Ke$ha
Cannibal
RCA

Ke$ha takes pride in the knowledge that her music is only bearable after a bout of dental hygiene with Jack Daniels, and Cannibal, her follow up to last year’s inexplicably successful Animal, is no exception.

As usual, Ke$ha unapologetically vomits crude lines, penning charming lyrics that rhyme “famous” with “anus.” She takes her honesty to a new level, however, on the title track “Cannibal,” in which she describes her impulse to eat boys — “Silence of the Lambs” style — in gory detail. Lady GaGa may rock the meat dress, but Ke$ha wants her man’s “liver on a platter.”

Lyrically, there’s not much to look forward to in Cannibal’s artless wisecracks and (almost) shocking declarations. Emasculating men seems to be a common theme on the album, as Ke$ha warns her guy to stop acting like a woman in “Grow a Pear.” Ke$ha is blunt as ever, this time asserting, "I just can't date a dude with a vag."

Most songs on the album have electronic influences, with pulsating drumbeats and an overabundance of auto-tune. The singer and production team — which includes hit makers Dr. Luke and Max Martin, among others — attempt to replicate the success of Animal by overloading monstrous hooks; sure, they may be less complex than a midi file, but they're guaranteed to make this album a dance club staple.

One surprise is the song “C U Next Tuesday,” a slower number that sounds like a synth jam straight out of the ‘80s. It has the electro-rhythms to almost make you sing along unironically, but sadly, Ke$ha just doesn’t have the skills to pull it off. Coming from her, this attempt at a serious track seems like a big joke.

In the end, Ke$ha is Ke$ha. You can’t expect much more from her than a couple new hot mess anthems. When she’s really on her game, she can turn her ridiculousness into the rager of the year. Take Cannibal’s first single, “We R Who We Are,” a track where Ke$ha turns a chronicle of her wild lifestyle into a moment of self-affirmation with the battle cry “We’re dancing like we’re dumb.” It’s Ke$ha at her best: wildly entertaining and absurd at the same time. (5/10)

There are many things UCSD students associate with college — classes, tests, studying, that six pound biochem book I have to read before finals — but teen dramas, god bless their melodramatic little hearts, don’t seem to have the same ideas.

"Tron: Legacy" - Dec. 17

When it was first released in 1982, “Tron” was the pinnacle of computer generated effects, mostly because it was one of the first films ever to have them. Since then, last year’s “Avatar” — blue people and all — has been crowned king of CGI. It’s only fitting that “Tron’s” sequel, “Tron: Legacy,” will hit theaters now and attempt to reclaim its throne from “Avatar” in the ranks of over-the-top visual epics.

So how exactly does “Tron” plan to beat the highest grossing film of all time? Five words: Academy Award-winner Jeff Bridges. Nearly 30 years later, Bridges has returned to his iconic role of Kevin Flynn. Now rocking the grizzled white beard of old age, he brings wisdom to his reprised role, and, lucky us, audiences get a double dose. Bridges also plays primary antagonist Clu 2.0, a digital copy of younger Kevin Flynn that betrayed its creator and trapped him in the computer world.

Enter newcomer Garrett Hedlund as Kevin’s son Sam Flynn. When his search for his lost dad brings him to the digital world, father and son, with the help of fighter program Quorra (Olivia Wilde), team up to fight their way back to the real world. Top this all off with a groundbreaking soundtrack by Daft Punk, and it becomes increasingly clear that when “Tron: Legacy” hits theaters, it will be the biggest movie of the holiday season, and — “Avatar” be damned — of the past 10 years.

—Rusteen Honardoost
Staff Writer

"The Fighter" - Dec. 10

Though we’ve had our fill of the boxing-underdog archetype, volatile director David O’Russell and a hauntingly gaunt Christian Bale give “The Fighter” a few knockouts in its corner to keep us guessing.

“Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a struggling boxer looking to make a name for himself, with brother/mentor Dicky (Bale) as his trainer. After a string of defeats and family-related trauma, Micky starts to show promise, thanks to the help of sassy girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) and his managerial team — but his family isn’t willing to let him walk away that easily.

The weak spot in “The Fighter’s” tough-guy strut seems to be vanilla leading man Marky Mark. Fortunately, Wahlberg and Russell have made good partners before (“I Heart Huckabees”), making it hard to sideline “The Fighter” for this Oscar season.

For Bale — the ass-o-holic method actor that denies being, well, a method actor (and sometimes a regular person) — the dickish attention to detail is paying off. His transformation from the stoic, washboard-abed Batman to cracked-out Dicky is startling. Between Dicky’s brawls, delusional behavior and slurred speech, it’s a wonder Bale’s body emerged unscathed post-film — and if his dedication doesn’t work the Academy, nothing will.

