Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 28, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 19, 2003 Page: 4 of 16
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Guest Column
(Editor's Nots: The following is a column written for rural America
about problems and some thoughts on solutions for country people
who are trying to make their way In an ever Increasing urban world.
This item will be Included In the pages from time to time).
S*m New War Ckaar
By Themes D. Rowley
It’s tempting this time of year to make grand prognostications about what
lies ahead. I'd love to say, for example, that rural issues will rise like cream to
the top of the national agenda and that help—real help—is finally on the way.
Barring that, it would be nice to report that while the government can’t help
rural America this year (it costs a lot, after all, to cut taxes and fight a war), it is
at least ready to stop hurting it with policies that don’t fit, don’t work, or, don’t
Alas, you’ll find no such predictions here. I am too much a pessimist and
too lousy a forecaster—just ask my broker or bookie. Instead, let me start off
the new year with a bit of cheer thin comes not from what government might
do, but from what some rural people are already doing.
I learned of their efforts after lamenting some weeks ago over the dearth of
positive news on rural America. I closed that column by asking “There are
stories (of rural hope] out there, aren't there?” I thought it was a rhetorical
question.
Fortunately, many of you did not and shared stories of hope with me. Space
alone limits their retelling.
From the organization Renewing the Countryside
(www.renewingthecountryside.org), came a collection of stories about people
and places in rural Minnesota that with “perseverance, inventiveness, and
occasionally, simple good fortune...are creating a new definition of what it
means to live, work, and learn in rural America.”
Greg Nolan and Marcia Rapatz run Snowy Pines Reforestation near
Browerville in central Minnesota. The firm does just about everything that could
possibly be done with trees—from planting to harvesting, from seed culturing
to milling. Nolan’s and Rapatz’s stated goal is to create meaningful, rewarding
work for their family and friends that improves the natural environment. And
they’re doing just that.
Residents of Houston, Minnesota, a tiny hamlet in the southeast comer of
the state, came together to birth a community-owned grocery store and pharmacy
called the Root River Market and fill the void left when the last grocery store
closed 5 years ago and the last pharmacy some 20 years ago. The market, says
general manager Tony Denstad, has really given the community an anchor—
one that keeps dollars in the local economy and gives residents an all-important
public place to gather, socialize, and build community.
From the Thriving Hometowns Network of the National Center for Small
Communities (http://www.smallcommunities.org/ncsc/) came stories of rural
success like the one in Elsa, Texas, IS miles north of the Mexico border and
deep in poverty. There, local leaders established the Llano Grande Center for
Research and Development—a school- and community-based organization that
nurtures grassroots, youth-directed solutions to local problems.
The youth—working with school alumni who have left the area—research,
strategize, and communicate solutions to community and economic development
concerns. To date, the effort has created more than 7$ jobs and given students
invaluable skills in the process.
Amazing stories? Not really. Earthshaking results? Hardly. Worthy of note,
study, and replication? Absolutely.
Toward that end, I asked Jan Joannides, Director of Renewing the
Countryside, and Nancy Stark, Director of Community and Economic
Development at the National Center for Small Communities to identify common
« threads that fae throughout their respective stones.
( jl of people with hope who have an “aha" moment when
• they see that the old way of doing things just doesn’t work anymore and are'
ready to try something new. They are independent thinkers. “And it isn’t
unusual,” she said, “for their neighbors to think of them as a little odd."
She noted that the people in the stories are driven by more than the bottom-
line. They warn to make a living, sure, but they seek more than that—good
quality of life; connection to family, community, and place; stewardship of the
environment. Yet unlike so many of us who espouse similar desires, they are
willing to sacrifice for them.
Sunk identified a list of strategic “to-do’s” critical to success. Go beyond
political and historical boundaries and take a regional approach. Look for outside
help in th
• in the form of grants, loans, and technical assistance. View technology not
as a panacea, but as a way to improve existing businesses and processes,
including labor skills. Finally, don’t rely solely on attracting outside businesses;
grow and expand your own. “Most of the case studies,” she said, “take a
homegrown approach to economic development—retention, expansion, creation
of new small firms, not recruiting the one big business.”
And so we start the year not by scanning the horizon for signs of the cavalry,
but by looking at the good work already being done in rural America, and there
finding ideas, inspiration, and perhaps most importantly, hope.
Making a Difference
I watched the kid across the street leave a couple of days ago. I guess I
should change that. I watched the young man across the street leave a couple
of days ago. I spoke with him as he was loading his car. This young man is
in the Marines and told me he was leaving that night. The next day he
would be leaving for California and then on to Kuwait.
