N ovember 5,2003
A rts
E ntertainment
'Runaway Jury/ just let it go
'Carcassonne' mixes, low-tech
thrills with complex stratagems
Isaiah Creel
A&E E ditor
INTERNET PHOTO
Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and John Cusack add star flare to the
humdrum film adaptation of John Grisham’s novel ‘Runaway Jury.’
Cyndee Mady
Co E ditor - in -C hief
“Runaway Jury” starts off strong,
but gradually loses impact with the
repetitious game of cat and mouse
that never quite captivates the audi
ence.
Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman
and John Cusack lead an all-star cast
in the adaptation of John Grisham’s
novel, directed b.y Gary Fleder
(“Don’t Say a Word”).
Unlike other jury movies that pit
‘wiseguys’ against jury members,
“Runaway Jury” is a battle of wits
between attorneys, an affably per
suasive juror, his female accomplice
and an unscrupulous jury consultant.
“A trial is too important to be left
up to juries,” exclaims Rankin Fitch
(Hackman) a statement that influ
ences the direction of the plot.
Set in New Orleans, the plot
revolves around a widow whose
husband is gunned down at the
beginning of the film in a shoot-out
involving a disgruntled ex-employ-
ee. The husband is played by Dylan
McDermott, former star of “The
Practice,” who strangely enough,
does not make it into the credits.
Two years later, a trial ensues
against the gun manufacturer who
provided the underground arms that
allegedly enabled the murder.
Hired by the defense, Fitch uti
lizes high-tech equipment, under
cover investigators and even a few
goons to size up and later influence
jurors for the purpose of insuring a
win.
During the jury selection, attor
ney for the defense Durwood Cable
(Bruce Davison) is rigged with a
microphone earpiece. Fitch is on the
other end, barking “yea” or “nay”
with the introduction of each poten
tial juror.
In the meantime, Wendell Rohr
(Hoffman) and his consultant, sim
ply known as Green (Jeremy Piven,
who co-starred with Cusack in
“Serendipity”), select members they
deem worthy of a vote in favor of the
prosecution.
Enter would-be juror Nick Easter
(Cusak), who has been summoned to
invoke his civic duty to the court.
Along with the other jurors, who
have been carefully handpicked by
council, the seemingly reluctant
Easter is accepted.
Cut to a celebration in an apart
ment pasted with photos and biogra
phies of the jury members, and it’s
suddenly apparent that Easter and
his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz)
have plans of their own.
“Everybody’s got a button, we
just gotta figure out where to push
it,” said Easter.
While aspects of the film are
intriguing and one often wonders
what will happen next, the suspense
falls short of the edge-of-your-seat
expectations typical of Grisham
favorites, such as “The Firm” or
“Clear and Present Danger.”
The movie seemed contrived and
often inconceivable, but top-notch
performances by Cusack, Hackman
and Hoffman will assuredly win
over audiences in this crime drama
that weaves plot-twists in and out of
the jury room.
“Runaway Jury” rates a score of
7 out of 10, for 127 minutes of mild
ly-entertaining theater, heightened
only by its veteran cast.
T he C lackamas P rint • 6
Despite the attention given to the
latest in high-tech videogames,
“Carcassonne” proves that you can
still have fun with out any flashing
lights or spiraling colors.
You’ve been playing “Counter
Strike” for years. It’s time to step
away from the machine and step up to
the Carcass Zone... I mean
“Carcassonne!” This fast-action strat
egy, first-person, tile-flipper will
knock you out of your socks.
From those wacky Germans at Rio
Grande games comes “Carcassonne,”
an all-out, tile-placing strategy game
fit for anyone ten years old and up.
This innovative game has been in print
for years, but has now resurfaced due
to the hideous monotony and lack of
ingenuity from the folks in the
videogame industry.
Loosely based on the southern
French city of Carcassonne, which
was taken and retaken so often
throughout the course of history that
architecture from Romans and
Visigoths still stands there today,
Carcassonne incorporates simple rules
with cunning strategy.
Though the game pieces them
selves look like they were made by a
ten-year-old and the rules can be mas
tered in less than ten minutes,
Carcassone has none of the shallow
strategies and random luck that you
would expect from a children’s game.
The game play is simple to grasp.
Two to five players take turns placing
tiles on the table to make the city
structure and followers on the tiles to
score points. No one is eliminated
throughout the course of the game,
allowing for surprising upsets and that
ever-popular “everyone’s a winner”
finale and yes, some games will end in
a tie.
The average game takes about 30-
45 minutes and rarely comes to blows
in the end.
“Just don’t let Isaiah keep score,”
said Robb Egan, a gaming enthusiast.
“He cheats.”
