Jeanine Noce, A & E Editor
behrco!ls @ aol.com
Gust Mows the new cast el ‘Real World’ into the Windy City
New city, new people,
new drama: ‘The Real
World Chicago’
by Autumn Brown
staff writer
It’s time to take another trip into the
world’s newest and greatest obses
sion, reality television. Chicago
known for the Bulls, the Bears and
the Cubs, now has a new team in town
called the “Real World.” As if we
hadn’t had enough of the “Real World
back to New York,” which began and
concluded last semester, MTV de
cided to bless its viewers with a bo
nus season of the “Real World in Chi-
cago.”
If you think that the “Real World”
has gone on too long and the excite-
The price is still right after 30 years
by Jeanine Noce
a & e editor
“Come on down. You’re the next
contestant on ‘The Price is Right.
Can you imagine saying this phrase
for the past 30 years? Well, Rod
Roddy and Bob Barker have done just
that and millions are still watching.
The “Price is Right” celebrated its
30th anniversary of the
show from the Rio Hotel
in Las Vegas. For the
first time in its history on
CBS the show went on
the road on Jan. 31.
After three decades of
television the game show
is still going strong. Even
Behrend’s faculty and
students continue to
watch the show. Last se-
mester, the Behrend
women’s soccer team at-
tended a taping
“I watch the show be- e led to Las
cause someday I want to 1,500
be in the audience and se
lected as a contestant,” said Dawn
Russell, majoring in elementary edu
cation. “I am watching all of the
games so that I can learn the ways to
win all of them.”
Communications professor John
Kerwin, who has worked in television
production, said ‘“The Price is Right’
has a great formula. It is a no-brainer,
the prizes are great and everybody
likes to win something.” He stated
that the game show deals with a sub
ject that everyone should know some
thing about, which is prices of vari
ous household and larger items.
“In this show you can win some
”said’ “The
ment has faded, think again. Af
ter all, it’s not your momma’s
soap opera. Even though the
show got off to a slow start, this
season will be like no other.
With a cast that is all mixed to
gether like a fruit salad, 30 min
utes of drama is almost guaran
teed, not to mention commer
cials by R&B group City High,
which offer episode summaries
with a musical twist.
The cast includes your All-
American guy, two homosexu
als, a naive beauty with a kid
ney infection, a Southern belle,
an immature wanna-be player,
and a self-centered drama
queen. Given the cast, what
more could one ask for?
Every season the cast-mates
receive a job assignment, which
show keeps sustaining. It draws mod
ern-day, young and old similar to the
lottery.”
The show opened with the usual
“Barker Beauties” in sparkly evening
gowns, along with Las Vegas show
girls in costume. If that wasn’t
enough, the games were played with
more expensive prizes. A car, con
vertible and truck were the prizes for
Vegas for
would-be
the game “Triple Play” where a con
testant won more than $60,000 worth
of vehicles in one game. She also
claimed a trip to Alaska in the origi
nal bidding in contestant row and
racked up $l,OOO while spinning the
“Big Wheel.”
Even the “Showcase Showdown”
had more to offer. A contestant who
won claimed a trip to Rio de Janeiro,
a sail boat, two gold and diamond
watches and $5,000, totalling more
than $40,000 in prizes.
More than 70 games are played on
“The Price is Right.” Plinko, the most
popular game where a contestant can
the 30th anniversary special. More
contestants were present.
The Real World Chicago’ cast (left to
Kyle, Theo, and Tonya.
In the Bag, Squeeze Play and One
Away were the other games show
cased.
“The Price is Right” continues to
be as popular as ever. More than
10,000 would-be contestants showed
up, but only 1,500 tickets were avail
able. Police had to be called in to dis
perse the mob.
Funny clips were shown through
out the evening on the
show from Rio: Barker
receiving kisses from
women and men, people
falling while spinning the
“Big Wheel” and even
women’s chests falling
out of their shirt.
Some older view
ers may remember that
the show originated in
1952 with Bill Cullen as
the host. MarkGoodsen,
the show’s creator, of
fered Barker the position
after revising his original
concept in 1972.
