Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor
The Behrend Beacon
nternational Women's Film Series
Annual event kicks off with haunting Princess'
Review by Daniel J. Stasiewski
"The Princess and the Warrior" is the second collaboration be
tween "Run Lola Run" actress Franka Potente and director Tom
Tykwer. After "Lola's" release in 1999, the hyper German language
picture reached cult-film status. With the newfound international
popularity, Potente and Tykwer were pushed into the spotlight, de
manding a huge follow-up.
Originally released in 2001, "The Princess and the Warrior" never
became the hit "Lola" was. Maybe it's because "Princess" is not
another rapid fire, time trial. Sure there are similarities, but this
somber film relies on its subtle, enigmatic characters and stunning
imagery more than any stylization of a fast-paced screenplay.
Sissi (Potente) is a nurse at the Birkenhof Psychiatric Hospital.
After many years, the routine of her antiseptic hospital existence
has left her apathetic and unhappy, though the patients' love for her
has never been greater. One day, Sissi goes out for a walk with one
of the more pleasant patients. It doesn't seem like anything differ
ent until she is hit by a truck, and it changes everything.
As Sissi lies broken and unable to breathe, a mysterious man
(Benno Ffirmann), who is trying to hide from a couple pursuers,
slides under the truck and saves her. The man's teary-eyed rescue
changes Sissi's outlook on life. When she returns to the asylum
after her recovery, she realizes that she can't live the unhappy life
she had before the accident and goes out to find her savior.
"The Princess and the Warrior" is a puzzle. That's not to say this
film is a mystery in the Agatha Christie, whodunit sense of the word,
but the characters are so slowly and carefully developed through
the whole of the film that every new bit of information makes the
picture, and the characters, seem so much clearer.
The complexities of the characters drive the film. Yes, the cin
ematography is fantastic and the direction is purposefully ambigu
ous, but the hope and concern that develops for these characters is
honest and unyielding as questions about fate and love begin to
surface.
Because there is so much emotional investment, the climax of the
film is mind-blowing. After Potente and FUrmann give such rivet
ing performances and the love story is so close to being fully real
ized, the film's climax pushes the emotional limits.
And that is exactly what Tykwer sets out to do. "Run Lola Run"
was never about the acting or emotion; it was an aggressive and
Spit on this 'Grave'
Review by Daniel J. Stasiewski
a&e editor
Action movies are rarely anything
special, but even the most ardent action
film enthusiast has to admit "Cradle 2
the Grave" is a whole different type of
blow 'em up, beat 'em down escapism.
"Cradle" starts out as a diamond heist,
moves into a kidnapping plot, attempts
to be an international thriller, becomes
an underground boxing match, as well
as a BMX off-roading exhibition, until
a morality tale finally rears its head.
Sure, this movie flows like a kidney
stone, but if the action had been less ri
diculous it might have been worth the
pain.
Career burglar Fait (DMX) is hired
to steal a shipment of black diamonds
from the L.A. Diamond Exchange, but
a mysterious assailant named Su (Jet Li)
beats the details of the heist out of the
man who set up the job. The heist still
goes off, but Fait and his group of
thieves lose their share of the loot dur-
ing the escape.
Fait decides to take the black dia
monds, which he successfully nabbed,
to his pawnshop owner buddy Archie
(Tom Arnold) to find out how much the
stones are worth. Archie, who is more
concerned with cool toys like DVD
players and tanks, turns out to be worth
less when he lets some thugs steal the
stones from his shop.
With the stones gone, Fait faces a ma
jor dilemma. Ling (Mark Dacascos),
the criminal who hired Fait's boss,
wants the stones back and kidnaps Fait's
daughter for insurance. Luckily, Su
turns out to be a Taiwanese intelligence
agent in charge of taking down Ling's
operation. With Fait's posse and Su's
extreme ass-kicking ability, the pair is
poised to beat the bad guy and save the
girl, even if she is only eight years old.
"Cradle 2 the Grave" is the third hip
hop action fusion from Polish director
Andrzej Bartkowiak. It's his third time
working with rapper DMX, as well as
his third and most burnt-out exercise in
pure, mind-melting tripe. Bartkowiak
hasn't done anything in the past to rein
vent the action genre with his hackneyed
slow motion and timid fight choreogra-
a&e editor
phy, and only seems to get worse this
time around. The action takes top pri
ority in "Cradle" but is so completely
over-the-top it's laughable.
DMX soars from rooftop to rooftop
on a four-wheeler, while Jet Li takes on
the entire rooster of an Ultimate Fight
ing-style boxing club. True, these mo
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZAP2IT.COM
Jet Li and DMX in the action disaster, "Cradle 2 the Grave."
ments are integral progression of the
story, but does Li really have to use a
midget as a weapon? Or how about Tom
Arnold's inconspicuous possession of a
tank? I don't care if his pawnshop
doubles as an Army surplus store. The
thought of Arnold with a tank is just
silly.
Arnold does have some comedic mo
ments, though. Teaming up with his
"Exit Wounds" comedic co-star An
thony Anderson (who plays one of Fait's
criminal comrades), Arnold is able to
at get a laugh out of something that is
legitimately funny, not absurd. Like in
"Exit Wounds," "Cradle's" closing cred
its, with Arnold and Anderson
commentating, is the only real reason
to sit through to the end.
The rest of the film, however, lacks
the continuity to maintain even the fa
cade of a plot. There are so many mu
tations in the film, it almost feels like a
bunch of half-assed action sequences
meshed together into one drawn-out ac
tion disaster. The BMW Film Series,
commercials that double as action
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Friday, March 7, 2003
Benno FUrmann and Franka Potente star in "The Princess and the Warrior," the first film in this year's International Women's Film Series
energetic, albeit stylish, action film. This film, however, lets the
scenes and the picture move the audience. Not even the occa
sional hyperactive camera work changes that.
