| At the Movies: 'The Interpreter' |
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| © Universal Studios |
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by Ryan Finn
Staff Writer
If you ignore the unbelievably boring title and focus on the film itself, you might find a few valuable things in Sydney Pollack’s “The Interpreter.” The film is intelligent and suspenseful but, too often, only competently so.
As ambitious as it was to set a political thriller in the United Nations (or, at least, today’s United Nations), the politics don’t impress and the thrills don’t really work as well as they could.
This is mostly the script’s fault, which is riddled with plot holes and general disorganization.
U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) overhears what she believes to be a discussion about an assassination attempt one night in a sound booth above the General Assembly.
The conspirators speak in a local African dialect that Silvia understands only because her family is from the region where it is spoken.
The assassination plot speaks of Matoban president/ethnic cleanser Edmond Zuwanie, whom the world accuses of committing acts of genocide against his people. Silvia briefly escapes the notice of the conspirators but ends up caught in their dangerous sights anyway. It is up to FBI agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) to protect Silvia and solve the mystery.
If you saw the trailer for the film, you know that it made every possible attempt to implicitly accuse Silvia of having some part in the assassination plot. The film, too, takes far too much time pointing out to the audience just how shadowy Silvia’s past is. It felt like lazy misdirection.
By the way, Tobin was recently widowed when his wife was killed in a car accident and Silvia’s family was for the most part killed by a land mine when she was a young child. Hence their connection of wishing revenge on someone who had taken the lives of their loved ones.
But wait! Silvia describes an African axiom about saving lives instead of taking vengeance, comfortably providing the massive foreshadowing for later in the film. This pretty much describes the film itself.
It comes dangerously close to “routine” in the scenes involving police procedurals and “whodunit” mysteries.
Kidman and Penn spend an awfully large amount of time sitting (or, occasionally, standing) and talking about the plot of the film -- Zuwanie’s assassination, Silvia’s fear and Tobin’s loss. These quiet, intimate conversations are good only because of the talents of the actors and the director. Otherwise, they might have put me to sleep.
During the film’s “big” action scenes -- the bombing of a bus and, more specifically, the assassination attempt during the finale -- Pollack and the writers try to ratchet up the tension with fast editing and terse dialogue. For some reason, it just doesn’t work very well. It pales in comparison to similar scenes in past films.
Every time I thought the assassination attempt finale was going well, something would happen that raised the specter of Frankenheimer’s “The Manchurian Candidate” and the Albert Hall sequence in Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956 version). If you want to see this scene done right in all its nail-biting glory, see those films.
Sydney Pollack is a wonderful director. He has proved his range in many excellent films over the years. “The Interpreter” is not really one of his better efforts, but it’s still a mature and intelligent film.
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The Influence rocks Murphy's
by Kyle Conrad
Staff Writer
As an area that traditionally yields promising student-produced music, Boone has served as the breeding ground for yet another talented rock band.
The Influence is a four-man band that has played at most of Boone’s local venues and is now broadening its horizons toward larger venues.
The band has played quite frequently at local restaurants and bars, including Klondike Cafe, Murphy’s Restaurant & Pub, on campus and at Greek-oriented parties.
The band will also headline a show on June 11 at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte.
“We’re very excited about that,” drummer and junior advertising major Lew Watson said. “We love playing in Boone, but there are only so many [opportunities] here.”
Watson got his first drum set when he was in the 10th grade and said he has been hooked since.
“My dad played the drums, so I really just learned by watching him,” he said.
Watson has played in various bands and jam groups, fine tuning his drum skills and honing his knowledge of music.
“I knew (bassist) Elliot in high school, but we didn’t start playing together until we came up here,” Watson said.
The Influence was founded by Watson, Mike Richardson (lead guitar) and Elliot Langford (bass, vocals).
Vocalist and front man Andrew Henderson, whom Watson said the band is “very excited” about acquiring, has since joined the band.
Watson said music groups such as 311, Incubus and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have influenced the music of the band.
“You can hear a lot of these bands sounds come out in our music,” Watson said.
The band was forced to go on a one-year hiatus last year when Watson, a member of the National Guard, was deployed to Afghanistan.
“The band was one of my few sources of hope,” Watson said of his time overseas. “My mind was back in Boone when I was over there.”
The name “The Influence” is derived from the idea that everything in life is influenced by something and that the music the band plays is influenced by all four-band members’ separate musical upbringing, Watson said.
“We all have different musical backgrounds and that’s why our music is so unique and special,” Watson said,
The Influence recently re-recorded seven original tracks and will soon begin recording a new album, which they hope will catch the eye of a record company.
“We just want to get our name out there,” Watson said. “That’s one of the reasons our shows are so high energy … we want to make sure that all of our fans have a great time. We just want the crowd to rock as hard as we do.”
The Influence will play next at Murphy’s on May 6.
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Special to The Appalachian
The Karloffs have performed together since 1996, and describe themselves as a punk rock 'n' roll band. |
Punk bands combines at Black Cat
by Lindsay Craven
Staff Writer
The Karloffs, Super Sport and Slappin' Grandma, a mixture of punk bands, will perform at Black Cat Burrito this Saturday night.
Super Sport performs a mixture of bluegrass, rock and old school punk.
The band includes Seibold (Sparky) on guitar and vocals, Benny Gibbs on drums and vocals, Brod Miller on bass and vocals and Sissy Walters on banjo and vocals.
Super Sport has toured with such names as Dope, Pigface, Godhead and Gravity Kills. The band released their first album, "Whoop Ass!," in February of this year.
The Karloffs have performed together since 1996 and are a self-described punk rock and roll band. They used to play under the name The Cunninghams.
The Karloffs is made up of Scott Mendat on drums, Kevin Freeman on guitar and vocals, Karl Moretz on bass and Dwayne Maguire on guitar. This will be the last show Mendat will play with the band. The band has released one album, "Hell's Kitchen," in 2000.
"We used to have these illusions of rock grandeur where we were big rock stars with strobe lights and smoke machines but it always came out looking like a bad 'Spinal Tap' show," Freeman said. "Now, we are just playing rock music and being ourselves."
The Karloffs influences range from The Ramones, Social Distortion and Screaming Weasels.
"All of us have different tastes and we all bring something different to the band," Freeman said. "I encourage more people to do it (join a band)," Freeman said. "The scene, though there's really not one. I think the music scene in Boone has seen its better days, so I'm hoping that it is getting a little better now."
Slappin' Grandma has played together since 1993.
The band started out while its members were all still in high school and performed a couple house party shows before splitting ways and heading out to different colleges.
In June 2003 original drummer Scott Mendat and guitarist Dave reformed the group and added bassist Elmon Mays in August of 2003. The band also released their newest album, "Slappin' Grama...Saves the Day" in November of 2003.
The show at Black Cat will start at 9 p.m. and there will be a cover charge of $5. For more information about the show call 263-9511.
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