SLO in midst of movie madness

Beginning last Friday and continuing through Sunday, San Luis Obispo will buzz with a little slice of Hollywood. This year marks the 14th annual San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, an event that showcases several films and special events.

The films showcased at the festival are a variety of both new, contemporary films from around the world as well as older films.

NIN releases free nine-track album online

Nine Inch Nails band member Trent Reznor posted his new album, “Ghosts I-IV,” on NIN.com last week in an attempt to screw over major record labels. The album can be downloaded off the Web site for only $5, a steal considering it has 36 tracks. Moreover, for those who aren’t the biggest Nine Inch Nails fans, the album’s first nine tracks can be downloaded for free on the Web site.

Despite nostalgic appeal, comic a big flop

Marvel Comic’s release of a new miniseries created by Jack Kirby, the late “King of Comics,” should be enough to throw the salivary glands of all of fandom into overdrive. That is, until they actually get their sweaty, little hands on “Galactic Bounty Hunters.

Take a chill pill, people

I’m always on my grind; I ain’t got time to count sheep. So I’ll take these pills and start a life without sleep. America’s tank is on empty. We have so many different energy-inducing products on the market, seemingly people don’t stay awake on their own anymore.

Movie previews for 3/7

Jason Statham returns as a badass in “The Bank Job” and “10,000 B.C.” takes terrible “period” films to a new level.

Crossing the divide between religion and art

Russian realist author Leo Tolstoy once said, “Art is not a pleasure, a solace or an amusement; art is a great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmitting man’s reasonable perception into feeling.”

The International Arts Movement (IAM), a New York City-based arts organization, takes Tolstoy’s observation to heart.

Poly hosts Arabic music concert

Anyone looking to experience Middle Eastern culture need look no further than campus Friday night, when the newly-formed Arab Music Ensemble performs its winter concert. The 22-member group started last year under the guidance of music professor Kenneth Habib.

Documentary shows the real Juarez story

Imagine a 12-year-old girl who not only has to work in a factory making 50 cents an hour to assemble Gam Boys, DVD players, clothes and food products but also has to worry about her safety to and from her home – if she even has one.

Documentary filmmaker Barbara Martinez Jitner discussed the mistreatment, working conditions and murders of 400 young Mexican female workers near the cities of Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico, to a full audience of Cal Poly faculty and students Thursday morning at Vista Grande Café.

A giant fist and The Thermals

When most people hear the phrase “religion in modern music,” their thoughts

Confession: I'm a closet musical aficionado

I don’t hate musicals; I actually love them. I only hate that, until recently, I was embarrassed to come out to you about it. Indeed, I own the soundtracks to several now-“uncool” musicals and belt their lyrics in my car, only to surreptitiously pretend to be emphatically singing along to Amy Winehouse or Chris Brown.

Painting religious controversy

Click here to view an audio slideshow of Mark Bryan’s art and hear from the artist himself.