Even in the end, when the film wraps up its subplot a little too
nicely, the story of Sissi and her mysterious hero is what reso
nates. The final scene, a long, reflective pan out, allows just enough
time to begin pondering the film's true weight. I say begin, be
cause "The Princess and the Warrior" will stay with you for days.
shorts, have more continuity when set
one after another that the whole of this
MO \ IC
Then there's DMX. After "Exit
Wounds," it looked like he might he able
to pull off this acting thing. In "Cradle,"
however, he has to acting styles: bad and
over. While DMX is made into the
film's criminal hero, Li, the real action
star, is only brought in when there is a
need for another asinine fight sequence.
Anything asinine should really be left
up to Arnold and Anderson. They have
the comedic prowess to make the ridicu
lous action work. In fact, I can't wait
to see an Anderson/Arnold buddy com
edy. Then there wouldn't be a need to
sit through an hour and a half of bungled
action bits to get to the only part worth
watching—the end.
"Cradle 2 the Grave," directed by
Andrzej Bartkowiak and starring DMX,
Jet Li. Tom Arnold, and Anthony Ander
son, is currently showing at Tinseltown.
2./2*
out of
4 stars
***En
Behrend stu
'foul Train'
by Olivia Page
staff writer
Ashanti, Musiq and B2K nabbed two
"Soul Train" awards each on March 1.
Last month, Behrend students made their
predictions, but were wrong on most of
them. Not psychics, students only pre
dicted four out of 10 awards.
On the "Soul Train" awards, the co
hosts were "Chicago's" supporting ac
tress Queen Latifah and "Star Search's"
Arsenio Hall.
The show opened with Mariah Carey
singing 'As Long as I Believe." Carey is
also this year's recipient of the Quincy
Jones Award for Outstanding Career
Achievement Female. With more than
150 million albums sold, it was no sur
prise that she was honored.
B2K was Behrend's prediction for Best
R&B/Soul Single, Group Band or Duo.
Behrend won this round because B2K
won for "Bump, Bump, Bump." B2K
was not present to accept its award.
Behrend students may not be psyched
to see that they were wrong about their
other prediction. R. Kelly/ Jay Z's "Best
of Both Worlds" beat out B2K with Best
R&B/Soul Album, Group band or Duo
with "Pandemonium."
Behrend students were wrong about
Nappy Roots being the Best R&B/Soul
or Rap New Artist. Amerie, who shocked
the crowd with her sheer black outfit,
won this award. Amerie later performed
her single "Talkin' To Me."
The Male Quincy Jones Award for Out
standing Career Achievement went to LL
Cool J. The crowd was ecstatic when
LL came out performing "Love You Bet
ter." He teased the audience by taking
off his Philly jersey, girls screaming, and
throwing it into the audience. Jennifer
Lopez presented the award to LL, say
ing, "For nearly two decades LL has en
tertained and inspired us with his music,
film and television. His talent to capti
vate and mesmerize a audience on the
screen and on the mic, makes him hip
hop's true renaissance man, not to men
tion, the lips, the body, and the arms and
all that."
LL then accepted his award with an
emotional edginess as he said, "I didn't
know that when I was 14, it would be
like this...l lost my grandmother, this
(award) is for her."
Behrend's prediction for Best Gospel
out of
4 stars
dents miss with
predictions
Nelly was the recipient of the Sammie
Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the
Year. It was handed to him by Chris
Rock. Later, Nelly and the St. Lunatics
took the stage rapping "Air Force Ones"
and "Pimp Juice." During the "Air
Force Ones" performance the stage was
decked out with six gigantic white Air
Force One shoes. One of the Air Force
One shoes was displayed with wheels
on it. Also during this performance,
guys up in the balcony were taking their
Air Force Ones off their feet and wav
ing them in the air.
Behrend students were wrong about
the Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video.
Students said that the award would go
to 50 Cent. In actuality the "Michael
Jackson" award went to Missy "Misde
meanor" Elliot for "Work It."
Behrend students missed with their
prediction of Justin Timberlake in two
categories. Though Timberlake per
formed "Cry Me a River" and "Like I
Love You," Musiq was the winner of
awards for Best R&B/Soul Album Male
with Juslisen and Best R&B/Soul Single
Male with "Don't Change."
Musiq appeared with his classic jeans
and hat ensemble, this time with a twist.
Musiq performed "Don't Change" with
a sweater embroidered with "Soul Train"
in gold lettering.
'behrcolls@aol.com
"The Princess and the
riot; " directed by Tbm Tivrkel;
starring Franka Potente and
Benno Fiirmann will he shown
Mar 18 at 7 p.m. in Reed 1 7. It
is the lirst of three movies pre
sented in the International
Women :s Film Series.
album was correct. Kirk Franklin won
the Best Gospel Album Award with "Re
birth of Kirk Franklin."
Ashanti did not win Best R&B/Soul
or Rap Album of the Year. This award
went to Nelly's "Nellyville." Ashanti
was predicted to win three awards. Al
though Ashanti was a no-show for the
awards, she did win two. Ashanti won
Best R&B/Soul Album Female and Best
R&B/Soul Single Female for "Foolish."
Some of the other performers were
Dru Hill, India Arie and Gerald Levert.
Don Cornelius's "Soul Train" show
has opened the doors to many music per
formers. The show's intro is a great way
to tell people about Soul Train: "I got
everything you need to worry about
nothing, from hip-hop to pop, soul, R&B
and classical. The new millennium is
guaranteed to be magical, as long as
people keep getting together, and re
member the Soul Train line is forever.
Don Cornelius had a vision, now we on
a role, the destination of this train, love,
peace and soul."
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