Right” is the longest running game
show on television.
“This is the only game show that is
left on daytime television, said Cathy
Mester, Behrend communication pro
fessor. “There used to be three or four
in the 1980 s, but now talk shows are
the big thing. Barker is the Tom
Cruise of the older generation. Many
older women think that he is attrac
tive.”
Barker has won 11 Emmy Awards
for hosting the series. He recently told
TV Guide that he has no plans to re
tire soon and has renewed his contract.
mwf
Friday, February 8, 2002
“The Price is
>neesa,
‘Brotherhood of the Wolf roars
by Daniel J. Stasiewski
staff writer
All too often the portrayal of
cryptozoological legends on film re
sults in a cheesy B-movie about
Bigfoot that does nothing to explore
any real-life enigma. In Christophe
Gans film, “Brotherhood of the Wolf,”
the French director falls for the op
posite. While exploring the legend
of the Beast of Gevaudan, “Brother
hood of the Wolf’ turns out to be a
better plot-heavy mystery than the
action flick it proclaims itself to be.
Between 1764 and 1767 nearly 100
French citizens in and around the
town of Gevaudan fell prey to a mys
terious wolf-like creature simply
called the Beast. King Louis XV of
France, whose nation has the rum
bling of a revolution, sends naturalist
Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel La
Bihan) and his Native American com
panion Mani (Mark Dacascos) to in
vestigate the vicious monster.
After a failed large-scale hunt and
scores of new murders, a French mili
tary commander is put in charge of
the search. Fronsac is left out until
the commander forces him to con
struct a monster from a dead wolf car
cass, thus giving the French public a
bogus sense of relief.
Unsettled, Fronsac and Mani go in
search of the real Beast only to dis
cover a broad conspiracy against the
King in the holiest of places.
It’s hard to imagine a film starting
out with a pointless fight scene and
its stars, but “Brotherhood of the
Wolf’ miraculously pulls it off. Writ
ers Stephane Cabel and Gans don’t
A Chris nix’s Video Picks
A weekly entertainment guide
to current movie rentals
by Chris Aiibaruho
staff writer
Once again Behrend movie
watchers, Chris Flix returns on the
scene to give you the high and low of
this week’s movie rentals.
Pay close attention to what I have
they must perform as part of the liv
ing arrangement. This time the lucky
seven must partake in the job of
lifeguarding. It’s not as easy as it
seems. In order for them to gain cer
tification each of the seven must pass
a CPR course and a 500 meter swim
ming test. By the end of the third epi
sode only three housemates passed the
test and the remaining four were job
less.
By this time in the game everyone
knows the deal with the “Real World.”
After all, this is the 11th time MTV
decided to take a crack at throwing
seven strangers into a house and
record their every move. Through
out the season the housemates will
deal with issues ranging anywhere
from homophobia to foster care.
For some, the “Real World” has be
come a soap opera that they never
leave the essentials of an action movie
behind with gratuitous battles and
tacky action hero lines. Their focus
on an amazingly packed screenplay,
however, turns attention from the
simple fight choreography to a fic
tionalized investigation of an over
looked French legend.
While the screenplay does develop
into a thrilling adventure tale, one
flaw can be found in its length. The 2
hour and 22 minute movie becomes
dull at points. Usually, this occurs
during the needlessly drawn-out fight
sequences. These little interruptions
in the generally unyielding plot aren’t
half as harmful as they could have be
to a lesser-scripted film, but disrup
tions make the “action” scenes feel
oddly boring.
Now, the captivating mystery be
hind the Beast does tend to take the
forefront in “Brotherhood of the
Wolf.” But, director Gans never for
gets the film is also a period drama.
While the examination of French
revolutionist politics obviously influ
ences the plot, the film doesn’t pre
clude itself from delving into other
aspects of 18th century France such
as prostitution, colonization, and re
ligious ignorance. Beautiful art di
rection and fabulous costume designs
complete an extravagant vision of a
growing state of peril.
