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.