That is so scary to me. 1 have thought much about him. I guess as I write
RET.A. S.EEKS MORE HUMANE.
WAYS OF KILLING, CHICKENS
Chicago All That Jazz
If it weren’t for Moulin Rouge!,
Chicago would be the best musical
made in decades.
As it is, Chicago can make a
claim as one of a rare breed of stage
musicals that have been adapted
successfully to the Big Screen.
Unfortunately for Chicago, the
remarkable Moulin Rouge! rewrote
the manual on presenting musical
material; Baz Luhrman’s marriage of
sound and visuals was simply
astounding. ■ “ i* J
. Still, you can’t do much better
than Chicago.
About the film
One person’s name immediately
pops up when seeing Chicago - Bob
Fosse.
He directed three of the great
movies of the 70’s: Cabaret. Lenny,
and, best of all, All That Jazz.
Fosse made his mark as a
Broadway choreographer in the SO’s,
directed plays, and eventually made
it to film. In that arena, his skills
culminated with Jazz. (Even though
he won an Oscar as Best Director for
Cabaret [one of eight it won], beating
out Francis Ford Coppola for The
Godfather.)
Based on Fosse’s own life, Jazz
is a kinetic, energized, exhilarating
movie. It contains Roy Scheider’s
best performance and rapidly
ricochets between fantasy and real
life, while electric dance numbers
careen between the two.
Fosse lived only 60 years, but
he got at least twice that out of his
dancer’s body, despite drugs, booze,
this, be is arriving in Kuwait. He is just a little boy. I have watched him
grow up across the street. I knew him from school. I watched him play
sports. Now I watch him leave to protect my freedom. I think about his
mom and how she must feel. How it must have felt to tell him bye and
watch him drive away. How her heart must be breaking. But how proud she
must be.
Our freedom is so precious. It must be guarded and protected if it is to
last Whether you agree with what is happening or you don’t, you have to
agree that our freedom is important. Without this freedom, you don’t have
the right to disagree. As our country launches into what seems inevitable
right now, never forget to be grateful for those that are making the sacrifice
now and those who have sacrificed in the past so we can be free to speak
our minds and live our lives in freedom. For well over 200 years, we have
had to fight to keep the freedom that is so precious to us. There have always
been those who want to take away what we have. There will always be
those who fight freedom. But, there will always be those who will stand tall
and defend our country and what it stands on.
Please always remember to keep our country and our leaders in your
prayers that God's will would always be shown in the decisions that are
made. Remember our service people as they are being shipped off to vari-
ous locations. Pray for their safety and their bravery. Pray that God will
calm their fears. Pray for their families that they will feel God’s strong yet
gentle hand holding them so close. Pray hard for those that wish to hurt us,
that God will change their hearts. Keep your flags flying. Show the world*
we will stand stong.
and smokes. (Jazz also
will get him the most face time in the
paper. When Zellweger’s story
comes out, she quickly eclipses Zeta-
Jones who finds herself going from
incarcerated queen bee to drone,
feeling the sting of having dissed
Zellweger earlier.
At one time, both women take a
backseat to the latest sensation, Kitty
(Lucy Liu). Still, the able (if slimy)
Gere gets everyone off.
Down on their luck, Zellweger
and Zeta-Jones team up and, cashing
/in on their infamy, find success
onstage.
What works
The story line is really just a
place to hang catchy songs and
enefgetic dance numbers - and boy
there are both.
Director Rob Marshall (whose
only credit before Chicago was the
recent TV version of Annie) keeps
things moving and dark. He does a
great job of using the screen to frame
his actors. At one point, Zellweger is
a tiny figure in the lower right hand
corner of the otherwise jet black
screen. It’s very effective.
A choreographer like Fosse, he
manages to take a stage presentation
and give it cinematic life.
The real surprise in Chicago is
Zeta-Jones. She is terrific as an actor,
singer and dancer. She outshines
Zellweger and Gere, both of whom
have won some critical notice for
their hoofing. But they can’t touch
Zeta-Jones who is head and
shoulders better.
She’s almost good enough to
Jazz,” goes on too long. It’s bouncy
enough, but should’ve been pared
down some.
Another troublesome tune is
Reilly’s poignant “Mr. Cellophane”
(which leads to a funny line from
Gere at its conclusion), but the
slowness of the song sucked the
momentum of the film out at the
time.
Liu has a thankless role in her
brief cameo as the killer Kitty. Her
scene could be 4pne off camera; it
only serves to prove that lawyer Gere
is just after the latest scandal.
The rating
Chicago is certainly a PG-13.
