The James Logan Courier

By Charles Yi, Courier Film Reviewer

"Drillbit Taylor", directed by Steven Brill and based on an original idea by John Hughes, is a comedy starring Owen Wilson.

The film revolves around three nerds, Ryan, Wade, and Emmit, during their first year of high school, a tortuous experience where a sadistic bully, Filkins, makes it his sole mission to humiliate the three every chance he gets. Tired of the constant hazing, Ryan, Wade, and Emmit pool their money together to hire a bodyguard. They select Drillbit Taylor, a supposed former soldier and martial arts master, out of several more qualified candidates. Unfortunately for the nerd herd, Taylor is just a homeless man whose real intent in becoming their bodyguard is to rob their houses. However, over time, Taylor's soft spot for the boys and a romance with an English teacher at their school MIGHT result in a change of heart.

By Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

Music might be the universal language. But here's one hard fact about the American cultural conversation: Canadian doesn't always translate.

For every cross-border rock success — Nickelback, Barenaked Ladies, Alanis Morissette — there's an Our Lady Peace, a Great Big Sea, a Sloan — acts that loom large on the Canadian landscape while failing to lure the stateside masses.

You can place Matthew Good firmly atop that list.

By Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

In a time of high-flying celebrity, when fame is just a sordid scandal or Internet fad away, Three Days Grace has secured success the old-fashioned way: It has earned it.

The Toronto quartet has become a staple of the airwaves and the chart tops after years of slogging it out on the road, steadily honing its melodic hard rock into a formidable radio-ready formula. Having notched a pair of platinum albums and a sturdy batch of hits — "Home," "I Hate (Everything About You)," "Pain" — the group has embarked on its first arena headlining tour, a cross-country run with fellow neo-grunge acts Breaking Benjamin and Seether.

By Abhishek Saluja, Courier Book Editor

Don Quixote, by Miguel De Cervantes, depicts the main character as one who desires to live his life as a knight. Don Quixote is from La Mancha and once had plenty of money and land. He has shirked his life’s comforts away and has set out to find adventure.

The novel has an unusual beginning: the self-proclaimed knight Don Quixote acts rather unintelligibly while on his search for adventure. He is illustrated as a hot headed ready to fight knight who does not always know the present situation.

He has read many books of chivalry and pretends to be living in the past while those around him receive pleasure from his unusual acts. His friends and family attempt to rid Quixote’s library of books that contain chivalry.

Read Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, free from Project Gutenberg.

By Mary Ann Gwinn and Michael Upchurch
The Seattle Times (MCT)

If facts are your bag, be forewarned — many of spring 2008's nonfiction books are two shades darker than somber. Global economic decline. The war on terror. Death-dealing plagues. Graveyards!

But wait! Julie Andrews, the Mary Poppins of our collective mind, has a new memoir out. Maybe she can parachute in and clean up this mess. So does Captain Kirk — aka William Shatner — a man who knows how to put things to rights in 60 minutes or less. And Al Gore comes back with some prescriptions for stabilizing the climate. On a more literary note, V.S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux are publishing new, hopefully mostly true, books, as is bittersweet funnyman David Sedaris.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

Here are the best sellers for the week that ended Saturday, March 15, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by Cahners Publishing Co., a division of Reed Elsevier, USA. (c) 2008 by Reed Elsevier, USA)

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. Change of Heart. Jodi Picoult. Atria, $26.95
Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2
2. The Appeal. John Grisham. Doubleday, $27.95
Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 7
3. Remember Me? Sophie Kinsella. Dial, $25
Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3
4. 7th Heaven. James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. Little, Brown, $27.99
Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 6
5. Killer Heat. Linda Fairstein. Doubleday, $26
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Book Editor

“On the sixth of April, in the year 1812—precisely two days before her sixteenth birthday—Penelope Featherington fell in love.

It was, in a word, thrilling. The world shook. Her heart leaped. The moment was breathtaking. And, she was able to tell herself with some satisfaction, the man in question—one Colin Bridgerton—felt precisely the same way.
Oh, not the love part. He certainly didn’t fall in love with her in 1812 (and not in 1813, 1814, 1815, or—oh, blast, not in all the years 1816-1822, either, and certainly not in 1823, when he was out of the country the whole time anyway). But his earth shook, his heart leaped, and Penelope knew without a shadow of a doubt that his breath was taken away as well. For a good ten seconds.

Falling off a horse tended to do that to a man.”

