This Week in Entertainment
Ender's Game
Robocop
This reboot of the 1980s sci-fi franchise stars Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) as the titular cyborg officer. After a multinational conglomerate develops successful military drone technology, it attempts to bring its product into domestic markets and develops a way for a critically injured policeman to pilot the program. The film, the fourth in the series, also stars action film veterans Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) and Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises). PG-13. 117 minutes.
Ender's Game
After taking several decades to get to the big screen, and despite featuring an awards-caliber cast including Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) and Viola Davis (The Help), this movie disappointed at the box office. Based on the acclaimed science-fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, the film features Asa Butterfield (Hugo) as a boy sent to an elite military school in space to prepare for an impending alien invasion. Bonus features include deleted and extended scenes, audio commentaries and a behind-the-scenes documentary.
About Last Night
Fresh off his recent success with Ride Along, Kevin Hart returns to theaters opposite Michael Ealy (Think Like A Man) and Regina Hall (The Best Man Holiday) in a modern update of the 1986 film based on the David Mamet play Sexual Perversity in Chicago. The film follows two couples as they learn to navigate the challenges of being in a relationship and maintaining friendships, often with hilarious consequences. PG-13. 100 minutes.
Voices
Phantogram
The second studio album from acclaimed electronic rock duo Phantogram follows several EP releases and performances at festivals ranging from Coachella to Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza, as well as exposure in films such as Pitch Perfect and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Phantogram's sound of electric guitar-heavy rhythms blended with techno beats returns on this collection of 11 original tracks that is sure to appeal to fans new and old.
More from The Rice Thresher
Founder’s Court goes alt-rock as bôa kicks off U.S. tour at Rice
Founder’s Court morphed into a festival ground Friday night as British alt-rock band bôa launched the U.S. leg of their “Whiplash” tour. The group headlined the third annual Moody X-Fest before what organizers estimate was “a little bit over 2,000 students” — the largest turnout in the event’s three-year history.
Rice launches alternative funding program amid federal research cuts
Rice is launching the Bridge Funding Program for faculty whose federal funding for research projects has been reduced or removed. The program was announced via the Provost’s newsletter April 24.
This moment may be unprecedented — Rice falling short is not
In many ways, the current landscape of American higher education is unprecedented. Sweeping cuts to federal research funding, overt government efforts to control academic departments and censor campus protests and arbitrary arrests and visa revocations have rightly been criticized as ushering in the latest iteration of fascism.
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