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A&E
ThE/ClACkAMAS P rînt
WedNEsdAy, ApRil 19, 2000
A movie about the WCW? No wonder it sucked
ANGIE DASCHEL
A&E Editor
There is really not much to say
about Ready to Rumble except
that it is probably the worst movie
of the year. So on that note, let’s
get right into the plot summary,
shall we?
These two losers (David
Arquette, Scream, and Scott
Caan, Varsity Blues) are ob
sessed with all things to do with
wrestling, especially their fic
tional WCW champion, The King
(Oliver Platt, Three to Tango).
They get tickets to the so-called
biggest showdown in wrestling
history (butthen again, isn’t that
what they say every Monday
night?). Their man King has to
fight Diamond Dallas Page, who
is instructed by the head of the
WCW to whup some ass. After
Page succeeds in breaking King’s
perfect record and destroying
him as a professional wrestler, he
is booted out of the franchise.
Now the two losers have a mis
sion: restore King to his throne
and bring down the head of the
WCW.
After the bitter match, King
ends up stealing his parent’s mo
tor home, where the two losers
find him depressed and wearing
women’s clothing. They con
vince him to go back to wrestling,
and fight his way back into
WCW. King and the two losers
mount a surprise attack on the
WCW leader, who challenges him
to fight one deathmatch with
Page.
Every sports movie has to have
a training sequence, so King
practices with his newfound
friends, and regains his belief in
himself as a wrestler. The losers
back him up and predictably the
King regains his title as
champion. Until next Mon
day, of course.
Did I ruin the ending? If
I did then you must be as
stupid as the losers in
Ready to Rumble, because
everything has been done
twenty times in other mov
ies. This was supposed to
be a comedy, but the the
ater was silent and I only
cracked an embarrassed
smile once.
The two losers were try
ing to pull a Dumb and
Dumber routine, but these
two ain’t Jim Carrey and
Jeff Daniels. Arquette
loses his goofy charm
quickly, and even works in
his stupid commercials for
1-800-CALL-ATT into the movie.
Caan was much better in Varsity
Blues, so rent that instead.
I did enjoy the wrestling scenes,
which were few and far between. I
could have saved seven dollars
by staying home and watching the
same wrestling on TV. I guess I
shouldn’t be too surprised at how
dumb it was, considering it fea
tured the WCW and not the
WWF. Oh well, at least I got to
see Goldberg in those tight little
shorts.. .he is one hunk o’ man.
[Left] Oliver Platt as King. [Above] David Arquette (left) and Scott
Caan as the two losers in Ready to Rumble.
Workshop attendees pick the brain of famous playwright
Playwright Constance Congdon shares ideas, suggestions and
encouragement with students at a writing workshop at Clackamas
ANGIE DASCHEL
A&E Editor
World-renowned playwright
Constance Congdon was the
guest of honor and resident ex
pert at a writing workshop held
last weekend at the college. Stu
dents from Clackamas and Port
land area playwrights attended
the workshop, which stretched
for four hours on both Friday
night and Saturday morning.
Drama instructor David Smith-
English, who attended the event,
said students were encouraged
with several writing prompts,
such as the use of postcards to
draw ideas from. The goal of the
workshop was to write and read
a one-act play, which all the stu
dents accomplished.
“Some of the plays were quite
good,” said Smith-English.
“Some were ready to be pre
sented on stage.”
Congdon hails from Iowa, and
her plays have been performed
all over the world. Profile The
ater in Portland is featuring her
plays during their 2000 season,
and they are responsible for the
workshop at Clackamas, along
with the English Cultural Arts
Committee.
Smith-English commented
that Congdon is an incredible
teacher, and he was very im
pressed with her ability to
communicate ideas as well as
her positive attitude. She
stressed the importance of
completing ideas and and de
veloping characters in plays.
Smith-English said Congdon
also wanted the workshop at
tendees to be able to make their
ideas clear not only to the au
dience, but also to the actors
who would be acting in the
play. Congdon is the author of
No Mercy, which is being per
formed at Theater! Theater!,
3430 SE Belmont in Portland.
Constance Congdon
photo courtesy of david smith - engush