Don’t worry—Colin does eventually fall in love with Penelope. It just took quite a bit longer for him to come to his senses. This book was thoroughly enjoyable, mainly because it isn’t only about falling in love. Love does play a major role in the novel (it is a romance after all), but there is an actual plot behind it. It certainly wasn’t a serious, thought-provoking novel, but it was perfect for a bit of light reading, the kind you would enjoy while lying by the pool and enjoying the rays, especially now that those rays aren’t always accompanied by a chilling wind.

By Dan Browning
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)

MINNEAPOLIS — Thirteen-year-old Jack Yongquist says he has no desire to play ultraviolent video games like "Grand Theft Auto." But the Roseville, Minn., teenager says he's glad that a federal appeals court ruled Monday that Minnesota can't enforce a law that prohibits the sale or rental of such games to minors.

"I think they should be able to — if their parents say it's OK. It's their choice," Jack said while shopping after school at Game Crazy on Snelling Avenue.

Jack initially said he'd never played any such games, but he had to backpedal when a store clerk mentioned that "Halo" is "technically rated mature."

"It's not that bad because it's not with humans," Jack said.

By Charles Yi, Courier Film Reviewer

“Horton Hears A Who!”, directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, is a film of the Dr. Seuss Classic.

Set in the Jungle of Nool, Horton the Elephant (Jim Carrey) hears voices from a small speck of dust and imagines a helpless, microscopic family living on that speck. Living true to his philosophy of “a person’s a person, no matter how small”, Horton chases after the speck and comes to realize that the speck is the entire city of Who‑ville, home of the Who’s. While the jungle community thinks Horton has lost his mind, Horton must protect the Who’s from the Sour Kangaroo and her cronies, and help the Who’s band together to make their presence known.

By Sarena Bains, Courier Staff Writer



Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants are located all over California with at least three locations right here in the Bay Area, as well as in 14 other states and Washington D.C.
But Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch opened the original Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant in downtown Palo Alto in 1988 at the site of the historic Bijou Theatre.

A friend told me that the environment there is a very fun, so I decided to give it a try. I was happy that I had made reservations before I arrived considering the crowd of people around trying to get tables. I noticed that the atmosphere was very inviting, very much like a sports bar.

By Carmen Shiu, Courier Special Correspondent

While watching previews for the new TV shows that are premiering on MTV, one can only conclude that most of them seem to, well, suck.

Then there comes Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew. It is safe to say that it must be one of the few MTV shows that are definitely worth watching.

Hosted by ex-Saved by the Bell star Mario Lopez, hip-hop dance crews from around the nation compete for $100,000 and the title of America's best dance crew. Clearly, it is not an original idea for a reality series. If it wasn't for the incredible talent on display, there is no way that the show would enjoy the success it now has.

By Abhishek Saluja, Courier Book Editor

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller, involves a soldier by the name of Yossarian, who is capable of seeing through the controlling society around him. He is involved in the Second World War but does not know why, and this frustrates him.

The battlefield is as deadly as ever and Yossarian is sick of blindly attempting to kill. He feels that he will die one of these days and does not know why he continues to fight.

The novel starts with Yossarian in the hospital and one who is in the hospital avoids the fight. Yossarian loves his life dearly and believes that he is smarter than those around him. Pretending to be ill Yossarian succeeds in skipping many battles.

By Sarena Bains, Courier Staff Writer



This was going to be the perfect summer for these two best friends, Camille and Jiggy. The summer before their senior year was all planned out to be one of the most, adventurous summers yet to be. But unexpectedly their parents changed there plans when telling them that all summer long they will have to be working on Camille’s dads cruise ship.

Camille’s father is a captain on the ship. This is a cruise ship full of people no younger then fifty. Camille is in utter disappointment until she realizes that there are other kids on the ship that are her age that are also working on it as well.

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Book Editor


Normally, I would begin my review with a quote I feel is important to the book, whether it explains it, gives off a mood, or summarizes it. But for this book no quote really hit me like one normally would. Usually, that would mean that it’s a lame book. In this case, it just means it’s a romance novel. Actually, it’s a romantic suspense, but more romance than not. If the very word romance just caused you to stick up your nose or roll your eyes, this review probably isn’t for you. If it made you think to yourself “Finally, someone is reviewing a good ol’ cheesy romance,” then all I can say, is I agree.

Now that that’s over with, let me tell you about the book. Basically, Desdemona Wainwright caters a wedding where the groom, Sam Stark, gets stood up. She is then faced with the problem of somehow getting him to pay for the catering. They end up spending the night with her catering crew, who are made up of pretty much just her family of actors. There is immediate attraction (of course), but Stark, as he prefers to be called, ignores it. Weeks later, he sets up a contract with her and her business. The sparks fly, and they end up together.