—Rusteen Honardoost
Staff Writer

"The Tourist" - Dec. 10

People will watch “The Tourist” for one reason only: The upcoming action flick pairs powerhouse actors Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie for the first time. Filmed in Venice, Italy, the film follows an unexpected love affair between naïve American tourist Frank Taylor (Depp) and British femme fatale Elise Ward (Jolie), as Frank gets sucked into Elise’s world of international intrigue, chases and gunfights galore. The film is a Hollywood remake of the 2005 French film “Anthony Zimmer,” and the cast gets a glamorous update, including ex-James Bond Timothy Dalton. The pedigree of the actors elevates “The Tourist” a couple notches above your typical spy thriller, and the millions eager to see Depp and Jolie make out will surely help it rake in money at the box office.

—Imran Manji
Senior Staff Writer

"How Do You Know" - Dec. 17

“How Do You Know,” unfortunately, could be yet another film joining the ranks of mediocre rom-coms, though it aspires to much higher territory. The flick follows Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon), a professional softball player with commitment issues. Lisa is unsure about whether she’s in love with MLB-pitcher boyfriend Manny (Owen Wilson) and, unlike her girlfriends, hasn’t had her wedding day planned since childhood. The plot thickens with the addition of a love triangle with high-powered executive George (Paul Rudd), up for indictment because of his shady father played by none other than Jack Nicholson.

Despite the charming A-list cast, the film would seem unremarkable if it weren’t directed and written by Academy Award winner James L. Brooks, the mastermind behind romantic comedy gems “Terms of Endearment” and “As Good As It Gets.” With such a fantastic pedigree, this film may actually be worth the trip to the movie theater over winter break.

—Revathy Sampath-Kumar
Staff Writer

"True Grit" - Dec. 22

It’s good to be a Coen Brothers fan. From “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski” to “No Country For Old Men” and last year’s hugely overlooked “A Serious Man,” the hardest-working duo in filmmaking seems to have a limitless cache of instant classics up their sleeves. And if the menacing, “OMG” trailer for “True Grit” — an adaptation of the darkly comic, 1968 Charles Portis western novel — is anything to go by, they’re not planning on taking a break any time soon.

The infinitely badass, eye patch-sporting Jeff Bridges leads as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (played by none other than John Wayne in the 1969 Oscar-winning original). The film chronicles the story of a 14-year-old Mattie Ross (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) who commissions the help of Cogburn and a Texas Ranger named La Boeuf (Matt Damon) to track down her father’s murderer — a drifter named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Frequent Coen collaborator Carter Burwell delivers an epic score to match the film’s dark content, complete with thundering percussion and haunting, Protestant hymns.

Even with just a movie trailer to go off of, the thought of a gun-toting, bloodthirsty Arkansas tween giving grown men a run for their money (not to mention, it’s the goddamn Coen brothers) should be enough to keep the theaters packed and the Oscar nods coming.

—Ren Ebel
Staff Writer

"Rabbit Hole" - Dec. 17

“Rabbit Hole,” an adaptation of a 2005 Tony Award-nominated play by David Lindsay-Abaire, possesses all the components of the too-familiar Hollywood tearjerker formula: a sudden death, two grief-stricken parents, a distraught wife banging on her steering wheel, all wrapped in a broken marriage. In this case, Becca and Howie Corbett (played by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) are struggling to cope after their four-year-old son dies suddenly in a car accident.

Both parents have different ways of coping with the loss. Becca becomes oddly fixated on her son’s teenage killer, Jason, while Howie remains focused on the past, holding in his anger. Their conflicting reactions inevitably cause a rift between the couple.

Judging by the trailer’s mournful piano numbers and long shots of parents staring at old photographs, there will be few positive moments in the film’s 91 minutes. Potential viewers might wonder if the flick bears too much similarity to the unsolved depression they saw from Kidman in “The Hours.” But even so, “Rabbit Hole” does, at least, promise award-caliber performances from its leads.

—Kirsten Mauro
Staff Writer

To temporarily assuage the woes of the recession generation’s working class, writer David Siedle and director Tom Hooper transport us into the heartbeat of prewar England, where a man — who is supposed to have everything he wants — has been stripped of a voice.

World War II is bearing down upon the country, as a red-hot Hitler drums up the masses in support of his genocidal mission. Prince Albert, or “Bertie,” (Colin Firth) suddenly finds himself with a heavy cross to bear — the prestigious moniker of “King George VI”, bestowed on him when his brother David (Guy Pearce) abdicates the throne to pursue a romance with an American woman. Weighed down with the ever-growing sorrows and expectations of a nation, he struggles — with the help of his doting wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) and speech therapist Lionel (Geoffery Rush) — to rid himself of a crippling speech impediment, and learn to speak on behalf of a nation.

“The King’s Speech” never makes the struggles of King George’s reign poignant enough to inspire sympathy for the burgeoning monarch. Instead, the focus is on Bertie as a man, not a king. He’s someone who is crippled by his inability to speak through years of childhood neglect.