Early on, especially, as the
scenes with Zellweger’s murder of
her lover is detailed. He’s rough with
her (a recurring theme for most of
the females in the film), tossing her
about.
* There’s some provocative
wordplay and scads of silky gams.
The movie is dark and
sometimes a little bloody. You won’t
want to take young children to it.
Summing up
The Movie Man had not seen the
stage version of Chicago. He knew
nothing about it and certainly didn’t
know the songs.
The picture is great fun and more
than a little naughty. (Not Rocky
Horror Picture Show raunchy but
still full of scantily clad, gartered
women.)
This film parks just under
Moulin Rouge, in elite status with
The Music Man, Mary Poppins. The
Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain,
Rocky Horror, and All That Jazz.
That’s some lofty air.
Trailers
A View from the Top is flying
under the radar, but the coming
attraction had some laughs.
Gywneth Paltrow and pals want
to become big time flight attendants
back in the day when they were
stewardess. .Mike NCjnk hap a
typically over the top (and funny)
small role as their guru.
The only problem for View - it’s
been delayed almost a year and that’s
never good. The trailer was okay,
though, a 6.
A curious preview (a 6)
unspooled, Seabiscuit. It was
imaginatively done, not revealing the
title initially. When the Chicago
audience found out it concerned foe
life of a horse, interest flagged.
Even with the hot Tobey
Maguire, Jeff Bridges, William H.
Macy, and Movie Man favorite Chris
Cooper, Seabiscuit will have to
jockey for position to succeed.
Next up
Excluding foe terrible-looking
Just Married, this is really a down
week.
If he skips already-out About
Schmidt or Drumline, the Movie
Man might mosey over to catch
Adaptation or Nicholas Nickleby.
What will he do? Now you have
something to look forward to.
u ot my perrnm or flna appearing la theae
■poo bcMg broagfei to the anratme at the
vtafaa
Reinking who, despite making very
few movies, starred in a couple that
have made an impact on the Movie
Family - Jazz and, three years later,
Annie as Grace. Annie played almost
continuously at the Movie House for
several consecutive years as Movie
Daughters watched it over and over.
She quit acting in 1984 [after
Micki + Maude] then won a Tony on
Broadway in the early 90’s for
designing the dancing for a
revival... Chicago!)
The plot
Part of a sister act, Velma
(Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a
successful stage performer. But when
she catches her sibling coiled up with
her lover, Zeta-Jones kills them.
In foe town of Chicago, that’s
not necessarily bad. Any publicity is
good and foe double murder gets her
some top notch attention.
Meanwhile Roxie Hart (Renee
Zellweger), bored with her vanilla
husband (John C. Reilly), has taken
a lover who says he’s going to help
her achieve her dream of being a
successful performer.
But he finally gets enough of
her, cruelly casting her aside. So she
shoots and kills foe lover, ending up
in the same slammer as Zeta-Jones.
The prison is run by Mama
Morton (Queen Latifah) who picks
up extra cash making phone calls to
appropriate parties to get information
out on her famous charges
Zeta-Jones is represented by
lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere)
and soon the cocky shyster takas on
Zellweger as wq)l.
Gere, a master at mampuMag
the press, goes with whichever client
forgive her for those irritating phone
commercials.
Another standout is Queen
Latifah who is wonderful as foe boss
of foe prison. Her opening number
is racy and funny and helps foe movie
rise above its unsteady start.
Full of swagger, she belts out her
number, “When You’re Good to
Mama.” She fills up foe screen with
an assured, Bessie Smith-esque
performance.
Gere, while no dancing
machine, does okay as does
Zellweger who, especially,
physically looks foe part of a Roaring
20’s dame.
Zellweger was never a Movie
Man favorite (despite being a Texan).
She’s decent here, but it’s not foe
knockout role some are saying it is.
Best scene
It’s hard to top foe “Cell Block
Tango” number.
Six imprisoned women -
including Zeta-Jones - musically
explain to the recently incarcerated
Zellweger how the sextet ended up
in prison.
Via dance and witty lyrics, each
woman details how and why they
killed their man, finishing them off
with a flourish of a red scarf.
Staged not unlike Elvis' famous
“Jailhouse Rock” sequence (but with
a bloody, scarlet background
instead), “Cell Block Tango**
invigorates foe movie.
• And it provides a bit of mystay:
Is the Hungarian woman guilty or
not? fat her only English words, she
psocbrini “not guilty” But she inn
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What dossal wurk
The opening number,
All That
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Fisher, David. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 28, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 19, 2003, newspaper, January 19, 2003; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth804401/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.