Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Next Big Thing in Music (according to the New Yorker), M. I. A., AKA Maya Arulpragasam, is coming to Philly this weekend, and at the Ukrainian Community Center at that (we don’t know why; she’s in fact Sri Lankan). The singer of the catchy dance single “Galang” will release her first full album, “Arular” next Tuesday, which draws from a wildly eclectic range of styles. She plays at 9:00 at 847 N. Franklin St., and tickets are $12.
In movie theaters, “The Ring 2” opens this weekend, a sequel to the Japanese horror remake, again starring Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller and directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of the original “Ringu.” Rachel has moved to Oregon, but her nemesis Samara has followed her and wants to inhabit her son, Aidan. Not as gory as many horror movies, the Philadelphia Enquirer praises it as “an unusually atmospheric outing…positively Hitchcockian.” It’s playing at Marple, not far from campus.
If you prefer your film on campus, you can catch the Movie Committee’s showing of “Finding Neverland,” which has nothing to do with Michael Jackson. It in fact stars Johnny Depp as “Peter Pan” author J. M. Barrie (with a Scottish accent to boot). Though the film received mostly mediocre reviews, it was nominated for many Oscars this year (and won for original score) and was called “compelling and life affirming” despite its deviations from historic truth by Internet critic James Berardinelli. Also in the “life-affirming” category, the College Democrats will be screening “Dave,” a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline as a double for the President, who is unexpectedly pressed into political service after an unfortunate accident, and proceeds to make everything in the country better. It’s at 9:00 in Science Center 199. And if your tastes run more toward the violent, you can always check out “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” on Friday at 7:00 in Kohlberg 228, courtesy of Anime/Manga Club.