Take a gamble
By Jon Stubbs
features editor
From Miramax films comes
the Ted Demme and Joel Stillerman
production Rounders, the story of
master poker player Mike
McDermott. The film opens with
McDermott, a law student, losing
$15,000 to the Russian poker virtuoso
Teddy KGB (John Malkovich).
McDermott vows to quit the game
forever, and with his girlfriend and
fellow law student by his side, is re
duced to making local deliveries to
convenience stores. However, when
his best friend, Worm (Edward
Norton) is released from jail and con
fesses to McDermott that he owes a
large gambling debt that is gaining
considerable interest, he is forced
back into the game. This, of course,
causes tension with both his girlfriend
and his studies.
Sho'Nuff exhibits unique style
: y Dakota Dinnen
taff writer
Until August 28 of this year, at
1: ehrend's 50th Anniversary party, I
adn't ever heard the music of
ho'Nuff. Being from Pittsburgh,
hich is the city this band calls home,
I had heard of them and was interested
n finally checking them out at the
s arty.
Sho'Nuff's name led me to a ste
eotypical conclusion that they must
slay hip hop or rhythm and blues
usic. Quickly I learned that this as r
umption was unfounded because
ho'Nuff can easily be marked an
'alternative" band and, depending on
ho you ask, a rock'n roll band. The
ead singer and guitarist (Gene
alker), drummer (Jason Grew),
I assist (Cliff Foster), and guitarist
Corey Congilio) intrigued me though
' couldn't decipher some of their lyr
es. After the band had finished, my
uriosit afforded me ten dollars to
ACROSS
1 Poster
6 Japanese city
1 Beer barrel
4 Stood up
5 Rugged saddle
horse
6 Caustic stuff
7 More than 100°/0
more
9 Historic period
0 Salad vegetable
2 Onslaught
6 Kernel
7 Eucalyptus
eaters
8 Fast flyer
1 Presage
• Loafed about
boom
Fellows
: Sch. near
Harvard
Spiny anteater
1 Ventilate
• Kind of rap?
Pours down
• Nuku'alofa's
country
• Actor Sharif
: T. Turner channel
Revealing
Balderdash
• Liberate
With strong
self-assurance
Ultimate degree
! Petty problems
Deadlock
• Vine
Northwestern
state
Tax grp.
Hermit
! Reiner and Jung
DOWN
Faux
Ferocity
11 of dates
Take advantage of
Convincing
character
Hooter's kid
Vault
Scads
Some seaweed
Academy Award winner Matt
Damon, who plays Mike McDermott,
says "The film is kind of a celebra
tion of who you are. I'm portraying
a guy who's meant to be at the high
est level of the game. The character I
play should be a poker player. This
is what he is meant to be." Edward
Norton, who plays the part of Worm,
explains his character: "I would de
scribe Worm as a philosophical cheat.
He believes in cheating as a way of
life. It's not as a matter of despera
tion, but rather as a matter of course."
In order to prepare for their
roles, Damon and Norton went the
only real plaCe one could go to learn
the true spirit of high-stakes poker,
in the backroom poker clubs of New
York. It was here that they learned
that behind what seems to be a game
of mostly luck, lies a psychological
game of pure skill. Both actors will
quickly agree that a solid philosophy
buy Sho'Nuff's album, The Sho Must
Go On.
Since Sho'Nuff isn't yet known on
the national music scene, I decided to
compare their album with some oth
ers that are more widely known. As
far as lyrics go, I found that The Sho
Must Go On had much in common
with Let's Face It, The Mighty Mighty
Bosstones' latest album. Both albums
deal with issues of illegal drug use,
racism, and violence. For instance,
Sho'Nuff's song "Who Got It?" is
concerned with the malevolent effects
of marijuana. It can easily be matched
with the Bosstones' "Royal Oil",
which is about the deadliness of drug
abuse in general. "Spectrum" by
Sho'Nuff and "Let's Face It" by The
Bosstones show both bands'
adamancies against racism. Also, the
Bosstones' "Numbered Days" is lyri
cally similar to Sho'Nuff's "Real
Man" in the way it deals with the is
sue of violence.
