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Features

FEATURES

'Polar Express' entertains despite creepy faces

Melissa Domsic
November 10, 2004

The classic Christmastime story "The Polar Express," known for its enchanting illustrations and touching message to believe in Santa Claus, is now engaging its readers on the silver screen. After years of reading the book to his children, actor Tom Hanks decided "The Polar Express," by Chris Van Allsburg, would make a good movie. The book tells the story of a young boy who had mixed feelings about the existence of Santa.

FEATURES

Interns toil at night to create play

Sarah Al-ramadhan
November 9, 2004

When the lights are off and most people go to bed, BoarsHead Professional Theatre's interns begin working into the early morning hours, exploring their hidden talent on stage in a series they call Dark Nights. For the past few years, theater interns at BoarsHead, 425 S.

FEATURES

Rockers Magna-Fi release record, play Rick's today

Joe Guillen
November 9, 2004

One night while delving into Cheap Trick's "Surrender," brothers C.J. and Mike Szuter mused at the idea of forming a rock band. Although many wannabe rocksters dream of such out-of-reach goals and never achieve them, the Szuter duo took the opportunity seriously and soon shaped the alt-rock group Magna-Fi.

FEATURES

'Chicago' dishes up in-your-face, exciting jazz

Sarah Al-ramadhan
November 4, 2004

It's so much more than a murder story starring beautiful women. The musical "Chicago," showing this week at Wharton Center, is about the 1920s, feeling good at no expense and jazz. It's not that cool bluesy, saxophone kind of jazz made popular by Ray Charles and Miles Davis.

FEATURES

Out of the box

There's a surprise inside Jessica Rehling's mailbox - it could be a Broadway musical, last season's hit TV show or a Hollywood hunk. As a subscriber to Netflix online video rental, Rehling is able to pick movies online and have them sent to her home through the mail.

FEATURES

Rock your body

Welcome back to "Rock Your Body," The State News fitness and nutrition column. Each week, we hit up our local experts with some questions and pass on their wisdom to you. But before we get to the goods, we thought we'd tell you a little bit about who'll be giving you advice. Tom Ostrander: Tom is the owner of Powerhouse Gym, 435 E.

FEATURES

Crime scene TV show spin-offs unimaginative

This is getting ridiculous. Crime investigation and forensic science spin-off shows already had gone too far - and now there is another one coming to prime time television in early 2005 - "Law & Order: Trial By Jury." Come on, is NBC for real?

FEATURES

Play based on tragic plane crash

Sarah Al-ramadhan
November 1, 2004

On Dec. 21, 1988, a Pan Am flight carrying about 259 people crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland - killing everyone on board including 11 more people on the ground. MSU Director Jeanine Cull will reenact one family's turmoil after losing their only child and son in the crash, in the MSU Department of Theatre's next production, "The Women of Lockerbie." Although Deborah Brevoort wrote the play as fiction, it is based on true events that took place, starring a devastated American family who was embraced by the women of Lockerbie. The play begins in Lockerbie after the Livingston family's memorial service for their son.

FEATURES

Foxx fantastically portrays Charles in 'Ray'

By the time the catchy opening riff of "What'd I Say" beats through the theater and a set of fingers fly across the keyboard, the audience is already sold on "Ray." This is going to be an amazing film - the crowd can tell.

FEATURES

Beyond Broadway

Sarah Al-ramadhan
October 27, 2004

Prepare to be razzle-dazzled. That tap dancing, vibrant singing and jazzy feeling Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger brought to the screen two years ago in the movie version of "Chicago" will be presented in the flesh at Wharton Center next week. In addition to the six Academy Awards the movie walked away with in 2002, "Chicago" has been racking up awards since it first opened on Broadway in 1996.

FEATURES

Rock your body

Welcome back to "Rock Your Body," The State News fitness and nutrition column. Each week, we hit up our local experts with some questions and pass on their wisdom to you. But before we get to the goods, we thought we'd tell you a little bit about who'll be giving you advice. Tom Ostrander: Tom is the owner of Powerhouse Gym, 435 E.

FEATURES

'Christmas' not so wonderful

"Surviving Christmas" kicks off with all the traditional holiday clichés of sleighbells jingling, city streets bustling and Christmas trees twinkling in the park. "It's the most wonderful time of the year," we're told. This opening montage concludes, however, with a depressed grandmother putting her head into the oven, right next to the frowny-faced gingerbread men she just finished icing. It's a clever and comic juxtaposition: Deconstructing our favorite holiday images like that. It's a device director Mike Mitchell should have used throughout "Surviving Christmas," a ho-hum film that quickly digresses from its sprightly beginning into an unfunny take on all the usual holiday dreck. Ben Affleck stars as Drew Latham, a lonely millionaire who offers a suburban Chicago family $250,000 to let him spend Christmas in their home.

FEATURES

Ruff Ryder rapper breaks from pack with 'History'

Jun Yang
October 27, 2004

"American Idol" star Ruben Studdard is selling his CDs and topping the charts, but what about the "106 & Park" Freestyle Friday grand-slammer Jin? Those of you who witnessed the big-mouthed Chinese rapper battle the hell out of his opponents on the BET show may have been wondering what's been up with the new Ruff Ryder since the release of his first single "Learn Chinese" last year.