As Bertie, Firth had considerable hurdles to overcome; inspiring sympathy for a character so frequently prone to bouts of mute rage (and rather unmuted rudeness) is not a small undertaking. Traditionally, speech impediments are seen as sources of amusement, or lack of intellect — children grow up watching the bumbling Sylvester the Cat lisp his way through cartoons. But with Firth on the throne, Bertie’s choked silence is never a barrier for emotion or prickly wit. He curses, laughs, confides, raves, tears and loves, mostly silently, occasionally set to a humbled stutter. Each word inspires an enigmatic passion; the actor’s face is drawn, then suddenly slack, riddled with the excruciating effort of breathing sound into his thoughts, his mind hastily moving forward before his paralytic mouth can recover. Rush’s Lionel is a well-penned complement — he is daring, stubborn and eloquent — but the spotlight decidedly belongs to Firth.

Most importantly, “The King’s Speech” is intimate. The banter is typically a volley between both men (and Carter, equally delightful, frequently gets in on the fun). At their first meeting, Lionel asks Bertie if he knows any jokes, to which he replies (after considerable stammering and delay), “Timing isn’t my strong suit.”

But for Firth, timing is everything. With last year’s “Best Actor” nomination in tow, his lively performance as Bertie might have the man taking the stage for a speech no one dreads — and walking away with a golden statuette in hand. (B+)

"Ruined"
La Jolla Playhouse
Through Dec. 19

Eastern Congo has been through two ethnic wars, political ruin and political faction, but these conflicts take a backseat in “Ruined,” Lynn Nottage’s riveting exposition of female strength, now playing at the La Jolla Playhouse.

Despite the word being in the title, no one lays out the meaning of the word “ruined” in Nottage’s play. It’s a euphemism for rape and refers to when eighteen-year-old Sophie (Carla Duren) is sexually assaulted. In a war where women’s bodies are the spoils of victory, Sophie and two other young women find shelter in Mama Nadi’s whorehouse, where militants must cast aside their weaponry to enter.

Mama, played animatedly by Tonye Patano, is the cock-grabbing, business-minded Sue Sylvester of the Congo. She speaks with the conviction of experience and scoffs at Sophie and Salima’s (Pascale Armand) trashy romance novels in which, unlike the real world, “everything is forgiven by a kiss.” Despite her rigid exterior, Mama bears unconditional sympathy for Sophie — an anomaly that goes unexplained until the play’s end.

Mama’s disregard for politics catches up to her in the form of Commander Osembenga (Adrian Roberts). She doesn’t give a damn about the men who walk through her door, and welcomes opposing factions in the Congo’s ethnic war. Osembenga’s discovery that rebels have also been served at the whorehouse leads to a struggle to keep her place safe.

American audiences are not privy to the internal conflict of the Congo, but promises of democracy that the Congolese government doles out at the expense of human lives are achingly familiar (Iraq and Afghanistan, anyone?). But Nottage isn’t interested in political warfare so much as gendered conflict. For her, the female body is its own war zone, an implication made clear when Salima proclaims to the militiamen, “You will not fight your battles on my body.”

The rickety set, designed by Clint Ramos, further underscores the play’s concept of ruins. Adorned with Christmas lights and a vintage Pepsi stand, Mama’s whorehouse is a hodgepodge of decorations. Despite its overly eclectic appearance, the set never changes, providing an anchor in an intense play.

The Afro-beat score provided by the drums of Alvin Terry and electric guitar of Adesoji Odukogbe is less a backdrop than part of the action, becoming the live band that accompanies Sophie’s singing. To pull us further into the atmosphere, the women of Mama’s whorehouse dance into the audience. The smell of cigarette smoke and the sprinkling of French words in the dialogue immerse the play in realism.

Directed by South African native Liesl Tommy, the production demands attention for its large-scale social commentary. Given the play’s handling of abduction, rape, prostitution and botched abortions, thematic intensity is in no shortage. But “Ruined” is still a departure from the grief binge of many dramatizations of Africa.

The play is about hope in a time of struggle. The running gag of unrequited love between Sophie's uncle Christian and Mama provides comic relief, while the potential of an operation for Sophie, despite its costs, is yet another silver lining. In fact, Sophie croons a metaphor throughout the play that reminds us of the female characters’ tenacity in times of struggle: “Life’s a green mango cracked too soon,” she sings, “but if it survives, it will ripen in the sun.”

Like the women it portrays, “Ruined” evokes sympathy and admiration. Nottage gives a voice to the women of war who, instead of being victimized, find strength in one another. (A-)

?

Nicki Minaj
Pink Friday
Young Money

At this point, it’s impossible to talk about Nicki Minaj without mentioning her verse on Kanye West’s “Monster.” Rhyming “Sri Lanka” with “Tonka” and “Willy Wonka” in violently cartoonish form, Minaj eclipsed appearances by Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Kanye himself. It was undoubtedly one of the greatest things to happen to rap this year and almost singlehandedly cemented Minaj’s position among the legacy of sexually aggressive, socially conscious female rappers like Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliot. But unfortunately, Minaj’s highly anticipated debut album, Pink Friday, fails to match the manic genius of “Monster,” which is disappointing, especially since she seems capable of so much more than this unremarkable album.

