Arts & Culture

Student films return to the big screen next week as the ninth annual UC Davis Film Festival will take place on May 27 and 28 at 8:30 p.m. at the Davis Varsity Theatre. Tickets are $5 and available for purchase at the Varsity Box Office.

The festival - which accepts film submissions from all students regardless of their major - has seen a spike in popularity this year as over 60 films have been submitted, up from just 30 last year. All of the films are unique and represent a wide-range of genres and concepts from music videos to documentaries.

It's been said that the message is in the medium, and Vent Magazine is taking full advantage of the old adage.

Today, the magazine - which focuses on Asian American politics and pop culture - releases its fourth issue, the "Marijuana Issue."

Vent will hold a release party tonight at 10 at 217 Club, located at 217 E St. Pre-sale tickets are $8 and tickets at the door are $15. Admission is free for those 21 and over. Free copies of the magazine will be issued at the release party.

Editor's Note: Though albums and films are certainly worthy of review, there are other things that should also be looked at with a critical eye. This first of a new feature compares the various video rental outlets available to UC Davis students.

Netflix

Rating: 5

Someone once mentioned to me that since getting Netflix the quality of movies he watches has dropped dramatically. Though it was the opposite of my experience (Schindler's List awaits me at home), it's a likely outcome. That's one of the best things about Netflix: whether you watch one movie a month or fifteen, it's the same price. So what's holding you back from finally watching The Love Guru, just to see what all the fuss is about? It's only wasted time, not wasted money.

Along with inexpensive pricing and online viewing, Netflix is ideal for the lazy and tech-savvy. The smoothly organized online queue is designed for functionality and yet I could play around on the Netflix site for hours planning my next movie, or maybe more - my queue currently has 480 pending, I kid you not.

Some people may call themselves students of the world, but James Ragan truly is one. He is an internationally recognized poet who has performed at worldwide venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, the United Nations and the First International Poetry Festival in Moscow with Bob Dylan and Robert Bly. He served as the director of the University of Southern California's Professional Writing Program for 25 years and is currently teaching as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Search Party 2009 gave student musicians a chance to perform in front of their peers as bands took the stage May 14 at the ASUCD Coffee House. Presented by The California Aggie, KDVS 90.3 FM and ASUCD Entertainment Council, the show brought a diverse set of music to the stage -- experimental duo Grandmother Ham, folk rock Boxes, glam-rock prog act Order of the Golden Mirror and indie rockers

MUSIC

Search Party 2009: Grandmother Ham, Boxes, Order of the Golden Mirror, Captions

Today, 8 p.m., free

ASUCD Coffee House

Support your classmates and local music! Presented by The California Aggie, KDVS 90.3 FM and ASUCD Entertainment Council, this annual student musician search brings in up-and-coming bands of UC Davis to you. Check out page 4 for the scoop on this year's winners!

Not An Airplane, Travis Vick, Ally Hasche

Today, 10 p.m., $3, 21

Sophia's Thai Kitchen

Oh Travis Vick, I'd totally have a crush on you if I just were a couple of years younger. His airy, atmospheric acoustic folk - think Sufjan Stevens meets The Dodos with a hint of Elliot Smith - is perfect for a warm spring night on the patio. Ladies and gentleman under 21, get your arses out on Balcony B for this show.

Though I've (hopefully) become a weekly fixture to keep you entertained with your morning cup of Coho coffee or while waiting at the bus stop, this was not the case a mere 12 months ago.

The deadline for next year's managerial positions is today, so I've been wondering - what happens after an arts editor comes to the end of their term? Where do they go once they clear the piles of press releases and un-reviewed albums off of their sticker-laden desk and leave the cozy confines of 25 Lower Freeborn?

Dada art is difficult to explain, but easier to experience first-hand. It's not surprising then that the word Dada is essentially a nonsense word, chosen at random to represent a radical, passionate, anti-art movement.

The Dada Cabaret art festival will take place on Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m. The event, directed by theater and dance MFA candidate Hope Mirlis will be broken up into two sections - an afternoon walking tour and scavenger hunt at various locations downtown and an evening cabaret performance at what the official website says will be a "secret" location on campus beginning at 8 p.m.

The Ellen Hansen Memorial Prize is a mixed-media exhibit of photography, performance art, painting, sculpture, poetry, fiction, comics and film produced by female UC Davis students.

The exhibit is currently being featured at Pence Gallery in Downtown Davis and will continue until May 21.

"This is the first year that the exhibit has been hosted by the Pence Gallery," said Margaret Swain, director of the Women's Resources and Research Center. "The Women's Center is very excited for this collaboration."

Though Shakespeare may not have expected his plays to be performed on anything but a theater stage, Studio 301 makes it seem like A Midsummer Night's Dream was designed for the outdoors. The independent student theater group's production debuted last night and will continue performances Thursdays through Sundays until May 24. A Midsummer Night's Dream follows three intertwining tales of love and bewitchment. First the audience meets the four youths: two men and two women who are all a bit crossed in love. Their story begins calmly but quickly escalates to an uproarious scene of infighting and competitions of machismo.

The most impressive aspect of Star Trek is how the writers managed to make a prequel interesting and entertaining. Prequels are often devoid of suspense because you know that if the characters appear in movies that occur later chronologically, nothing bad can really happen to them. This doesn't make for a very exciting film, no matter how action packed it may be (see: Wolverine).

Rarely do movies made about the Asian American experience reach a wide audience, but an ongoing event at UC Davis is trying to change that.

UC Davis' Asian American Association is in the middle of hosting its annual film festival. The event, which kicked off on May 5, continues until May 15. The films run Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays each week.

MUSIC

The Lovetones, Chief Nowhere, The Ancient Sons

Today, 9 p.m., $$, 21

Old Ironsides in Sacramento

For anyone wondering what sort of music sprouts from the land down under, the answer: It's not that different from the stuff here. The Aussies of the Lovetones bring a psychedelic touch to their Interpol-esque rock base.

With the mixed musical styles of former Bright Eyes front man Conor Oberst and the full-throttled folk back-up from Mystic Valley Band also come mixed feelings.

The band's sophomore album Outer South, which was released on May 5, is not for creatures of habitual bouts of quivering melodies and nervous serenades, as most Oberst fans have become accustomed to. While Oberst has consistently shown an ability to evolve in unexpected ways, this change is not for the better.

In many cultures around the world, footwear not only serves functional purposes, but also as indicators of social class and economic status. "Stepping Out: Footwear Around the World," an exhibition put on by UC Davis design students, features shoes from our very own design collection.

The exhibit opens on Monday and will run until July 12. An opening reception will be held on May 17 at 1 p.m. at the museum, and guided tours will be given throughout the afternoon.