation of “John Dies at the End”.  Never losing his wacky premises, this film is centered around two college dropouts , John and Dave, trying to stop a bizarre new street drug from destroying mankind.  Paul Giamatti joins the ranks of newcoming film actors, Chase Williamson (Dave) and Rob Mayes (John). The film definitely has an off and comic-like vibe from the constant interesting dilemmas these two young adults are facing. Since it caught the eyes of Sundance, South by Southwest and the Toronto International Film Festival then it definitely is worth a shot. If waiting until January 25th is out of the question, Amazon has it streaming for a limited time only before it hits theatres.

Actions speak louder than words

Blood, sweat, tears and guts combine into an amazing recipe for success in “The Walking Dead” video game by Telltale Games. Fans of the television show and comic book series of the same name are in for the ride of their lives as their emotions are strained based on their own decisions throughout the game.

“The Walking Dead” is a point-and-click adventure roleplaying game that follows lead character Lee Everett as he is thrown into the zombie apocalypse. Set in Georgia, the same location as the show and the comic books, Everett is the only directly controllable character. Each part, or episode, of the game is downloadable and available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Released from April to November, this game kept fans at the edge of their seats wondering what barbaric and life-threatening decisions they would have to make in the next episode. It is unlikely that any fan realized how difficult each decision would be, or how much each would truly affect the outcome of the game.

Lee Everett comes into contact with one of the many walkers lingering around throughout 'The Walking Dead' video game.

Everett teams up with a young girl named Clementine, eventually meeting groups of survivors along the way, but it is clear from the get-go that Everett is not going to let anything happen to the little girl. As they go from place to place, Everett is constantly thrown into the leader role which he never asked for, nor turned down.  Life-changing decisions are continuously presented to the player, who frequently has to decide which characters will live die, often with very little time to make these tough choices.

“The Walking Dead” does not allow time for much thinking unless the decision is very complex. Time is rarely given on decisions that seem more important than others. When a decision has to be made, buttons pop up at the bottom of the screen with at least three possible options that Everett can either say or do. Whether it is breaking up a fight, deciding where to go, or simply choosing whether to talk to someone or not, each decision has an effect on how characters react to Everett and how they will help him in the future. The overall effectiveness of this method is still up for much improvement. At some points it would seem as if no matter the choice, the game will reach the same outcomes. However, this has to be done in order to have some type of cohesive and conclusive ending for the game.

Despite the overall effectiveness of each decision on the outcome of the story, there are few things wrong with the game. Glitches and the occasional long load time errors are expected of a game with various outcomes resulting from a click of a button. There have to be at least 100 decisions that can be made throughout the five episodes.

One aspect “The Walking Dead” video game was able to accomplish with extreme success was putting the characters in such harrowing circumstances and making players truly care about their fates. This is done in the television show and the comic books beautifully. Characters are constantly pushed to the edge and even further, just to be brought back up again to get knocked over one more time. Players can easily just be mean and rude to anyone they want, but this will play against them and likely get them killed. Players are forced to make some bonds with others, no matter how loose they are, just to get by. The game is very much how it could be if anything this disastrous happened in real life.

“The Walking Dead” has definitely introduced a fresh form of storytelling, and more game developers should be in the back taking notes.

“The Walking Dead” receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Visit www.telltalegames.com/walkingdeadto for more information on purchasing “The Walking Dead.

Kimbra moves the Metro

A 22-year-old New Zealand woman hops and skips her way onto the stage wearing a frilly and puffy dress covered in pinks, greens andgolds. Hundreds of fans packed inside the Metro in Chicago on the rainy and dreary night of Oct. 17 are immediately enthused aboutKimbra’s appearance on stage, and begin to scream and hoot at her. She constantly feeds off the audience and feels the music, quite literally, down to her bones causing her to hop around stage, throw herself to the floor and spin around every second she gets. Kimbra, who was virtually unknown at this time last year, has bubbled over and spilled her incredibly heavy musical talent all over the United States.

There is not much known about Kimbra, at least not yet, besides the fact that she is an incredibly complex individual. It would be most apt to compare her music to an onion. It is unimpressive at first, but when the layers are peeled back it gives off a strong punch of flavor. Her music is a beautiful mixture of jazz, soul and pop. Although she is only 22 years old, she sings as though she has been to hell, back to earth, and lived through thousands of harsh relationships. Her personality immediately fills the room and causes crowds to stop and listen to what she has to say.

Kimbra's tour throughout the states comes to a wrap on Oct. 24 in Boston, Mass.

