| Summary: | 12 Ctmcordian Arts & Entertainment February 5, 1999 a&e Weekend events Friday, • • ' • 7:00 p.m. p % ' "Saturday Night FevecSJ•'• :.V:-:#fc&CEC Film ^ 124 9:15 p.m. ^L . ^ ,. "Saturday Night Fever*., ^: CEC Film ••* Ice covered Fargo He hasn't melted yet. Performing remixes of his 80s hits as well as new songs, recording artist Vanilla Ice drew a full house to his con-cert at Playmaker's Pavillion in Fargo Wednesday. photo by Jesse Cassem Saturday ;7:00 p.m. ^ " ' " *$ "Saturday Night Fever5* | . . . . > : . CEC Film,• , :jz Professor performs role in local production 7:30 p.m. Concordia College . Band Concert r: •*&>:•:' Memorial Aud. m Saturday Night Fever" CEC Film •&£•.;: Olin 124 g ? * ^ Sunday 5:00 p.m. -1; "Saturday Night CEC Film, 124, ? Weelc:" Ivory Rud The Concordian Dawn Duncan, assistant professor of English, plays the role of Mrs. Watts in 'The Trip to Bountiful," currently onstage at the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre. According to a recent review in the Fargo Forum, "Duncan's is an amazing performance, highlighting the subtlety of the dialogue and characterization." Duncan did not originally intend to audition for this production, but timing and a love of Horton Foote's work encouraged her to pre-view the script, she said. In the character of Mrs. Watts, Duncan saw qualities of her grand-mother, including a very giving nature, one that is always doing things for others. She decided to take the role as a tribute to her. In addition, the play is set in Texas, where Duncan is from. 'The Trip to Bountiful" has been hailed by critics and audience members as one of the most outstanding recent productions of the the-atre. Written by Horton Foote, the play tells the story of Mrs. Carrie Watts, an elderly woman who lives with her son and daughter-in-law in three-room apartment in Houston in the year 1942. Conflict between Mrs. Watts and her demanding daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, is constant; and her pacifist son seems always caught in the middle. Mrs. Watts longs to escape the confines of the city and return to her hometown, a farming community called Bountiful. Despite opposi-tion from her son and Jessie Mae, she makes the trip—a journey of sorrow, excitement and disappointment. The journey and eventual arrival at her des-tination allow Mrs. Watts to come to terms with her past and accept the present. Duncan feels that audience members of all ages can connect to one or more of the charac-ters. The play "runs the gamut of emotions,*' she said. Concordia student Blake Klein, who appears in two supporting roles, agreed. "It's very emotional. it can make you cry." Also, many community members with ties to the farm can empathize with Mrs. Watts' strong connection to "soil and place ," Duncan said. Concordia student Christopher Mohs is also involved in the production as a stage manager. The play runs through Sunday at the FMCT, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Just keeping it'Simple9 Concordia College Band will be traveling through Northern Minnesota on a short concert tour this week. The band of more than^70 members will be giving con-certs in Virginia, Duluth, Two Harbors, and Princeton Feb. 3-5, and concluding with a home concert on Feb. 6 in the Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. According to Che band con-ductor Russell Pesola, the band is "standing up pretty well," considering their rehearsal time has been a week less than normal due to scheduling conflicts. Pesola said that the band's program is especially demanding including a fairly new piece, "Blue Shades/ that combines various jazz influences and technical aspects to create a challeng-, ing piece. Senior Mike Hanson will be the featured soloist for this year, perform-ing 'Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble* by David R. i Gillingham. Eric Weathermon and Erik Telleen The Movie Guys So we meet again, fair readers. I know the predicament that we are all in. Football season is over, and Martha Stewart just isn't on television enough, so we are all looking for something to do. Thusly, we, The Movie Guys, have ventured out of our underground lair to find what's happening in the theaters, moviewise. Our selection of the week comes to us from director Sam Raimi ("Darkman"). It's a movie that was shot in Minnesota, and is called "A Simple Plan" Most of the marketing of this film has come from critical acclaim, and it didn't have that gargantuan bud-get, so this was one that was sel-dom heard of. "Plan" centers around Hank, a worker in a rural feed plant, played by Bill Paxton ('Twister"). Hank and his socially, aesthetically, and everything-elsely challenged brother, Jacob, played by Billy- Bob Thorton ("Slingblade") are walking in the woods with a friend, and they come across a crashed airplane with $4.4 million in it. The story proceeds from there, and it entails the complica-tions that the three have with what they should do with the money, and how not to get caught taking it Eventually, the situation esca-lates out of control. Weathermon's synopsis: I would like to talk about what is good about this film for starters, and don't worry, it will be short. This is actually a well-done film. It is beautifully shot, as most of Raimi's films are. Billy-Bob Thorton is exceptional in his role as Jacob. By the way, Thorton's Jacob makes his character in "Slingblade" look like a GQ cov-erman. Jacob is charming in his ignorance, yet Thorton shows us that he does have a heart, and we find ourselves feeling quite sorry for his situation. Another minor miracle is that Paxton does not ruin the film. He actually shines in this film, and plays his part well. Perhaps he has some experience being a poverty-stricken feed plant worker. This movie is well acted, and well shot. It truly does a service to the medium, but there is just one little problem. This movie is dark. By "dark" I mean that it makes "Roots" look like a romantic com-edy. One would expect to have something go right for these char-acters, but that just doesn't hap-pen. Because it is so well-done, it makes it even harder to watch. I honestly think that I would have had more fun, and a more happy experience cutting the muscle off my arms with a filet knife. This is just a personal preference for me. Because this story is so dark does not mean that the movie is bad. It's just hard to sit through. Perhaps the fact that it gets the viewer so emotionally involved, it should be looked at as even better. I don't know, but I just want to warn the viewer that you aren't in for a fun two hours. Telleen5s synopsis: I want you to close your eyes and think back to the first time you saw the movie "Fargo." Strip away the goofy Midwestern accents that made so many of you upset, and think about what it was that made the movie so memo-* rable. Think about the dark side of the movie "Fargo". Think about the wood-chipper and the way Steve Buscemi was beaten unmer-cifully by Shep Proudfoot. But more importantly, think about the backwoods classicism that made you. wonder about the nature of the seemingly kindhearted and inno-cent of this world. Like officer Marge Gunderson states, "There's more to life than a little bit of money" Her moral wisdom seems aimed directly at the heart of the characters in "A Simple Plan." Taken from the Scott Smith novel, Director Sam Raimi who is infa-mous for being a wicked oddball film visionary, tries his hand at a serious story. The movie is no exception. The setting has changed from Ohio to Minnesota, and with that we now have a much more complex story visually. The frozen tundra that is our home state is the perfect setting for this tale of deceit, greed and murder. Billy Bob Thorton, who is unparalleled at giving low life characters a human side, gives an Oscar turn as the dim-witted yet likable Jacob. Bill Paxton does a very credible job in the lead role. Sam Raimi's friend, Brent Briscoe, was basically a Hollywood unknown before this film. He emerges as one of the film's main antagonists, the beer drinking buddy named Lou. He is extremely believable and adds a nice change of pace in the story. Raimi really has a knack for filling your head with memorable images. His use of extreme facial close-ups and long, wide angle shots that have become his trade-mark as a filmmaker do not get shoved down your throat in this picture. He uses subtlety and sim-plicity to play on you senses and it works. If the backwoods appeal of Fargo teased your visual palette for more, then definitely check this out ASAP. After viewing Fargo and this movie, you should come to the opinion that the term "Minnesota Nice" is about as false a cliche as you can get
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