The album’s most significant flaw is that, although Minaj is a superb rapper, she is at best a mediocre singer. And much of the album consists of traditional R&B tracks like “Right Thru Me,” “Save Me” and “Your Love.” While they’re all decent songs, they pale in comparison to Minaj’s unhinged rap work. But that’s the best of them — some of the songs here cross the line into unlistenable territory. The will.i.am-produced “Check It Out,” based on a sample of “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles, is cringe-worthy in its cheesiness.

But when Minaj raps, she’s totally on top. Eminem collaboration “Roman’s Revenge” has hints of the insane genius that made Minaj’s early work so refreshing: seemingly random vocal and character changes, off-beat rhymes, an undeniable commitment to her sheer lunacy. “I’m startin’ to feel like a dungeon dragon/ Raah, raah, like a dungeon dragon,” she barks. Her raps are even good enough to upstage Eminem’s clumsy attempt at reprising his Slim Shady persona; Minaj just does crazy so much better.

The album’s best track “Did It On ‘Em” — which contains a booming, Bangladesh-produced beat — is equally absurd, with Minaj
gleefully asserting that, “If I had a dick, I would pull it out and piss on ‘em.”

It’s these moments that prove Minaj still has a lot more in store for us. While Pink Friday certainly has its lows, it still proves that Minaj is one of the most promising rappers — male or female — around. (6/10)

Daft Punk
Tron: Legacy
Walt Disney Records

The soundtracks for upcoming Disney movies aren’t usually the subject of media anticipation, but the score for “Tron: Legacy” breaks the mold for one reason and one reason only: Daft Punk. The thought of the famed French house duo commanding a massive 85-piece orchestra has sent legions of fans into an overjoyed frenzy. Throw in some fan-produced tracks that leaked earlier this year (and were actually kinda good), and it’s hard to beat the hype.

But even with overwhelmingly high expectations, Tron: Legacy proves to be an enormous accomplishment. The mixture of classical instruments and digital synthesizers is exactly the kind of bold experimentation Daft Punk is famous for, and exactly the kind of pairing that appeals to fans (and everyone else, for that matter).

But don’t go in expecting anything like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”; this is far from a typical Daft Punk album. “The Grid” starts the journey with the only vocals on the soundtrack — provided by “Tron” star Jeff Bridges — leading the way. “I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see. And then, one day, I got in,” he explains over an escalating beat, instilling an unparalleled sense of discovery. “Recognizer” follows and chronicles both Sam Flynn’s and our own first push into the dark, digital world of the movie. Sharp violins and low synth get progressively louder and more dissonant, stirring the thrill of excitement that characterizes the plunge into the heroic adventure.

While most of the soundtrack has little in common with Daft Punk’s prior work, their electronica roots show up from time to time. “Derezzed” is exactly what you imagined Daft Punk’s score would sound like; it’s loud and it’s fast and it provides an adrenaline rush. The same goes for “End Titles” — with its electronic power and uplifting rhythm, it promises to keep theatre seats full during the credits.

In the end, their mixture of classical and digital doesn’t get a party started quite like “One More Time,” but it is still a magnificent work by the unstoppable Daft Punk. And who knows? It may force the robots out of hiding and into suits at the Oscars. “Best Score” could very well be within their reach. (9/10)

Robyn
Body Talk
Konichiwa

Robyn has been making strides on the other side of the Atlantic since the late ‘90s, crafting relentlessly sweet synth-pop that, for whatever reason, has yet to break the surface of the U.S. mainstream. But on Body Talk Pt. 3 — the conclusion of a three-part series that includes five new songs and five tracks each from this year’s Body Talk Pt.1 and Body Talk Pt. 2 — the Swedish artist showcases the explosive confidence of a full-fledged pop star.

Singles “Indestructible” and “Dancing On My Own” glimmer with ‘80s synthesizers, fronted by Robyn’s powerful-but-lovelorn lyrics, delivered with searing bravado. The former track’s “screw you” vibe is reminiscent of last year’s “Bulletproof” by fellow European electropoppers La Roux. “I let the bad ones in and the good ones go/But I’m gonna love you like I’ve never been hurt before,” she croons.

Despite the occasional overdone lyrical content, Body Talk is never stale. In “Fem Bot,” a delightfully spastic, half-rapped verse slides into a sexy, ethereal chorus, while the campy dub of Diplo-produced “Dancehall Queen” manages to weave in an electro-ska breakdown. Snoop Dogg even stops by on “U Should Know Better” — a globetrotting, fast-paced hit list of people who “know better than to fuck with me” (the Russians, the Vatican, the CIA and the Prince of Darkness, to name a few). It’s an entertaining and surprisingly funny detour from the standard dance-pop, not to mention the most interesting thing Snoop has done in the last few years (no, “California Gurls” doesn’t count).

But it’s moments like on the soaring “Call Your Girlfriend” and flashback love song “Hang With Me” that hit our sappy, vulnerable cores, revealing the naive teenage girl inside. Sometimes — Robyn assures us — you need to put that rugged machismo aside and just dance the pain away.