Though the music of these two
10 Shakespearean
forest
11 Larcenous
obsession
12 "Jane "
•13 Toothed device
18 Pointed tools
21 Tavern by a tube
station
22 With hands on
hips
23 ___ bicarbonate
24 Seaside
wetlands
25 Bass or ginger
28 Elbow or knee
29 Finales
30 Can material
32 Condescends
33 Light someone's
fuse
35 Something to
bark
36 ___ converter
40 Hipster
45 Valuable vein
47 Agile European
deer
49 Dracula Lugosi
51 Display of vibrato
52 Patch roads
53 Against: pref.
54 Mix
55 Small combo
on Rounders
exists within the game, a tournament
of gesture-reading and self-control
in order to take your opponents'
money. Throughout production,
games were held between cast mem
bers between takes in order to famil
iarize the actors with the 'game.
Director John Dahl states that
his objective during filming was "to
remain as invisible as possible in
order to let the actors explore their
characters." It would be impossible
to ignore the fact that Dahl had an
outstanding collection of actors to
work with. Damon and Norton give
an incredible performance; their
characters and their characters' emo
tions are made tangible to the audi
ence by the actors' ingenious perfor
mance. As the film rolls, the viewer
sees the characters realize what their
true identities are; the audience sees
the costs involved in finding that true
identity.
bands is thrown into the vast categor
of "alternative"; the sub-genres o
their music are what separate the two
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones pla
"ska-core", or ska-influenced har.
rock with some reggae thrown in
Sho'Nuff does not play ska, thoug
they play some reggae here and there
Sho'Nuff's music, in my opinion, ca
be compared with that of Los Lobos
and Matchbox 20. If there were .
cross between Los Lobos' bass
driven album, Colossal Head, an.
Matchbox 20's fast-paced rock al
bum, Yourself or'Someone Like You
Sho'Nuff's album would be it.
I highly recommend Sho'Nuff's al
hum, The Sho Must Go On, espe
cially for those who enjoy Th;
Mighty Mighty Bosstones' lyrics ant
the musical stylings of Los Lobos an'
Matchbox 20. The Sho Must Go 0
can be purchased here in Erie at Na
tional Record Mart's Waves insid.
Millcreek Mall.
Islamic republic
Creeper
Actress Lupino
Thole insert
Org. of Senators
& Capitals
Distress signal
Features
Rounders seems to give a re
alistic portrayal of this game of craft.
Even World Series of Poker cham
pion Johnny Chan, who makes a
cameo appearance, was impressed
with the film's authenticity. This film
will satisfy the audience's appetite for
adventure, without slowing down the
pace of the storyline for one moment.
The audience will always want to
know what is going to happen next,
no matter how insignificant to the plot
it may be. Rounders is a true work of
art, from the casting to the lighting
right down to the way the cards are
dealt. No film has it all but the best
films have just enough, and Round
ers is one of them. ****
A "real"
war movie
By Michael Coursey
staff writer
One of the most anticipated releases
of this summer was Saving Private
Ryan. This latest project by director
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks
shows the gritty realism of war as it
illustrates the D-Day invasion. The
film was shot from the perspective of
a small platoon of ordinary Ameri
cans, who were soldiers in the U.S.