In all fairness however, Egan won
that game, all on his own. Fans of
games such as Risk might dismiss this
game at first glance (as I mistakenly
did) for a simple child’s game, due to
the cartoon knight on the box. Don’t
be fooled! This is a super-great game
which you will have fun beating your
siblings at.
Additionally, all those nerds out
there with girlfriends (I know there
have to be some of you), please know
that she will have no trouble figuring
out the rules regardless of prior gam
ing experience. Just watch out, she
might beat you.
CORY PRICE CLACKAMAS PRINT
Puzzling out ‘Carcassonne’
is easier than it appears.
Ethereal rock band stomps forth solid sounds
Ben Maras
T he C lackamas P rint
The debut album of Anatomy of
Ghost is entitled Evanesce, which
means “to dissipate or disappear like
vapor,” however, it’s obvious from the
first track that this band will not disap
pear anytime soon.
If you haven’t heard the name by
now, my guess is soon you will.
Originally hailing from Alaska, the
band relocated to Portland and within
months, their haunting sound had taken
the local music scene by storm. After
playing on the Vans’ Warped Tour, they
are now gaining momentum all over the
United States, and even as far away as
Europe.
Anatomy of a Ghost has a unique
sound that combines the emotive sound
of the New York-based band Coheed
and Cambria with the energy and sonic
attack of the legendary group At the
Drive-In.
Twin guitars lace the fury with rich
intertwining melodies. Vocalist John
Gourley’s soprano voice soars above
the chaos with both angst and melan
cholia, while somehow binding it all
together to form one unique sound, cre
ating one of the tightest rhythm sections
in modem music.
To call them the Tool of melodic
hardcore would not be an understate
ment. Just as Tool, Anatomy’s songs
commonly change key and meter mul
tiple times, while still keeping just
enough of the dark yet beautiful melody
to keep the flow of the song.
Evanesce opens with possibly the
album’s heaviest song, “Birth of a
Mile,” which, instead of gearing up
with an introduction, kicks straight
from neutral into fourth gear in five sec
onds flat, with only a brief bout of feed
back preceding it. Then, just as sudden
ly as it began, the song drops down to a
single clean guitar riff. Reintroducing
bass and drums, the music swells back
to the end of the song with a memorable
finish and fades into silence.
All of the songs on Evanesce have
this kind of flowing quality, leading the
listener on a sonic journey through the
blood, sweat and tears of the band
members.
The two best songs on the album
are “Since Yesterday” and “On to
Morning Stars.” The former shows
Anatomy’s softer side, exposing the
more melancholy side (the ‘yin’ to the
‘yang,’ if you will). It begins with one
of the most intriguing guitar riffs ever
recorded, and contains the memorable
line, “You never told me you hate me,
but you showed it so well.”
“On to Morning Stars,” on the other
hand, has almost a triumphant sound to
it. The song is written in two parts. The
first part is the epic buildup “Dearest,
I’ll Meet You in the Hollows,” which
starts from one fuzzy broken rhythm,
sounding almost like Morse code. It
slowly adds swirling reversed guitars,
bass and drums, until it suddenly seems
to just reduce and compress itself into
one distorted riff, marking the begin
ning of this sonic marvel.
The lyrics read more like abstract
poetry than a love sonnet: “We flail
onto morning stars, we’ll offer up our
selves, just not to close our eyes. Seize
onto the sun, as it rises in the east
ascends to open doors hanging heaven
ly, suspended in the superlunary.”
Band members Zach Carothers and
Dewey Halpaus provide back up for
lead singer John Gourley in this song.
They supply intertwining vocal lines,
sometimes literally screamed at the
physical limit of the vocal chords, other
times nearly whispered, both happen
ing simultaneously. In typical fashion,
halfway through the song, the music
slows to a single guitar, before reemerg-
ing with twice the emotion and energy,
and ending strong.
The final track, eight-minute “Last
Transmission,” sums up Anatomy’s
sound better than any.
Beginning as a quiet ballad, it rips
into full force and goes off on sonic tan
gents before finally circling back to the
beginning again, and bringing the
album to a close.
The most amazing thing about
Anatomy is that they can pull it all off
with such efficiency. They find a har
mony between total opposites, without
compromising the integrity of either. It
is this intricacy of both the music and
the emotion behind the music that
makes a listener appreciate Evanesce
more with each track, and proves the
album has achieved the difficult status
of being a classic in its own time.
ANEW
CLUB??
INTERNET PHOTO
Rising stars ‘Anatomy of a Ghost’ prove their skill with their debut album ‘Evanesce.’
Have you returned
to college after
many years of working,
playing and
living your life?
Are you sometimes
lost, not sure of where
to turn during your
new venture at CCC?
If so, become part of
forming a new club here
on campus!
For more info, email Earl England
at olderccc@yahoo.com