"Bring in the funny man." So cries the crowd under the big top in Charles Chaplin's 1928 silent cinematic sleeper "The Circus." For viewers today looking back with a working knowledge of the filmmaker's career and probably for those who watched the film in 1928, that statement abounds with irony.
Do you sleep with your teddy bear? Do you think University girls are hot? Or better yet, do you think whales are sexy?
God bless America. And Hollywood, too, while He's at it. A person need not be too perceptive to figure out from what country "Rules of Engagement," directed by William Friedkin ("The French Connection"), originates.
"Drowning Mona," directed by Nick Gomez (TV's "The Sopranos"), may be the most disappointing film of the year, not because it's bad, but because it had the potential to be so good. There has always been a dark side to the cinema, from the classic noir of the 1940s to the sordid indies of the 1970s.
Today's college student may be unfamiliar with Archie Manning. But if your father is anything like mine, then you probably grew up listening to recollections of the quarterback's star-crossed career with the New Orleans Saints.
Every night, the orphan children in "The Cider House Rules" doze off to a narration of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield." Nothing could be more appropriate. If you haven't yet had the privilege of discovering John Irving, you should.
From a confused and shattered childhood, a delinquent rights himself and begins to move on with his life.
This Monday, one of the decade's most influential independent screenwriters will be making his way to Charlottesville.
For those needing a welcome break from the hectic exam season, or just a pleasant reminder of the holidays, the Virginia Women's Chorus will present their Candlelight Concert this weekend in the University Chapel. Originally founded in the early 1970s to compliment the nearly century-old Glee Club, the Virginia Women's Chorus at one time was affiliated with the music department.
There may be more anticipation and anxiety surrounding the advent of the new millennium than there has been for any event throughout our history.