Those who pray that Lady GaGa will someday find the sleek, inventive sound to match her futuristic-Christmas-tree persona, look no further. We have Robyn to cure our pop depression — and the exciting and outrageously infectious (though imperfect) Body Talk is a clear reminder that we should be damn thankful we do. (8/10)

Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Roc-A-Fella

Between the Bush-bashing, Taylor-crushing and pornographic album cover, it’s a shock Kanye West even spent enough time in the studio to produce a complete, finished album. But on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the rapper marries his signature dick-swinging lyrics with grandiose instruments, creating a perfect crescendo of sound and ego that continues from the first track to the last.

Fantasy takes the best of experimental kid-brother attempt 808s and Heartbreaks and injects the throwback heart of ’05 West-classic Late Registration to create the most complete hip-hop LP the genre has seen in years. If hip-hop still has a pulse, it’s Kanye. His latest couples the top dogs of hip-hop (Alicia Keyes, RZA) with African drumbeats, violin strings and plucky piano notes — he’s not just making music, he’s the pied piper of the mainstream.

And Kanye knows it: “My presence is a present, kiss my ass,” he demands on the pitch-black and drum-heavy haunt “Monster,” as a growling Jay-Z and shrieking Nicki Minaj join in on the destruction. On summer single “Power,” Kanye continues the percussion trend, as he spits about a man caught up in the glamour of his own fame over a synth-warped King Crimson sample and a chorus of wailing African goddesses. “Runaway”  is beautiful in its minimalism, featuring a steady stream of piano tinkling as Kanye turns down the bravado enough to reveal a shred of modesty (“You been putttin’ up with my shit just way too long”).

Not that Kanye’s been lazy on the album’s remainders. Each ditty plunges the listener into an unexplored facet of Kanye’s psychosis. Some are dark and twisted, others warm extremities left numb and raw by the cold frigidity of songs like “So Appalled.” On “All of the Lights,” the beat rushes, scattered, as trumpets ring out. A persistent chorus of feedback synth — bordering on dubstep — runs through “Hell of a Life.” Though “All of the Lights” features a “We are the World”-worthy host of A-listers (an M.I.A.-esque Fergie, Elton John and Rihanna), Kanye is decidedly the star of each piece. His vetted swag is never overshadowed by the song’s backdrop or contributing artists. Instead, they carry him, framing his scene-stealing ballads.

As always, lyrical purists need not apply; Kanye is still self-promoting. He devotes the entire latter half of “Blame Game” to chest thumping, as a guy praises a girl’s progression with charmers like “My dick thanks you” and “Who got your pussy reupholstered?” to which she dutifully responds “Yeezy taught me.”

Sure, he may still be a PHD (pretty huge dick), but he’s got us tripping off Fantasy’s power — something that hasn’t happened since he struck gold with “Touch the Sky.” For once, there’s no need to apologize. (10/10)

Nelly
5.0
Universal Motown

Over the course of his surprisingly long career, Nelly has released some great songs: “Country Grammar,” “Ride Wit Me,” “Hot In Herre” and “Grillz,” to name a few. That’s a pretty successful track record, especially for someone as gleefully oblivious to artistic development as Nelly. However, the Nelly behind 5.0 is not the same Nelly that so charmingly invited us to take off all our clothes. This Nelly just makes really, really bad music.

No matter how intently you search, there is absolutely nothing on 5.0 worth listening to. The raps are uninspired (rhyming party and Bacardi ain’t new, buddy), the production is annoying (siren effects and horns galore!) and the numerous guest spots are either uniformly terrible (who let Diddy rap on this?) or wasted on songs that are just plain boring.

“Just A Dream,” the album’s first single, is built on the kind of cheesy, late-nineties radio rock guitar riff that Nelly might have been able to get away with a decade ago. “Move Your Body,” despite being produced by Bangladesh — the genius behind “What’s Your Fantasy,” “A Milli” and “Videophone” — is home to one of the most uninteresting vocal hooks T-Pain has ever sung.

Drowned in over-produced club beats (and those damn air horns again), even Keri Hilson, who by now is probably used to redeeming forgettable tracks, is unable to salvage “Liv Tonight” from Nelly’s “we be poppin’ bottles, makin’ noise” buffoonery.

Granted, “She’s So Fly” — the album’s best and only listenable track — is a moderately compelling mid-tempo jam with a decent T.I. verse and an interesting sub-bass drum breakdown.

But barring any unforeseen changes, the uninspired production of 5.0 stands as a solid confirmation that Nelly’s career is over. It especially pales in comparison to much of the hip-hop released lately. Do yourself a favor and listen to Kanye’s new album instead. Nelly should have done the same. (3/10)

When looking for a voice actor for their new film “Tangled,” directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno picked out bubbly girl-next-door Mandy Moore — an appropriate choice, if you happen to live next to a 70-foot-tall tower.

The pop star lends her vocal chops to Rapunzel in the 3-D adaptation of the old Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Her love interest — and home invader, and the recipient of many a frying pan to the head — is the charming thief Flynn Rider, voiced by Zachary Levi. Together, along with sidekicks Pascal and Maximus, they journey across the kingdom in search of mysterious floating lights.