With a comparatively low budget,
“Brotherhood of the Wolf’ not only
boasts superior costume design but
also glorious visual effects. Though
most of the Beast scenes are done by
playing off of its “Predator”-like mys
tic, the actual action with a computer
generated Beast rivals most Holly-
to say, because Valentine’s Day is just
around the comer. What better way to
spend the romantic evening than
curled up in bed watching a movie
with your significant other?
With that in mind, I suggest you
pick up “Kiss Of The Dragon” starring
martial arts sensation Jet Li and
Bridget Fonda. Li stars as a Chinese
detective in Paris, who is somehow
framed for murder and has to fight his
way to prove his innocence. Fonda
does a great job as a helpless prostitute
caught up in all the madness. Unlike
the typical action flicks of your
average “Dolph” or “Jean-Claude”,
this movie not only kicks ass, but it
also has a good story to it.
You might be wondering how this
movie ties into* the whole Valentine’s
Day theme. Well, you could probably
look at the relationship between Fonda
and her sadistic pimp as a love story
if you really wanted t0...0r maybe
settle for the fact that the title has the
word “Kiss” in it. It’s a stretch, but
this is a great movie, either way. Li
rocks.
Chris Flix Grade: A-
If anyone on this campus is
suffering from insomnia, I do believe
I have the cure. My prescription is a
The Behrend Beacon
miss on Tuesday night, even though
MTV airs the programs repeatedly.
The show has become a constant col
lege favorite, with the slogan that
tempts you to “find out what happens
when people stop being polite and
start getting real.” So, next Tuesday
night at 10 p.m., round up some
friends and get ready for your wel
come into the “Real World.”
2 “Real World Chicago”
fact:
■ Since its inception, the se- H
■ries has moved through l
■ Los Angeles, San Fran- •
■ cisco, London, Miami, ■
2 Boston, Seattle, Hawaii 2
■ and New Orleans. 2
wood productions. An attack scene
in farmhouse, I swear, was only de
signed to show off what a filmmaker
can generate with only $25 million
dollars.
Anyway you look at it, however, the
Beast was a fantastic dose of eye
candy. As far as acting is concerned,
one performer can be easily singled
out above the rest of the cast. Rela
tive newcomer Emilie Dequenne is
striking as Fronsac’s love interest.
Her dramatic portrayal of a romantic
young woman deprived of liberation
only by her class values is compel
ling and powerful.
Dequeene’s significant presence in
her supporting role undoubtedly en
sures a tremendous future in film
worldwide. While Dequeene’s per
formance resonates throughout the
film, Dacascos’ role as the silent war
rior Mani remains a dominant back-
ground presence.
His strongest emotions are exposed
early on in the film during the atro
cious wolf genocide, but the martial
arts star of films like “Double
Dragon” gives his finest performance
to date.
It’s not as if “Brotherhood of the
Wolf’ wasn’t a decent action film.
The amount of focus on plot is not
something every action movie has but
should. A vicious but extravagant
period piece, “Brotherhood of the
Wolf’ is definitely a film worth bit
ing into.
out of 4
sure-fire way to knock out anyone
who comes in contact with it. My only
precaution: Do not use if you are
allergic to Woody Allen.
“Curse Of The Jade Scorpion” is a
quirky comedy starring Allen, Helen
Hunt and Dan Aykroyd. Allen plays a
chauvinistic insurance fraud
investigator who absolutely hates his
new female boss, played by Hunt.
I wish I could tell you more about
the movie, but I fell asleep. Apparently
the movie has something to do with
hypnotism, which is pretty hilarious
because this mind-numbing movie
will put you in such a deep sleep that
you won’t be able to wake up even if
you wanted to, until you hear the
sound of your VCR rewinding the
tape. I only liked this movie because I
haven’t had such a good nap since 1
was a baby. It’s better than any
sleeping pill on the market. 1 am sure
of it.
Chris Flix Grade: D+
Now get to your video store movie
watchers and take my word for it. This
is Chris Flix, your number one movie
man, and I will see you next week.
*Chris used to be a manager at a
movie theatre in Virginia and is
currently an employee at Giant
Eagle’s Iggle Video.
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