By Tawab Fakhri, Courier Technology Writer

The wait has finally ended. The best-selling Nintendo hit has finally returned to the revolutionary platform that can use the full potential of the game and bring a flawless perfection that is the gaming experience of Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Gamers have already swung their hands off from hours of Brawl game play since its release last Sunday. Gamer David Collins says “Super Smash Bros Brawl’s response time allows the game play to reach a new plateau in fighting game history. The balance of each characters strength allows all players a chance at victory.”

By Charles Yi, Courier Film Reviewer

“The Bank Job”, directed by Roger Donaldson, is a thriller based on the 1971 robbery of a bank on Baker Street, London, from which nothing was ever recovered and the culprits were never apprehended.

Terry (Jason Statham) owns a failing car‑sales garage and is in trouble with a couple of debt‑collectors when he is offered a job by the MI5, the central intelligence agency of the United Kingdom. Terry and his friends purchase a shop two lots away from the bank and begin digging a tunnel to the middle of the bank’s safe.

By Christina La, Courier Editor-in-Chief

Choosing which college to attend is suppose to be one of the most exciting and thrilling time of a young woman's life, unless her father isn't quite ready to let her go. In “College Road Trip,” Melanie Porter (Raven Symone) is an overachieving high school senior who is anxiously looking forward to excel and grow as a college student. However, when she plans a trip to visit several different schools with her girlfriends, she has a wrench thrown in her plans as her overprotective police chief father (Martin Lawerence) insists that he escort her instead.

By Rebecca Soltau, Entertainment Editor

In a world where the world screams at and demands that the young generation respond to governmental injustices in the world the way the previous 1960's generation reacted to the Vietnam War, we endlessly search for something or someone to relate to. Naturally, we turn to the one thing that binds us together across all borders...music. Occasionally, a song might come floating to us over the radio waves that just barely brush the angst we hold in our hearts, but nothing yet has truly encompassed the intense, horrible anger we feel.

Ready or not, State Radio is bursting onto the scene, and they do all that and more.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

Here are the best-sellers for the week that ended Saturday, March 1, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by Cahners Publishing Co., a division of Reed Elsevier, USA. (c) 2008 by Reed Elsevier, USA)March 10th Weekly Bestsellers list

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. The Appeal. John Grisham. Doubleday, $27.95
Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5
2. Remember Me? Sophie Kinsella. Dial, $25
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
3. 7th Heaven. James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. Little, Brown, $27.99
Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 4
4. Strangers in Death. J.D. Robb. Putnam, $25.95
Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 2
5. The Outlaw Demon Wails. Kim Harrison. Eos, $24.95
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
6. Honor Thyself. Danielle Steel. Delacorte, $27
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
7. Lady Killer. Lisa Scottoline. Harper, $25.95
Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2
8. Duma Key. Stephen King. Scribner, $28
Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 6
9. Betrayal. John Lescroart. Dutton, $26.95
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini. Riverhead, $25.95
Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 41

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Book Editor

“In this land subjected to what they claim to be divine law, the law of discernment, justice, and compassion, men and women sneak around as if under a death sentence. When someone puts his hand in his pocket, under his coat or his gandoura, people hold their breath, hearts begin to pound wildly, legs tense up ready to start running madly. It is not uncommon for a gun or a dagger to flash forth—a feline leap, a leap of lightning. The result is a man, covered with knife cuts or riddled with bullets, who puts up a struggle in a pool of blood like an animal in a ritual sacrifice. There is no helping hand, no reaction of indignation. The passerby, overcome with panic, scatter and flee in every direction as if in a poultry yard over which a falcon hovers. The citizens have internalized terror, they have become mere beasts concerned with their own survival.”

The above paragraph is basically a summary of the book, and is certainly quite a bit easier to read and comprehend. There is absolutely no reason that comes to mind to read The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout besides a few select paragraphs, which essentially summarize the whole novel, just like the one above. While I wholeheartedly approve of the messages the book conveys, and the cold hard reality of it is a nice change from the fluff of much of today’s fiction, I just could not get even a single drop of enjoyment out of it.

By Victor Godinez
The Dallas Morning News (MCT)

I used to think PC gaming was dead.

But, since I just bought a new computer, I've decided to change my mind.

Long live PC gaming!

Now let's see if I can scrounge up some facts to back up my newfound faith in the old workhorse.

Hmm.

By Charles Yi, Courier Film Critic

“Semi‑Pro”, directed by Kent Alterman, is yet another slapstick comedy starring Will Ferrell.