The rush of suddenly being a part of the 50th member of Disney’s pantheon of animated features is a heady one for these two long-time fans. Though Moore worked with Disney in 2006 when she provided the voice for Nita in the direct-to-video “Brother Bear 2”, becoming a full-blown (thought unofficial) Disney princess — complete with long-haired dolls and Halloween costumes — is something completely new. For co-vocal star Levi, both voice acting and feature films are a vast departure from his goofy spy thriller “Chuck,” now entering its fourth season.

A member of The Guardian, along with reporters from the Cal State San Marcos Pride, the Daily Aztec, and The Falconer, sat down with Moore and Levi to discuss their fairy tale rise to stardom.

Do you think the film will appeal to both boys and girls as a fairy tale?

Zachary Levi: I think it will absolutely appeal to both boys and girls. I think honestly that was one of the things Disney wanted to set out to accomplish. You know, they’ve had a lot of success in the princess world, and a lot of those princess movies also appeal to boys as well — I mean, I was a little boy and I watched all of them. I don’t know what that means (laughing). But specifically what I heard is they really wanted to have a movie that was really equilateral. Yes, you have this princess character of Rapunzel, but you kind of have this fresh take on it and it’s an adventure movie at its heart. It has a lot of romance and comedy and drama and all that stuff, but it’s also an adventure.

It also has a strong male lead.

ZL: (laughing) Yeah, incredibly strong. Brawny.

I thought Rapunzel’s nervousness about leaving her tower was similar to many teenagers’ anxiety about leaving home for the first time and going to college. What lessons do you think high school or college students could learn from Tangled?

Mandy Moore: Goodness, well, I like the idea of never really questioning that little voice inside of you. Not letting fear sort of win at the end of the day. And perhaps it’s cliché or obvious, but I like the idea that her entire life, Rapunzel’s been told that it’s her 70 ft of magical hair that makes her special when clearly it was something that was within her all along. I think that’s always an important message to get across. You come to expect that when you go to a Disney film — you’re going to be entertained. You’re going to laugh — probably cry if you’re a woman, ‘cause I know I do — and you’re also going to come out with a little life lesson, or morality lesson. So I think there are some important themes in the film that hopefully are obvious when people leave.

So I’m sure both of you are both big Disney fans — Zach, I know that you are.

ZL: Disnerd

Disnerd, Yes I’ve heard that. I am too.

ZL: Alright!

What’s it mean to be a part of Disney’s legacy now?

ZL: It’s mind melding. We’ve talked about this at length. Growing up watching all of the films, not just the ones that are considered our generation’s starting with ‘The Little Mermaid’ on, but I mean when I grew up the Disney Channel and cable television was just starting to be what it was, and the Disney Channel was one of those main staple channels, and there was no real original programming. There was no ‘Hannah Montana’ or anything like that. I’m sure at Disney they were sitting around thinking, ‘What do we put on? Let’s just play all the old stuff.’ And they had original programming too. So, I would sit there after school and would just go and watch all the old cartoons like ‘Pecos Bill’ and ‘Johnny Appleseed’ — I don’t know if you guys have seen any of these — and ‘Ferdinand the Bull’ and ‘Lambert the Sheepish Lion’, and all these other random ones. And what’s amazing is that even those, even though they were kind of featurettes, they weren’t full-length features, a lot of those were considered to be part of the 50 [movies]. We’re the 50^th animated feature, which is unbelievable.

MM: It was so cool see all the ones before. I mean, we went to a screening a couple weeks ago, and we sat through and they literally showed from the first film all that came before up until Tangled. And it’s like, ‘Oh my God, “101 Dalmations”! Of course, I totally forgot. “Dumbo”!’ That is so above and beyond that we’re a part of it with this movie because you know, those movies, and ‘Little Mermaid’ and so on, were such huge parts of our childhood. They’re so ingrained in my memory, like singing every single word of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. And now, it’s like this movie could now potentially mean to kids nowadays what those movies meant to us. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.

When you were little did you want to be Ariel?

MM: I did, I did.

ZL: So did I, sister. (laughs) I wanted to be Sebastian, actually.

MM: Flounder?

ZL: No, I mean I liked Flounder, but Sebastian…

M: He’s the man.

ZL: Crab. Yeah, he’s the total man-crab.

I’d say you’re more like Aladdin.

ZL: I love Aladdin. I mean Aladdin was my — for little boys, that was more the movie because he was a guy.  There was also so much adventure going on. And the Genie was so good. Robin Williams as the Genie was maybe one of the most perfect Disney roles ever. And Abu is great, and the carpet is great, and Iago is great, I mean, everybody. But definitely it was more male driven. And Jasmine was hot.

You kind of look like Aladdin.

ZL: Yeah? Kind of. (Staring to sing) ‘One jump ahead of the breadline…Da da.’ Alright, I won’t get into it.

