University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 15, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Page: 4 of 4
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‘Nightmare on
Crockett Street’
aims to be area’s
biggest Halloween
celebration
The Crockett Street Entertainment
District and Clear Channel Radio
have joined together to bring what
they hope will be the biggest
Halloween Celebration ever to
Southeast Texas.
The outdoor street party to be
held on Oct. 31 and will begin at 6
p.m. There will be DJ-oriented dance|
music and a midway of beverage
and other vendors. There will also be ]
plenty of entertainment and bursts
of confetti to liven up the festivities,
a spokesperson said.
The highlight of the Halloween
Street Party will be the $1,000 cash
prize costume contest to be held on
an outdoor stage at midnight. Most
Crockett Street venues will hold their
own contests throughout the
evening, with the winners gaining eli-
gibility to participate in the midnight
contest.
“We’re very excited about
Halloween being on a Friday night
this year,” said Christina Delgadillo,
spokesperson for Crockett Street.
“We’re confident that 'Nightmare on
Crockett Street’ will be as big a cele-
bration as our very successful New
Year's Eve and Mardi Gras street
parties were.”
“Halloween will never be the
same in Southeast Texas,” added
Delgadillo. “Where else can thou-
sands of people enjoy food,
music and fun all on the only
night once a year that everyone
dresses in festive costumes. This
could be the biggest street party in
Texas.”
Unlike the two prior outdoor
street parties in the Downtown
Entertainment District, admission
tickets will allow access to all
Crockett Street venues. The
Spindletop Restaurant and Rio Rita’s
will be accessible from outside gates
without having to pay an admission.
Tickets for “Nightmare on
Crockett Street" are on sale now at
the Crockett Street Deli and all
Florida Tans locations in Nederland,
Beaumont and Lumberton.
♦
RAW to come
to Beaumont
Catch all the excitement of the
World Wrestling Federation when it
makes its way to the Southeast Texas
Arena on Nov. 17. Tickets range from
$21 to $43 and are on sale now at
all Ticketmaster outlets.
Van Coller, Lovell
exhibits at AMSET
Two exhibits, titled “You Travel
Far” by Ian van Coller and ‘Tableaux”
by Whitfield Lovell, are on display at
the Art Museum of Southeast Texas
through Dec. 7.
Call 832-3432 for information.
University Press
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
o
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PAGE
ill J
i| i
Til Ion and
the t
amous
The Iguazu Falls at
the confluence
of three
countries.
■ magine winning a scholarship that allowed you to travel abroad
and study under a handful of famous people that you admire for
three weeks, all expenses paid. Sounds like a dream, right? While
most of us will only imagine this, a woman on campus got to live
out this dream.
Spanish instructor Catalina Castillon spent June 16 through July 4 in
Argentina at a conference with eight of the best and newest Argentine
writers. After applying for and receiving a scholarship from the
University of Virginia, Castillon was informed that she would be joining
21 other graduate students from all over the world to be taught by these
eight writers during the day and traveling with them or having dinner at
their homes in the evenings. Her studies took place in the northern
region of Argentina, called Chaco, and there she stayed with families
instead of staying in a hotel.
One of the writers, Mempo Giardinelli, has a foundation in Chaco
that fosters learning and humanity in literature, and every year the foun- •
dation holds this conference, complete with a book fair and a writer’s
forum. The foundation receives the proceeds from the conference.
Castillon said that students attended lectures from 9 o’clock in the
morning to around 1 o’clock or 2 o’clock in the afternoon. They would
then have lunch with the writers, where they would talk to them and
view brand new, unavailable works from them.
“They would use us as feedback,” Castillon said, “because we were
not writers. We were critics.”
Following lunch they would take in Argentine film sessions
where they viewed the newest in Argentinian cinematog-
raphy. In the evenings they had musical concerts, poetry
readings, an opera, or like one evening they had dinner at
writer Horacio Quiroga’s house.
Castillon described Quiroga’s house as a magical place
in the middle of the jungle. One weekend the group went to
Iguazu Falls, which in Castillon’s opinion, were “comparable if
not bigger, larger, and better than the Niagara Falls.” They
were hidden from the public until the 1950s because they were
part of Quiroga’s private property. They are in an area that is
close to three borders because on one side you are in Argentina;
but if you cross to the other side you are in Brazil, and the other
side is Paraguay.
“It was unbelievable,” she said.
On a trip to Paraguay, a country whose “clock stopped many years
ago,” Castillon witnessed the dichotomy between wealth and poverty in
the country. “Some families were very rich,” she said, “ and the others
were very, very poor.”
They were invited by the University of the North to visit a writer
named Augusto Roa Bastos who won the important Cervantes Award.