Kimbra slowly began to play through tracks from her debut album “Vows,” but put a soft and unique twist on all the songs that she trickled through. She did not just stand there and sang each lyric word for word; instead, she would sometimes simply speak some words are add vibrato to keep the audience interested. Although her interaction with the crowd was not straight forward, her bright smiles and constant motions towards them make it obvious that she was happy to be in their presence.

Some songs she mixed live, such as “Settle Down.” She kindly hushed the crowd and started to record some scatting, then began to quickly layer them. As she broke into the song she danced around, grabbed a tambourine and slapped it on her hip, protected by a giant frilly multi-colored skirt. Throughout the night she would scurry to the back of the stage, toss of a section of her wardrobe and reveal an even crazier attire than the one before it.

Her airy and sweet voice hypnotized the audience whenever she slowed down the tempo and went into any of her slower songs. But eventually she would push herself and belt out a voice that would resemble Ella Fitzgerald then slow back down to a sultry tone. Her voice would fluctuate to different ranges and hit them perfectly.

Her encore included some songs that are not on the U.S. release of her album. “Call Me” and “Withdraw” were her last solo songs for the night and they left the crowd ecstatic. While singing “Withdraw,” Kimbra got a little choked up, lowered her head and the crowd cheered at her trying to cheer her up.  But a song that kept the crowd up all night was a song from her album called “Warrior,” which she collaborated on with Mark Foster from the band Foster the People. This was her most pop-filled song of the night and helped everyone travel back to the 80’s with its catchy lyrics and electronic keyboard.

Kimbra definitely brought herself up a level with her highly impressive and lively performance at the Metro. If fans were patient enough, they could have waited for her to come out of the building and snap a picture with her, which she was more than happy to take. But under her sweet and caring exterior is a low flame which hopefully will grow to great heights without getting blown out by other foreign female soul singers like Adele and Jessie J.

Kimbra’s album “Vows” is available on iTunes. 

'Blood v. Electricity' is hauntingly unique

Hailing from Iowa, independent artist Keith Lynch has released his10th album through his music project Unknown Component titled, “Blood v. Electricity.” Filled with daunting lyrics, impressive performance and quality, Lynch has definitely found a sound that suits his musical persona.

Lynch is the sole member of Unknown Component, and this allows plenty of room for failure or success. However, he proves in many tracks of this album that he certainly knows how to musically multi-task. The album is filled with several intensely somber lyrics along with slow-moving guitar riffs combined with a pulsating drumming in the background.  This album constantly ventures across different spectrums of rock such as experimental, punk, alternative and even indie.

Most of Lynch’s lyrics are very open and could be interpreted in several different ways. This was  intentional on Lynch’s part. During an interview with blogger Patrick Crowley, Lynch was asked about his writing process.

 "I try not to have any specific agenda when I’m writing. I like songs that can have different interpretations," Lynch said.

This concept is demonstrated in “For All Intents and Purposes” with lyrics like "Well if you’re building up a wall, you had better build it tall/ cause they are waiting on the other side with a motive and an alibi" could be a jab at propaganda or just a jab towards past or future relationships.

The new types of technology available to various artists could improve or weaken the quality of music produced in the market. Lynch expressed his concerns about this new venue for artists in an interview on his YouTube channel.

“You had to be able to prove that what you were doing is worth someone’s attention, now you don’t have to do that now you can just put something out there and just call yourself an artist, maybe that’s how it should be. It’s interesting to see how the music industry is evolving to try and meet that, or counter that, because they don’t want the gates to be open to everybody,” Lynch said.

In that sense, Lynch understands the challenges he is facing in getting his product out there but obviously with so many albums under his belt it shows that he is still very passionate about what really matters to him, the music.

Various other gold mines are scattered throughout “Blood v. Electricity” such as “Pendulum” which has a very new wave feel to it with very complex music elements (mixture of electronic instruments as well as real drums and guitar.) It is clashing but in a good way. It is also relatable to many young adults possibly listening to his music with the lyrics, "The animal spirit of death and decay/ is building a throne on minimum wage.”

Taking a slightly different tone is the track “Sensory Deprivation.” When the chorus comes along, his voice actually breaks through and leaves its murky tone behind, switching to a very empathizing mood. “Through the Surface” is the last song on this album, and at first it seems very finalizing by ending on a soft note almost resolving the tough feelings throughout the album, but when the lyrics are actually listened to it is obvious that resolution is not in sight.

“Blood v. Electricity” on first listen comes across as a very average album but once it is given a second chance it is clear that Lynch has some understated talent. With an improved studio and an equal amount of time spent on sound quality and lyrics he has produced a forceful album.

“Blood v. Electricity” receives 3.5 out of 5 stars

To purchase “Blood v. Electricity” please visit www.unknowncomponent.com