By DYLAN LEMERT Columnist @dlemert We’ve come a long way since the humble, utopic vision of the mid-20th century. Refusing to be anymore defined by white picket-fenced yards and clean-pressed suits, our current national opinion of ourselves seems to be gradually shifting south along with our nightly, newsworthy predicaments. When things hit rock bottom, as
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By: DYLAN LEMERT The beginning of my freshman year at IU South Bend (all the way back in August of 2009, which means I’m officially older than most of you), I couldn’t have told you what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I couldn’t have told you if I even belonged in college. For
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist The strange world of television sitcoms, for its overall breeziness and oft-criticized shallow brand of humor, is a curious place to find programming aimed more at genre-bending than good ratings. But in its fifth season, the Dan Harmon helmed “Community,” a show notorious for the way it plays with pop culture
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist On the tail end of the last weekend-released “Noah” film comes a wave of controversy. In reality, seedlings of this contention were planted months ago when it was divulged that director Darren Aronofsky’s take on the well-known Bible story would be given a spectacularly Hollywood treatment. And with a budget of
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist About a week ago, I sat in the lodge of a campground steeped high in the Rocky Mountains, contemplating what I would write, wondering if those words would mean anything to me once I returned home. Earlier that same week I had made the 18-hour trip by vehicle with several close
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist The central gimmick in Spike Jonze’s new film “Her” — that an adult man would be so lonely and desperate enough as to fall in love with a computer operating system (or an “OS” for short) — is enough to engage or disgust potential audiences right off the bat. Forgive me:
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist “Fading West,” the new album from San-Diego-bred rock band Switchfoot, comes off as less than I expected. I know, I know: “Those guys are still around?” you’re probably thinking. They are, though admittedly they’ve yet to repeat the double platinum success they found in 2003 with “The Beautiful Letdown.” (That album?
By: DYLAN LEMERT Columnist Dave Eggers’ newest novel is a work of nightmarish proportions. It’s a look at one possible version of a specifically-westernized apocalypse, an overblown tale of what happens when power is first given an inch, but takes a mile. “The Circle,” both the title of the novel and the name of the