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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2001)
A&E N e CI ac I íamas P rínt _______ LI WEdNEsdAy, OcTobER 10, 2001 Author bares all ERINN LERTEN Staff Writer David Sedaris, well known om his commentaries on Na- onal Public Radio’s This merican Life, and author of le Talk Pretty One Day and le bestselling Barrel Fever, ffers a wickedly witty collec- on of autobiographical essays i Naked. Sedaris takes the reader along n his catastrophic detours irough a nudist colony, a uit-packing plant, his own lildhood, and a dozen more of ie world’s little purgatories, s Sedaris chronicles the low oints of his life, from his suf wring as a b$y,ftpiR.#.debili- iting compulsive behavior icking light switches, count- ig steps) to his earliest, terri- ing intimations of his homo- ¡xuality, to some near- ;ath hitchhiking experiences, 3 leaves his readers breath- ss with laughter and wide ned with wonder at his daring )th out in the world and on e page. A self-described mart-ass,” Sedaris is a gifted satirist with an uncanny knack for recreating dialogue and re vealing fantasies. From the first line, “I’m think ing of asking the servants to wax my change before placing it in the Chinese tank I keep on my dresser. It's important to have clean money not new, but well maintained,” Naked clob bers the reader into dizzy sub mission. Growing up in Raleigh, N.C., Sedaris had disruptive nervous tics that only disappeared once he took up smoking, which, “despite its health risks, is much more socially acceptable than crying out in tiny voices.” Sedaris’ funniest scenes fea ture his mother getting a suc cession of schoolteachers drunk, while performing heart less imitations of her obses sive-compulsive son. Her sour detachment serves David well, however, when he develops an enthusiasm for theater “and undertook a campaign to rein troduce Elizabethan English to the citizens of North Carolina.” Sedaris’ best humor is gen erally rooted in misery: At col lege he befriended “a fun girl with a degenerative nerve dis ease” confined to a wheelchair, with whom he successfully shoplifted (no one stopped them) and hitchhiked (every one Stopped for them). In his final and title inspiring story, David ends up naked but consoled in the nation’s most bereft nudist camp: “Coming here from New York, it is heart ening to walk into a room and know you’re not being judged by your clothes,” he tells the reader. “Still, though, as bad a dresser as I am, anything beats being judged by my character.” Derek Zoolander ( Ben Stiller) struts his stuff on the catwalk, as a male supermodel. Zoolander hits Hollywood The not so funny tale of a supermodel turned assassin DANMERYS Staff Writer Derek Zcfolander (Ben Stiller, who also directed) is the world’s most famous male model. Armed with magnificent facial expressions which had names like “Blue Steel,” “Ferrari,” and “la Tigra” (which are actually all the same) he has won the VH1 Best Male Model Award three years in a row. The only thing standing between him and a fourth straight award is Hansel (Owen Wilson), an up-and-coming model who recently landed the cover of High Times. The big news in the fashion world is the prime minister of Malaysia and his plan to elimi nate child labor and raise the minimum wage. This is unac ceptable to the fashion de signer syndicate (which has been behind every political as sassination in the past 200 years). Their fall collections are due on the runway in weeks and the prime minister’s plan would make them to costly to pro duce. Their only option is to have the prime minister assas sinated. The syndicate hands the assignment to Mugatu (the always amazing Will Ferrell), the poodle haircut-wearing in ventor of the piano key tie. Mugatu must brainwash Zoolander Pavlov-style to be come a killing machine when ever he hears the song “Relax” by 80s New Wave band Frankie Goes To Hollywood, of which Mugatu was the keyboard player. Quite the little predica ment for Zoolander. No one wants to be brainwashed into killing a foreign dignitary. But first, Hansel must be dealt with. How do male supermodels settle their little tiffs? Fighting is out of the question, since that would ruin the ol’ money-maker. How about a “walkoff” judged by David Bowie, who so conve niently hangs out in a musty old warehouse? Perfect. While most of Ben Stiller’s work is pretty funny, Zoolander isn’t in the same ballpark. A good concept falls short, then onto its face. When this movie does make you laugh, it’s a kind of forced “I’m laughing to make myself think that this movie is worth the $6 I paid” laugh. Ben Stiller is trying to make models look stupid, but the only way he goes about this is mispronouncing big words that your average sev enth grader would screw up. The biggest mistake Zoolander made is the most basic: It was made. Medieval action with pro football flavor trio runs into Geoffery Chaucer (played by Bettany), who is stroll Staff Writer ing along in the buff. Upon fur Movie stores around the coun- ther inspection, Sir Ulrich and his L are now renting A Knight’s squires discover that Mr. Chaucer [le, starring Heath Ledger, Shan- is a writer who has a knack for los 11 Sossamon, Alan Tudyk, Mark ing everything he owns when he ldy, Paul Bettany and Rufus gambles, including the clothes off well. A Knight’s Tale is a ro- of his back. Despite his obvious mtic-adventure film, touched off flaw of a gambling habit, Sir Ulrich ¡th comedy invites Chaucer roughout its two to come with iurs. them and be his Ledger plays Wil 1- herald. n Thatcher, a squire The movie fol 10 decides to mask lows Von 5 true identity for Lichtenstein in s sake of compet- his pursuit' to g in jousting being the num ents, in which one ber one jouster 11st be of noble in all of th. Mark Addy and Christendom. an Tudyk are trans- Chaucer takes [med from fellow great pride in lires with William announcing Von atcher to squires Lichtenstein be Sir Ulrich Von Actor, Heath Ledger plays fore everyjoust, :htenstein, the iden- a squire turned Knight. arousing the kof Thatcher’s false knight. crowd to cheer enormously for Sir It is on their way to their first Ulrich. A major obstacle arises, mplete jousting match that the though, when Sir Ulrich is de NICK BARRON feated in his first encounter with Count Adhemar, who just so hap pens to be pursuing the same prin cess, Jocelyn, (played by Sossamon) as Von Lichtenstein. The majority of the film is dedi cated to building up the obvious clash between Adhemar and Sir Ulrich, and the development of Sir Ulrich’s relationship with Jocelyn. An underlying theme through out the movie is the charge that Thatcher’s father gave to a young William, that he can “change his stars.” It is this request that his father laid upon William the last time he saw his father, twelve years ago. And it is also this request that possesses Thatcher, or Sir Ulrich, to do anything he possibly can to become a knight. The music featured in this film is perhaps the most distinguishing feature of A Knight’s Tale. Instead of the expected medieval tunes, the 1970s music scene is revisited with Queen and KC and the Sunshine Band, as well as others, being used for the musical background of the movie. A Knight’s Tale can be a humor- A wounded and unarmored William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) corageously charges towards Count Adhemar. ous and romantic film, but the ad venture leaves one knowing the outcome halfway into the movie. As for history buffs, they would be bet ter off renting Monty Python: Search For the Holy Grail for the umpteenth time, as/1 Knight’s Tale supplies hardly any true historic characters. But for two hours’ worth of laughs and slight entertainment one might want to consider renting A Knight ’s Tale. You can watch the movie with almost any audience, minus younger children. And the lack of suspense would leave this film to being a top-notch choice to have on during a party or any other get-together that may contain loud guests and plenty of conversation.
