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November 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
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Arts
Arts

Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' satirizes religious stories

By Tom Jawetz | April 11, 1996

Okay, so Terry Gilliam did not direct this full-length feature of Monty Python. He does, however, play a prophet, a jailor and several other minor roles. Tonight the Loew Thursday film series will feature Monty Python's "Life of Brian," a film that pokes fun at the greatest messiah in Western history... and pretty much everyone else as well. Brian, played by Graham Chapman, was only a baby boy when he had his first adventure in life.

Arts

WISE prepares for Sexual Assault Awareness month events

By Michelle Gregg | April 10, 1996

The Women's Information Service, a community organization aimed at helping victims of sexual assault and physical abuse, is preparing several events to commemorate and celebrate Sexual Assault Awareness month, in addition to its year-round support. Students from the Tucker Foundation volunteer to work with WISE in a program that visits schools and educates students about sexual harassment, dating violence and healthy relationships. Sexual Assault Awareness month WISE's commemoration will begin with a Take Back The Night march to be held Saturday in White River Junction. Take Back The Night is an annual worldwide event started in England in 1977 to protest night time violence against women, said Kristen Bing, a WISE employee. "We're inviting the entire Upper Valley to come together for one hour, on one evening, in one place to carry candles and share in poetry and music to say no to violence," Judith Moran, AmeriCorps Victim Assistant.

Arts

Bergman's 'Autumn Sonata' film to show

By Marc Mcdonald | April 10, 1996

Continuing the Dartmouth Film Society's spring "Mommie Dearest" film series, "Autumn Sonata" and "September" explore the issues of the mother-daughter relationship. "Autumn Sonata," written and directed by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, examines the life of a world-famous pianist named Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman, who has no relation to the director) and her direct confrontation with her oldest daughter Eva (Liv Ullman), who feels no connection with her mother. The two most famous Swedish film superstars finally team up together in a role that Bergman plays with remarkable restraint, especially considering she was undergoing radiation treatments for advanced cancer and was scheduled for surgery after the film was completed. Ingrid Bergman told the director, "You know I'm living on borrowed time." But Bergman, when creating the rough draft of his film, wrote that Ingrid Bergman, and nobody else, must play the role of the mother. While Bergman found working with Ingrid Bergman frustrating because she prided herself on her constant rehearsing (which Bergman despised because he felt too much rehearsing took away any spontaneity from the shoot), he believed Ingrid gave all her energy to the role and proved to be a key asset to the film. Although the mother-daughter relationship is an integral part of the film, the other important relationship is Charlotte's loss of her ability to perform as a pianist on a world-class level.

Arts

Autechre invades techno world

By Lee Istrail | April 10, 1996

Pulsating machine hums combine with off-kilter, faltering drum beats and labyrinthian keyboard figures, and may make one think this is the theme song of some clandestine, sinister, underground cult.

Arts

Carmelita Tropicana dramatizes Latino and queer issues

By Lee Istail | April 8, 1996

Carmelita Tropicana's performance last Friday in Collis Common Ground of her short play "Milk of Amnesia" gave insight into the lesbian Latino artist's attempt to regain her past culture. The play is a fictionalized version of Tropicana's real-life visit to her birthplace, Cuba, three years ago.

Arts

Thurs. Loew series focuses on Gilliam

By Tom Jawetz | April 4, 1996

He has a B.A. in political science from Occidental College in Los Angeles, he worked alongside Gloria Steinem in Harvey Kurtzman's humor magazine titled Help and he formerly illustrated for Mad Magazine. Yet Terry Gilliam, the focus of this term's Thursday Loew series, is perhaps best known for his work in the British comedy troupe Monty Python. While a member of Monty Python, Gilliam teamed up with Terry Jones to direct "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Monty Python's Meaning of Life." In between these two films, spurred by a period of depression and soul-searching, Gilliam took his directorial skill out on its own to see what he could do. The first film on which he embarked without the official backing of Monty Python was the 1977 film "Jabberwocky." Incidentally, Gilliam did not continue the practice of inserting his own animation sequences outside his affiliation with Monty Python. "Jabberwocky" is based on Lewis Carroll's poem by the same name in "Through the Looking-Glass" -- "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe ..." But Gilliam, widely known throughout the film world for his absurd visions, said he shot the film because he wished to make "filth beautiful." Set in a time when heroes exemplified chivalry, fair maidens were always in need of a helping hand and terrible beasts roamed the land bringing destruction, "Jabberwocky" follows the path of Dennis (Michael Palin), the cooper's son. Carried throughout the film by fate and maintaining his optimistic, polite demeanor, Dennis may bring to mind Forrest Gump.

