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Thursday, March 23, 2000
Alfred Hitchcock Classic
Sneaks Back Into Theaters
By Jeremy Hertz
Staff Writer
Alfred Hitchcock’s films are among
the most psychologically captivating of
all time. His precise direction and
streamlined characterization are revered
by critics. But Hitchcock is best known
for one thing, of Which the newly
restored “Rear Window” is his most
flawless example - sustained suspense.
Four-time Hitchcock leading man
James Stewart
plays Jeff, a
photojoumalist
wheelchair
bound by a
broken leg. He
has little to do
| Movie Review
“Rear Window"
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with an afternoon but watch his many
neighbors from the rear window of his
apartment. Adventuresome but com
mitment-shy, he struggles to keep his
socialite girlfriend (three-time Hitchcock
leading lady Grace Kelly).
One night Jeff hears a scream from
the window opposite his. When a neigh
bor’s wife goes missing, Jeff becomes
convinced that “something is terribly
wrong” and seeks to prove foul play.
Most critics name the 1958 “Vertigo”
as Hitchcock’s best film. It’s more intri
cate, from standpoints of narrative and
psychology. But “Rear Window," made
four years earlier, is equally stylish in a
simpler fashion.
Every element in the film adds a
remarkable sense of realism. The sound
track is only music heard by the charac-
Bizbuzz
Entertainment News
Who Wants to Win More Money?
Admitted “Who Wants to Bea
Millionaire?” freak Rosie O’Donnell
will tape a special celebrity version of
the game show April 7, with all win
nings going to charity. Rest assured that
O’Donnell is familiar with the show’s
three “lifelines” format. But after her
much-publicized stmt as a phone-a
friend, will O’Donnell be able to live up
to her reputation?
Buffy + Freddie?
People magazine reports that Sarah
Michelle Cellar and Freddie Prinzejr.
of “She’s All That” fame are rumored to
be dating after a romantic dinner in
Malibu. Can you picture the reaction of
the teenybopper crowd? Oh my
GAWD, aren’t they a CUTE couple?
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ters in the picture, with no separate
score. Very few shots originate outside
Jeff’s apartment - everything occurring
outside the window is viewed through it.
This realism is driven toward a single
goal, sustaining suspense like no other
film ever made. Hitchcock creates a pal
pable sense of danger and menace so
subtly that we remain, like the protago
nists, uncertain any wrong has been
done, yet deathly afraid it has.
Stewart, the perfect everyman, and
Kelly, the perfect socialite beauty, have
chemistry enough to run DuPont out of
business. Their relationship, intriguing
and clearly defined, draws the audience
in. Because the characters seem real, the
suspense is genuine; because the setting
seems real, the suspense is intense.
It’s a classic, one of the finest films in
existence. Why, though, is the 46-year
old film back in theaters? In short, to
ensure its continued existence.
Film preservationist Robert Harris,
who previously restored “Vertigo,” has
worked a miracle on “Rear Window.”
Any film this old requires extensive
work to create a decent print, but this
film reportedly was in horrible shape,
and it now looks flawless. The color
tones of dusk early on are breathtaking;
the picture has only a fragment of the
grain and fuzz one would expect. It’s a
miraculous thing to see such a perfect
picture look pristine once again.
The Alts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Oscar Oops
With the Oscars coming up Sunday,
this has been a banner year for blunders.
Not only did the U.S. Postal Service lose
eight bags of ballots, but a crateful of
Oscar statuettes yet to be inscribed were
stolen en route to Los Angeles. The stat
uettes, with an estimated worth in the
tens of thousands, were found in an Los
Angeles dumpster. Guess they’re mak
ing sure to provide host Billy Crystal
with a lot of material.
Turn Out the Lights...
After six years of melodrama and
slowly slipping ratings, FOX’s “Party of
Five” has finally bitten the dust, and the
“Party” spin-off “Time of Your Life” is
in danger of being canceled.
And FOX’s troubles promise to con
tinue. “90210” is leaving the air in May
after 10 years, and it’s still not certain
whether powerhouse “The X-Files” will
return for an eighth season.
If You Weren't Scared the First Time
The filmmakers who brought “The
Blair Witch Project” to the big screen
last summer are busy filming the sequel,
ingeniously titled “Blair Witch 2.” They
reportedly aren’t planning to do any
filming in the now-famous Burkittsville,
Md., and the success of the first film
ensures that they aren’t suffering from a
low budget this time. Maybe they’ll
have enough money to purchase a
Steadicam.
Compiled by Allison Rost
The UNC-CH Chapter of Habitat for Humanity
Presents Its Second Annual
Featuring
JBSM Harmonyx, Carolina Tar Heel Voices
&
UNC Clef Hangers
w rr nr
Friday • March 24, 2000 8:OOpm Tickets available
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DIVERSIONS Movies
Movie Lays Early Claim to Grammy Fame
By Justin Winters
Staff Writer
It’s only fitting that the hands-down
best movie of the century thus far was
released at a time when this year’s Oscar
statues were all scandalously missing.