Set in 1976, Jackie Moon (Ferrell) is a singer who uses the profits from his one hit single “Love Me Sexy” to become a sports impresario and purchase a team in the American Basketball Association (ABA), the Flint, Michigan Tropics. The ABA announces plans to merge with the National Basketball Association (NBA), the upper echelon of professional basketball in the United States, but only four teams will be able to move to the more established league.

By Lewis Beale
Newsday (MCT)

The caveman film. So ridiculous, so kitschy, so irresistibly watchable. The release this week of "10,000 B.C." serves to remind that this debased genre — down there at the bottom of the film food chain with slasher flicks and teen sex comedies — has been with us for decades and shows no signs of going the way of the Neanderthal.

Think "Clan of the Cave Bear." Or "Encino Man." It soon becomes obvious that the terms "Oscar-winning cinema" and "caveman flick" are mutually exclusive (so maybe 1981's "Quest for Fire" won an Oscar for best makeup. It sure didn't win any awards from Cro-Magnon historians). Which is probably why the creators of "10,000 B.C." have called it "a sweeping odyssey into a mythical age of prophecies and gods."

By Sarena Bains, Courier Staff Writer

Papillon is located on 37296 Mission Blvd., just west of the Niles Blvd. in Fremont. Papillion, which in French means butterfly, has been serving people for more than twenty years. Once entering the restaurant you are kindly welcomed and seated in a traditional dining room. They offer four types of dining rooms each with its own unique setting.

By Christina La, Courier Editor-in-Chief

Henry, emotionally unstable, refuses to move on after his wife, Kate, is killed on their wedding day. As annoying as Kate is with her orders, she comes upon an ice sculpted angel that she ordered but realizes it is an angel without wings. Furious, Kate demands the man to take it back and bring her one with wings. As the man is unaware of what is behind him, Kate is relentlessly trying to stop the man from backing his truck into her wedding decorations. Kate is crushed by the ice angel that falls out of the man’s truck, leaving her crushed to death as she goes off into the afterlife.

By Greg Kot
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

Radiohead's name-your-price download strategy, in which the band offered its latest album, "In Rainbows," to consumers for whatever price they chose, has been the talk of the music world for months.

Now at least one major artist is following closely in the U.K. band's ground-breaking footsteps. On Sunday, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor announced on his Web site, nin.com, that he was immediately making available a new four-part album, "Ghosts I-IV," containing 36 instrumental tracks spanning nearly two hours. The music was made available in five configurations at five price levels, ranging from free (for downloads of nine songs) to $300 (for a box set that includes two CDs, a DVD, an optical disc containing a slide show, and four vinyl albums).

By Najia Qadir, Courier Staff Writer

We the Kings' self‑titled sure to be a hit among all the pop‑punk lovers out there. The whole album is an anthem to anyone who has ever feel repressed by parents/guardians (and really, what teenager hasn't?). Their songs are full of teenage angst captured in fun catchy music.

The lyrics of their hit single "Check Yes Juliet" describe a present day Romeo and Juliet problem. The song include verses like "Run baby, run. Don't ever look back. They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance." and "Just sneak out and don't tell a soul goodbye." In another single "Skyway Avenue" the song is about leaving a boring town and starting something new.

By Najia Qadir, Courier Staff Writer

Andrea Sachs has the job a million girls would die for! She works for the most powerful woman in fashion; the editor of Runway magazine, Miranda Priestly. The beautiful people of New York’s finest socialites, designers and models surround her. She gets to attend the most fabulous exclusive parties, not to mention she literally has a closet full of designer clothes at her disposal. Amazing right? Not according to Andrea.

The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger, is the story of Andrea’s steps out of her comfort zone of Hollister and Abercombie and directly into the high fashion world of Gucci, Chanel and, of course, Prada.

By Benjamin J. Romano
The Seattle Times (MCT)

SEATTLE — Like big-budget movies, video games can cost tens of millions of dollars and take years to produce.

Top game studios have strict, high-pressure deadlines, large development teams and lots of overhead costs. With so much at stake, publishers have become conservative, preferring to put the big development and marketing dollars behind a sure thing.

In 2007, eight of the 10 best-selling games — including "Halo 3," "Call of Duty IV" and "Mario Party 8" — were sequels to previous hits. Together, they sold more than 27 million copies in the U.S.

By Debbie Ly, Courier Staff Writer

It is that time again for the spotlight to be lit on a fellow James Logan student. Kristen Dattolico, a freshman at Logan, was crowned first place at the Kennedy Community Center in Union City’s American Teen Idol Contest last month. Singing “Only Hope” by Mandy Moore, Dattolico captivated her listeners, defeated ten other finalists, and claimed victory.

Being a part of a musically oriented family, Dattolico’s mother accredits her talent to her father, who used to sing.