Arts

Wild days over for unleashed dogs

By Aaron Lisman | April 3, 1996

Hanover dog owners must beware of stiffer fines for dogs who bark excessively or wander unattended since the town's board of selectmen voted to repeal lax local dog ordinances in favor of stricter state laws. Some College fraternities have already started to respond to the stricter laws by taking measures to ensure their dogs do not stray from their property. At a March 18 meeting the Hanover Board of Selectmen voted down the town's 1973 dog by-laws which fined owners of delinquent dogs $10 for each minor offense, Selectman Jack Nelson said. Minor offenses include excessive barking, or roaming, scratching, defecating and spreading garbage on property other than the owners, according to the Valley News. The town no longer has its own dog ordinance but yields to state statutes which carry fines of $25 for a dog's first minor offense and $50 for the second. More serious offenses such as chasing bicycles or cars can draw fines of $50 for a first offense and $100 for a second.

Arts

Events honor Montgomery Fellow Tavernier

By Mobina Hashmi | April 1, 1996

Renowned filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, a visiting Montgomery Fellow, was honored by a tribute this weekend in a series of film programs, to the delight of film lovers on campus. The events began with a tribute by the Montgomery Endowment, which honored him with the Dartmouth Film Award at a ceremony Friday night. The Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Endowment regularly invites to the College distinguished individuals who have enriched their field of study by their expertise and enthusiasm. The last Montgomery Fellow from the world of film was Andrei Tarkovsky almost 10 years ago. Tavernier's brief stay was a reflection of his busy schedule as a filmmaker, critic, historian and director of the Lumiere Institute. His stay at Dartmouth was part of a two-week tour of five major American cities, including New York and Washington D.C., and Hanover, as co-curator, with Thierry Fremaux, of a program on the films of the Lumiere brothers. Bill Pence, the Hopkins Center's director of film, introduced Mr. Tavernier as one of France's greatest directors whose films are notable for their intelligence and their ability to engage the audience in the lives, emotions and thoughts of the characters on-screen. The program began with a collection of clips from his previous films, most notably, "The Judge and the Assassin," "Clean Slate" and "A Sunday in the Country." Phillipe Noiret, most recently seen on film as the poet Pablo Neruda in "The Postman," stars in the first two films mentioned.

Arts

Dan Hurlin, N. H. native, examines the power of media

By Josie Huang | April 1, 1996

It seems that Dan Hurlin in person should be just as energetic, versatile and fast-moving as the personalities he portrays on stage. So it is a rare sight to catch him lounging relaxedly on the purple couches opposite the Moore Theater in the Hopkins Center, the site of his performance of the show "No (thing so powerful as) Truth" this past Friday and Saturday. Bright-eyed and smiling, Hurlin, a New Hampshire native, enthusiastically talked about his line of work and his latest one-man endeavor. "I did this piece as a way to sort of examine the history of my relationship to politics," Hurlin explained. "No (thing so powerful as) Truth," both written and directed by Hurlin, employs multi-media such as slide shows and live music.

Arts

'Fargo' entertains as dark comedy about kidnapping

By Michael R. Lee | March 28, 1996

"Fargo" is definitely not a film for everybody. This off-beat dark comedy from the Coen brothers ("Blood Simple" and "Raising Arizona") is entertaining and very enjoyable, but only to those who appreciate their somewhat odd style and sense of humor. Joel Coen directed, his brother Ethan produced, and both collaborated in the writing. "Fargo" is the true story of a homespun kidnapping gone awry.

Arts

Cassandra Wilson, diva of jazz and blues, releases new CD

By Michael A> Posey | March 27, 1996

Beginning with the murkily moody single titled "Strange Fruit" and closing with a nature-inspired arrangement of the Neil Young classic "Harvest Moon," Cassandra Wilson begins and ends her new CD "New Moon Daughter" by showing one-time listeners and jazz connoisseurs alike that jazz is truly a state of mind. The title "New Moon Daughter" was inspired by a proverb that says illness accompanies a wandering moon, and a new moon cures disease.

Arts

Rabies incidents surge in area near College

By David Kung | March 27, 1996

The recent surge in the number of rabies cases in Hanover reminds Dartmouth students to be careful when dealing with animals in order to avoid contracting the deadly disease. Rabid animals were found in the area around West Wheelock Street last fall, but they have relocated in the corner of town near Rip Road, Reservoir Road and the Hemlock Road area this spring, according to the Valley News. Director of College Health Services Jack Turco emphasized that the reported cases have only been among wild animals. "Some rabid animals have been found," he said.

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