APRIL 9, 2010

Movie gods disapprove of ‘Clash of the Titans’

“Clash of the Titans,” di-rected by Louis Leterrier, was a clash of many movies, which left me disappointed and wish-ing I had seen a different mov-ie. I felt like I was watching a struggle between “300,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “Troy,” all movies that were far superior, or at least more intriguing.

I had high hopes for the movie after watching count-less previews that showed an action-packed movie with well-known actors, such as Liam Neeson.

However, my hopes plum-meted after the first scene, and only continued to spiral down-ward as the movie continued.

The plot stems from a war that breaks out between the Greek gods and men. The gods are angry with men because they are not worshipping them as they should, while the men

are upset with the gods for the destruction they have caused.

Perseus (Sam Worthing-ton) is a demi-god, son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) and a mortal woman, who just so hap-pens to be the only per-son who can stop the war by killing the Kraken. I n a g r e e m e n t with Hades (Ralph Fi-ennes), Zeus gives per-mission for him to wreak hav-oc on mankind in hopes they will return to praying to the gods.

The final step of the plan is for Hades to release the Kraken, his own creation, and completely destroy the Greek city of Argos unless they sac-rifice the princess Andromeda

(Alexa Davalos). The story line gets more

complicated by bringing in more characters who are never developed and jumping around from the city of Argos, to the journey of Perseus.

As he seeks the witches, Medusa, and finds himself in many perilous situations that

also leave him alone after start-ing out with many men.

I found myself not really car-ing about whether or not any of the charac-ters lived because they

had only been around for a few scenes. I also found my-self laughing at the cheesiness of the acting at times.

I thought Sam Worthing-ton was a decent actor in “Av-atar,” but then again, he did not have as much screen time as his blue Avatar, so maybe I was wrong.

Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are fine actors but this movie did not show them in a good light, unless you count Zeus’s armor, which was so shiny, it produced its own rays of light.

I wish I could say that at least the special effects were up to par, but even they were lack-ing or at least I’ve seen better.

I was sad to walk out of

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Courtney TownsendSTAFF WRITER

Mike KuhlenbeckSTAFF WRITER

FILMOFILIA.COM‘Clash of the Titans,’ is based on a war between the Greek gods and men. The movie, which debuted at the end of March, starred Liam Neeson and Sam Worthington.

Release Date:

Directo

Main Actors:

Run Time:Rating:

March 26Louis Leterrier

Liam NeesonSam Worthinton106 minutes

PG-13

the theater feeling gloomy after months of anticipation. Instead of a remarkable Greek mythology movie, I was given a movie that “clashed,” or es-sentially crashed and burned.

I recommend just watch-ing the previews because it will save you money and de-

livers the whole movie in a fraction of the time.

Or just rent “300,” “Lord of the Rings,” or perhaps “Troy,” and rest assured you’re not missing anything by not seeing “Clash of the Titans.”

r:

A pair of 2009 studies found detectable levels of mercury in name-brand foods containing high-fructose corn syrup.

According to Health Day, name-brand foods such as Nutri-Grain, Strawberry cereal bars, Blueberry Frosted Pop-Tarts and Quaker Oatmeal to Go have small traces of mer-cury. The list also includes beverages such as Coca-Cola Classic, Dr. Pepper and Sunny-D.

The study in the Environmental Health jour-nal, conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, found that one in three of 55 major food brands con-tained mercury, attributed to foods containing high-fruc-tose corn-syrup.

Many vending machines on campus contain some prod-ucts on the IATP’s list of foods with high levels on high-fruc-tose corn syrup. According to these studies, it is very plausible that some of these products contain small traces of mercury.

quick and easy, but I don’t think I will get food from them anymore,” Pankey said, “It’s disturbing that more foods and products are being deemed unsafe in the market.

HFCS is a sweetener and

preservative found in name brand foods and drinks, espe-cially in sweet and fruit-fla-vored beverages. Many com-panies use HFCS because it is cheaper than sugar.

The Department of Health and Human Services describes mercury on their website as: “a chemical that can cause irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing, memory problems, lung damage, nausea, vom-iting, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes, and eye irritation if the person is exposed to it for too long.”

Mercury is commonly found in fish and poultry, and many physicians usually rec-ommend eating these foods sparingly so it does not com-pound in one’s bloodstream over a long period of time.

The Washington Post revealed that “On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high con-sumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.”

Rebecca Lang, health and physical education profes-sor, said the studies’ findings

Ricky Pankey, sports man-agement junior, said he buys from the vending machines on campus two to three times a week and was surprised by the findings.

“Vending machines are

should not sidetrack people’s focus on maintaining good health and fitness.

“Students should focus more on what’s good for you rather than what’s bad for you,” Lang said, “If they dwell on the negative, then they may become overwhelmed and may feel pessimistic about try-ing to eat healthy.”

Lang said people should stay optimistic about the foods that are not high risk.

“There’s more of a general consensus that people should eat more grains, fruits, vege-tables, and foods that are more organic and not processed,” Lang said, “There will always be a thousand ways to scare people.”

Pankey said most students would not change their eat-ing habits even if they were informed of the studies’ find-ings.

“The implications are debatable, but I think we’re really stubborn. We’re not open to change because we’re so used to convenience,” Pankey said, “but we really should be more aware of the things we take into our bodies.”

Traces of mercury found in food, students change eating ways

Many products in vending machines contain high-fructose corn syr-up, which also has small traces of mercury. The chemical can cause irritability, syness, tremors, and other numerous health problems.

TRACIE ELDER/GRAND VIEWS