January 27th, 2012

The Realistic Gay Romance Movie Is Film’s Hottest Trend

There is a big statement occurring in film regarding the portrayal of human sexuality, and, no, it’s not Michael Fassbander’s naughty bits in Shame. Rather, it is a trend appearing recently in two independent queer films, in which there is a strong effort to capture a realistic depiction of  gay love and sex. First was a small, quiet U.K. romance from 2011, Weekend  by Andrew Haigh, and now the more recent Sundance selection Keep the Lights On, by Ira Sachs. Both films trace the developing relationships between two very different couples.

Each film is acclaimed for having a honest portrayal of young gay males, something that many movies lack if you’ve taken the time to plunder the “Gay and Lesbian” section of Netflix. The majority of gay themed movies (is that a real genre?) usually resort to finely manicured dolls of men embroiled in melodrama commonly surrounding the political upheavals or religious damnation of homosexuality — anyone who has spent a Saturday in bed watching Latter Days crying into your chinese food knows what I am talking about. Read more…


US Grants Yemen’s Ousted President Medical Treatment, Favors the Autocrat

After a year of protests, uprisings, and violent government repression in Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33 year tenure as president is scheduled to come to an end in February. On January 22nd, the State Department announced that it had approved a request to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment made by the ousted Yemeni President. As is customary for visiting heads of state, Saleh will be granted diplomatic immunity during his time in the U.S.

Of course, Saleh, who was seriously hurt in an RPG attack last June, is not the only person without access to adequate medical facilities to sustain injuries in the Arab Spring uprisings. We need to put our kind and seemingly diplomatically sound gesture to a longtime ally in the context of the greater Arab Spring, where thousands upon thousands of civilians and protestors seeking democratic reforms have been injured or killed without being offered access to our medical facilities– some by Saleh’s own forces. We are sending a bad signal to the Arab world. Read more…


The Voting Dead: South Carolina Counts Deceased Votes

A spot of rare good news for American democracy came out of last week’s South Carolina primary when a demographic not typically known for its voting habits made a strong showing. Unfortunately, that demographic was the deceased.

The South Carolina Attorney General reported that 953 ballots were cast by dead residents — or, as they are called in more politically correct circles, “the non-living.” Further, he reported that 37,000 deceased South Carolinians had been found on the state’s roster of registered voters.This problem is not unique to South Carolina. In New Hampshire, where residents cast their first-in-the-nation ballots on January 10th, conservative activist James O’Keefe (famous for his pimp-cosplay stings) filmed undercover as he claimed the ballots of deceased residents.

Read more…


Demystifying NYU’s Torch Club

Ever heard of the NYU Torch Club? Neither had we, until we found it on Yelp. Sitting at 18 Waverly Place, it looks like what you’d expect to see in the dining room of a country club. It’s a pretty stark contrast to most of NYU’s other buildings. It actually looks cozy, complete with arm chairs and a portrait of NYU founding father Albert Gallatin hanging above a fire place. Indeed, all of the furnishings seem typical of some lounge at an Ivy league school, where professors in tweed blazers talk about pre-Socratic philosophy. So what is this place and what is it doing at our school?

According to NYU, the Torch Club is a facility that exclusively serves faculty, staff, and alumni. However, as many Yelp reviewers have pointed out, no one really checks to assure that you are in any way affiliated with the university. The only consequence seems to be the addition of sales tax if paid by a non-NYU account.

Read more…


NYC Tip: Go Get Some Hot Soup

As winter maintains its icy grip on our fair city, there are few things we can do to fight the cold. Bears hibernate, lucky people snuggle with their boyfriends and girlfriends, and crazy people go swimming at Coney Island. But hey, there is always the nourishing and satisfying option of soup. Here are our favorite places to procure warm, hearty soups to forget about the cold.

