Evan Benton

Twitter to the Rescue!: Social Networking Sites Create New Adventures for Amateur Journalists

On February 12, 2010, two Metro cars on a six-car train jumped the rail. While there were no serious injuries, over 300 passengers were left stranded, and once again the thousands of people using the D.C. Metro system every day were left wondering: What the hell is going on here? There are many reasons to be alarmed.

The Crazy Heart of Jeff Bridges

This year, Los Angeles native Jeff Bridges is the forerunner for the Best Actor award for his role as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. For fans like me, this attention, praise and heaps of “shoo-in” talk is a long time coming.

From Sundance to Oscar Gold: Silver Screen Novice Gabourey Sidibe Hoping for Precious Win

In the history of the Academy Awards, there have been several times that a talented newcomer has come along and won the hearts (and votes) of the Academy. Hilary Swank surprised the world with her 1999 Boys Don’t Cry Best Actress win. In 2007, American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson won the best Supporting Actress award for her role in Dreamgirls.

Lights, Camera, Mason An Inside Look at GMU’s Film Department

George Mason University is known for its many centers of learning: a continually growing School of Law in Arlington; a massive, world-renowned communication department featuring former journalists and reporters from News 4 and Reuters; and an economics department that touts such professors as Russ Roberts and popular conservative analyst Walter Williams — to name only the most popular fields.

Rate My Professor

When I first came to George Mason University at the tail end of the glorious, eye-awakening summer of 2006, I braced myself for what, at the time, seemed like the only part of college I should prepare for: the classes.

I was told by a plethora of former students and high school teachers prior to my college career that, “In college, I will be just a number in a sea of faces; a student with no identity, whose only method of communicating with his professors is via e-mail, as they don’t take questions during class.”

Team Edward or Team Jacob? New Moon Trumps Twilight in Pure Sex Appeal

By Evan Benton, Broadside Staff Writer

Last Friday, in the wee hours of the morning, hundreds of thousands of people around the country attended the midnight showing of New Moon, the adaptation of the second book in the wildly popular Twilight series, pulling in a record single day box-office record of almost $73 million in only 4,024 theaters.

Dialogue Vs. Dynamite: Solving the Feud Between Explosions and Plot

By Evan Benton, Staff Writer

Last weekend, I was arguing with a friend from my high school who was in town for the night. I had just come out of a University Mall Theatres screening of Inglourious Basterds, and was particularly surprised and enthralled by the film.

The strength of Basterds was its writing, as it is in every film Quentin Tarantino has ever made. He possesses a narrative style all his own, and writes dialogue so realistic that it makes even the most outlandish and fantastical themes seem plausible.