'Inside Man' fails to deliver high-stakes plot

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

With an all-star cast including Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster, you think the acting in “Inside Man” would have been a little better. 
   However, what the film lacked in the acting department it made up for with a clever plot full of interesting twists.  Washington plays Keith Frazier, a New York City police detective and hostage negotiator facing a corruption scandal at work when he gets called up to deal with a bank robbery.  Four people entered the Manhattan Trust Bank, a branch of an international financial institution, dressed as painters.  Within minutes the quartet, led by Clive Owen's Dalton Russell, has taken control of the bank and it's 50-odd patrons and employees.     
   By stripping them of their phones, keys, clothes and forcing them all into painters' clothes and masks, Russell cleverly and calmly begins to pull off the perfect bank robbery.  Or is it really a bank robbery?  Working with his partner Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and the Emergency Services Unit Captain John Darius (Willem Dafoe), Frazier attempts to peacefully diffuse the situation and obtain control of the bank.     
   However, as the robbery unfolds, the robbers remain two steps ahead of the police. 
As Frazier's superior officers start to get nervous about his ability to end the standoff, the chairman of the bank's board of directors Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) enters the situation.  Case hired Jodie Foster's character, Madeline White, a backroom, wheeler-dealer power broker, to protect his mysterious interests located within the bank. 
   Directed by Spike Lee, “Inside Man” has a very gripping plot, but I cannot help but find fault with several aspects of the story.  The film left me (as well as my filmgoing companions) with several unanswered questions and unresolved issues.
   The robbers where never fleshed out as characters and Washington's character was distractingly annoying perhaps as a result of some of Denzel's one-dimensional acting.  Foster's interpretation of her character was equally blase.  I think the best acting was that of Plummer's character and Owen (which is saying something because for the majority of the film, his face was covered by a mask). 
   In addition, some of the camera work was shaky, distracting and inconsistent.  A couple of times during the film a camera trick made it appear like Denzel Washington was floating.  Rather then further the story line, it was distracting and a little comical. 
   The script, written by newcomer Russel Gewirtz, was surprisingly funny.  One doesn't normally expect a thriller to be so witty and clever.  Overall, “Inside Man” was enjoyable but not without its flaws.  I would recommend it, but not too highly. 
   Rated R for language and some violent images, “Inside Man” runs about 139 minutes. 

'The Administrator' showcased at art gallery

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

     The clever and meticulous work of Michael Aurbach has been gracing the UIS Visual Arts Gallery since the beginning of March.  “The Administrator” is not what one typically imagines when thinking of art.  Made entirely of galvanized steel, it is a life-sized room that can be looked into through partial walls. 
   “The Administrator” is part of Aurbach's Secrecy Series, which is about secrecy and institutional behavior.  This mixed-media installation depicts the cold sterility of business.  Lit only from above, the room seems dark with no warmth. The coldness of the metal and the sparseness of the room give the viewer an insight into how modern business is devoid of all emotion and humanity.  Individuality is gone, replaced with boring uniformity and a loss of privacy.  Aurbach is meticulous in both the construction of “The Administrator” and the detail of the work.
   Aurbach's work is incredibly different.  I have never seen anything like it at UIS, but in my mind that is what is so fantastic not only about art but about the Visual Arts Gallery.
   Anything can be art, from cartoons to oils to computer images to large rooms made of steel and anyone with true passion can be an artist.  Art is both limitless and without definition, but if I had to explain it, I think art must be people's dreams come to life.  The Visual Arts Gallery is open to many different expressions and interpretations of those dreams. 
   One such dreamer, Aurbach is a professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.  He teaches both sculpture and drawing.  In addition to his Secrecy Series, Aurbach's works have dealt with issues of death and identity in the past.  In the past 20 years, Aurbach has had more than 60 solo exhibitions at various museums and galleries including The Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in New York, the Indianapolis Art Center, the Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Kansas.
   Critically acclaimed, Aurbach was awarded with the Southeastern College Art Conference Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in 1995.  More recently, in 2001 Aurbach received the honor of the inaugural exhibition of contemporary art at Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
   Tomorrow from 5:30 to 8 p.m. will be the closing reception for “The Administrator” in the gallery.  Both the reception and the exhibit are free and open to the public.  The UIS Visual Arts Gallery is located in HSB 201.  For further information about the exhibit or the gallery, contact Emily Laverty at 206-6506.

College Spring Break style

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

Long before there was MTV or “Girls Gone Wild,” there was Spring Break.  Originating with the ancient Greeks, Spring Break underwent many incarnations over the years before it arrived at the crazy, drunken, naked good times we now associate with it.  
Back in the day, the Greeks were looking to blow off steam after a long hard winter (although, I am not so sure how long and hard of a winter Greece has).  The young people would get together, hold festivals in honor of the gods and do some general frolicking. 
Then Christianity rained on the Spring Break parade.  Because if there is one thing God hates, it’s frolicking.  However, spring fever is pretty powerful and all the Inquisitions in all the lands could not remove Spring Break from the souls of Europeans everywhere. 
The emergence of Spring Break in the U.S. took awhile, but as they say, all good things come to those who wait.  During World War I, the European troops would take a little break from fighting each spring for partying. 
Legend has it that scantily clad women would dance for the troops.  Much to the surprise and horror of the American soldiers (this was before “Brokeback Mountain”), these women frequently turned out to be men.  So just to be on the safe side, they started employing the phrase “Show us your (lewd term for breasts)!” which went on to be a Spring Break anthem. 
Not until the ‘60s and ‘70s did Americans really take to the Spring Break phenomenon.  The Baby Boomers (stop and think about that for a moment- our parents!) were more than a little eager to take a break from studying, protesting or disco to head to the beach for some fun in the sun.  
Soon hundreds of thousands of students were flocking to Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, Cancun, Miami Beach, Jamaica, Acapulco, South Padre Island and Panama City Beach between February to mid-April. 
The 80’s and 90’s saw the typical Spring Break evolve into what it is today- young tan people overindulging in sex and booze while being filmed for MTV or “Girls Gone Wild” videos. 
Now, there is nothing wrong with some sun frolicking, but if you are going on Spring Break–be smart, be safe.  Don't mix drinking and swimming, always make sure there is a life guard, don't drink from the “girls only” punch bowl, use sunscreen, always use condoms and dental dams, always travel in at least pairs, don't leave your beverage unattended, be careful of broken glass and bare feet, don't go to strange men’s hotel rooms or on strange men's boats (I know it sounds weird, but I know someone who’s done it) and for love of all that is holy, if you see a man with a video camera–keep your clothes on!
But if you really feel the need to flash someone with a video camera, just remember that one day your father might be channel surfing and see you in a commercial for “Dumb Half Naked Girls Who Didn’t Listen to Gabbie When They Should Have.” 

'Inside Man' fails to deliver high-stakes plot

Take a 'Road Trip' or be one of the 'Wedding Crashers'

College Spring Break style