Soup Kiosk (94 Prince St): Besides the soup, the best thing about Soup Kiosk is its compact existence. This place is nothing but a tin shack built off of a different café. The inside is only big enough to house a chalkboard menu, six cauldrons of delicious soup, and one worker, usually a girl from whom you realize you’ve always wanted to receive a bowl of steaming hot soup. There’s no seating, and the lines are extraordinarily long, but its worth it to get some of the best soup in New York City. ProTip: ignore the option for rice. The heartiness of the soups, especially the beef or vegan chili, will fill you up enough without additional grains.  Read more…


Explaining Romney, Bain, Private Equity, And Why Gingrich Screwed Up

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has come under attack for his history as a founding partner and CEO of Bain Capital. Opponents, including Newt Gingrich, have accused Romney during his tenure at Bain of taking over companies, plunging the company into debt, laying off the employees, sending the firm to bankruptcy, and walking away with millions of dollars.

In the mid eighties, Romney left his position as partner at well-known consulting firm Bain & Company with two other partners and started Bain Capital. Originally, the company functioned as a venture capital firm — a firm that is an early investor in start-ups and entrepreneurs. The firm had several profitable ventures, including investing in Staples when it had just one store. Read more…


English Major May Not Leave You Destitute: Liberal Arts Advantages In A Down Economy

Hear ye, hear ye, various CAS and Gallatin students. You may be paying thousands upon thousands of dollars for your education, but you know that crippling debt you will find yourself in upon graduation, when you are left with only a philosophy degree (and certainly not your dignity)? You may not find yourself living with your parents, jobless and alone! An article published yesterday by USA Today showed the results of a study that stated students with good critical thinking and writing skills, i.e. the hopeful result of a Liberal Arts education, were more likely to be better off financially.

The study, conducted by the Social Science Research Council, consisted of a standardized test done to measure how students “think, reason, and write.” Those who did well on the test, called the “Collegiate Learning Assessment” were more likely to do well in life. High-scorers were three times less likely to be unemployed than low scorers, as well as half as likely to be living with their parents and in far less credit card debt.

Read more…


Local Stops: Waka Flocka Swanson

-Maurice Sendak is the best curmudgeon to ever grace the Colbert Report.

-NYPD Chief Ray Kelly’s son was accused of rape. That man is having one heck of a day.

-Matthew Broderick appeared as Ferris Bueller in a tease for a Super Bowl ad.

-Klaus Biesenbach is the director of MoMa’s PS1. Here he is at home. He’s into white.

-WAKA FLOCKA SWANSON.

Photo of the day by Julia Berke


NYU Sophomore Protests NC Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment With New Musical

What do Jack Black, Mark Shaiman, and a couple of college students have in common? Perhaps more than you’d think: they all worked on Shaiman’s Prop 8: the Musical, which starred Black and went viral. Three years later, Gallatin sophomore Joe Ehrman-Dupre and UNC Chapel Hill sophomores Rachel Kaplan and Jordan Imbrey have created a sequel of sorts.

In response to North Carolina’s Amendment One, which will appear on the May 8th ballot and would define marriage in North Carolina as between one man and one woman, the students created NC Amendment One: the Musical, which aims to educate viewers and protest the amendment. We had a chance to speak with actor and assistant director Ehrman-Dupre about the musical and the impact the group involved hopes to make on voters come May.

Read more…


Obama’s NLRB Recess Appointments Anger Republicans But Might Help NYU Unions

On January 4, President Obama announced his decision to appoint three new members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was in recess. The board had previously been at risk of losing its ability to rule on cases as only two of its five seats were occupied, but the appointments of Department of Labor Attorney Sharon Block, labor lawyer Richard Griffin, and NLRB counsel Terence Flynn gave the Board a quorum.

In June 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that at least three NLRB members are required for the Board to be able to decide on cases, and Republicans spent the last year blocking Obama’s nominations in order to reduce the Board’s functionality. At the end of 2011, NLRB member Craig Becker’s term expired, leaving three empty seats, but Obama’s recess appointments restored the NLRB to its full membership with a Democratic majority. Read more…