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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2002)
Serene aesthetic sets tone in ‘Pumpkin Movie review Aaron Shakra Pulse Reporter “Pumpkin,” from first-time directors Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder, is a really strange film. Really, really strange. But it works in such a way that ends up drawing the viewer into the story, themes and characters, without telling them what to think. And it has absolutely noth ing to do with Halloween. The film played at Bijou Art Cinemas earlier this month, and will come to DVD and VHS on Nov. 5. It opens with Carolyn McDuffy (Christina Ricci), a USC student and member of the Alpha Omega Phi sorority on campus, scheming with her Greek sisters to win “sorority of the year” by assisting disabled athletes. This scene has a serene, bright aesthetic which alternately sets and offsets the tone of the film throughout its 113 minute run-time. At first, Carolyn is surrounded by a world of forced cheerfulness, both on her own accord and by her sorority environment. Perfection and imperfection, nor malcy and weirdness saunter around her head as she works with her assigned athlete, Pumpkin Romanoff (Hank Harris). She has an immediate repulsion to him, which turns to a kind of simultaneous affection and attraction. In one of the funnier moments of the film, her poetry teacher rips apart her “Ode to Pasadena,” challenging her to read the poem. She tears it up and throws it in the garbage can halfway through the film, as sort of a breaking point for her char acter. It’s a short scene, but it packs a punch. And here is precisely where the strength of “Pumpkin” lies — in its subtlety. Take Pumpkin’s watercolors, or Carolyn’s boyfriend, the cookie-cutter ten nis star, Kent (Sam Ball). Or the seamless blending of satire, com edy, drama and edgy subject mat ter without having to fall into any one of them. The film confronts the racy — both literal and metaphorical — topics under the guise of happy, purposeful cheer fulness without being preachy. To give away more scenes of this balancing act would be spoiling the fun. Contact the Pulse reporter at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com. Dole wants teens drug tested to receive driver’s licenses Mark Johnson Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) RALEIGH, N.C. — Elizabeth Dole wants to require all teenagers to pass a drug test before getting a driver’s license. Dole, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina and a former transporta tion secretary, has promised to push for a federal law pressuring states to enforce such a measure. “Wouldn’t that help them understand how important it is to be drug free?” Dole asked at a recent campaign stop in Washington, N.C. “It’s not cool (to abuse drugs). It kills.” Then-President Bill Clinton proposed a nearly identical meas ure in 1996 while campaigning against Dole’s husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, and offered feder al grants to states the next year. Campaign officials for Elizabeth Dole said they were unaware of the Clinton initiative. Dole included the pre-license drug test as part of her “Dole Plan for North Carolina” this year, pro posing teens who test positive must complete a drug counseling course and pass another test before getting a license. The test could be bypassed. Parents who don’t want their chil dren to take a drug test could waive the requirement, said Mary Brown Brewer, Dole’s communica tions director. “You can’t solely address (ille gal drugs) from the supply side. You have to address it from the demand side,” Brewer said. “When you turn 16, you look so forward to getting that driver’s license. This is a pretty strong incentive not to do anything that would prevent you from getting that driver’s license.” Dole has made “less govern ment” a campaign mantra, as have many Republicans, which makes it striking that she would embrace an invasive expansion of govern ment duties and authority. Last year, nearly 62,000 North Carolina teens got their first dri ver’s license. ; A spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said he was unaware of any states enacting such a program after the Clinton push. Dole’s opponent, Democrat Erskine Bowles, said he would like to talk with law enforcement offi cials, parents and teenagers before proposing such a measure. The testing presents practical obstacles and legal questions. State motor vehicles administra tions would suddenly face the costs of processing drug tests through a laboratory, not to men tion the idea of testing youngsters who haven’t been accused of any thing. U.S. courts, though, have repeatedly upheld the constitu tionality of drug tests. Several states have zero toler ance laws on alcohol use, requir ing that teens lose their license if caught driving with any amount of alcohol in their blood. The alcohol tests, though, are administered after a youth has been stopped on suspicion of drinking. Substance-abuse experts said drug testing works as an incentive to keep youths from abusing drugs but likely only until they pass that checkpoint. © 2002, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.). Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Pumpkins continued from page 1 grow an assortment of pumpkins on their 20 acres, including vari eties for cooking. Henderson said she doesn’t grow huge pumpkins because they are too hard to handle. Sometimes, she said, customers don’t understand that fitting their selections into a Volkswagen isn’t possible. Or if not possible, about as likely as, well, seeing the Great Pumpkin on Halloween. Contact the reporter at jodyburruss@dailyemerald.com. __---i -Valio*Y°ur ' Usetavori«e \ l ' _C up a«d 30«.tr,“'J l COme J*DE off>ces_^ __r-. \ Stop Wj ^. r, —.. uo cultural forum presents with live cast: forbidden fruit 6 student | 8 general 9pm emu ballroom oct 31 + nov 1 RECYCLE Samurai Duck Monday, Oct. 28th •Jungle DJs • Lizard King • Oral Sex Tuesday, Oct. 29th • Northwest Best •Jungle and Acid Techno Wednesday, Oct. 30th •Community sounds - last time Thursday, Oct. 31st •International Reggae Artist • Earl Zero and 7th Street • Halloween Reggae Party! | 345-6577 990 Oak Street keep in touch www.dailyemerald.com Peace, Justice and Civil liberties Conference Building the Movement Against the Assault on Human Rights Since Sept. 11 November 11 to17, Monday to Sunday National and Local Speakers each weekday evening at 7 p.m. in 150 Columbia (comer of 13th and University) Monday 11/11 Tuesday 11/12 Wednesday 11/13 Thursday 11/14 Friday, 11/15 Leah Wells, Voices in the Wilderness Medea Benjamin, Ryan Amundson Barbara Lubin, Rania Masri Kevin Gray, Rahul Mahajan Mario Africa, Amy Goodman Weekend of Events Saturday 11/16 Sunday 11/17 Banned Film Festival in 180 PLC, 11 a.m. Workshops and Speakers in EMU all day Comic Dave Lipman 7p.m., Columbia 150 Workshops and Speakers in EMU all day World Cafe withRev. Robert Jeffreys in the EMU food court, late afternoon id General $2 Students/Low Income (available at the door) or $10 Entire Conference (available at O THE CULTURAL FORUM EMU.SUITEZ3464373 culturalforum.uoregonedu