Steven Soderbergh’s newest magnif-
icent gem of a
movie, “Erin
Brockovich,”
will have to
wait until next
year for its
chance to
H Movie Review
"Erin Brockovich"
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legally steal the awards away from the
rest of the competition.
“Brockovich,” based on the true story
of a single lower-middle-class mother
who takes on a dirty water-utility com
pany “Norma Rae”-style, is a film that
might look and sound like any of the
numerous courtroom dramas (namely
1998’s overrated “A Civil Action”)
Hollywood has produced recently.
Luckily, Soderbergh, who directed
another underrated classic in last year’s
“Out of Sight,” doesn’t play by the rules.
A self-proclaimed independent director,
he has made an un-Hollywood movie
starring the the planet Earth’s hottest
female star, Julia Roberts.
The script by Susannah Grant (“Ever
After”), wonderfully written with sharp
er dialogue than any of last year’s
movies, takes a true rebel-rousing story
and gives it a sharp kick in the butt.
Completely involving from begin
ning to end, every character in
“Brockovich” serves a purpose to the
story, unlike many movies who have
numerous “cardboard characters.”
'The Cup' Fuses Buddhist Themes, Western Setting
By Matt Mansfield
Staff Writer
If “The Cup” pours anew breed of
filmmaker onto the Hollywood scene,
traditional Buddhist robes will replace
devil-red silk dresses and sacrilegious
polyester suits.
The film,
written and
directed by
Buddhist monk
Khyentse
Norbu, com-
H| Movie Review
"The Cup”
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bines two unlikely subjects: Buddhism
and soccer.
Aspiring monks Palden and Lodo try
to escape the monotony of chanting to
watch the 1998 World Cup.
Palden strips off his monks robes for
his other spiritual garb -a jersey of a
famous Brazilian soccer player that
Palden made from a T-shirt.
Norbu mixes the two themes well by
having the monks root for countries that
support Tibet’s liberation from China.
He also emphasizes the clash of two
cultures within one civilization: refugees
who have grown up in India and recent
immigrants from Tibet.
The conflict between Palden, a
refugee his whole life, and two recently
arrived refugees adds needed tension in
the film that lacks only one thing -
Soderbergh has a knack for casting roles
which truly challenge his “superstars."
Roberts, playing the single mom who
dresses more like her character from
“Pretty Woman” and talks with language
more like Eddie Murphy’s “Raw,” lights
up the screen with an unorthodox role
that could have been easily underplayed
or overplayed by a less capable actress.
Roberts has always been criticized for
being too pretty or too girly to be a true
actress. Playing a woman who really
doesn’t give a damn what people think
of her, finally, Roberts’s best line could
be a wry reply to her sharpest critics.
Responding to her male employer’s
suggestion to wear less provocative
clothing due the complaints of her
female co-workers, Roberts’ character
replies that she will instead proudly
keep wearing whatever she wants as
long as she has “one ass instead of two.”
Roberts isn’t the only one who gives
a perfect performance in the film.
Veteran actor Albert Finney
(“Simpatico”) surprises as Brockovich’s
boss and partner who undergoes a hilar
ious character arc from pediatric lawyer
to a guy that you could just hug.
In the flick’s overall whimsical
scheme, Soderbergh’s direction is the
overall glue that holds “Brockovich”
together throughout. He has given
Roberts and Finney two roles that will
undoubtedly gamer them two deserved
Oscar nominations in 2001. He should
also be in good position for a “Best
Director” award.
And he won’t even have to steal it.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
%-T" 1 J? '■ |TT-
Jamyang Lodro stars as Orygen in "The Cup," a film that explores both religious and secular spirituality.
Director Khyentse Norbu depicts the story of monks who love soccer.
moving drama for Western audiences.
The film tries to teach a lesson in true
Buddhist form. In the middle of the
film, a Buddhist lesson is interrupted by
the soccer game.
At the end of the movie, Palden asks
how the story concludes, and the monk
replies, “Why must there always be an
end to a story?”
This ironic statement tells the audi
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Julia Roberts returns to the screen as a tenacious file clerk who plans
to save a small town in tight skirts and heels.
ence that a story does not end at an
absolute moment, making the audience
aware that the characters exist beyond
the film’s end. This conjures up the
Buddhist notion that nothing ends and
that people and things exist eternally.
However, this maxim ironically gives
the film a concrete resolution, showing
Norbu’s talent as a storyteller.
Norbu also exhibits his versatile abil
ity to cast visually appealing shots. He
presents awe-inspiring nature shots of
the Indian Himalayas.
He also conveys the pomp and cir-
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cumstance of Buddhist ceremonies with
a symmetrical shot casting over the
abbot monk’s head, down the aisle lined
by monks and straight out of the temple y
door.
Norbu’s dissolving scene changes,
leave the audience enraptured. One
fades from a Buddhist shrine of candles
made from modern-day Coke cans to
an ancient Buddhist statue. The effect
eloquently adds to the clash of modem
civilization and Buddhist tradition.
Although lacking in dramatic excite
ment, “The Cup” provides valuable
lessons and powerful cinematography,
generating a truly original foreign film
that could transform Los Angeles into a,
giant Hollywood monastery.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
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