In animation, often times once a voice actor is cast, they’ll sort of go back and change the character a bit because that missing piece of the puzzle has been filled in. It completes the personality in a way. Did that happen when you guys were cast as Rapunzel and Flynn?

MM: I don’t think so

ZL: Not the look, I don’t think so. They had pretty much set the look of the characters before we were cast. But they have a camera in there the whole time recording your voiceover, so — we’ve talked about this before, I think [Mandy] noticed a few moments of yours where you did something.

MM: Yeah, I was like, ‘That’s me!’ Yes, gestures that she does, I was like, ‘Oh my Gosh, that’s so me.’ Even my husband turned to me and said ‘That’s so you’ in some parts. It’s pretty crazy. I think we thought the same thing [when we saw the camera] in the vocal booth — that it would be for behind the scenes DVD stuff.

ZL: Yeah, that’s what I thought it was.

MM: And it really was for the animators to get to sort of see how we move. [To Levi] I mean, are you super animated? ‘Cause I’m very gesture-y. I mean, she had to use the frying pan and I was [mimes swinging a frying pan with effort], like I was really holding the frying pan.

You guys were separate when you were recording?

ZL: We didn’t record dialogue together once.

MM: We only met when we did the duet.

ZL: We sang the duet together, but we didn’t get to do any of the dialogue together.

MM: Doing all the press, all of this, is the first time we —

ZL: The first time we’ve hung together.

MM: Yeah, the first time we hung out.

Is that [aspect of voice acting] difficult, when you’re imagining someone’s reactions?

ZL: Yeah.

MM: Yeah. I mean, I guess you get used to it as well, and it allows you or forces you to dig deep into your imagination and give every different variation on a line you can give. And at least the directors were there. And they were with Zach and they were with Donna [Murphy, who voiced Mother Gothel] for her sessions, so they know what they need to get from me to match what they love and they’ve already gotten from Zach. I don’t know. You have to just in there and throw caution to the wind and have fun.

Having had your own successful musical career, was it a little bit of a challenge not having total creative control over the musical parts?

MM: No, not really, because Alan Menken is Alan Menken and the songs were so incredible, even in the demo phase, that it was intimidating to go into the studio because it’s not like going in there and recording your own songs. I couldn’t approach these songs like, ‘Oh, I know what to do with this.’ There was a lot of thought into breaking these songs down — especially the first song in the film, because it was so challenging. You couldn’t just jump in. You know, the duet that we sing together is beautiful, but that was a song that you could sort of lose yourself in a little bit more. But I needed Alan to tell me, ‘OK, this is where you breathe on this line for “When Will My Life Begin”’ because there’s so much to get in and you had to be in character too. It’s the first time you really see the character on screen so that was really challenging initially. I was so frustrated with myself. I was like, ‘I know how to do this! Why isn’t happening the way I want it to?’ [laughing]. But again, Alan is such a pro and it’s so second nature to him that he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it out of me.

[To Mandy] You’ve portrayed so many characters in this really wide variety of films, from heroes like Rapunzel to really sympathetic characters like Jaime in ‘A Walk to Remember’, to more villains like Lana in ‘The Princess Diaries’. In your opinion, is any one type of character more fun to play or easier to play than others?

MM: It’s always fun to play the villain. [to Levi] Right?

ZL: Yeah, it’s fun to play the villain. I think societally people are called upon to be nice people — as they should be. I think it’s good to have standards, for people to treat other people with kindness and respect. So, if that’s the standard, that’s what we’re called to do more often than not, so you don’t really have that outlet for those other parts that might be inside of you that’re just dying to yell at somebody. I don’t know. Not that it should be or whatever. But there are those things inside of us. I don’t know if it’s a matter of exorcizing your demons, but when you get to be a bad guy, you get to. And there’s no recourse, and you’re actually being paid to do that.

MM: It’s very cathartic.

ZL: Yes, exactly.

MM: It’s always more fun to play someone that’s so different than yourself.

There are so many beautiful scenes in ‘Tangled’. What scenes struck the two of you? Which ones were your favorites?

ZL: Well, I think we both think the lantern scene. I think that’s going to be one of the scenes that people walk out of the theater and find beautiful.

MM: It’s so — I mean, what a fantasy. It’s so beautiful. Not only the light from the lanterns, but just the way the whole scene is lit, and this world that they live in. It is so romantic, and it’s so easy to get carried away with that. You know.

ZL: It’s also such a bummer, because you go from that —

MM: — Like the highest of highs —

ZL: — yeah, and right after that is when everything falls apart. They’ve made it to the kingdom, they’ve fallen in love, he’s over the satchel, they’re ready to kiss, and she’s meters away from her parents, and then it all goes wrong. But it’s good storytelling, and you need that to kind of build the stakes. But yeah, it’s a beautiful scene. I think the whole movie, the entire artistic direction on this film is just spectacular. The whole world that we’re running around in is just gorgeous. And you know, it’s interesting, because I know that a lot of people were initially kind of up in arms that it’s not 2D — it’s CG and ‘Why are they doing that?’ and ‘Why don’t they stick with the classic Disney?’ But I don’t know if you could get the same world [in 2D], I don’t know if you could paint the same picture that they do in this movie. Not that they haven’t made fantastical forests and magical lands before — obviously they have, and they’ve done it very well. But to do it in the way that they’ve done it in this movie is just incredible.