Army. This movie shows the unpleas
ant, if not grotesque human tolls that
weapons and bombs took upon the
soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
The movie stars Tom Hanks, Tom
Sizemore, Edward Burns and Matt
Qamon. Tom Hanks plays a con
scripted Army Captain whOse only
wish is to make it back home to be
with his wife. His character is heroic
but believable at the same time. Tom
Hanks is the leader of the platoon, but
also is his men's confidant who only
pulls rank when he had to. Edward
Burns does an outstanding job, but
Tom Sizemore's character, the salty
Army Staff Sergeant, is extremely im
pressive. One can almost get Tom
Sizemore confused with Michael
Madsen, to whom he bears a striking
resemblance. The platoon's mission
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The Behrend Classifieds
anielle and Tim,
Good luck at your perfor-
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31
5)
Ayodele
Students and employees of Penn State Behrend are invited to submit a free classified ad in The
Thursday,September 17, 1998 - The Behrend College Beacon - Page 7
Get to know the SPC
By Valerie Trost
staff writer
Last Saturday the Student Pro
gramming Council made about thirty
people hysterical at Bruno's when
they welcomed Philadelphia come
dian Chris Coccia. His stand-up act
included all the goods campus stu
dents find amusing from drugs and
sex to student parking and fake iden
tification cards. Christian Darling,
01, French, commented , "I couldn't
breathe at some points." The rest of
the audience also seemed to be hav
ing trouble with the oxygen intake
at moments.
After the performance I had
the privilege of investigating a ques
tion that I (and others) were pon
dering: Who is responsible for this
entertainment and how are these
people brought to our school? The
answer is simple but the process and
planning involved is not. The Be
hrend SPC is responsible for coordi
nating, promoting, and organizing
functions such as last Saturday's co
median. Rob Ring, 03, business ad
ministration, gave an explanation of
what actually transpires in this group.
Every year the student gov
ernment administration puts in a pro
posal for a given budget specifically
is to prevent Private Ryan, the sole re
maining son of an lowa mother, from
being killed in combat as his other
brothers were.
Tom Hanks definitely deserves a
nomination for Best Actor, and Tom
Sizemore should at least be nominated
for Best Supporting Actor. Saving Pri
vate Ryan is a masterpiece, and should
he seen by all. The climatic moments
in the film reach out and grab the au
dience like no other war movie has
done before.
Spielberg's genius of low camera
angles gives this picture a documen
tary feel throughout the movie. The
intensity of the movie lasts every sec
ond of the three-hour plus movie. The
viewer will draw from the film this:
World War II was not won only on the
battlefield. Sacrifice was everywhere.
The citizens of the United States owe
a debt of gratitude to all our vets, com
bat and non-combat, and all the people
who sacrificed and worked in facto
ries to defeat the evil tyranny of the
Nazi regime. ****
Watch your back!
used for student activities. SPI
then has insight into what sort o
activities they can economical!
afford on campus. They then star
the process of choosing worthy can
didates for these activities
Through contacting agencies, feed
back from other colleges, bro
chures, and tapes they begin select
ing activities students will enjoy
There is also a three day long na
tional convention called NAC •
where three representatives fro
SPC are chosen to attend.
They watch bands and come
dians and get ideas for making stu
dent life as exciting as possible
"We are here for the students," Rin!
commented, though most student ,
do not even know this organizatio
exists. It is sometimes difficul
sparking student involvement an'
participation but the groups' mai
goal is to let the students be awar ,
that there are things right here o
campus to extinguish boredom
Competition from other group•
such as Greek Life are usually con
tributors to a lack of participatio
but the group is trying to collabo
rate with other campus groups
SPC has already surpassed on:
goal: they exceeded fifty member ,
for lots of support.
Restoura94l W.o '', .0
i,Atto -
WE'RE
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-4 The heat is on at CHICHI'SI We're it
! •,5 stirring up excitement and salsafying , k
1 , our restaurant for o bright new look. If ';',l
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xi" come to our Open House and you could
A be interviewed and HIRED ON THE
AI SPOTI At America's Favorite Mexican
i i. 4,
Restaurant, we know how to put good
people and great jobs together.
,
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• BARTENDERS
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•HOST/HOSTESSES
•,.‘" We'll be holding °mite-spot interviews
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it can't make it to our Open House,
• please apply in person anytime.
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ERIE i
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[mac 41aq. Needs 4 Lad. Jslcs w
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Classifieds
**
Behrcoll4@aol.com
Gilly J,
Keep it real, study hard.
Willie J