Elizabeth Simins

I had heard good things about Yoshi’s Island for years. And the fact that the game’s Gameboy Advance incarnation was sold out everywhere I looked just served to confirm that positive word-of-mouth.

There’s something wrong with most funny games. Anyone who isn’t a fan of Pixar movies—or hates them with a passion, like I do—probably hasn’t bothered to pick up the Pixar-esque Ratchet and Clank games.

I’m embarrassed to say that the first video game I ever owned was Pokemon. Yes, when I was 11 years old, my brother and I spent a happy summer trading virtual creatures between our Gameboy Colors.

I’ve always been an outspoken opponent of those who claim that video games cause violence in otherwise balanced people—but perhaps it’s time to reassess my position.

Japan is notorious for producing incomprehensibly bizarre video games. Last year’s Elite Beat Agents, for example, was a rhythm game in which wacky problems could only be solved by a set of male cheerleaders in suits and shades.

The most stunning aspect of In Our Bedroom After the War is its craft. The songs are saturated with layered instrumentation and carefully spun narratives, which are often so arresting that the real world pales in comparison to the universes of Stars’ songs.

Saving a princess is probably the most clichéd story line in history. Yet the Legend of Zelda video game series, which has thrived for over 20 years, has never stepped too far out of the damsel-in-distress box.

On its Web site, Digitallife claims to be “the ultimate consumer technology, gaming & entertainment event of the year.”

Blue Dragon isn’t the first game to be created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama, and Nobuo Uematsu.

At the end of this year, a cinematic work of art will be released that has a multi-million dollar production value, an all-star cast, and a director with over two decades of experience in the industry.

Three years ago, when University President Lee Bollinger asked Gregory Mosher if he could make art a part of the Columbia experience, Mosher went around asking students what that would take.

Art and religion have had a tumultuous relationship over the centuries. It's true that an overwhelming number of works that are widely acknowledged as timeless masterpieces contain religious content.

The nominations for the 2007 James Beard Foundation Awards have just been announced.

Barcelona. Modernity. If you just thought of Salvador Dalí, you only get partial credit.

Drawing and performance are not usually placed in the same category. Though both are visual art forms, they are vastly different and thus tend to be thought of as separate.

Few can deny the mysterious lure of the tombs of ancient Egypt. The many movies and books that have been inspired by what lies inside the pyramids are evidence enough of that. America in the 21st century is, however, worlds away from the heyday of pyramids, mummification, and hieroglyphics.

When someone says "comic book," do you picture a 12-year-old boy begging his dad for more allowance to buy just one more installment of Superman, then staying up late and reading under his blankets with a flashlight? For whatever reason, people tend to associate comic books and graphic novels with children, and think of them as nothing more than a youthful diversion, comparable to a Sunday morning cartoon.

When someone says "comic book," do you picture a twelve-year-old boy begging his dad for more allowance to buy just one more installment of Superman, then staying up late and reading under his blankets with a flashlight? For whatever reason, people tend to associate comic books and graphic novels with children, and think of them as nothing more than a youthful diversion, comparable to a Sunday morning cartoon.

Breasts exposed through exaggeratedly sheer dresses, horribly deformed faces, and an open head revealing a steaming pile of shit for a brain are just three of the images that startle the unsuspecting museumgoer upon walking into the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new exhibit, "Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s.

By Elizabeth Simins

Columbia Daily Spectator

Pablo Picasso is probably one of the most recognizable names in art. Whether you're a college senior majoring in art history, or a first semester first-year who has yet to take Art Humanities, chances are you would be able to pick out one of Picasso's famous distorted faces.