Viewer Discretion Advised

By | November 21, 2005

Last year if you were watching the Academy Awards, you may have seen a slightly short and aged director receiving an honorary Oscar for his lifetime achievement and dedication towards motion pictures. That man was Sidney Lumet, one of my favorite directors. Unfortunately Lumet hasn’t received the attention of many other directors from his era like Scorsese, Coppola, and Kubrick. Lumet is widely considered an “actor’s director” and has directed 17 actors to Oscar-nominated performances. Still it is Lumet’s patient style and the intriguing topics he explores that wins me over. Anyway, here are my top five Lumet films that no film aficionado should go without seeing.

5. The Pawnbroker (1964)

Groundbreaking and bold for its time (it actually was the first film to show a nude woman), The Pawnbroker casts Rod Steiger as a Holocaust survivor now living in New York. Haunted by his dark past, he starts to have horrifying flashbacks as he realizes the New York ghetto where he lives and owns his pawn shop is ruled by the same bullies and criminals (only now in the form of robbers and organized crime) who ruined his earlier life. Chilling but amazing to watch, The Pawnbroker is a must see for film fans.

4. 12 Angry Men (1957)

This totally character driven masterpiece is so brilliant it is hard to believe that this was Lumet’s first motion picture. Lumet brings out genuine performances in each one of the jurors, particularly Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb. With no scenery, action or effects Lumet created a film that is still thrilling to watch today. In a skillful and subtle move, Lumet used camera lenses with long focal length to make the tiny juror room appear to be closing in and becoming more claustrophobic for the actors.

3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

This wonderful character-driven film about two bumbling bank robbers Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) hopping to get money to finance the former’s boyfriend’s sex-change operation is one of the greatest examples of 1970’s anti-establishment cinema. Lument amazingly induces comedic events over the overall feeling of impeding doom for the two robbers to give the film an uncharacteristic mood. Nothing beats Pacino simple, but amazing powerful verbal attack against the police that have gathered to arrest him – “Attica! Attica!”

2. The Verdict (1982)

This is the best movie made about lawyers, period. The Verdict tells the story of down-and-out ambulance chaser Frank Galvin played by Paul Newman who decides to take a medical malpractice case to court in an effort to finally “do the right thing.” This often-overlooked film provides Newman’s greatest and most moving performance. However what makes The Verdict so great is Lumet’s ability to capture the underlying tensions going through his main character’s mind as he sits in the musty offices and bars of Boston in winter. Of course, one of the greatest open-ending shots in film history doesn’t hurt things either.

1. Network (1976)

Ah, yes the movie that gave you the expression: “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” But seriously, Network belongs in the upper echelons of American film. Lumet’s film, written by the brilliant Paddy Chayefsky, provides the greatest commentary, criticism, and warning on television ever developed. The story follows the mental breakdown of news anchor Howard Beale (played to perfection by Peter Finch) and the parasitic network that plays of his rantings to increase ratings instead of giving him help. Lumet wisely shoots the beginning of the film in dark, tonal colors to make it appear like an actual news story but then uses more color and light as we discover the actual fiction of television. However, nothing is more effective and unnerving than the realization that this so called parody, is reality in today’s world of attention deficit disorder media.

Archived article by Mark Rice
Film Editor

Decisively Not Impressed

By November 22, 2005

Imagine there was a pill, a magic pill if you will, that was able to cure abulia, the loss or impairment of the ability to make decision or act independently. It would enable the utmost indecisive person, like myself, to overcome their crippling failure to choose A or B. Fellow abulia sufferers, if deciding what movie to watch over the weekend, what dish to order at a restaurant for dinner leaves you hot and bothered from the unbearable apprehension it ensues, the Abulinux pill is for us! Our day has come! We can reclaim our lives from indecision hell! Well actually, it doesn’t exist. It’s an imaginary drug dreamed up by first-time novelist Benjamin Kunkel. Kunkel’s novel, Indecision, revolves around this mystery but completely fictional drug, and its effect, or lack thereof, on his shiftless lead character, Dwight Wilmerding. Dwight is an underachiever at best, having come from a comfortable well-adjusted upbringing in an affluent Connecticut town. He attended the best private schools all his life, only to sit in a cubicle every week day, “overqualified and air conditioned,” listening to computer users ask obvious questions to which he replies with obvious answers. But this doesn’t faze Dwight; he’s perfectly okay with not knowing who Hugo Chavez is, or not measuring up to his older accomplished sister. Dwight is responsible for planning his high school reunion, which suddenly floods his mind with memories of Natasha, a girl he liked throughout his teenage days. She sends an email to Dwight and mentions she’s in Ecuador, he should come too. Meanwhile, what some might consider luck running out (his lease is about to expire and his job is to be outsourced to Mumbai) Dwight brushes off with indecisive neglect. Lack of ambition and regard for where he’ll be sleeping the month after next gives him ample time to hang with the fellas in their cramped downtown New York City apartment. And deciding if he should go to Ecuador or not has become a full time job in and of itself. I must say that Dwight’s is a life complete separate and apart from mine, I being a first generation American and college student in the U.S., and Dwight having all the opportunities in the world at his fingertips, deciding that, eh, he’d rather just sit back and ‘chill.’ That said, Kunkel, as a removed Midwesterner, does a superb job weaving a story depicting scenes of eternal boyhood in which prep school alums like Dwight take up 9-5 jobs as a side note to their otherwise busy schedule consumed with sipping Jiggy Juice or eating ‘eggy mess’ with the roommates. When spotted still wearing flannel and listening to Pavement, Veneetha, Dwight’s on and off love interest, sighs, “You’re a living cliche … It’s not even a fresh cliche.” Sadly, this is the plain truth, one that almost made me want to put down the book for good. However distant Dwight’s life is from mine, I could definitely appreciate the funny moments that fill and consume Dwight’s mind, relatable to just about any twenty-something year old – or any twenty-something year old who never stops thinking and whose brain is always on cruise control. (To say that I think too much is an understatement.) It’s nice to find that someone besides myself So Dwight’s life went, until Dan, Dwight’s nocturnal medical student roommate, tells him of Abulinix. He solicits Dwight to try it out, although it seems to be more of a proposition to participate in a lab study than a friendly concern. But a forewarning; the drug kicks in 9 days after initial use. Perfect! Dwight thinks. This will work out for the best, as he will already be in Ecuador with the beautiful Natasha when his indecision will supposedly end. Natasha. He doesn’t even know her last name. The rest of the book depicts Dwights roller-coaster ride, from quitting his job and leaving Veneetha a parting break-up note, to traveling to Ecuador to meet the woman that was meant for him. Dwight’s story is not a funny one, more of an intriguing account of the human mind and the tricks that it plays. Why when something goes wrong in one part of our lives do we fixate on a miraculous person/event/dream, wherein if that person/event /dream were realized, all would be right with the world? We would then walk through fields with flowers in bloom, be carefree, and find our lost mojos. Yet more often than not, when we build up something that strongly in our heads, it ends up letting us down. Not to say that something wonderful, or at least interesting in Dwight’s case, won’t be the eventual outcome, but it’s a downer when we come to the realization that the grass is hardly ever greener on the other side. In conveying this moral life lesson, Kunkel succeeds. But I found myself lost in the convoluted details of Dwight’s escapades in Ecuador with the Argentine / Flemmish Brigid, who is yet another woman far more sophisticated and mature than the unassuming Dwight. In the end, I decidedly didn’t care if Dwight won the war of overcoming his indecisiveness. He’d just lost his job and was now vacationing in Ecuador on daddy’s pretty penny. Sorry, but being in a school where I have encountered a number of drifters like Dwight, who are floating along, able to take time and “figure things out,” I’ve decided that I don’t think I can really enjoy reading a book about it.Archived article by Sophia AsareSun Staff Writer
M. Basketball To Face Colgate