MM: The detail.

ZL: And the light shining through the trees.

MM: Yeah, I kept watching the movie and thinking ‘I can see every layer of clothing that Mother Gothel is wearing, and the way that the fabric moves’. It’s all of those little tiny details. It is so mind-blowing to me.

ZL: Yeah, it’s such a beautiful movie anyway. My favorite scenes are —

MM: The ones you’re in? [laughing]

ZL: Why thank you. I loved all the stuff with Maximus, fighting with Maximus. Pascal and Maximus steal the movie to me. I hate saying it but…

MM: Yeah, they do.

ZL: And Mother Gothel. God, Donna Murphy is so freaking good. ‘Mother Knows Best’ is such a great song, and then the reprise.

MM: Seriously, I have been jamming to that in my car. Like, if I have to get out and pump gas or something, I quickly turn down it a little bit. How nerdy would that be? I don’t listen to my own stuff, but totally ‘Mother Knows Best’ and the reprise, I sing along.

Tying into the music section: Zach, you’ve been branching out with your music career lately, working with Katharine McPhee on ‘Terrified’. Was the opportunity to sing like a big draw?

ZL: Yeah, it was definitely part of the draw. I mean, there’s really only one draw, and that is when I heard that they were auditioning for a Disney animated musical and I said, ‘Yes please, whatever I have to do, I do it for free. I’ll fly wherever I have to, because it’s a dream come true.’ And the fact that it was musical, and it was animated… Look, I would’ve been stoked just to do an animated film. I remember years back when they were auditioning for Ratatouille, I was clawing at the door saying ‘please’, because I think Pixar is amazing as well. Definitely, huge added bonus for this to be a musical. I’ve grown up my whole life singing. I love singing and I guess you always kind of hope that someone hears you and goes ‘Oh, you can actually do that. I’ll hire you to do that.’ And they did, so it’s amazing. And the duet with Katharine and this are the only two things I’ve done. I’ve sang at some charity things, but nothing that’s ever been recorded, nothing that ever been a professional gig.

Is that something you want to pursue?

ZL: I’d love to, but only if somebody comes to me and says ‘I’d like for you to do this’, but I don’t even know how to force myself.

In true “what you see is what you get” fashion, director Tony Scott’s latest doesn’t make any attempts at redefining (or even adding to) an expansive blue-collar action genre — instead, Scott defaults to action boilerplate. In any other context (or any other film with far less Denzel Washington) the outcome would have been catastrophic, but despite the moribund premise and occasionally overemotional moments of cheese, Scott’s flick delivers on its promise. It’s a mildly entertaining middle-of-the-road action movie divested of any substantial thinking.

By nature, the film’s “Speed” premise narrows the film’s artistic and narrative scope down to a variety of well-timed collisions and a two-track story outcome: Either the train stops or it doesn’t. Much like train 777, “Unstoppable” careens down its set path, restricted by its own main line. The movie follows a straight-faced, no-nonsense train engineer, Frank (Washington), who has been assigned to teach new pretty-boy conductor Will (Chris Pine) the rules of the train yard. After two bumbling fellow employees lose control of a half-a-mile-long train, Will and Frank set down the tracks to retrieve the freight (which, to raise the stakes, has poisonous substances on board) and assuage the woes of a nervous populace and the ever-grumbling vice president Galvin (Kevin Dunn).

Though “Unstoppable” panders to the working class by making an ass of anyone with a six-figure salary — a well-timed move, considering the state of the economy — none of the character’s hustle can keep the film from seeming lazy. Information on the leading men is minimal — as they talk shop, we’re told Will’s wife hasn’t spoken to him in two weeks, and Frank’s wife died from cancer a couple of years back. Faux-concern shared between the actors is thrown into high relief by half-baked character development. Frank’s single-parent stock persona isn’t aided by writer Mark Bomback’s apathetic attempts at quirk — Frank’s daughters, god save him, work at Hooters.

Outside this undynamic duo, sidelined characters are caught in the entrails of their own kitsch. At one point, a train full of school-aged children stare, slack-jawed, as the unmanned train passes by, ooh-ing their delight. Later, Will’s estranged, disenchanted wife bursts into alligator tears as her husband’s fate becomes increasingly unclear.
Nonetheless, “Unstoppable” chugs along, punctuating dialogue with an impressive display of explosive grandeur — cars, trains and people all go up in a dazzling, twisting array of billowing flames and cloud-smoke. But the movie is overly concerned with its own machinery — prolonged shots of sparks as brakes hit metal, trains flip over in fantastic 180-mid air twists and a scowling, brow-furrowed Washington come at the cost of a more intricate plotline.

But derailing a money-maker comes at too high a price, Galvin says. And “Unstoppable”’s head-conductor Scott agrees.