A&E

It's hard enough for a band to evolve from a sound when it's associated with a specific scene, but what's worse is when your band's sound isn't just a product of a scene, but a product of a band that came before you. Any person that is cognizant of '90s music can hear the Smashing Pumpkins in the Silversun Pickups. From the raspy, angsty delivery of frontman Brian Aubert to the subtle, complimentary boy/girl vocals and the extremely familiar tone of the guitars, you can't help the urge to listen to the Smashing Pumpkins' classic record "Siamese Dream" before finishing a song by Silversun Pickups.

Digital distribution has been detrimental to media like films and music that rely on DVDs and album releases to generate extra income for the studios. However, the opposite is true for video games in that avoiding brick-and-mortar retail outlets actually cuts costs for developers. A new trend is emerging in the gaming industry toward titles produced exclusively for digital distribution.

An orchestra tuning its instruments before a musical is like the blossoming of roses; resilient. It starts out dull and closed off to its spectators, but with harmony guiding its movements, its different parts move outward and expand. It twists, dives and curls around in what at first does not appear able to create beauty. But in the end, it always does, fine-tuning its most appealing features in a cluster of rhythmic motion, finally settling into a state of calm. The difference between the blossoming of an orchestra and that of a rose is what comes next.

A woman comes up to a group of men and asks a simple question: "So do you guys like jokes?" Not realizing where she is about to take them, they say yes. Innocently, she asks them, "What do you call the extra skin around a vagina?" She responds, "A woman!" The smiling faces are quickly transformed into awkward grimaces and blank stares. This video installation by Elizabeth Watkins is just one of the works of art in the "Provocations" exhibit, the annual undergraduate art exhibition juried by Sarah C. Bancroft, curator of the Orange County Museum of Art.

On the surface, an amateur rugby player, an aspiring college student and a hitman may not have a lot in common. One could blow a game play, one may blow his chance to get into college and the last might just blow your head off. Yet these different roles represent the diverse spectrum of protagonists whose stories were told at the fourth edition of the Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF).

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" this is definitely not. Any similarity you see when comparing two films with pasty white men stuffed into rent-a-cop uniforms will be immediately knocked out of your head the first time the streaker pops out his penis on screen.

Neil Young has never been a perfect stranger to the world of concept albums. Nor has his songwriting avoided controversial political messages in order to find commercial success (see 2006's "Living with War"). The rock legend's latest release, "Fork in the Road," is both a concept album and a collection of songs defined by a progressive political message. At least, that was the plan.

Shapan: Comedies are being churned out all the time in modern cinema, and why not? Laughter, after all, is the best medicine. Nowadays, it's tough to find a comedy that doesn't include at least one of the actors from the popular "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy." Of course, that film had little intellectual purpose, but it was the perfect laugh. Memorable characters, hilarious jokes and a story you didn't have to worry about keeping up with. Good times, right? Wrong.

On a typical Saturday morning at 9 a.m., UC Irvine's Student Center would be silent and empty, with the exception of a few over-achieving students trying to get ahead at the beginning of a new quarter. Normally, the sun's rays would be reflecting off the tables in the bare studying areas and the windows of the large meeting rooms.

Normally, I don't like Kristin Stewart. I know that she's the lead in "Twilight" and thus the prepubescent's modern-day Juliet, but there's just something about Stewart that irks me. Maybe it's that her characters are unconvincing or maybe it's just that her PR person isn't so great. But regardless of all that, what I had against Stewart melted away with "Adventureland."

This film could have been reviewed after seeing the teaser trailer. Rarely does a film fall so effortlessly into expectation, and rarely does that mean anything good for the film and its franchise. You've already seen it if you liked any of the previous ‘Furious' flicks, and you've done everything in your power to avoid it if you didn't. The basic "The Fast and the Furious" formula of fast cars and dialogue remains intact, despite the slight and unnecessary "the" removal from the title. This doesn't stop "Fast and Furious" from being the same entertaining vehicular action routine that's proven enjoyable and profitable; but if you haven't been a fan of the franchise, seeing Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite isn't going to do it for you.

Fewer people look forward to release dates of their favorite music albums. Fewer people are excited when their favorite shows are released on DVD. Yes, the economy is facing tough times and people might not be spoiling themselves as much as they used to with life's little luxuries. But an even bigger factor in the decline in anticipation may involve the availability of media elsewhere, on the ever-consuming all-powerful, Internet.