By November 22, 2005

After tough losses on the road to major conference opponents No. 16 Syracuse and Penn State, the men’s basketball team will return to the welcome haven of Newman Arena tonight to face Colgate, a more familiar foe. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Raiders (2-1) came away with a 70-56 victory on Nov. 23, 2004, but Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is hoping the Red can apply lessons already learned in this young season and come away with a win in the team’s home opener. “Colgate’s a team that’s had our number the last few years, so obviously it’s a big game for us, [Colgate is an] intrastate rival, and we’re excited about being home,” he said. “These other places help you become a better team, but you still have to win games at home against teams that are similar to you, at the same level, and I think that’s what Colgate presents.” Cornell (1-2) has fallen to the Raiders in the last four meetings, but senior forward Lenny Collins and freshman point guard Adam Gore will lead the Red as it attempts to win its home opener for a second consecutive season. Collins has opened the season averaging 17.0 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Gore was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week yesterday after averaging 15.7 points and 5.0 boards per game. Senior forward Ryan Rourke adds 11.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. In the post, junior center Andrew Naeve has put up a matching 7.7 points and rebounds per game, while junior Jason Hartford adds in 9.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. “We’ve been a little inconsistent with our offense. I think when you look at us, we have balance inside and out. We have to be balanced, we have to get to the foul line, we have to get some things in transition, we have to make them guard us, those type of things,” Donahue said. On the other hand, defense has been steady for the Red, as it has held opponents to a .370 shooting percentage from the field, and just 19 percent from 3-point range. This defense will be put to the test, as the Raiders will bring a balanced attack to the East Hill tomorrow night. Kyle Roemer threatens from the outside, as he is averaging 15.3 points per game on the strength of a .630 shooting percentage from the field, including .529 from beyond the arc. Kendall Chones provides a second option, averaging 15.0 points and a team-best 4.7 rebounds in the paint. Jon Simon and Alvin Reed are playing at a 9.3 and 9.0 points per game rate, respectively. “I think [Colgate has] done a good job, as we’ve built this program, of taking advantage of us in certain aspects,” Donahue said. “Sometimes it’s the boards, sometimes we’re not taking care of the ball. I think they’ve been the aggressor, I think they’ve been more physical than us in the past.” In order to turn the tables tonight on the Raiders, Donahue said the Red will have to reverse the recent trend of making mistakes at crucial moments of the game. Against both Syracuse and Penn State, Cornell has fallen victim to turnovers and unanswered runs by opponents in the final stretch of the game. Most recently, rebounding was a sore spot for the Red, as it gave up 22 offensive boards and 19 second-chance points to the Nittany Lions. “I thought we did a pretty good job taking care of the ball against a pretty good defense at Penn [game]. It’s the critical parts of the game, [and] it’s happened in each of the games, really -it happened with St. Francis at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, we kind of go on that lull. We do it at Syracuse, with about five minutes to go we struggle. And [Penn State], it’s about nine, 10 minutes to go in the game, it’s on both ends of the floor -it’s not necessarily turnovers,” Donahue said. “It’s a stretch of the game that we’ve got to tighten up. And turnovers are a part of something that we have to be very good at – we’re not the most athletic team, we’re not the team that’s going to make up for it in different ways, so you’ve got to take care of the basketball, that should be a real strength of ours. So if we don’t do that, we’re going to struggle. We need to do that, especially during the stretches that cost us the game.” Archived article by Olivia Dwyer Sun Assistant Sports Editor