H< CkckAMAS P r ÌNT
•*
A&E
___________________________ 3_
"Hunting" for movies that leave an impression
JARED BEZZANT
Co-A&E-Ediior
“Good Will Hunting” has
something many movies have
been emphasizing for years—
how to make dreams reality
and give life meaning.
A good way to measure if a
movie is good is to see how
long it lingers in your mind.
The best poetry, paintings,
music, and cinema is not only
seen and heard, but felt. When
it leaves an impressiori, it is art.
“Good Will Hunting” does
a good job of that with its origi
nal script, realistic characters
and even more realistic setting.
It all moves around the charac
ter of Will Hunting (Matt
Damon), an unknown genius
spending his life in manual la
bor in the shoddy neighbor
hoods of south Boston. The
plot unfolds around the discov
ery of his genius.
Through all Will’s problems,
his friends and associates (in
cluding Robin Williams as psy
chiatrist Sean McGuire) began
to see their own. They often are
found reflecting on the things
he says, and the life he leads.
Characters become deeper and
the definition and values of life
more obvious. The influence of
Will’s character reaches past
the screen.
Will accuses Sean of losing
his will to live and entering a
comfort zone when Sean’s wife
died. This is relevarit to many;
it echoes and reaches into the
audience’s minds. The words of
advice from Will’s friends and
mentors, telling him to rise his
genius and talent for something
worthwhile, are equally pen
etrating.
“Good Will Hunting” has a
powerful message and Holly
wood gives us many others. An
other recent example is “Ti
tanic,” with character Jack
Dawson (Leonardo DeCaprio)
giving sound advice on living
your dreams and refusing to con
form.
A few years ago, “Dead Po
ets’ Society” portrayed Will
iams again sharing ideas on get
ting all you can out of life,
through the words of old poets
like Walt Whitman, Robert Frost
and Henry David Thoreau. The
catch phrase “carpe diem”-seize
the day—was taught as not only
something you read about, but
more importantly experienced
and lived;
These poets had a lot to say
about celebratirig life. Now liv
ing today in a society that does
little reading and likes things
easier, artists have gone to ex
press it through cinema. Yet for
Us the whole idea becomes toó
complex or challenging to actu
ally experience.
Cinema may often be skepti
cal also, but that has not stopped
filmmakers from trying. In a
time when many Hollywood
images are dark and negative,
there lies a vein of gold, movies
full of inspiration and reflection.
“Forrest Gump” showed us
all that could be done in a hu-
man life (through Forrest) and
all that could be wasted (through
Jenny). Success can even come
to someone who does not have
a photographic memory or a
high IQ.
“Mr.
Holland’s
Opus”
touched deeply on what influ
ence we can have on others in
our lives, even if it’s just one life
and even if one is only a high
school music teacher. We are all
important in some way to some
body.
Inspiring moves exist for all
ages arid crowds. “Big” shows
us the secret to happiness iri
middle age is in the “small”
moments. “Fried Green Toma
toes” and “Thelma and
Louise” reminded women of the
importance of friendship and
finding joy in the worst of situ
ations. In the world of sports,
“Chariots of Fire”, “Rocky”
and “Rudy” told stories of un-
known people that made it big
through hard work, and people
that cared about them.
Each of these takes a differ
ent angle on how we can paint
our life’s portrait. Each touches
us in a different way. They
show that life can be fulfilling
and important, and full of op
portunities for those who are
willing to work for them.
The screens are whispering in
the same form that pages did
long ago.
You can be something, they
say. Maybe a hero, big or small,
or a pianist or author, or just
happy. You can make your
dreams become real.
We all have different dreams
and aspirations, and the movies
cannot cater to them directly,
nor push us on our way, but they
can leave an impression. It is up
to us to act upon it. Life does
not have to be mundane and
certainly should not be comfort
able.
We too, like the movies, will
come to an end. And like any
form of art or good movie, only
the greatest leave an impres
sion.
Good
Will
Hunting
Director'.
Gus Van Sant
Starring:
Matt Damon,
Robin Will
iams, Ben
Affleck, and
Minnie
Driver
Story :The
story of a
young genius
who has lived
a rough life
and
finds
deeper mean
ing through
old and new
friehds.
Robin
Williams
tells Matt
Damon in
"Good
Will
Hunting"
what life
is really
about.
Succatash rocks the Green Onion
with unique brand of funky jazz
ALEX MAHAN
Co-A&E-Editor
With so many young and talented bands start
ing to appear on the local music scene, it is hard
to tell which groups will succeed and which will
fail. Butin the case of Succatash, an Oregon City
septet with a penchant for funky jazz tunes, suc
cess seems inevitable.
Although Succatash has only been together for
a little over onp year, it is an extremely talented
band with a steady flow of gigs at small Clubs
and restaurants.
The band consists of Clackamas student Norm
Buccola on bass, Jason Thomas on lead guitar,
drummer Mica Cassel, Jared Lawson flowing on
the keyboard, Fred Traheel singing vocals, a
trumpet player known as Caleb, and a saxophon
ist.
Cassel describes their sound as being “Zappa
meets Bootsy Collins with a side of Weather
Report.” Quite a good depiction, actually. Their
music ranges from funk to jazz to blues, with
many elements of fusion, swing, and bebop also
apparent.
Formerly known under a different pseud
onym, they had to change their title after people
had trouble remembering and pronouncing it.
“Nobody could say Groovonic Jammotitis,”
recalls Thomas.
At a recent gig at The Green Onion in down
town Portland, they showed that no matter what
their name, they could still groove. They played
to a standing-room only crowd at the small Per
sian restaurant, and it was obvious that the au
dience was digging the long jams and jazzy
tunes of Succatash.
The songs flowed together smoothly, with
various solos adding to the overall tone of the
show. Every person in the band had at least one
solo to play around with, and standouts included
Caleb’s improvisational work on the trumpet
and the guitar work of Jason Thomas. As you
can imagine, The Green Onion was swinging
that night.
Succatash has done many other shows,
including one at Clackamas last year during the
last week of May. Unfortunately, many Clackamas
students don’t take the time to appreciate music
on campus, so they went relatively unnoticed. But
there will be plenty of other opportunities to see
and hear these musicians.
This Friday, Jan. 30, Succatash plans to enter
the recording studio to start cutting songs for an
upcoming compact disc. Hopefully, they will able
to retain the same distinctive feeling of the live
shows on their record.
They also plan to do more shows at The Green
Onion, with dates unconfirmed as of yet. Call
Norm or Jason at 557-8672 for more information
regarding dates,times, or just more info about the
band.
Succatash has come a long way in the short time
that they have been together, and they have the
talent and sound to go much further. If you ever
get the chance to hear them live, take it! No mat
ter what your musical tastes, you will enjoy the
fun and different music of Succatash.
Wednesday, January 28, 1998