,lWe just sat down on the floor in his living room and talked about
the political situation of the country,” she said. “It \yas an unbelievable
evening, and I will never forget it.”
While in Paraguay, the group stayed in a hotel where she says they -
were treated like celebrities.
“The way we crossed the border between Argentina and Paraguay
was like out of a movie, really,” she said.
Their van left them on one side of the river and they had to cross
the bridge over the river that marks the borders. On the other side were
people waiting for them with gifts; and when they got in the van to leave,
there was that day’s newspaper on their chairs, with the group on the
front page.
“We felt like celebrities because the paparazzi was chasing us in a
little car,” she said. “I took pictures of the paparazzi because it was just
all so hilarious.”
They then returned to Argentina to continue their classes and film
discussions. But, upon returning to the United States, being a Spanish
native, she stopped again in Buenos Aires to take in soipe more culture.
Castillon said the whole experience was unbelievable, and it was
better than the other conventions because they actually got to meet the
writers. She says she hopes that one day in the future Lamar will offer
courses in Argentine literature.
“Right now, with everything I learned, I could put together two
courses,” she said, “one on Argentine literature, and the other on
Argentine cinematography.”
All in all, from talking to her, her overseas adventure was a learning
experience and something she will always, always remember.
Text by Amanda Rowell
Castillon photo by Michelle Cate
Other photos by Catalina Castillon
‘Texas Chainsaw’ proves you are what you eat
By JEFF DIXON
UP Reviewer
Remakes as a rule are horrible.
Remakes of horror movies are even
worse, which is why “The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre” is such a pleas-
ant surprise. Aside from “Willard” I
have never, in my 21 years on this
earth, seen a decent remake of a hor-
ror movie. And never did I think that
a remake of a movie, that I hold so
dear to my heart, could be made
watchable, let alone outstanding.
It’s pretty much a rule growing up
in the state that we live in, that you
have to see “The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre,” and, more important, you
have to like it. Travis County Texas
becomes a permanent fixture in your
nightmares — a place where no mat-
ter how fast you run, a butcher named
Leatherface is always on your tail.
The remake is pretty much the
same as the original as far as plot goes.
Five teenagers pick up a hitchhiker
and then stop to use the phone at an
old house near a mill. From there the
family that inhabits the house
bi »/yy:
attempts to kill them off one by one.
Pretty standard, really.
What sets this film apart from the
original is the camera work. Because
of the budget of the original and the
camera equipment Tobe Hooper and
his crew used, the movie comes off
looking like a snuff film, which was
one of the reasons it was so scary. It
looked real. This film, on the other
hand, is beautifully shot. You won’t
find a more beautiful slasher film. The
director, Marcus Nispel, will no doubt
be getting calls from every major stu-
dio for his next project. It’s amazing
that this is his first feature film.
Jessica Biel (“Rules of
Attraction”) plays the role of Erin,
our token “Brunette-Heroine,” a must
for all horror movies. Watching Biel in
this movie is like watching Jamie Lee
Curtis in “Halloween.” You can
almost see the potential pouring out
of her. Most of the time she is running
and screaming; but when she’s not,
when she’s forced to take a stand, she
is wonderful.
Erica Leershen (“Blair Witch 2”)
plays the role of Pepper, our token
wild child, a hitchhiker who was
picked up days before the film begins.
Ever since “Blair Witch 2,” I have
loved Erica Leershen and was ecstatic
to see her on the silver screen again.
Leershen and Biel share a handful of
scenes in the film, and Erica steals
every single one of them.
As good as these young actors
.•are, however, none of them can hold a
candle to the performance put in by
R. Lee Ermey as Sheriff Hoyt. The
man is chewing up scenery so much
you can almost see the shavings flying
off the screen. The character he’s cre-
ated is one of the most vile excuses for
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sacs-"', -arim
(V ef
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The cast of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”
a human being ever to be filmed. He is
truly the country sheriff of your night-
mares.
Scott Kosar’s script is adapted
from the original screenplay by
writer/director Tobe Hooper and stays
true to the source material. None of
the dialogue feels forced, and none of
the decisions the characters make
seem illogical for them.
The real treat from a writing and
directing point of view is the way
Leatherface treats his victims. This
isn’t Jason Voorhees out to punish
camp counselors. No, Leatherface
treats them like meat. He pours salt
on their wounds and hangs them to
dry. He wraps them in butcher paper
and puts them in the fridge. These are
not people he is killing; to him they
are cattle — nothing more, nothing
less.
This film will stick in your mind
long after you walk out of the theater.
The images will be burned there when
you try to go to sleep. But don’t worry,
I mean it’s just a movie — isn’t it?
(cue homicidal laughter, fade to
black).
wmm
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Gurski, Patrick. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 15, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 22, 2003, newspaper, October 22, 2003; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500991/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.