'Dragon' takes flight

While Sony Pictures Classics might be overly optimistic about their Best Picture Oscar hopes for Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," it is still a terrific movie. The film, which is based on a novel published about a hundred years ago, is set in the early 19th century, when the Wuxia knights-errant, similar to Japanese samurai, ruled the land.



Award season starts unevenly

Sunday proved to be a night of surprises. Tom Hanks, the underdog, came from behind to grab his fourth statuette. Heavily favored director Steven Soderbergh lost both his directing nominations to Ang Lee, and Julia Roberts seemed to be the only one who was surprised she won at the 58th Annual Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press almost completely snubbed Soderbergh's drug war epic, "Traffic," seen as the favorite for Best Drama going into Sunday night's ceremony.



Unsung tunes of 2000

Very little changed in the world of popular music in 2000. Legions of copycat rap/rock acts rode the coattails of knuckle-dragging Limp Bizkit frontman and music mogul Fred Durst, while even more fledgling pretty boy/girl pop groups tried to cash in on the success of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc. The acts that were yesterday's unfortunate successes are now today's ugly trend.



Delightful piratical fun

For college students, mounting a full-length opera requires a massive commitment of time: at least three months of rehearsals, not to mention the time required for painting sets, sewing costumes and hanging lights. In order to present "The Pirates of Penzance," the Sinfonicron Light Opera Company did all this in less than three weeks, returning immediately after the New Year for a whirlwind period of rehearsals and work sessions. The finished show -- two-and-a-half hours of song, dance and comedy -- featured an amazingly talented and dedicated cast and was truly fun to watch.



Scott's poetic debut

"Who is Jill Scott?" Not only is it one of the best albums of 2000, but it's one of the most aptly titled. Scott, already a poet and an actress, gives listeners a guided tour of her life in a soul/R&B album that slips you into its own world for its duration then leaves you greedily flipping back to enjoy the highlights.



Soderbergh's fine 'Traffic' ensemble deserves awards

For those who don't watch television, or perhaps live in a hole with a tortoise afraid of daylight, the Golden Globes occurred this past Sunday. What did this year's Globes prove? That once again films that deserve recognition don't get it. That once again the popular films win out in the end.



Cryptic chiller

Mark Z. Danielewski's first novel, "House of Leaves," is part diary, part dissertation, part visual art and part reference book. This extremely complex and utterly original book shows the author's sophisticated, creative and slightly warped mind at play.

Poetry worth waiting for

Peter Klappert, a writer-in-residence at the College during the '70s, released his much-praised "The Idiot Princess of the Last Dynasty" in 1984. In 2000, he published "Chokecherries: New and Selected Poems 1966-1999." Any poet who waits 16 years between book publications takes a risk. Will his audience wait for him, or will they move on to other writers? Will his poems be fresh, or will the lengthy absence spoil his speech and dull his pen?

Hanks' deserves to win gold 'Cast Away'

Tom Hanks delivers a quiet and subtle performance in a Robert Zemeckis film that will certainly attract Oscar attention over the next few weeks. There's no doubt that Hanks will be up for a nomination since winning the Golden Globe and several critics' awards, but what of the film itself?



Coming Soon




Out of Site